The 1982 International Open (officially the 1982 Jameson International Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 27 September to 10 October 1982 at the Assembly Rooms in Derby, England. This was the first tournament outside of the World Snooker Championship to be given ranking status. Tony Knowles won the tournament, defeating David Taylor 9âÂÂ6 in the final.
The WPBSA had been using a ranking system based on performances in the last three world championships. However they modified the system for the 1982âÂÂ83 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 ã75,000 event, in which the top 16 seeds met 16 qualifiers, was played at the Assembly Rooms, Derby from Monday 27 September to Thursday 30 September. Steve Davis played on the first day, having won the Langs Scottish Masters the previous evening. Alex Higgins was penalised a frame for arriving late for his match against Billy Kelly but won the match 5âÂÂ3.
Television coverage started at the last-16 stage, which was played from Saturday 2 October to Tuesday 5 October. Terry Griffiths beat world champion Alex Higgins 5âÂÂ2 after Higgins had won the first two frames. Dennis Taylor beat Cliff Thorburn 5âÂÂ2. Thorburn won the first two frames but Taylor took the next five to win the match. Cliff Wilson beat Jimmy White 5âÂÂ2 in a match that last just 95 minutes. John Virgo beat John Spencer 5âÂÂ4 after winning the final two frames, while Tony Knowles beat Ray Reardon 5âÂÂ2 in the final match of the round.
The quarter-finals were played on Wednesday and Thursday. David Taylor beat Steve Davis, the defending champion, 5âÂÂ3. Davis led 3âÂÂ2 but Taylor won the next three to record his first win over Davis. John Virgo beat Dennis Taylor 5âÂÂ3 in Wednesday's other match. On Thursday, Tony Knowles beat Cliff Wilson 5âÂÂ4 while Kirk Stevens beat Terry Griffiths 5âÂÂ3 after winning the first three frames.
David Taylor beat John Virgo 9âÂÂ5 in the first semi-final. Taylor won the last four frames of the afternoon session to lead 6âÂÂ2 and then won the first frame of the evening session. Virgo then won two frames to trail 4âÂÂ7 but Taylor won two of the next three to win the match. Tony Knowles beat Kirk Stevens 9âÂÂ3 in the second semi-final played on the Saturday. Knowles won the first four frames and led 5âÂÂ3 after the afternoon session. He won the first four frames in the evening to take the match.
Tony Knowles beat David Taylor 9âÂÂ6 in the final, winning the first prize of ã22,000 with Taylor winning ã12,000. Knowles won three frames in a row to take a 5âÂÂ2 lead before Taylor won the last frame of the afternoon session to trail 3âÂÂ5. Knowles made a break of 114 in the first frame of the evening session and later extended his lead to 8âÂÂ5. 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 ã1,200 for his 114 in the final.