Snooker tournament
The 1951 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament. The final was held at the Tower Circus in Blackpool, England.[1]
For the fifth consecutive year, the final was contested by Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson. Davis won his third World title by defeating Donaldson 58–39 in the final.[1] Donaldson made the highest break of the tournament with 106 in frame 32 of his semi-final match against Horace Lindrum.[2][3]
After defeating the then 42-year-old Sidney Smith — runner-up in the 1938 and 1939 championships — in the quarter-finals, the 15-year younger John Pulman reached the semi-finals, where he played against the eventual winner Fred Davis, before he retired and gave Davis an early bye into the final.
Background
The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker.[4] The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India.[5] Professional English billiards player and billiard hall manager Joe Davis noticed the increasing popularity of snooker compared to billiards in the 1920s, and with Birmingham-based billiards equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season.[6] In 1927, the final of the first professional snooker championship was held at Camkin's Hall; Davis won the tournament by beating Tom Dennis in the final.[7] The annual competition was not titled the World Championship until the 1935 tournament,[8][9] but the 1927 tournament is now referred to as the first World Snooker Championship.[10][11] Davis had also won the title every year from 1928 to 1940, after which the tournament was not held again until 1946 due to World War II.[12] Walter Donaldson was the defending champion, having defeated Fred Davis 51–46 in the 1950 final.[1]
Schedule
Tournament summary
Quarter-finals
Horace Lindrum established a 9-3 lead against Albert Brown on the first day of their match.[17] He extended hs lead to 18-6 on day two.[17] Brown took five of the six frames in the first session on day three, and Lindrum took the following session by that same margin, to lead 24-12.[17] By winning nine of the 12 frames on day four, Lindrum needed only a further four frames, and confirmed his progress to the semi-finals at 36-15.[17] The final score after dead frames was 43-28.[17] Lindrum's highest break of the match was 91; Brown's was 89.[17]
Fred Davis led John Barrie 12-6 but Barrie won the next two sessions 5-1 to narrow his deficit to two frames at 14-16.[17] Davis went on to win 36-28; after dead frames, the score was 42-29.[17] Davis's highest break of the match was 77; Barrie's was 73.[17]
Semi-finals
Pulman withdrew due to influenza when trailing 14–22 against Fred Davis.[18]
Donaldson secured a winning margin at 36-25 against Horace Lindrum.[19] The final score was 41-30.[20]
Final
Walter Donaldson and Fred Davis played the final in Blackpool, over 97 frames, in front of record crowds for a World Snooker Championship match. From 6–6, Davis moved into a 12–6 lead, reaching a winning margin at 49–36 before the match concluded 58–39.[16][21][22] Davis was presented with the championship trophy by BACC chairman John Bissett.[23]
Main draw
Sources:[24][25][26]
Qualifying
John Barrie met Sydney Lee at Burroughes Hall in London from 6 to 8 November. Barrie led 7–5 after the first day [27] and 15–9 after two days. He made a break of 101 on the second evening.[28] He eventually won 23–12.[29] Barrie then met Dickie Laws on the following three days also at Burroughes Hall. Barrie took an 8–4 lead,[30] increased to a winning 18–6 lead after two days.[31] The final score was 27–8.[32]
References
- ^ a b c Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ "Donaldson leads in snooker semi-final". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 25 January 1951. Retrieved 19 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Snooker championship". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 11 May 1927. p. 20. Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Hayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Rose Villa Publications. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
- ^ Everton, Clive (23 September 2004). "Davis, Joseph [Joe]". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31013. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group. pp. 27–30. ISBN 978-0-600-55604-6.
- ^ "Billiards – Professional title". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 3 November 1934. p. 7. Retrieved 24 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Canadian's bid for Snooker title". Dundee Courier. 20 October 1934. p. 9. Retrieved 20 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Everton, Clive (1993). The Embassy Book of World Snooker. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 11–13. ISBN 978-0-7475-1610-1.
- ^ "History of snooker – a timeline". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ Everton, Clive (1986). The History of Snooker and Billiards. Haywards Heath: Partridge Press. ISBN 978-1-85225-013-3.: 50–52
- ^ a b "World's snooker championship". The Billiard Player. December 1950. p. 5.
- ^ a b "Professional play: world's snooker championship". The Billiard Player. January 1951. p. 5.
- ^ a b "World's professional snooker championship". The Billiard Player. March 1951. p. 14.
- ^ a b "World's professional snooker championship". The Billiard Player. April 1951. pp. 3–4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Quarter finals 1 & 2". The Billiard Player. December 1950. pp. 5, 8.
- ^ "Professional Snooker". The Times. 26 January 1951. p. 2.
- ^ "Donaldson in final". Hull Daily Mail. 27 January 1951. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Donaldson won by 11 frames". Sunday Sun. 28 January 1951. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fred Davis regains world title". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 24 February 1951. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "World Snooker Championship". The Times. 26 February 1951. p. 8.
- ^ "Champion again". The North Wales Weekly News. 1 March 1951. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "World Championship 1951". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 2011-03-10. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- ^ Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 144. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
- ^ "Barrie's good start". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 7 November 1950. Retrieved 11 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Barrie increases lead". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 8 November 1950. Retrieved 11 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Barrie through". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 9 November 1950. Retrieved 11 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Barrie's good start". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 10 November 1950. Retrieved 11 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Barrie 12 ahead". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 11 November 1950. Retrieved 11 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Snooker". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 13 November 1950. Retrieved 11 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.