1985 World Cup (snooker)

October 2025Guinness World Cup 1985 03 20 1985 03 23 y Bournemouth International Centre Bournemouth England Non-ranking event £125,000 £40,000 97 Tony Knowles NIR IRL All Ireland ENG England "A" 9–7 1983 1986 The 1985 Snooker World Cup sponsored by KitKat was a team snooker tournament with a revamped format. Gone was the round-robin system which had been in place since the first one in 1979 and the tournament was now a knock-out format with eight teams. It moved from October to March as the new Grand Prix tournament now took its old slot in the snooker calendar which was also played at the previous venue, the Hexagon Theatre in Reading. Guinness became the first of many sponsors for the next few years after British American Tobacco, under its trade name State Express, pulled out of all sport sponsorship in Great Britain. This new competition was now played at the new Bournemouth International Centre. England now played in two teams, with the defending champions competing as "England A" with the same players (Steve Davis, Tony Knowles and Tony Meo) while Jimmy White, Willie Thorne and John Spencer competed as "England B". The two Irish jurisdictions competed as "All-Ireland" and, for the first time since 1980, a "Rest of the World" team played with Silvino Francisco, Dene O'Kane and American pool player Jim Rempe (who also competed in 1980). Eventually, All-Ireland won the title, beating "England A" in a 17-frame final. Main draw Teams Country Player 1 (Captain) Player 2 Player 3 "A" Steve Davis Tony Knowles Tony Meo Ray Reardon Terry Griffiths Doug Mountjoy "B" Jimmy White Willie Thorne John Spencer NIR IRL All-Ireland Alex Higgins Dennis Taylor Eugene Hughes Cliff Thorburn Kirk Stevens Bill Werbeniuk Eddie Charlton John Campbell Warren King Murdo MacLeod Eddie Sinclair Jim Donnelly Rest of the World RSA 1982 Silvino Francisco NZL Dene O'Kane USA Jim Rempe Quarter-finals Best of 9 Frames Semi-finals Best of 9 Frames Final Best of 17 Frames ENG England "A" 5 SCO Scotland 4 ENG England "B" 5 Rest of the World 2 CAN Canada 2 NIR IRL All-Ireland 5 AUS Australia 4 WAL Wales 5 ENG England "A" 5 ENG England "B" 2 NIR IRL All-Ireland 5 WAL Wales 3 ENG England "A" 7 NIR IRL All-Ireland 9 Final Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Street Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth, England. 23 March 1985. NIR IRL All-Ireland Dennis Taylor, Alex Higgins, Eugene Hughes 9–7 "A" Steve Davis, Tony Knowles, Tony Meo Afternoon: Dennis Taylor v Tony Knowles: 1–1 (37-75, 65-64) – Match Score: 1–1 Eugene Hughes v Steve Davis: 0–2 (27-96, 26-68) – Match Score: 1–3 Alex Higgins v Tony Meo: 1–1 (48-60, 78-26) – Match Score: 2–4 Dennis Taylor v Tony Knowles: 1–1 (81-18, 1-74) – Match Score: 3–5 Evening: Dennis Taylor v Steve Davis: 1–1 (66–52, 1–82) – Match Score: 4–6 Eugene Hughes v Tony Knowles: 1–1 (102-29, 18-99) – Match Score: 5–7 Alex Higgins v Tony Meo: 2–0 (104-54, 82-23) – Match Score: 7–7 Alex Higgins v Steve Davis: 2–0 (109-1, 73-31) – Match Score: 9–7 Highest break Century breaks 50+ breaks References Category:World Cup (snooker) World Cup World Cup