1965 Television Tournament (snooker)

The first round and semi-finals were played as best-of-five frames matches. The first match, on 5 December 1964, saw Houlihan eliminate John Spencer 4–2; it was the first time that either player had been in a televised match. The highest break of the encounter was Spencer's 60 in the fifth frame.[5][6] Berni defeated Dennis Robertson 4–1, and made the match's highest break on 66 in frame three; television commentary was provided by Ted Lowe.[7] In the first frame of his contest against Mark Wildman, Marcus Chapman made the match's highest break, 35, but he lost 4–1 overall.[8] Eric Stickler eliminated Ron Gross.[9]

Rusholme Conservative Club, Manchester was the venue for the semi-final between Houlihan and Berni on 13 February; it was the only match in the tournament not played at the National Liberal Club. Houlihan won 4–0.[7][10] The match referee, Fred Mayall, commented that he thought Berni was "under his usual form".[10] Billiards Association & Control Council Chairman Harold Philips agreed, but felt that Houlihan was "playing better than ever before".[10] In the other semi-final, Stickler defeated Wildman 4–1.[9]

Just over two weeks before the Television Tournament final, Houlihan had won the English Amateur Championship, after an 11–3 victory against Spencer in the final.[11] In many British newspapers, this received more coverage than the professional World Snooker Championship title match between John Pulman and Fred Davis held at the same time.[12] Houlihan won the Television title by defeating Stickler 4–1 in the final.[13][2] It was his 17th consecutive competitive match win, in a sequence dating back to 1964.[13]

Book

• Williams, Luke G. (2023). The Natural: The Story of Patsy Houlihan, the best snooker player you never saw (Kindle ed.). Chichester: Pitch. ISBN 9781801505680.