1979 World Snooker Championship

Tournament summary

• Griffiths began the tournament by defeating Bernard Bennett and Jim Meadowcroft in the qualifying rounds. At the Crucible, he defeated Perrie Mans in the first round, followed by a 13–12 victory over Alex Higgins in the quarter-final. In the semi-final he trailed Eddie Charlton by 16–17 before winning 19–17 at 1.40am, the latest finish of any match at the time. Griffiths then beat future champion Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final, to win the world title at his first attempt. He became also the first qualifier to win the title at the Crucible.
• Kirk Stevens and future six-time champion Steve Davis made their Championship debuts, but they lost in the last-16 round: 8–13 to Fred Davis and 11–13 to Dennis Taylor, respectively.
• Aged 65 years and 247 days, Fred Davis became the oldest ever player to win a match at the Crucible. Three days later he also became the oldest player to reach the quarter-finals.
• John Williams refereed the final.

  Prize fund

• Winner: £10,000
• Runner-up: £5,000
• Third place: £3,000
• Fourth place: £2,000
• Quarter-final: £1,250
• Last 16: £1,000
• Highest break: £500
• Maximum break: £10,000
• Total: £35,500

  Main draw

Qualifying

Century breaks

• 142 Bill Werbeniuk
• 125 Cliff Thorburn
• 121, 120, 107, 101 Terry Griffiths
• 112, 105 Alex Higgins
• 112 John Spencer
• 110, 109 Fred Davis
• 106 Eddie Charlton
• 106 Dennis Taylor