The 1986 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1986 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1986 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1985âÂÂ86 snooker season and the 1986 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927. The total prize fund was ã350,000 with ã70,000 awarded to the winner and was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
The defending champion was Dennis Taylor, who had defeated Steve Davis 18âÂÂ17 in the 1985 World Snooker Championship final to win his first world title. In defence of his title, Taylor lost in the first round of the event 6âÂÂ10 to Mike Hallett. Joe Johnson the world number 16 defeated Davis 18âÂÂ12 in the final to win his sole ranking event. Prior to the competition, the bookmakers' odds for a Johnson victory were 150/1. There were 20 century breaks compiled in total during the tournament, the highest of which was a 134 made by Davis in the opening frame of his quarter-final win.
The World Snooker Championship is an annual professional snooker tournament organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, the cue sport was popular in the British Isles. However, in the modern era, which started in 1969 when the World Championship reverted to a knockout format, it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand.
Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, hosted by the Billiards Association and Control Council, the final match being held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England. Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The 1986 championship featured 32 professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a single-elimination format, each match played over several . These competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top players in the snooker world rankings and the winners of a pre-tournament qualification stage. The top 16 players in the world rankings automatically qualified for the event, the remaining 16 players coming through the qualification rounds.
The tournament featured a total prize fund of ã350,000, with ã70,000 awarded to the winner. A bonus of ã80,000 was reserved for the first player (if any) to make a maximum break. The prize money allocation is shown below.
Qualifying matches took place at Preston Guild Hall from 26 March to 6 April 1986. All matches were played as the best of 19 frames. Joe O'Boye recorded the first century break of the qualifying rounds, compiling a 118 in his 8âÂÂ10 defeat to Bill Oliver. Paul Thornley made a 126 break in his 10âÂÂ3 win over Derek Mienie. John Hargreaves was 2âÂÂ9 down in his match against Bernie Mikkelsen, but won five frames in a row to recover to 7âÂÂ9 before being knocked out in the next frame. Dave Gilbert also won five consecutive frames, recovering from 5âÂÂ7 behind to win 10âÂÂ7 against Roger Bales. Veteran professional Bernard Bennett suffered the only whitewash of the first qualifying round, failing to win any frames against Sakchai Sim Ngam. James Giannaros, Jim Rempe and Wayne Sanderson all withdrew from the competition.
In the second qualifying round, the Scottish Professional Championship winner Stephen Hendry made a break of 141 in his victory over Paddy Browne; this was the highest break in qualifying for which Hendry earned a prize of ã1,750. He had led 8âÂÂ3 and 9âÂÂ8 before winning the match 10âÂÂ9. Level at 8âÂÂ8 against Bob Chaperon, Frank Jonik conceded the next frame when 22 points behind, despite the to stotalling 22 points, enough for him to draw the gamestill being on the table. He then conceded the 18th frame while 53 points behind with six reds still remaining, meaning that up to 75 points were available without , and lost the match 8âÂÂ10. Jimmy van Rensberg beat Ian Williamson on the final black in the of their contest, clearing to brown to win the frame 42âÂÂ41. On the way to his second-round qualifying match, Steve Newbury was involved in a traffic collision which injured his wife and wrecked his car; despite the accident, Newbury beat Omprakesh Agrawal 10âÂÂ5. There was one whitewash in the second round, Ray Edmonds beating Billy Kelly 10âÂÂ0.
Hendry made breaks of 117 and 91 in his 10âÂÂ8 third-round defeat of Wayne Jones, during which Jones had recovered from 3âÂÂ7 behind to level at 8âÂÂ8. Les Dodd lost only one frame against former World Snooker Championship promoter Mike Watterson, and Peter Francisco defeated Fred Davis, a former billiards and snooker world champion, by the same margin. Robby Foldvari, who had won the 1986 WPBSA World Billiards Championship the previous month, defeated the 1974 World Snooker Championship runner-up Graham Miles 10âÂÂ7. John Spencer qualified to meet another former champion, Alex Higgins, at the main stage of the competition by beating Newbury 10âÂÂ7 in the final qualifying round. Hendry became the youngest-ever qualifier for the Crucible stages at the time, by defeating Dene O'Kane 10âÂÂ9, after having led 6âÂÂ3. O'Kane was one of three top-32 seeds to be knocked out in the fourth round, the other two being Mark Wildman and Murdo MacLeod; Wildman lost 9âÂÂ10, after establishing a 9âÂÂ6 lead against Edmonds, while MacLeod was defeated 6âÂÂ10 by Danny Fowler.
