1986 Classic (snooker)

The 1986 Mercantile Credit Classic was the seventh edition of the professional snooker tournament.^[2] The tournament was played at the Spectrum Arena, Warrington, Cheshire, and was televised on ITV from the last 16 round which started on 3 January 1986.^[3]

1986 Classic

Tournament information
Dates	3–12 January 1986 (1986-01-03 – 1986-01-12)
Venue	Spectrum Arena
City	Warrington
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£225,000
Winner's share	£45,000
Highest break	Jimmy White (ENG) (117x2)[1]
Final
Champion	Jimmy White (ENG)
Runner-up	Cliff Thorburn (CAN)
Score	13–12
← 1985 1987 →

The earlier rounds (Pre last 16) were played between 8–13 November 1985. Defending champion Willie Thorne lost at the last-64 stage to Tony Jones 3–5.^[2]

Cliff Thorburn beat Doug Mountjoy 9–6 in the first semi-final. Thorburn led 5–2 after the first session and then 7–3 before Mountjoy won two frames in a row. Thorburn won the match in the 15th frame with a break of 72.^[4] Jimmy White beat Rex Williams 9–7 in the second semi-final, Williams having led 6–5.^[5]

Jimmy White won his first ranking event beating Cliff Thorburn 13–12 in the final, winning on the final black ball. White had been 7–8 behind at the end of the first day's play in the final, including a one frame penalty for arriving two minutes late for the start of the Saturday evening session.^[6][7]

The tournament had a prize fund of £225,000, with the winner receiving £45,000.^[1]

Main draw

Results are shown below.^[2][8]

	Last 16 Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 17 frames					Final Best of 25 frames
		Bill Werbeniuk (CAN)	3
	15	Doug Mountjoy (WAL)	5
						15	Doug Mountjoy	5
							Neal Foulds	3
		Neal Foulds (ENG)	5
		John Campbell (AUS)	1
											15	Doug Mountjoy	6
											4	Cliff Thorburn	9
		Eugene Hughes (IRL)	1
	16	Joe Johnson (ENG)	5
						16	Joe Johnson	4
						4	Cliff Thorburn	5
	11	Tony Meo (ENG)	1
	4	Cliff Thorburn (CAN)	5
																4	Cliff Thorburn	12
																8	Jimmy White	13
	3	Steve Davis (ENG)	5
		Peter Francisco (RSA)	0
						3	Steve Davis	2
						8	Jimmy White	5
		Marcel Gauvreau (CAN)	2
	8	Jimmy White (ENG)	5
											8	Jimmy White	9
												Rex Williams	7
	5	Tony Knowles (ENG)	2
		Rex Williams (ENG)	5
							Rex Williams	5
						10	Alex Higgins	2
	10	Alex Higgins (NIR)	5
	2	Dennis Taylor (NIR)	4

Final

Final: Best of 25 frames.. Spectrum Arena, Warrington, England, 11 & 12 January 1986.[1]
Jimmy White  England	13–12	Cliff Thorburn  Canada
First session: 78–44, 107–24 (67), 70–52 (Thorburn 52), 62–43, 23–59, 39–67, 18–63 (54) Second session: 0–1 (forfeit), 8–72, 44–66, 84–8 (69), 18–111 (107), 0–80 (60), 71–11, 71–16 (63) Third session: 22–97 (87), 80–14 (56), 82–19, 75–30, 117–14 (117), 59–64 (White 53), 47–54, 70–58, 41–70, 57–55
117	Highest break	107
1	Century breaks	1
6	50+ breaks	5

Qualifying

Qualifying took place in November 1985. The leading 32 players started at the last 64 stage. Results are shown below.^[9][10]

	Last 64 Best of 9 frames				Last 32 Best of 9 frames
	Willie Thorne (ENG)	3
	Tony Jones (ENG)	5
					Tony Jones	3
					Bill Werbeniuk	5
	Bill Werbeniuk (CAN)	5
	Geoff Foulds (ENG)	3
	Doug Mountjoy (WAL)	5
	Warren King (AUS)	4
					Doug Mountjoy	5
					Dene O'Kane	3
	Dene O'Kane (NZL)	5
	Paul Medati (ENG)	0
	Silvino Francisco (RSA)	4
	Stephen Hendry (SCO)	5
					Stephen Hendry	4
					Neal Foulds	5
	Neal Foulds (ENG)	5
	Malcolm Bradley (ENG)	3
	Ray Reardon (WAL)	3
	Bernie Mikkelsen (CAN)	5
					Bernie Mikkelsen	2
					John Campbell	5
	John Campbell (AUS)	5
	Jim Donnelly (SCO)	2
	Kirk Stevens (CAN)	2
	Fred Davis (ENG)	5
					Fred Davis	3
					Eugene Hughes	5
	Eugene Hughes (IRL)	5
	Jim Wych (CAN)	2
	Joe Johnson (ENG)	5
	Bob Harris (ENG)	4
					Joe Johnson	5
					Perrie Mans	2
	Perrie Mans (RSA)	5
	Martin Smith (ENG)	4
	Tony Meo (ENG)	5
	Joe O'Boye (NIR)	3
					Tony Meo	5
					Barry West	1
	Mark Wildman (ENG)	2
	Barry West (ENG)	5
	Cliff Thorburn (CAN)	5
	Jack McLaughlin (NIR)	1
					Cliff Thorburn	5
					Mike Hallett	3
	Mike Hallett (ENG)	5
	John Rea (SCO)	2

	Last 64 Best of 9 frames				Last 32 Best of 9 frames
	Steve Davis (ENG)	5
	Bob Chaperon (CAN)	1
					Steve Davis	5
					Jimmy van Rensberg	1
	John Parrott (ENG)	3
	Jimmy van Rensberg (RSA)	5
	Eddie Charlton (AUS)	1
	Peter Francisco (RSA)	5
					Peter Francisco	5
					Dave Martin	2
	Dave Martin (ENG)	5
	Tommy Murphy (NIR)	0
	David Taylor (ENG)	3
	Marcel Gauvreau (CAN)	5
					Marcel Gauvreau	5
					Paddy Browne	3
	Cliff Wilson (WAL)	3
	Paddy Browne (IRL)	5
	Jimmy White (ENG)	5
	Danny Fowler (ENG)	1
					Jimmy White	5
					John Virgo	2
	John Virgo (ENG)	5
	Matt Gibson (SCO)	3
	Tony Knowles (ENG)	5
	Gino Rigitano (CAN)	4
					Tony Knowles	5
					Murdo MacLeod	4
	Murdo MacLeod (SCO)	5
	Eddie Sinclair (SCO)	2
	Terry Griffiths (WAL)	3
	Vic Harris (ENG)	5
					Vic Harris	1
					Rex Williams	5
	Rex Williams (ENG)	5
	Mike Watterson (ENG)	0
	Alex Higgins (NIR)	5
	Mick Fisher (ENG)	0
					Alex Higgins	5
					Graham Cripsey	2
	John Spencer (ENG)	1
	Graham Cripsey (ENG)	5
	Dennis Taylor (NIR)	5
	Jack Fitzmaurice (ENG)	1
					Dennis Taylor	5
					Dean Reynolds	4
	Dean Reynolds (ENG)	5
	Pat Houlihan (ENG)	1

Century breaks

A total of nine century breaks were made during the event. White received £1,125 for making the highest break of the pre-televised stage, 135.^[10][1]

• 135, 117, 117 – Jimmy White
• 109, 107, 103 – Doug Mountjoy
• 107 – Cliff Thorburn
• 102 – Neal Foulds
• 101 – Martin Smith