1981 Northern Ireland Classic
# 1981 Northern Ireland Classic

The 1981 Northern Ireland Classic was a one-off invitational snooker tournament, held from 3 to 7 November 1981 at the Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Jimmy White defeated Steve Davis by elevenframes to nine (11–9) in the final. Dennis Taylor made the highest break with 112.

Five of the top eight players in the rankings participated: Cliff Thorburn (1), Steve Davis (2), Terry Griffiths (3), Dennis Taylor (5) and Doug Mountjoy (6). Also participating were Kirk Stevens (10), Alex Higgins (11), and Jimmy White (21).

## Prize fund

The prize fund is shown below:

* Winner: £5,000
* Final: £3,500
* Semi-final: £2,500
* Quarter-final: £1,500

## Main draw

| Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 17 frames | Semi-finals Best of 17 frames | Final Best of 21 frames | Final Best of 21 frames |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cliff Thorburn | 2 | | |
| Jimmy White | 5 | | |
| Jimmy White | 5 | Jimmy White | 9 |
| | | Doug Mountjoy | 8 |
| Doug Mountjoy | 5 | Doug Mountjoy | 8 |
| Dennis Taylor | 4 | | | | |
| Dennis Taylor | 4 | | | Jimmy White | 11 |
| | | | | Steve Davis | 9 |
| Terry Griffiths | 5 | | | Steve Davis | 9 |
| Kirk Stevens | 0 | | | | |
| Kirk Stevens | 0 | Terry Griffiths | 6 | | |
| | | Steve Davis | 9 |
| Alex Higgins | 2 | Steve Davis | 9 |
| Steve Davis | 5 | | |

## Final

Final: Best of 17 frames Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 7 November 1981. :

| Jimmy White England | 11–9 | Steve Davis England |
| - | - | - |
| 73–33, 66–18, 41–76, 41–62, 14–77, 76(51)–8, 107(67)–35, 0–94(56), 71(50)–64 (54), 8–83, 76–23, 75–24, 61–68, 0–86(72), 0–93(52), 0–123(107), 68–66, 69–24, 85–4, 86(63)–1 |||
| 67 | Highest break | 107 |
| 0 | Century breaks | 1 |
| 4 | 50+ breaks | 5 |
