The 1984 Pot Black was the sixteenth edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place between 28 and 30 December 1983 but was broadcast in early 1984. The tournament was held at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham. For the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1969, the championship was reverted to a knockout format and players risen from 8 to 16. This change was made at the request of the players, who asked for a competition, in which more of them could take part. All matches until the final were one-frame shoot-outs, the final being contested over the best of three frames.
Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Wednesday 4 January 1984 Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and John Williams as referee.
With the tournament now risen to 16 players, there were Pot Black debuts for Tony Meo, Silvino Francisco and Mark Wildman and original series player John Spencer played for the first time since 1980. Terry Griffiths who also last played in 1980 won the event, his ninth professional title, beating Spencer 2–1 in the final.
Main draw
Match dates of transmission
Player 1Player 2Broadcast Date John Spencer Alex Higgins4 January 1984 Willie Thorne Tony Knowles11 January 1984 Jimmy White David Taylor18 January 1984 Terry Griffiths Doug Mountjoy 25 January 1984 Eddie Charlton Tony Meo 1 February 1984 Dennis Taylor Kirk Stevens 8 February 1984 Steve Davis Mark Wildman 15 February 1984 Silvino Francisco Ray Reardon 22 February 1984 John Spencer Eddie Charlton 29 February 1984 Willie Thorne Dennis Taylor 7 March 1984 Jimmy White Steve Davis 14 March 1984 Terry Griffiths Silvino Francisco 21 March 1984 John Spencer Jimmy White28 March 1984 Terry Griffiths Willie Thorne 4 April 1984 Terry Griffiths John Spencer11 April 1984
Final Final: Best of 3 frames.Pebble Mill Studios, Birmingham, England, 30 December 1983 (Broadcast 11 April 1984). Terry Griffiths 2–1 John Spencer
References