The first round took place between 19 and 24 April, each match played over two sessions as the best of 19 frames. Defending champion Dennis Taylor, looking "jaded" according to Clive Everton, lost the first seven frames of his match against Mike Hallett, who ended the first session 8âÂÂ1 ahead. Taylor won five more frames, but lost the match 6âÂÂ10. Like John Spencer in 1978, Terry Griffiths in 1980, Cliff Thorburn in 1981, and Steve Davis in 1982, Taylor was unable to retain his first world title; this inability of a first-time champion to defend their title has become known as the "Crucible curse". Second seed Steve Davis beat Ray Edmonds 10âÂÂ4. Third seed Thorburn beat Bill Werbeniuk 10âÂÂ5, whilst fourth seed Tony Knowles won a close match against Neal Foulds 10âÂÂ9.
The 16th seed Joe Johnson defeated Dave Martin 10âÂÂ3 in the first round, his first win in three appearances at the World Championship. Jimmy White compiled a 121 break in the final frame of his 10âÂÂ7 victory over John Virgo. Three-time world champion Spencer made his final appearance at the tournament, losing 7âÂÂ10 to Alex Higgins in the first round. Future seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry made his Crucible debut, losing 8âÂÂ10 to Willie Thorne in the first round. Aged 17 years and 3 months, Hendry was the youngest player ever to compete at the World Snooker Championship. Another debutant in 1986 was Danny Fowler, who lost 2âÂÂ10 to Terry Griffiths. Six-time world champion Ray Reardon was knocked out 8âÂÂ10 by John Campbell.
In the other first-round matches, Doug Mountjoy beat Perrie Mans 10âÂÂ3, qualifier John Parrott beat Tony Meo 10âÂÂ4, Kirk Stevens beat Dean Reynolds 10âÂÂ6, Silvino Francisco beat Rex Williams 10âÂÂ4, Eugene Hughes beat David Taylor 10âÂÂ7, and Eddie Charlton beat Cliff Wilson 10âÂÂ6.
The second round, which took place between 24 and 28 April, was played as best-of-25-frames matches spread over three sessions. Steve Davis and Doug Mountjoy, who had contested the 1981 final, ended their first session tied at 4âÂÂ4, and their second with Davis leading 11âÂÂ5. Mountjoy did not pot a ball in the final session as Davis completed a 13âÂÂ5 victory. Alex Higgins missed a black ball from its spot that would have put him 6âÂÂ2 ahead of Terry Griffiths at the end of their first session, but the frame went to Griffiths, leaving Higgins just 5âÂÂ3 ahead. Griffiths had the better of their second session, and made a break of 110 to level at 6âÂÂ6. Whilst the next two frames were shared, Griffiths a to win frame 15 and then went 9âÂÂ7 ahead at the end of their second session. The match went to a deciding frame, with Griffiths eventually winning 13âÂÂ12. The match between Kirk Stevens and Eddie Charlton also finished with a deciding frame, Stevens winning the last three frames from 10 to 12 behind, to prevail 13âÂÂ12.
Joe Johnson led Mike Hallett 5âÂÂ3 after their first session, on his way to completing a 13âÂÂ6 win, making a break of 110 in frame 13. John Parrott and Jimmy White were level at 4âÂÂ4 and 6âÂÂ6, before White won a run of four frames to lead 10âÂÂ6 after the second session. White then won three of the next five frames to win the match 13âÂÂ8. Willie Thorne beat the Australian Professional Championship winner John Campbell 13âÂÂ9. In the other second-round matches, Tony Knowles beat Silvino Francisco 13âÂÂ10, and Cliff Thorburn beat Eugene Hughes 13âÂÂ6.
The quarter-finals were played as best-of-25-frames matches over three sessions on 29 and 30 April. Joe Johnson led Terry Griffiths 9âÂÂ7 at the end of the first day of their match. On resumption of play, Griffiths won five frames in a row to come within one frame of winning the match at 12âÂÂ9. Despite his three-frame deficit, Johnson took the next four frames, making two century breaks on the way to a 13âÂÂ12 victory. Steve Davis played Jimmy White in what was effectively a rematch of the 1984 World Snooker Championship final. Davis made a break of 134 in the opening frame and played consistently well in securing a 13âÂÂ5 victory, White having missed a number of relatively simple pots.
Cliff Thorburn played Willie Thorne and won 13âÂÂ6. The match report in The Times stated that Thorne "was never allowed to play his usual fluent game." Thorburn took a 9âÂÂ3 lead, and finished the second session 11âÂÂ5 ahead. During the match, his wife Barbara gave birth to their second child in the couple's native Canada. Tony Knowles played Kirk Stevens in the fourth quarter-final. The pair were level at 4âÂÂ4 after the first session, and then again at 8âÂÂ8 after the second. At the beginning of the final session, Knowles won five out of six frames to win the match 13âÂÂ9.
