1981 World Team Classic

{{Infobox individual snooker tournament

|tournament_name=[[World Cup (snooker)|State Express

World Team Classic]]

|dates={{Start and end dates|1981|10|24|1981|11|1|df=y}}

|venue=Hexagon Theatre

|location=Reading

|country=England

|organisation=

|format=Non-ranking event

|Total prize fund=£40,000

|winners_share=£12,000

|highest_break={{flagathlete|Terry Griffiths|WAL}}, 127

|winner={{flagicon|ENG}} England

|runner_up={{flagicon|WAL}} Wales

|score=4–3 (matches)

|previous=1980

|next=1982

}}

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.

__TOC__

{{clear}}

Main draw

Teams and results are listed below.{{cite magazine |title=World Team Classic |work=Snooker Scene |date=December 1981 |pages=5–11}}

=Teams=

class="wikitable"
CountryPlayer 1 (Captain)Player 2Player 3
bgcolor=

| align="center"|{{WAL}}

Ray ReardonTerry GriffithsDoug Mountjoy
bgcolor=

| align="center"|{{ENG}}

Steve DavisJohn SpencerDavid Taylor
bgcolor=

| align="center"|{{NIR}}

Alex HigginsDennis TaylorTommy Murphy
bgcolor=

| align="center"|{{CAN}}

Cliff ThorburnBill WerbeniukKirk Stevens
bgcolor=

| align="center"|{{AUS}}

Eddie CharltonPaddy MorganIan Anderson
bgcolor=

| align="center"|{{IRL}}

Patsy FaganDessie SheehanEugene Hughes
bgcolor=

| align="center"|{{SCO}}

Eddie SinclairMatt GibsonIan Black

=Qualifying round=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
Team 1

!Score

!Team 2

!Date

{{flagicon|IRL}} Republic of Ireland4–2{{flagicon|SCO}} Scotland

=Group A=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
Team 1

!Score

!Team 2

!Date

{{flagicon|ENG}} England4–3{{flagicon|AUS}} Australia
{{flagicon|NIR}} Northern Ireland4–1{{flagicon|AUS}} Australia
{{flagicon|ENG}} England4–3{{flagicon|NIR}} Northern Ireland

=Group B=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
Team 1

!Score

!Team 2

!Date

{{flagicon|WAL}} Wales4–2{{flagicon|CAN}} Canada
{{flagicon|WAL}} Wales4–0{{flagicon|IRL}} Republic of Ireland
{{flagicon|CAN}} Canada4–2{{flagicon|IRL}} Republic of Ireland

=Semi-finals=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
Team 1

!Score

!Team 2

!Date

{{flagicon|ENG}} England4–2{{flagicon|CAN}} Canada
{{flagicon|WAL}} Wales4–3{{flagicon|NIR}} Northern Ireland

Final

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
colspan="3" align="center" bgcolor="#ffd700" | Final: Best of 7 matches.
Hexagon Theatre, Reading, England. 1 November 1981.
width="200" align="right" | {{ENG}}
Steve Davis, John Spencer, David Taylor

| width="100" align="center" | 4–3

|width="200" | {{WAL}}
Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy

colspan="3" align="center" style="font-size: 100%" | 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
align="right" | 103 (Spencer)

| align="center" | Highest break

| align="left" | 63 (Mountjoy)

align="right" | 1

| align="center" | Century breaks

| align="left" | 0

align="right" | 3

| align="center" | 50+ breaks

| align="left" | 4

References

{{reflist}}

{{World Cup (snooker)}}

{{Snooker season 1981/1982}}

Category:World Cup (snooker)

World Team Classic

World Team Classic

World Team Classic