World Snooker Championship 1973
Encyclopedia
The 1973 Park Drive
World Snooker Championship snooker
tournament took place at the City Exhibition Hall, Deansgate
, Manchester
between 16–28 April 1973.
Ray Reardon
won in the final 38–22 against Eddie Charlton
.
Park Drive
Park Drive is a cricket ground in Hartlepool, England. Although the ground used to host two or three Durham 1st XI matches each season between 1992 and 1997, the ground has not been used since for county matches....
World Snooker Championship snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
tournament took place at the City Exhibition Hall, Deansgate
Deansgate
Deansgate is a main road through the city centre of Manchester, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile long....
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
between 16–28 April 1973.
Ray Reardon
Ray Reardon
Ray Reardon, MBE is a retired Welsh snooker player. He dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning six World Championships in that decade...
won in the final 38–22 against Eddie Charlton
Eddie Charlton
Edward Francis Charlton AM was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning either title...
.
Notable moments
- The competition was scheduled to take a fortnight, rather than the months it had taken to complete previous championships. There was also a new sponsor, Park Drive, makers of Gallaher cigarettes.
- Cliff ThorburnCliff ThorburnClifford Charles Devlin Thorburn CM, known as Cliff Thorburn is a retired professional Canadian snooker player...
and Dennis TaylorDennis TaylorDennis Taylor is a retired snooker player, and current BBC snooker commentator. Winner of two ranking events, he is best known for winning the 1985 World Championship, beating World number one Steve Davis on the final black in one of the sport's most memorable finals...
made their débuts this year; both would later become world champions. They played each other in the first round and Thorburn won 9-8. - Defending champion Alex HigginsAlex HigginsAlexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins , also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play...
beat Fred Davis in a memorable quarter-final 16-14, which is perhaps best remembered for a rain interruption. Granada television sent a camera along to cover this unusual occurrence, and this brought referee John WilliamsJohn Williams (snooker referee)John Williams is a retired Welsh snooker referee. He presided over eleven World Championship finals, including the 1985 final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis.-Early life:...
fame. - Ray ReardonRay ReardonRay Reardon, MBE is a retired Welsh snooker player. He dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning six World Championships in that decade...
staged a remarkable recovery when, having trailed John SpencerJohn Spencer (snooker player)John Spencer was an English professional snooker player who won the World Professional title at his first attempt, was the first winner at the Crucible Theatre, was the inaugural winner of the Masters and Irish Masters and was the first player to make a 147 break in competition...
12-19, he won their semi-final 23-22. Reardon lost the first session of the final against Eddie CharltonEddie CharltonEdward Francis Charlton AM was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning either title...
0-7, but went on to win 38-32. For the first time some frames of the final were televised, by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. - The total prize money for this years event was £8,000, with the winner picking £1,500 up.