The semi-finals took place between 1 and 3 May as best-of-31-frames matches played over four sessions. The first semi-final was between Tony Knowles and Joe Johnson. Knowles led 1âÂÂ0 and 2âÂÂ1 but ended their first session 3âÂÂ4 behind, having missed middle pocket pots to allow his opponent into both the sixth and seventh frames. According to Sydney Friskin's match report in The Times, Johnson appeared to be relaxed and was potting well as he built a 10âÂÂ5 lead over Knowles by the end of the second session, and finished the third session 14âÂÂ8 ahead. He took the first two frames of the last session to win the match 16âÂÂ8, reaching his first World Championship final. Johnson won the match despite having taken painkillers for a cyst on his back before the start of play.
Steve Davis played Cliff Thorburn in the second semi-final. Leading 3âÂÂ2, Thorburn was on course for a maximum break in the sixth frame but failed on the ninth black, allowing Davis to go on and win the frame and level the match at 3âÂÂ3. Davis won the next three frames to lead 6âÂÂ3, but his lead had dwindled to 8âÂÂ7 by the end of the first day's play. Thorburn pulled ahead 9âÂÂ8 and 10âÂÂ9 in the third session before Davis made his fifth century break of the tournament, a 112, to tie the match at 10âÂÂ10. A missed black from Davis gave Thorburn the opportunity to take the next frame, but Davis won the last of the session to draw level again at 11âÂÂ11. On resumption of play, Davis won five frames against Thorburn's one, compiling a break of 122 in the last frame of the match, to secure a 16âÂÂ12 victory and reach his fifth world final.
The final between Steve Davis and Joe Johnson took place on 4 and 5 May. It was a best-of-35 frames match played over four sessions. The two players had never previously played a professional match against each other. Davis was considered much more likely to win the final, reflected in the bookmakers' odds of 2/9 for Davis and 5/1 for Johnson. Davis took a 3âÂÂ1 lead before the first mid-session interval, having made breaks of 108 and 107. Johnson then took the next three frames to finish the first session 4âÂÂ3 ahead. Davis made a strong start to the second session, winning four frames in succession to put himself 7âÂÂ4 ahead. After the next mid-session interval, Johnson won four consecutive frames, before Davis clinched the last frame to leave the match level at 8âÂÂ8 overnight.
On the second day, Johnson wore an unusual pair of red, pink and white leather shoes. On resuming the match, he won another run of four frames to take him into a 12âÂÂ8 lead, assisted by a fluke on a red ball in the 18th frame. The third session ended with Johnson 13âÂÂ11 ahead. In the final session, the crowd responded in favour of Johnson, who had played with an attacking style throughout the tournament. He won three of the next four frames to lead 16âÂÂ12 before the mid-session interval. Johnson then won frame 29, and secured a break of 64 in frame 30 to win the match 18âÂÂ12. The win helped lift him from 16th place in the 1985âÂÂ1986 professional rankings to eighth for 1986âÂÂ1987.
Davis, being the World Championship runner-up for a second consecutive year, commented to interviewer David Vine "We can't go on meeting like this, David," and Johnson later retorted "I hope that we can still be friends". The popularity of Johnson's win resulted in an appearance on television show Wogan, as well as him accompanying Cliff Richard in a box to watch Wimbledon. This was Johnson's only ranking event win in his career, although he would go on to win two non-ranking tournaments: the 1987 Scottish Masters and the 1989 Norwich Union Grand Prix. The two players again met in the final at the following year's championship to contest the world title for a second time, Davis winning the match 18âÂÂ14. Johnson's attacking style of snooker, notable for his long potting, has been seen as a harbinger of the style that became dominant in the 1990s. The odds on Johnson were 150 to 1 against him winning the 1986 World Championship as he had not won any tournaments in his seven-year career and had never previously won a match at the Crucible. The final attracted an average of 11.3million viewers on BBC1, peaking at 15.6million. A condensed version of the final was showcased on BBC Two on 22 April 2020 in place of the 2020 World Snooker Championship which had been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The numbers in brackets denote player seedings, whilst match winners are denoted in bold. The results for the tournament are shown below:
Four rounds of qualification for the main draw were played at the Guild Hall in Preston, England from 26 March to 6 April 1986. All matches were played as the best of 19 frames. Players in bold denote match winners.
There were 20 century breaks in the main stage of the tournament, the highest amount at the World Snooker Championship until the 1991 event. The highest break was a 134 made by Steve Davis.
There were 12 century breaks compiled in qualifying. The highest break was a 141 made by Stephen Hendry.