The 1983 Professional Players Tournament was a professional ranking snooker tournament which took place between 3 September and 21 October 1983.
In a change from the previous year, the event was hosted at one venue, the 600-seater Redwood Lodge in Bristol. The following year, it would be renamed as the Grand Prix.
The event started on 10 October, the day after the finish of the International Open at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Cliff Thorburn, a finalist in the International Open, had to travel overnight to Bristol for his first match the following morning, but won against Vic Harris 5âÂÂ1. World number one Steve Davis was beaten 5âÂÂ2 at the last-32 stage by Mike Hallett.
Willie Thorne reached his first major semi-final after beating Eugene Hughes 5âÂÂ2 in the quarter-finals. Hughes had reached the quarter-finals after beating Bill Werbeniuk 5âÂÂ0 and then Terry Griffiths 5âÂÂ2 at the last-16 stage.
Joe Johnson reached the first ranking final of his four-year professional career, defeating Pascal Burke, Jimmy White, Eddie Charlton, Cliff Thorburn and Tony Meo. His opponent Tony Knowles reached his second ranking final, overcoming Paul Medati, Rex Williams, Silvino Francisco, John Campbell and Willie Thorne.
In the final, Knowles dominated most of the match, building a 6âÂÂ1 lead. Johnson then made the highest break of the tournament, a 135, in recovering to a score of 5âÂÂ7 and eventually levelled the match at 8âÂÂ8. Knowles won the deciding frame on the colours, to prevail 9âÂÂ8, winning the first prize of ã12,500. Johnson won ã7,500 as runner-up and ã1,000 for the high break prize.