The 1982 International Open (officially the 1982 Jameson International Open) was a professional

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

tournament that took place between 27 September to 10 October 1982 at the

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there wer ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, England. This was the first tournament outside of the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

to be given ranking status. Tony Knowles won the tournament, defeating David Taylor 9–6 in the final.

Summary

The

WPBSA The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in ...

had been using a ranking system based on performances in the last three

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. However they modified the system for the 1982–83 season to include the two open entry events in the ranking system. These were the Jameson International Open and the Professional Players Tournament which was held immediately afterwards. The 1982 Jameson International Open thus became the first tournament, other than the world championship, in which players earned ranking points. The last-32 stage of the £75,000 event, in which the top 16 seeds met 16 qualifiers, was played at the Assembly Rooms,

from Monday 27 September to Thursday 30 September.

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...

played on the first day, having won the Langs Scottish Masters the previous evening.

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgi ...

was penalised a frame for arriving late for his match against Billy Kelly but won the match 5–3. Television coverage started at the last-16 stage, which was played from Saturday 2 October to Tuesday 5 October.

Terry Griffiths Terence Martin Griffiths (16October 19471December 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player, coach and pundit. After winning several amateur titles, including the Welsh Amateur Championship (snooker), Welsh Amateur Championship in 1975 an ...

beat world champion

5–2 after Higgins had won the first two frames.

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He turned professional in 1972 and won the 1985 World Snooker Championship, in which he lost the first eight frames of 1985 W ...

beat

Cliff Thorburn Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Hi ...

5–2. Thorburn won the first two frames but Taylor took the next five to win the match.

Cliff Wilson Clifford Wilson (10 May 1934 – 21 May 1994) was a Welsh people, Welsh professional snooker player who reached his highest Snooker world rankings, ranking of 16 in Snooker world rankings 1988/1989, 1988–89. He was the 1978 IBSF World Snooke ...

beat

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...

5–2 in a match that last just 95 minutes.

John Virgo John Trevor Virgo (born 4 March 1946) is an English snooker commentator and former professional snooker player. After turning professional in 1976, Virgo won four professional titles, including the 1979 UK Championship, the 1980 Bombay Int ...

beat John Spencer 5–4 after winning the final two frames, while Tony Knowles beat

Ray Reardon Raymond Reardon (8 October 1932 – 19 July 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to h ...

5–2 in the final match of the round. The quarter-finals were played on Wednesday and Thursday. David Taylor beat

, the defending champion, 5–3. Davis led 3–2 but Taylor won the next three to record his first win over Davis.

beat

5–3 in Wednesday's other match. On Thursday, Tony Knowles beat

5–4 while

Kirk Stevens Kirk Stevens (born August 17, 1958) is a Canadian former professional snooker player. Career Stevens started playing young, achieving his first aged just 12. He turned professional aged 20, and reached the semi-finals of the World Championship ...

beat

5–3 after winning the first three frames. David Taylor beat

9–5 in the first semi-final. Taylor won the last four frames of the afternoon session to lead 6–2 and then won the first frame of the evening session. Virgo then won two frames to trail 4–7 but Taylor won two of the next three to win the match. Tony Knowles beat

9–3 in the second semi-final played on the Saturday. Knowles won the first four frames and led 5–3 after the afternoon session. He won the first four frames in the evening to take the match. Tony Knowles beat David Taylor 9–6 in the final, winning the first prize of £22,000 with Taylor winning £12,000. Knowles won three frames in a row to take a 5–2 lead before Taylor won the last frame of the afternoon session to trail 3–5. Knowles made a break of 114 in the first frame of the evening session and later extended his lead to 8–5. Taylor won the next frame but Knowles then made a break of 76 in the following frame to win the match. He also won the high break prize of £1,200 for his 114 in the final.

Main draw

Final

References

{{Snooker season 1982/1983 Scottish Open (snooker) Sport in Derby International Open International Open International Open International Open 1980s in Derby