The 1980 Professional Ticket Event was a snooker main tour qualifying event held by the

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...

(WPBSA), which took place from 7 to 13 December 1980. The tournament was played at the Snooker Centre in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, and featured eight invited amateur players who hoped to qualify to compete on the main tour as professionals for the following season. It was promoted by

Mike Watterson George Michael Edwin Watterson (26 August 1942 – 8 March 2019) was an English professional snooker player, businessman, entrepreneur and television commentator. He was an England Amateur international for two years before turning professiona ...

on behalf of the WPBSA. Dave Martin won the tournament, beating Eugene Hughes 9–6 in the final. Hughes recorded the highest break of the event, 132, in the 13th frame of the final. At the time of the tournament, the WPBSA had a policy that only winners of the World Amateur Snooker Championship, the

English Amateur Championship The English Amateur Championship, an annual snooker competition, is the highest-ranking and most prestigious amateur event in England. It is also the oldest and longest-running snooker tournament in the world, having been established in 1916, a ...

or a Professional Ticket event would be admitted as professional players. This was changed so that "established amateur international snooker players and winners of prestigious amateur titles" would also be considered, and by February 1981, Watterson, Hughes and Paul Medati had all been accepted as professionals, along with

Jack Fitzmaurice Jack Fitzmaurice (25 April 1928 – January 2005) was an English professional snooker player. Career Born in Solihull, Fitzmaurice was runner-up in the English Amateur Championship in 1958, defeated 8–11 by Marcus Owen in the final. He tu ...

(who had withdrawn from the Professional Ticket Event because he felt it was an unfair system) and

Dessie Sheehan Dessie Sheehan (born 3 September 1949 in Limerick) is an Irish former professional snooker player. Career Born in 1949, Sheehan turned professional in 1981. His first match was a 5–1 victory over Vic Harris in the International Open, but he ...

. Billy Kelly and

Mick Fisher Mick Fisher (born 12 July 1944) is an English former professional snooker player. He appeared once at the main stage of the World Snooker Championship during his career, and attained a highest professional ranking of 37th, in the Snooker wor ...

had applied but were rejected.

Main draw

Results for the tournament are shown below.

Final

Century breaks

There were two

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

s at the tournament: * 132 Eugene Hughes * 100 Billy Kelly

Notes

References

{{Snooker season 1980/1981 Snooker non-ranking competitions Snooker competitions in England 1980 in snooker 1980 in English sport