1976 World Snooker Championship

Embassy World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	–23 April 1976
Venue	Middlesbrough Town Hall Wythenshawe Forum
City	Middlesbrough Manchester
Country	England
Organisation(s)	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£15,300
Winner's share	£6,000[1]
Highest break	John Spencer (138)
Final
Champion	Ray Reardon
Runner-up	Alex Higgins
Score	27–16
← 1975 1977 →

The 1976 World Snooker Championship (also known as the 1976 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship purposes) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at two venues.^[2] This was the first world championship to be sponsored by Embassy; their sponsorship lasted for the next 30 years.^[1] Ray Reardon won in the final 27–16 against Alex Higgins.

Tournament detail

The leading 14 players in the Order of Merit received automatic entry to the final stages and were joined by two winners from the qualifying competition. The leading 8 in the Order of Merit were seeded.

The Middlesbrough Town Hall in Middlesbrough staged the top half of the draw and the Wythenshawe Forum, Manchester staged the bottom half and the final. The final was held over 4 days from 20 to 23 April. Ray Reardon led Alex Higgins 8–5 after the first day and extended his lead to 15–11 after the second day. He won 9 frames on the third day to lead 24–15 and won 3 of the first 4 frames on the final day to win the championship 27–16.^[3]

The highest break of the tournament was 138 made by John Spencer in his match against David Taylor.^[4] Earlier in the week Eddie Charlton had compiled a break of 137; however, it did not count as a record because the table was not up to standard.^[5]

Main draw

Numbers in (parentheses) indicate seeding.

Sources:^[2][6][7][8]

	Last 16 Best of 29 frames				Quarter-finals Best of 29 frames				Semi-finals Best of 39 frames				Final Best of 53 frames
	Ray Reardon (1)	15
	John Dunning	7
					Ray Reardon (1)	15
					Dennis Taylor	2
	Gary Owen (8)	9
	Dennis Taylor	15
									Ray Reardon (1)	20
									Perrie Mans	10
	Graham Miles (5)	10
	Perrie Mans	15
					Perrie Mans	15
					Jim Meadowcroft	8
	Rex Williams (4)	7
	Jim Meadowcroft	15
													Ray Reardon (1)	27
													Alex Higgins (3)	16
	Alex Higgins (3)	15
	Cliff Thorburn	14
					Alex Higgins (3)	15
					John Spencer (6)	14
	John Spencer (6)	15
	David Taylor	5
									Alex Higgins (3)	20
									Eddie Charlton (2)	18
	Fred Davis (7)	15
	Bill Werbeniuk	12
					Fred Davis (7)	13
					Eddie Charlton (2)	15
	Eddie Charlton (2)	15
	John Pulman	9

Qualifying

^[2]

Round 1 (Best of 15 frames) Jim Meadowcroft 8–1 Dennis Wheelwright Ron Gross 8–5 Maurice Parkin Lou Condo 8–6 Marcus Owen David Greaves 8–5 Jim Charlton Jackie Rea 8–5 Ian Anderson

Round 2 (Best of 15 frames) Jim Meadowcroft 8–4 Ron Gross Willie Thorne 8–3 Lou Condo David Taylor 8–1 David Greaves Jackie Rea 8–5 Bernard Bennett Round 3 (Best of 15 frames)[9] Jim Meadowcroft 8–5 Willie Thorne David Taylor 8–7 Jackie Rea

References

1. Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
2. "World Championship 1976". Global Snooker. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
3. "Reardon a class above rest". The Times. 24 April 1976. p. 15.
4. Eric, Hayton (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. London: Rose Villa Publications. p. 11. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
5. "Snooker record". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 April 1976. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
6. "1976 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
7. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
8. "1976 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
9. Snooker Scene, May 1976, page 5