1949 World Snooker Championship
The 1949 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England.[1]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 21 February – 7 May 1949 |
| Venue | Leicester Square Hall |
| City | London |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | Billiards Association and Control Council |
| Highest break | Walter Donaldson (SCO) (115) |
| Final | |
| Champion | Fred Davis (ENG) |
| Runner-up | Walter Donaldson (SCO) |
| Score | 80–65 |
← 1948 1950 → | |
For the third year running the final was contested by Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson. Davis became the second player to defend his first world title after Joe Davis in 1928 by defeating Donaldson 80–65 in the final,[1] although he had taken a winning lead of 73–58 on the previous day. The match was still in the balance with the score at 63–58 before Davis won 10 frames in a row to take the title.[2] Donaldson made the highest break of the tournament with 115 on the last day of his semi-final match against John Pulman.[3][4]
Schedule edit
| Match | Dates | Venue, city |
|---|---|---|
| Walter Donaldson v Conrad Stanbury | 21–26 February 1949 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| Sidney Smith v Alec Brown | 28 February–5 March 1949 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| Fred Davis v Kingsley Kennerley | 7–12 March 1949 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| John Pulman v Albert Brown | 14–19 March 1949 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| Walter Donaldson v John Pulman | 28 March–2 April 1949 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| Fred Davis v Sidney Smith | 4–9 April 1949 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| Fred Davis v Walter Donaldson | 25–30 April, 2–7 May 1949 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
Final edit
For the third consecutive year, the final was contested by Donaldson and Davis.[5] The match started on 25 April, as the best-of-145 frames.[6] Donaldson took a 7–5 lead on the first day.[6] He was still two frames ahead, 13–11, after the second day,[7] but the third day finished with the players level at 18–18.[8] Donaldson regained a two-frame lead (25–23) the next day,[9] and increased his lead to 34–26 on 29 April.[10]
Davis had reduced his deficit, at 33–39, by the end of day 6, and made a break of 102 in the last of those frames;[11] It was the only century break of the match.[12] Donaldson maintained a six frame lead (45–39) after the next day of play.[13] Davis then took eight of twelve frames on 3 May, including all six frames in the earlier of the two sessions, to lead 49–47.[12][14] He moved a further two frames ahead on both of the next two days, and led 63-57.[15][16] By taking ten of the twelve frames on 6 May, in what the reporter for The Times called "his best form of the match", Davis achieved a decisive lead of 63–58.[17] After 13 dead frames on 7 May, the final score Davis 80–65 to Davis.[18]
The championship trophy was presented by Aubrey Ellwood, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command.[19] Richard Holt of the Billiards Association and Control Council's magazine The Billiard Player felt that Davis was "the 'compleat' snooker player", who emonstrated skill in potting, safety play and tactics.[20] Snooker historian Clive Everton later noted that several of the sessions took more than three hours and wrote that "caution was the watchword".[12]
Main draw edit
Results of the main tournament were are follows.[21][22][23]
| Quarter-finals 71 frames | Semi-finals 71 frames | Final 145 frames | ||||||||||||
| Fred Davis | 50 | |||||||||||||
| Kingsley Kennerley | 21 | Fred Davis | 42 | |||||||||||
| Sidney Smith | 41 | Sidney Smith | 29 | |||||||||||
| Alec Brown | 30 | Fred Davis | 80 | |||||||||||
| Walter Donaldson | 58 | Walter Donaldson | 65 | |||||||||||
| Conrad Stanbury | 13 | Walter Donaldson | 49 | |||||||||||
| Albert Brown | 29 | John Pulman | 22 | |||||||||||
| John Pulman | 42 | |||||||||||||
Qualifying edit
John Barrie withdrew for business reasons, giving Herbert Holt a bye into the final of the qualifying event.[24] Conrad Stanbury beat Herbert Francis 18–17 in his first round match played from 10 to 12 February 1949[25] and then beat Jackie Rea by the same score in a match played from 14 to 16 February. Stanbury then played Holt in the final of the qualifying from 17 to 19 February and recorded his third 18–17 victory, winning the exciting final frame.[26] All three matches were at Leicester Square Hall.[27]
| Round 1 Best of 35 frames | Round 2 Best of 35 frames | Round 3 Best of 35 frames | ||||||||||||
| Herbert Holt | w/o | |||||||||||||
| John Barrie | w/d | |||||||||||||
| Herbert Holt | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Conrad Stanbury | 18 | Conrad Stanbury | 18 | |||||||||||
| Herbert Francis | 17 | Conrad Stanbury | 18 | |||||||||||
| Jackie Rea | 17 | |||||||||||||
References edit
- ^ a b Turner, Chris. . cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ "Snooker title for Fred Davis". Nottingham Evening Post. 7 May 1949. Retrieved 21 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ . Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ "Snooker and billiards". The Glasgow Herald. 4 April 1949. p. 2.
- ^ "Professional snooker". The Times. 9 April 1949. p. 2.
- ^ a b "Snooker". The Times. 26 April 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 27 April 1949. p. 2.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 28 April 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 29 April 1949. p. 2.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 30 April 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 2 May 1949. p. 6.
- ^ a b c Everton, Clive (1986). The History of Snooker and Billiards. Haywards Heath: Partridge Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-85225-013-3.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 3 May 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 4 May 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 5 May 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 6 May 1949. p. 2.
- ^ "Snooker: F. Davis again champion". The Times. 7 May 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 9 May 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "Sir Aubrey B. Ellwood, KCB, DSC". The Billiard Player. June 1949. p. 7.
- ^ Holt, Richard (June 1949). "World's Professional Snooker Championship". The Billiard Player. p. 4.
- ^ . Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ . 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. 143. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
- ^ "J Barrie". The Times. 15 October 1948. p. 6.
- ^ "C Stanbury". The Times. 14 February 1949. p. 2.
- ^ "Snooker". The Times. 21 February 1949. p. 6.
- ^ "World Snooker Championship". The Billiard Player. March 1949. p. 3.