1980 Champion of Champions

1980 Champion of Champions 1980 10 2 1980 10 12 y New London Theatre London England WPBSA Non-ranking event £20,000Everton Clive Davis puts faith in full house The Guardian London 2 October 1980 23 £5,000 Steve Davis ENG (128) Doug Mountjoy WAL John Virgo ENG 10–8 1978 2013 The 1980 Champion of Champions was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament held from 2–12 October 1980 at the New London Theatre in Drury Lane, London. Summary 10 players contested the event, divided into two groups of 5. Within each group everyone played all the others in a round robin format. The winners of the groups played in the 19-frame final. In the round-robin stage matches were over 9 frames with all frames played, even after the match had been won.The Times 2 October 1980 10 Snooker – Thorburn faces Higgins again in the West End The New London Theatre had hosted the Masters between 1976 and 1978. Group B was completed first. Terry Griffiths needed to win his last two matches by good margins to finish ahead of Doug Mountjoy. He led Graham Miles 5–1 but eventually only won 6–3. This result left him having to beat Mountjoy by at least 6–3 to qualify. Mountjoy took a 4–3 lead and, although Griffiths won the match 5–4, Mountjoy qualified for the final. In group A, John Virgo won all his matches 5–4 to qualify ahead of Steve Davis. In the final Virgo took a 3–0 lead but Mountjoy fought back to be just 5–4 behind after the afternoon session. In the evening session the match was level at 8–8 before Mountjoy won the next two frames to win the match in front of a crowd of 700.The Times 13 October 1980 9 Snooker – Mountjoy fights back to take champion's title The playing of "dead" frames was not popular with the players. In the first match of the tournament Steve Davis beat Dennis Taylor 5–0 but then lost the last 4 frames. He later complained that it was difficult to motivate himself after winning the match. The tournament was not broadcast. Later in October the same venue was used for the 1980 edition of the State Express World Challenge Cup which was covered on BBC television. With no TV coverage and no sponsor the Champion of Champions was dropped from the schedule. Players The following 10 players competed in the tournament: Group A WAL Ray Reardon ENG Steve Davis CAN Kirk Stevens NIR Dennis Taylor ENG John Virgo Group B WAL Terry Griffiths NIR Alex Higgins ENG Graham Miles WAL Doug Mountjoy CAN Cliff Thorburn Round-robin stage Group A John Virgo won all four of his matches 5–4 to qualify for the final. Table POSPlayerMPMWFWFL1ENG John Virgo4420162ENG Steve Davis4321153WAL Ray Reardon4220164NIR Dennis Taylor4121155CAN Kirk Stevens40828 Results: (2 Oct) Steve Davis 5–4 Dennis TaylorThe Times 3 October 1980 12 Snooker – It's carry on playing at Drury Lane (2 Oct) John Virgo 5–4 Kirk Stevens (3 Oct) John Virgo 5–4 Dennis Taylor The Times 4 October 1980 5 Snooker – Century breaks save Virgo (3 Oct) Steve Davis 7–2 Kirk Stevens (9 Oct) John Virgo 5–4 Steve Davis The Times 10 October 1980 11 Snooker – Artistic touch takes Virgo close to final (9 Oct) Ray Reardon 5–4 Dennis Taylor (10 Oct) John Virgo 5–4 Ray Reardon The Times 11 October 1980 15 Snooker – Virgo will not go down as kamikaze pilot (10 Oct) Dennis Taylor w/o Kirk Stevens (11 Oct) Ray Reardon 7–2 Kirk Stevens (11 Oct) Steve Davis 5–4 Ray Reardon Kirk Stevens did not turn up for his match against Dennis Taylor. Taylor played an exhibition match against Perrie Mans, who played with a borrowed cue. In the table above a 9–0 result is used for this match. Group B Doug Mountjoy lost his final match to Terry Griffiths 5–4 but qualified by winning more frames overall. Table POSPlayerMPMWFWFL1WAL Doug Mountjoy4325112WAL Terry Griffiths4323133NIR Alex Higgins4216204ENG Graham Miles4115215CAN Cliff Thorburn411125 Results: (4 Oct) Graham Miles 5–4 Alex Higgins (4 Oct) Doug Mountjoy 7–2 Alex Higgins (5 Oct) Alex Higgins 5–4 Terry GriffithsThe Times 6 October 1980 8 Snooker – Griffiths let Higgins off the hook (5 Oct) Terry Griffiths 8–1 Cliff ThorburnThe Times 7 October 1980 9 Snooker – Higgins gives his supporters something to remember (6 Oct) Doug Mountjoy 6–3 Graham Miles (6 Oct) Alex Higgins 5–4 Cliff Thorburn (7 Oct) Doug Mountjoy 8–1 Cliff ThorburnThe Times 8 October 1980 13 Snooker – Mountjoy's success put pressure on Griffiths (7 Oct) Cliff Thorburn 5–4 Graham Miles (8 Oct) Terry Griffiths 6–3 Graham MilesThe Times 9 October 1980 13 Snooker – Mountjoy the loser ends up in the final (8 Oct) Terry Griffiths 5–4 Doug Mountjoy Final Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: unknown.New London Theatre, London, England, 12 November 1980. Doug Mountjoy 10–8 John Virgo Afternoon: 51–76; 49–81 (56); 26–108 (54); 77–15; 57–53; 60–9; 15–83 (51); 57–61 (50); 101 (101)–1Evening: 69 (53)–47; 98 (53)–16; 31–89; 22–60 (60); 74 (53)–18; 40–35; 55–61; 65–5; 64–60 101 Highest break 60 1 Century breaks 0 4 50+ breaks 5 Century breaks The following century breaks were made during the tournament:Champion of champions Snooker Scene Everton's News Agency Birmingham November 1980 6–11 128, 100 Steve Davis 119, 100 John Virgo 114 Alex Higgins 101 Doug Mountjoy 100 Kirk Stevens References October 2015 October 2015 1980 Category:1980 in snooker Category:1980 in sport in London Category:October 1980 sports events in the United Kingdom Category:International sports competitions in London Champion of Champions, 1980