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| Tolly Cobbold Classic |
| Invitation Event |
Brief History of the Tolly Cobbold Classic
Suffolk brewers, Tolly
Cobbold began a four man snooker tournament at the Ipswich Corn Exchange in
1978 and then, with local television coverage by Anglia TV, they began the Classic
in 1979. The event continued in February each year until 1984.
The original format was for eight of the
top professionals to play in two round robin groups with the two group winners
contesting a best-of-nine final. Alex Higgins beat Ray Reardon in the first
event which carried a prize of £600 to the winner.
Higgins retained his title in 1980 when
there were just four players but the first prize had jumped to £1,500. The top
two from the round robin went into the final. It was back to an eight-man
two-group format in 1981 when Graham Miles was the surprise winner, collecting
a cheque for £2,000/
For 1982, still with eight
players, a straight knockout system was adopted and there began a sequence of
three successive wins for Steve Davis with Dennis Taylor, Terry Griffiths and
Tony Knowles respectively taking the runner-up prize. By that 1984 final, the
winner’s cheque had risen to £7,000 but that was to be the last running of the
event. The sponsors in stead gave their backing to the revived English Professional Championship which was also staged
at the Corn Exchange.
Roll Of Honour
| Year |
Venue |
Sponsor |
Winner
|
Runner Up |
Score |
1st Prize |
| 1979 |
Corn Exchange, Ipswich |
Tolly Cobbold |
Alex Higgins |
Ray Reardon |
5-4 |
£600 |
| 1980 |
Corn Exchange, Ipswich |
Tolly Cobbold |
Alex Higgins |
Dennis Taylor |
5-4 |
£1,500 |
| 1981 |
Corn Exchange, Ipswich |
Tolly Cobbold |
Graham Miles |
Cliff Thorburn |
5-1 |
£2,000 |
| 1982 |
Corn Exchange, Ipswich |
Tolly Cobbold |
Steve Davis |
Dennis Taylor |
8-3 |
£2,000 |
| 1983 |
Corn Exchange, Ipswich |
Tolly Cobbold |
Steve Davis |
Terry Griffiths |
7-5 |
£5,000 |
| 1984 |
Corn Exchange, Ipswich |
Tolly Cobbold |
Steve Davis |
Tony Knowles |
8-28 |
£7,000 |
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