The 1985 British Open (officially the 1985 Dulux British Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that was held from 17 February to 3 March 1985 with television coverage on ITV beginning on 22 February from the Assembly Rooms in Derby, England. It was the first edition of the British Open, having been rebranded from the International Masters the previous year. It was the fifth ranking event of the 1984âÂÂ85 snooker season, preceding the 1985 World Snooker Championship.
In the best-of-23- final, South African player Silvino Francisco defeated Canadian Kirk Stevens 12âÂÂ9. It was the first major professional snooker tournament without a British player in the final. The event featured a total prize fund of ã250,000 with the winner receiving ã50,000. The highest of the event was made by Alex Higgins, who compiled a 142 in his last-16 match against Cliff Thorburn.
The 1985 British Open was held between 17 February and 3 March 1985. The qualifying competition took place across venues in London, Bristol and Stockport. The first round took place at the Connaught Club in London and the Bradbury Hall in Chesterfield between 14 and 17 January 1985, whilst the remaining rounds took place at the Assembly Rooms, Derby. The qualifying and first rounds were played as best-of-11 . The following rounds, from last 32 to quarter-finals, were played as shorter best-of-9-frames matches because of television scheduling. Broadcaster ITV were concerned about the prospect of large overtime payments for their staff if matches overran, and also requested that the afternoon matches started at 2:00 pm rather than the originally scheduled 1:00 pm, to avoid higher payments to lighting technicians that would have been due if the lighting was switched on before that time. The decision by snooker governing body the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) to cut the length of matches in response to ITV's request was publicly criticised by WPBSA board member Barry Hearn, who was also the manager of prominent player Steve Davis.
The event was sponsored by ICI Paints Division and was known for sponsorship purposes as the 1985 Dulux British Open. It took the place of the non-ranking 1984 International Masters tournament on the professional snooker calendar.
The prize fund for the event was ã250,000, with the winner receiving ã50,000.
In the first round, Bill Werbeniuk, 14th in the world rankings, was beaten 1âÂÂ6 by Bob Chaperon. Malcolm Bradley, in his first season as a professional player, beat David Taylor 6âÂÂ3. Bob Harris, who to that point had made little impact as a player, beat world number six Eddie Charlton 6âÂÂ3 after being 1âÂÂ3 behind. Jimmy White was 3âÂÂ1 ahead of Tony Jones but the match went to the deciding frame before White won, 6âÂÂ5. Another first-year professional, Danny Fowler, beat Rex Williams, the former world billiards champion, 6âÂÂ3. A third new professional, Tony Chappel, led reigning world champion Steve Davis 5âÂÂ4, before Davis prevailed 6âÂÂ5.
The television stages of the event began in the second round. Steve Newbury, in his first season as a professional player, recorded a 5âÂÂ3 win over former world champion Terry Griffiths in the last 32. Other players unexpectedly losing in the second round were Willie Thorne, who lost 0âÂÂ5 to Murdo MacLeod; Ray Reardon, who was wearing spectacles for the first time in a match and who was beaten 4âÂÂ5 by Dave Martin after leading 4âÂÂ1; and Jimmy White, who lost 4âÂÂ5 to Silvino Francisco. Only seven of the top sixteen seeded players progressed into the last 16 of the competition. In the last 16, Alex Higgins was level at 2âÂÂ2 with Cliff Thorburn, then made a total clearance of 142, the highest break of the tournament, and went on to win 5âÂÂ2. In the match between Eugene Hughes and Murdo MacLeod, neither player made a break of 30 or over as Hughes won 5âÂÂ2.
Kirk Stevens won his quarter-final against Dennis Taylor by winning five straight frames after trailing 0âÂÂ2, and went on to beat Davis 9âÂÂ7 in the semi-final to reach his first ranking tournament final. In the other semi-final, Francisco was never behind Higgins in frames, and won 9âÂÂ7. With the South African Francisco and the Canadian Stevens contesting the final, it was the first snooker ranking tournament where there was no British player in the final. The next time there was a ranking final with no British players was the 2009 Grand Prix.
Francisco beat Stevens 12âÂÂ9 in the final to win the title. The final was played across three sessions, with an afternoon and evening session on Saturday 2 March followed by a session on Sunday 3 March. Francisco took a 5âÂÂ0 lead in the final, before Stevens won the last two frames of the first session to make it 5âÂÂ2. In the second session, Francisco increased his lead to 6âÂÂ2 with a on the in the eighth frame. A few frames later, he made his lead 9âÂÂ4 due to another fluked pink ball. In the frame following this, Stevens compiled the highest break of the final, 108, which left Francisco 9âÂÂ5 ahead at the end of the first day. The following day, Stevens took the first three frames of the third session of the final to trail by just one frame. However, Francisco won the next two frames to lead 11âÂÂ8. Stevens won frame 20 from 47 points behind, but Francisco took the next to gain victory. The winner's prize money of ã50,000 was a new record amount for snooker tournaments. The final attracted an average of 11.2million viewers on ITV, peaking at 15.5million. It was Francisco's only ranking tournament win as well as Stevens' only ranking final.
The main draw for the tournament was held with a total of 64 participants. Players listed in bold denote match winners.
Qualifying matches were played as best-of-11-frames matches. Players in bold denote match winners.