Terry Griffiths needed to win his last two matches by good margins to finish ahead of Doug Mountjoy.

[4] In group A, John Virgo won all his matches 5–4 to qualify ahead of Steve Davis.

In the first match of the tournament Steve Davis beat Dennis Taylor 5–0 but then lost the last 4 frames.

Later in October the same venue was used for the 1980 edition of the State Express World Challenge Cup which was covered on BBC television.

Doug Mountjoy lost his final match to Terry Griffiths 5–4 but qualified by winning more frames overall.