1980 World Snooker Championship

1980 World Snooker Championship.
The 1980 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament played from 22 April to 5 May 1980 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The total prize fund was £60,000, of which £15,000 went to the winner. There were 53 entrants to the competition, and the main stage featured 24 players: the 16 top-ranked players and 8 qualifiers. The defending champion Terry Griffiths lost in his first match, to Steve Davis. Cliff Thorburn (pictured) won the final 18–16 against Alex Higgins, the champion in 1972. Both Kirk Stevens and Steve Davis made breaks of 136, the highest of 11 century breaks compiled during the main championship. The tournament was sponsored by the cigarette manufacturer Embassy, and received 70 hours of television coverage by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Coverage of the final was interrupted by a live broadcast of the Iranian Embassy siege, which caused numerous complaints to the broadcaster. The end of the final attracted 14.5 million viewers.