The tournament was promoted by Mike Watterson on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
John Spencer was the defending champion, having won the 1977 event by defeating Cliff Thorburn 25–21 in the final.
After the second day, Reardon led 18–14, and eventually won the match 25–18 to secure his sixth and last world title.
[1] The cue sport of snooker was founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India.
[2][3] Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, hosted by the Billiards Association and Control Council, the final match being held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England.
[4][3] Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England'[5] The sport's popularity in the United Kingdom grew after this.
These competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top players in the snooker world rankings and the winners of a pre-tournament qualification stage.
[7][8] The tournament was promoted by Mike Watterson on behalf of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
[15][8][16] The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[17] The qualifying competition was held across two rounds at Romiley Forum, Stockport, from 27 March to 7 April.
[12] Pat Houlihan, who had defeated both Reardon and Spencer to win the 1965 English Amateur Championship, took an 8–0 lead against Chris Ross, and won 9–1.
[12][20] In the other qualifying matches, Houlihan won 9–7 against Jim Meadowcroft, Patsy Fagan eliminated John Dunning 9–5, Willie Thorne defeated Rex Williams 9–3, Parkin lost 2–9 to Bill Werbeniuk, and David Taylor won 9–7 against Paddy Morgan[20] The first round took place from 17 to 21 April, each match played over three sessions as the best of 25 frames.
[13] Thorne missed at an attempt to pot the black ball when leading Eddie Charlton 12–9, and lost the match 12–13.
According to snooker historian Clive Everton, Joe had been "swinging in his seat this way and that as he mentally played each shot for his brother".
[30] Sports historian Ian Morrison later wrote that at 15–11, "for the first time since the opening session, the scoreboard reflected the true difference between the two players.
[34] In a post-match interview, Reardon stated that he felt he had "played well throughout", and praised Mans's ability to pot balls, commenting that "He makes shots that I would not even dream of attempting.
"[13]: 16 John Hennessy of The Times felt that the pair were generally evenly matched, but "temperament, allied to superlative technique, seemed always on Reardon's side.
Whereas Mans seemed in just too much of a hurry between strokes Reardon took a measured tread round the table, gathering his thoughts and concentration on the way.
"[37] During the final, Peter Fiddick of The Guardian commented on how "this nation has been taking an extraordinary interest ... in snooker",[1] and how the players were "very conscious of their new audience and its implications.
"[1] A few days later, in the same newspaper, Frank Keating wrote that "snooker finally managed its coming out party at the grand old age of 103.
"[38] Hennessy felt that the substitution of snooker in place of the scheduled coverage of horse racing in the BBC's Grandstand was "a remarkable testimony to the grip that the world professional championship took on the British public during the preceding fortnight.
"[36] Everton, who made his BBC commentary debut for the match between Charlton and Thorne,[39] suggested in 1993 that the BBC's decision to screen daily coverage of the tournament was "the single most influential decision ever made in the history of snooker, broadening its commercial horizons forever.