The 1980/81 season had a total of 63 players. To be listed in my rankings, players must be “active”, which I define as having either played at least 10 matches, or having reached the semi-finals of the World Championships. However, all players are included when calculating the player ratings.
There were 19 active players, and their final ratings based solely on their performances in this season were as follows:
The best player was Steve Davis. He started the season relatively poorly, losing 9-2 to Terry Griffiths in the quarter final of the 1980 Canadian Open in August, then failing to win his group in the 1980 Champion Of Champions in October. His first tournament win of the season, and of his professional career, came in the 1980 UK Championship, where he beat Tony Meo 9-5, Terry Griffiths 9-0 and Alex Higgins 16-6 to win the November event. He followed up on this in the following month by winning the 1980 Classic, with wins over Cliff Thorburn, David Taylor and Dennis Taylor.
A bad spell followed. He was out of luck in the single-frame 1981 Pot Black event, losing all his matches, and lost 5-3 to Perrie Mans in the first round of the Masters. He did not participate in the 1981 Tolly Cobbold Classic, and lost 4-2 to Ray Reardon in the Quarter Final of the 1981 Irish Masters.
In March, Davis found his form, winning the 1981 Yamaha Organs Trophy and the 1981 English Professional Championship in quick succession. He carried this good form into April, and went into the World Championships as the favourite with the bookies, despite being seeded 13th.
In Sheffield, he met Jimmy White in the first round, winning 10-8. He met Alex Higgins in the second round, winning 13-8. In the quarter final he played Terry Griffiths, winning 13-9. The semi final was against the reigning champion and number 1 seed Cliff Thorburn. In a bad tempered match, during which Thorburn took umbrage at Davis’ offered handshake when 57 ahead with the pink and black still remaining, David emerged victorious 16-10. The final was against Doug Mountjoy, also in his first World Final. David took an early lead, and stayed ahead throughout, emerging as World Champion with an 18-12 victory.
A first round loss to Terry Griffiths in the 1981 Pontins Professional was of little importance after the win at the Crucible, and he finished the season as the #1 player in the world, with a rating of 1212.
8 Yards 8 Feet 