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The promoter, snooker professional Bernard Bennett, who owned the Castle Club, provided a prize fund of £3,500, including a first prize of £750. Almost all of the professional snooker players who were in the country at the time participated, alongside many of the leading amateurs. All matches were played on level terms; no handicaps were applied.
The tournament was played across two blocks. The earlier rounds featured amateurs and lower-ranked professionals, with higher-ranked professionals joining in the second block, held from 19 to 21 January 1979. Only two amateurs progressed to the second block: 16-year-old Jimmy White and 19-year-old Tony Meo. White defeated professionals Jack Karnehm and David Taylor, and Meo eliminated eight-time world championJohn Pulman.
Terry Griffiths, who had turned professional that season, later wrote that, "The matches were short and the prize money not all that much but because the proprietor, Bernard Bennett, is a professional who is well liked in the snooker world, there was a good turn-out of professionals to support his tournament."
Alex Higgins (NIR)
Fred Davis (ENG)
Ray Reardon (WAL)
Cliff Thorburn (CAN)
Eddie Charlton (AUS)
Perrie Mans (RSA)
Patsy Fagan (IRE)