was played at the Selly Park British Legion, Birmingham, from 21 to 26 February, refereed by Jim Thorpe. Historian Dominic Sandbrook wrote in 2019 that the tournament had been "organized in conditions of laughable amateurishness" and that the final was played under "risibly ramshackle conditions". Spectators at the final were seated on wooden boards placed atop beer barrels. There was a miners' strike in progress at the same time as the final, and on the first evening of play, without normal power, the session was conducted with reduced light provided by a mobile generator. Before the match started, Spencer was generally expected to win. The first session finished with the players tied at 3–3. In the eighth frame, Higgins made a break of 35, but Spencer then compiled a 101 break to take the frame. The first day ended with the score 6–6. Spencer made his century break of the match, 109, in the 16th frame, and the third session concluded with the players again level, at 9–9, while the fourth session saw Spencer go 13–11 ahead. Day three closed with the score 18–18 at the half-way point of the match, and the players were still tied, now at 21–21, following the next session. Higgins then won six consecutive frames to make it 27–21. On day five, Spencer was stuck in a lift due to a power cut, and the match started ten minutes late. Higgins took the first frame of the ninth session, but lost four of the next five, leaving him 29–25 ahead. Both players won three frames in the tenth session. On the last day, Higgins clinched the 61st frame with a break of 40. Spencer then produced his third century break of the match, 123, in the 62nd frame, and added the next two frames to his tally with breaks over 50 in each. Higgins made a break of 82 in the 66th frame, which left him leading at 35–31. He took the opening frame of the concluding session by 62 points to 38, then compiled breaks of 94 and 46 to win the last frame he needed by 140 points to 0 to secure a 37–31 victory. Spencer made three century breaks during the final, while the highest break by Higgins was the 94 in the decisive frame. The trophy was presented to Higgins by Pulman. Higgins, who was required to win two qualifying matches