| Tournament Name: | 1972 Pot Black |
| Dates: | (broadcast) |
| Venue: | Pebble Mill Studios |
| Location: | Birmingham |
| Country: | England |
| Format: | Non-ranking event |
| Highest Break: | John Spencer (66) |
| Winner: |  Eddie Charlton |
| Runner Up: | Ray Reardon |
| Score: | 75–43 |
| Previous: | 1971 |
| Next: | 1973 |
The 1972 Pot Black was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which was broadcast in 1972. The tournament was held between 29 December 1971 and 1 January 1972 in the Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, and featured six professional players.[1] All matches were one-frame shoot-outs.
Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Wednesday 12 April 1972[2] The tournament this year was reduced to 6 players. There was a qualifying stage in which each competitor played three matches. The leading four then played in a round-robin group with the top two players qualifying for the final. Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and Sydney Lee as referee.
The tournament featured its first overseas player making his TV debut, Australia's Eddie Charlton who went on to win the tournament beating Ray Reardon 88–27 in the final broadcast on 26 July.[3] [4]
| Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Broadcast Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Spencer | 0–1 | Eddie Charlton | 12 April 1972 | |
| Ray Reardon | 1–0 | John Pulman | 19 April 1972 | |
| Fred Davis | 0–1 | Rex Williams | 26 April 1972 | |
| John Spencer | 0–1 | Ray Reardon | 3 May 1972 | |
| Eddie Charlton | 1–0 | Fred Davis | 10 May 1972 | |
| John Pulman | 0–1 | Rex Williams | 17 May 1972 | |
| John Spencer | 1–0 | Fred Davis | 24 May 1972 | |
| Ray Reardon | 1–0 | Rex Williams | 31 May 1972 | |
| Eddie Charlton | 0–1 | John Pulman | 7 June 1972 |
| Player 1 | Score | Player 2 | Broadcast Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rex Williams | 1–0 | John Spencer | 14 June 1972 | |
| Eddie Charlton | 0–1 | Ray Reardon | 21 June 1972 | |
| Rex Williams | 0–1 | Ray Reardon | 28 June 1972 | |
| Eddie Charlton | 1–0 | John Spencer | 5 July 1972 | |
| John Spencer | 1–0 | Ray Reardon | 12 July 1972 | |
| Eddie Charlton | 1–0 | Rex Williams | 19 July 1972 |