The 1981 World Team Classic, sponsored by State Express, was the new name of the team snooker tournament. It moved to the Hexagon Theatre in Reading with seven teams competing as the Irish players were divided. Scotland competed for the first time and lost to the Republic of Ireland in a play-off. The Republic of Ireland reached the round robin stage of the competition. All matches, including the final, were played as a best of six match with a tie break between the captains if the score was 3–3. England won their first match when captain Steve Davis won three of the four matches against Eddie Charlton of Australia. England and Wales played in the final.
John Spencer made the highest break of the tournament with a score of 103.
Main draw Teams and results are listed below.
Teams
Country Player 1 (Captain) Player 2 Player 3 Ray Reardon Terry Griffiths Doug Mountjoy Steve Davis John Spencer David Taylor Alex Higgins Dennis Taylor Tommy Murphy Cliff Thorburn Bill Werbeniuk Kirk Stevens Eddie Charlton Paddy Morgan Ian Anderson Patsy Fagan Dessie Sheehan Eugene Hughes Eddie Sinclair Matt Gibson Ian Black
Qualifying round
Team 1ScoreTeam 2Date Republic of Ireland4–2 Scotland
Group A
Team 1ScoreTeam 2Date England4–3 Australia Northern Ireland4–1 Australia England4–3 Northern Ireland
Group B
Team 1ScoreTeam 2Date Wales4–2 Canada Wales4–0 Republic of Ireland Canada4–2 Republic of Ireland
Semi-finals
Team 1ScoreTeam 2Date England4–2 Canada Wales4–3 Northern Ireland
Final
Final: Best of 7 matches.Hexagon Theatre, Reading, England. 1 November 1981. Steve Davis, John Spencer, David Taylor 4–3 Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy Spencer v Reardon: 37–63, 91–45, 54–66 Davis v Mountjoy: 87 (60)–45, 100–14 Taylor v Griffiths: 77–48, 33–72 (53), 64–71 (50) Spencer v Griffiths: 75–63, 7–114, 105–0 Taylor v Mountjoy: 30–77, 34–94 Davis v Reardon: 80–32, 59–11, Play off: 69–52 103 (Spencer) Highest break 63 (Mountjoy) 1 Century breaks 0 3 50+ breaks 4
References