The 1973 Pot Black was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which was broadcast in 1973. The tournament was held in the Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, and featured eight professional players. All matches were one-frame shoot-outs.
Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Tuesday 13 February 1973 The tournament this year was reverted to 8 players. The three ex-winners were in a Pot Black Champions group while the remaining five players were in a League of Champions group. The top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals. Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and Sydney Lee as referee.
The tournament featured the TV debut of Alex Higgins who beat John Pulman in the first match of the series. Eddie Charlton retained the Pot Black title beating Rex Williams 93–33 shown on 29 May and also made the first century break making 110 against John Spencer which remained a record until 2005.
The winner's trophy was presented by Percy Thrower.
Main draw League of Champions Group
Player 1ScorePlayer 2Broadcast Date Alex Higgins1–0 John Pulman13 February 1973 Rex Williams1–0 Jackie Rea20 February 1973 Fred Davis0–1 John Pulman6 March 1973 Alex Higgins0–1 Rex Williams13 March 1973 Fred Davis1–0 Jackie Rea27 March 1973 John Pulman1–0 Rex Williams3 April 1973 Alex Higgins0–1 Jackie Rea10 April 1973 Fred Davis1–0 Rex Williams24 April 1973 Jackie Rea1–0 John Pulman1 May 1973 Alex Higgins0–1 Fred Davis8 May 1973
Pot Black Champions Group
Player 1ScorePlayer 2Broadcast Date John Spencer0–1 Ray Reardon27 February 1973 John Spencer0–1 Eddie Charlton20 March 1973 Eddie Charlton1–0 Ray Reardon17 April 1973
Knockout stage
References