Snooker world rankings 1984/1985

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the governing body for professional snooker, first introduced a ranking system for professional players in 1976, with the aim of seeding players for the World Snooker Championship. The reigning champion would be automatically seeded first, the losing finalist from the previous year seeded second, and the other seedings based on the ranking list. Initially the rankings were based on performances in the preceding three world championships, with five points for the winner, four for the runner-up, three for losing semi-finalists, two for losing quarter-finalists, and on for losers in the last 16 round. Following the 1982 World Snooker Championship, the Jameson International and the Professional Players Tournament which were open to all members of the WPBSA. These events carried points as per the previous system. Points for World Championship finishes were now worth double the previous tariff, with ten points for the winner, eight for the runner up, and so on. In the 1983–84 snooker season, the Lada Classic was added as a ranking tournament, and "merit points" were introduced. Merit points were awarded to players who were required to compete in qualifying rounds of ranking tournaments who reached the last 32, with a full merit point awarded if this was achieved in the world championship, and half a merit point otherwise.[1]:107[2] No points were awarded to a player who did not win any matches in a given tournament: for example, a top 16 player seeded into the last 32 of the world championship would not win any merit points if they lost their first match.[3]

The tournaments that counted towards the 1984/1985 rankings were those which were open to all professional players over three seasons. These tournaments were the Jameson International Open 1982 and 1983, the Professional Players Tournament 1982 and 1983, the 1984 Lada Classic, and the 1982, 1983 and 1984 Embassy World Championships. Steve Davis was ranked first with 32 points, some way ahead of Tony Knowles in second place with 21, Cliff Thorburn (3rd, with 20) and Kirk Stevens (4th, with 19). John Virgo, who did not win any ranking points in the 1983–1984 season was the only player to lose their place in the top 16 from the previous year. Willie Thorne joined the top 16.[3] The Coral Open and Dulux British Open were added for to the ranking list with effect from the 1984–85 season, which meant that performances in those events were taken into account for the 1985/1986 rankings. In the same season, due to changes in sponsors, the Professional Players Tournament became the Rothmans Grand Prix, and the Lada Classic became the Mercantile Credit Classic.[1]

The world rankings for the 61 professional snooker players in the 1984–85 season are listed below.

Points Tariff
World ChampionshipOther Ranking Tournaments
Champion105
Runner-up84
Losing semi-finalist63
Losing Quarter-finalist42
Last 16 Loser21
Last 32 Loser1 merit point0.5 merit point

Rankings
No. 1: Steve Davis
Born (1957-08-22) August 22, 1957
Sport country England
Professional1978–2014
Highest ranking1
No. 2: Tony Knowles
Born (1955-06-13) June 13, 1955
Sport country England
Professional1980–1997
Highest ranking2
No. 3: Cliff Thorburn
Born (1948-01-16) January 16, 1948
Sport country Canada
Professional1972–1996
Highest ranking1
No.[4][5][6] Name Nationality
1 Steve Davis  England
2 Tony Knowles  England
3 Cliff Thorburn  Canada
4 Kirk Stevens  Canada
5 Ray Reardon  Wales
6 Eddie Charlton  Australia
7 Jimmy White  England
8 Terry Griffiths  Wales
9 Alex Higgins  Northern Ireland
10 Tony Meo  England
11 Dennis Taylor  Northern Ireland
12 Willie Thorne  England
13 John Spencer  England
14 Bill Werbeniuk  Canada
15 Doug Mountjoy  Wales
16 David Taylor  England
17 Silvino Francisco  South Africa
18 John Virgo  England
19 Joe Johnson  England
20 John Parrott  England
21 Mark Wildman  England
22 Dean Reynolds  England
23 Cliff Wilson  Wales
24 Perrie Mans  South Africa
25 Mike Hallett  England
26 Dave Martin  England
27 Eugene Hughes  Ireland
28 John Campbell  Australia
29 Murdo MacLeod  Scotland
30 Neal Foulds  England
31 Rex Williams  England
32 Graham Miles  England
33 Eddie Sinclair  Scotland
34 Mike Watterson  England
35 Mario Morra  Canada
36 Jim Donnelly  Scotland
37 George Scott  England
38 Patsy Fagan  Ireland
39 Colin Roscoe  Wales
40 Jim Meadowcroft  England
41 Jim Wych  Canada
42 Mick Fisher  England
43 Les Dodd  England
44 Jack Fitzmaurice  England
45 Marcel Gauvreau  Canada
46 Fred Davis  England
47 Roy Andrewartha  Wales
48 Warren King  Australia
49 Paul Mifsud  Malta
50 Ray Edmonds  England
51 Ian Black  Scotland
52 John Dunning  England
53 John Bear  Canada
54 Eddie McLaughlin  Scotland
55 Tommy Murphy  Northern Ireland
56 Frank Jonik  Canada
57 Steve Duggan  England
58 Paddy Morgan  Australia
59 Billy Kelly  Ireland
60 Clive Everton  Wales
61 Jackie Rea  Northern Ireland

References
  1. Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-60055604-6.
  2. Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0851124488.
  3. "How they stand: official world rankings 1985". Snooker Scene. No. June 1984. Everton's News Agency. pp. 18–19.
  4. Turner, Chris. "Historical World Rankings 1975/76 to 1989/90". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  5. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  6. Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. pp. 119–123. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
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