1978 World Snooker Championship

Embassy World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	17–29 April 1978
Venue	Crucible Theatre
City	Sheffield
Country	England
Organisation(s)	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£24,000[1]
Winner's share	£7,500[1]
Highest break	John Spencer (138)
Final
Champion	Ray Reardon
Runner-up	Perrie Mans
Score	25–18
← 1977 1979 →

The 1978 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1978 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 and 29 April 1978 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

The final was contested by Ray Reardon and Perrie Mans. Reardon led 5–2 after the first session, before Mans levelled the match at 8–8 after the first day's play. After the third interval Reardon led 12–11 and won the 24th frame with a 64 break to lead 13–11. After the second day Reardon led 18–14, and eventually won the match 25–18.^[2] This was Reardon's sixth and last world title.^[3] The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

Tournament summary

• This was the first championship to have daily BBC coverage as highlights.^[4]
• Defending champion John Spencer became the first player to suffer the Crucible Curse,^[5] when he lost 8–13 to Perrie Mans in the first round.
• Ray Reardon became the oldest World Champion of the modern era at the age of 45 years and 203 days,^[4][6] while Fred Davis became the oldest semi-finalist at the age of 64 years and 251 days,^[7] losing 16–18 to Perrie Mans.^[1]
• John Williams refereed the final.^[8]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[9]

• Winner: £7,500
• Runner-up: £3,500
• Third place: £2,500
• Fourth place: £2,000
• Quarter-final: £1,000
• Last 16: £500
• Highest break: £500
• Maximum break: £10,000
• Total: £24,000

Main draw

Numbers in (parentheses) indicate seedings.

Sources:^[1][10][11]

Last 16 Best of 25 frames

Quarter-finals Best of 25 frames

Semi-finals Best of 35 frames

Final Best of 49 frames

18, 19 & 20 April

John Spencer (1)

8

21 & 22 April

Perrie Mans

13

Perrie Mans

13

19 & 20 April

Graham Miles (8)

7

Graham Miles (8)

13

24, 25 & 26 April

David Taylor

10

Perrie Mans

18

18 & 19 April

Fred Davis

16

Alex Higgins (5)

12

21 & 22 April

Patsy Fagan

13

Patsy Fagan

10

20 & 21 April

Fred Davis

13

Dennis Taylor (4)

9

27, 28 & 29 April

Fred Davis

13

Perrie Mans

18

17, 18 & 19 April

Ray Reardon (2)

25

Eddie Charlton (3)

13

20, 21 & 22 April

Willie Thorne

12

Eddie Charlton (3)

13

17 & 18 April

Cliff Thorburn (6)

12

Cliff Thorburn (6)

13

23, 24 & 25 April

Pat Houlihan

8

Eddie Charlton (3)

14

17, 18 & 19 April

Ray Reardon (2)

18

Third place Best of 13 frames

John Pulman (7)

4

21 & 22 April

27 & 28 April

Bill Werbeniuk

13

Bill Werbeniuk

6

Fred Davis

3

17 & 18 April

Ray Reardon (2)

13

Eddie Charlton (3)

7

Ray Reardon (2)

13

Doug Mountjoy

9

Qualifying

Source:^[1]

Round 1 (Best of 17 frames) Maurice Parkin 9–4 Bernard Bennett Roy Andrewartha 9–0 Jack Karnehm John Barrie 9–3 David Greaves Pat Houlihan 9–1 Chris Ross

Round 2 (Best of 17 frames) Doug Mountjoy 9–3 Roy Andrewartha Patsy Fagan 9–5 John Dunning Willie Thorne 9–3 Rex Williams Bill Werbeniuk 9–2 Maurice Parkin Perrie Mans 9–6 John Barrie David Taylor 9–7 Paddy Morgan Pat Houlihan 9–6 Jim Meadowcroft Fred Davis 9–8 John Virgo

Century breaks

There were seven century breaks at championship, the highest being 138 by John Spencer.^{[12][13][14][15]}

• 138, 118 John Spencer
• 119, 100 Ray Reardon
• 108 Eddie Charlton
• 105 Fred Davis
• 105 Patsy Fagan

References