By Elliott West
Introduction
Organised by Barry Hearn’s Matchroom and using eight players from his stable, the Matchroom Professional Championship ran between 1986-1988. All three events were held at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-On-Sea and this was a non-ranking event with £50,000 going to the winner. The first tournament in 1986 was won by Willie Thorne. He beat Steve Davis in the final 10-9 and reached the final the next year, losing to Dennis Taylor 10-3. The final event in 1987 was won by Davis, defeating Taylor 10-7.
For the purpose of this piece, I wish to concentrate on the 1986 tournament and look at the performance of the eight players that took part this year. An event that was highly relaxed off the table but highly competitive on it.
First Round
Terry Griffiths beat Tony Meo 6-3
A black ball win with a 61 clearance made the difference between 4-4 and 5-3 to Griffiths before the Welshman clinched victory with a closely contested ninth frame.
Willie Thorne beat Neal Foulds 6-3
A 137 total clearance which gave Thorne a 4-2 lead proved the highlight of the match. With pockets more sympathetically than is usual in WPBSA tournaments, the table suited Thorne’s style in that it made his breakbuilding more formidable. He illustrated this by polishing off the match with contributions of 68, 43 and 66 when leading 4-3.
Semi-Finals
Steve Davis beat Terry Griffiths 6-2
“I was very lucky to win the first four frames” said Griffiths wryly. “I was the only spectator who hadn’t paid to get in”.
Terry Griffiths
Trailing 0-4 at the interval and having only potted two balls, Griffiths made it 2-4 and could possibly have narrowed the gap to a single frame but from 5-2 Davis concluded the proceedings with a break of 76.
Willie Thorne beat Dennis Taylor 6-5
With never more than a frame in it throughout, this match could have gone either way. Taylor held the initiative in the decider but failed to open the pack advantageously when a good split might have enabled him to make a decisive break. He was still 40 in front with the pink and black safe but Thorne came back at him and eventually got home on the final pink.
The Final
Willie Thorne beat Steve Davis 10-9
Thorne, who had beaten Davis on his way to taking the first prize in the Camus Hong Kong Masters, the last occasion in which they had met, led 7-5 but failed to get position on the black to carry his 56 break into the winning clearance he needed for 8-5.
His safety shot went awry; Davis potted the black for 6-7 and took the next three frames to play at 9-7.
Davis’s best match-clinching chance came in the following frame but he missed a black to allow Thorne to make 32. Although Thorne missed the pink at his first attempt, he potted both pink and black next visit.
With errors now creeping into Davis’s game and the spectre of losing from a winning position-as he traumatically had in the past -starting to crystallise. Davis seemed to have nothing left for the last two frames and Thorne won them securely to win his biggest ever cheque.
Summary
In what was supposed to be a floor show for Barry Hearn’s players, this tournament weeded out the best of the eight players that entered and brought together the two best in the final. In 1986, both Davis and Thorne were at the top of their form and Willie’s victory not only produced his biggest pay out to that date but also showed what a battler and fluent player he was. Thorne won on merit and edged out Steve in a tight final.
