After potting the final ball, Taylor raised his ; he "waggled" his finger and kissed the winner's trophy. He said in a 2009 interview that the gesture was aimed at his "good mate" Trevor East, whom he had told he would win. At a press conference afterwards, he said that the match was the "best he had ever been involved in life". Taylor dedicated the world championship to his late mother who had died the previous year. Unwilling to play snooker, he had withdrawn from the 1984 International Open. His family and friends had persuaded him to play again in the Grand Prix event, where he won his first professional title by defeating Cliff Thorburn in the final.