1938 World Snooker Championship

The 1938 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the Thurston's Hall in London, England.[1]

World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates14 March – 9 April 1938
VenueThurston's Hall
CityLondon
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)BACC
Highest break Joe Davis (104)
Final
Champion Joe Davis
Runner-up Sidney Smith
Score37–24
← 1937
1939 →

Joe Davis won his twelfth World title by defeating Sidney Smith 37–24 in the final. The highest break was 104 made by Joe Davis.[2]

Schedule
Match Dates Venue, city
Joe Davis v Sydney Lee14–16 March 1938Thurston's Hall, London
Willie Smith v Tom Newman17–19 March 1938Thurston's Hall, London
Fred Davis v Alec Brown21–23 March 1938Thurston's Hall, London
Sidney Smith v Conrad Stanbury24–26 March 1938Thurston's Hall, London
Joe Davis v Willie Smith28–30 March 1938Thurston's Hall, London
Sidney Smith v Fred Davis31 March–2 April 1938Thurston's Hall, London
Joe Davis v Sidney Smith4–9 April 1938Thurston's Hall, London

Detail

Horace Lindrum, the losing finalist in the previous two years, did not enter, because he objected to certain conditions, particularly the cloth used.[3] With 10 entries a qualifying competition was again used. Fred Davis, Herbert Holt and Charles Read were chosen to play in the qualifying event, the winner to join the other seven in the main event.[4] The main event was held from 14 March to 22 April at Thurston's Hall.

Joe Davis played Sydney Lee in the first match. Davis led 7–3 after the first day, making a 93 break in frame 10. Davis won the match by winning the final frame on the second day, taking a 16–4 lead. Davis had made a 98 break in frame 16. The final score was 24–7.[5]

Willie Smith met Tom Newman in the second match. The score was level at 5–5 after the first day and 10–10 after two days. Smith led 13–12 after the final afternoon session and, winning three of the first four evening frames, took the match 16–13. Newman won the two dead frames so leave a final score of 16–15.[6]

Qualifier Fred Davis met Alec Brown in the third match. Davis led 7–3 after the first day and 14–6 after two days. Brown then conceded the match, having neuritis in the arm and shoulder.[7]

Sidney Smith met Conrad Stanbury in the last quarter-final. Stanbury won the first three frames but Smith won the next seven to lead 7–3. Smith then won all 10 frames on the second day, having taken a 16–3 winning lead. Smith extended his winning streak to 22 frames before Stanbury won frame 26. The final score was 27–4, Smith making a break of 95 in frame 31.[8]

The first semi-final was between Joe Davis and Willie Smith. Smith won the first frame despite trailing 65–30 with just the colours left. Davis went in-off three times and Smith took the frame 69–65. This success was short-lived as Davis took the remaining four frames in the afternoon session. In the evening Davis cleared the table with a 104 break in frame 6 and then had a 96 break in frame 7. Smith took frame 8 but Davis led 8–2 after the first day. Davis increased his lead to 11–4 on the second afternoon. Smith made a 91 break in frame 15, going in-off trying to pot the final black. With four more frames in the evening, Davis led 15–5, just one frame from victory. Davis won the opening frame of the final day to gain a winning 16–5 lead. The final score was 24–7.[9]

The second semi-final was between Sidney Smith and Fred Davis. Smith led 7–3 after the first day and 13–7 after day two. Smith made a 97 break in frame 19. On the final day Davis won three of the afternoon frames but Smith won the first in the evening to win the match 16–10. The final score was 18–13.[10]

Joe Davis and Sidney Smith met in the final. Davis led 6–4 after the first day,[11] increasing his lead to 12–8 after two days.[12] Smith levelled the match at 13–13 during the third day but Davis again led over-night with the score at 16–14.[13] Davis dominated on the fourth day and led 23–17 at the end of the day. Davis made a 93 break in frame 34.[14] Davis won the last four frames on the fifth day to lead 30–20, just one frame from victory.[15] Smith won the first three frames on the final day but Davis had a 98 clearance in frame 54 to win the match 31–23. Smith won the next but Davis won the six evening frames to finish 37–24 ahead.[16]

Main draw

Sources:[17][18][19]

Quarter-finals
31 frames 		Semi-finals
31 frames 		Final
61 frames
Joe Davis 24
Sydney Lee 7 Joe Davis 24
Willie Smith 16 Willie Smith 7
Tom Newman 15 Joe Davis 37
Alec Brown w/d Sidney Smith 24
Fred Davis w/o Fred Davis 13
Sidney Smith 27 Sidney Smith 18
Conrad Stanbury 4

Final
Final: 61 frames.
Thurston's Hall, London, England, 4–9 April 1938.[11][12][13][14][15][16][20]
Joe Davis
 England		 37–24 Sidney Smith
 England
Day 1: 69–33, 93–32, 44–68, 39–69, 60–46, 38–67, 73–38, 79–39, 29–73, 89–31
Day 2: 57–48, 24–92, 67–30, 24–76, 50–28, 23–73, 20–68, 112–21, 69–43 (69), 79–57
Day 3: 57–69 (Davis 55), 25–87, 66–80, 91–30 (67), 20–99, 37–50, 72–46, 66–49, 69–22, 55–62
Day 4: 75–53, 89–39, 77–29, 114–15 (93), 15–99 (68), 101–35 (61), 36–81, 50–63, 86–32, 89–34 (57)
Day 5: 42–70, 46–67, 87–25, 58–53, 98–17 (56), 54–80, 61–50, 100–33 (77), 88–48, 58–51
Day 6: 31–85, 39–55, 24–95, 105–21 (98), 50–73 (55), 72–30, 80–47, 110–8 (54), 81–44, 61–48, 71–33
"Dead" frames were played, Davis had won the match 31–23.

Qualifying

The two matches were played at Thurston's Hall immediately before the competition proper. The two relative unknowns played in the first match from 7 to 9 March; Herbert Holt from Blackpool and Charles Read from Salisbury. Read took an early 4–1 lead but Holt dominated thereafter, winning 16–10, the final score being 21–10.[21] From 10 to 12 March, Holt then played Fred Davis to determine the winner of the qualifying event. Davis proved too strong for Holt, leading 9–1 after the first day and taking a winning 16–2 lead on the second day. The final score was 23–8.[22]

  Round 1
31 frames		     Round 2
31 frames
                 
    Fred Davis 23
  Herbert Holt 21     Herbert Holt 8
  Charles Read 10  

Century breaks

References
  1. 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.
  2. "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  3. "Snooker – World Professional Title". The Glasgow Herald. 4 December 1937. p. 18.
  4. "Snooker Pool – The Championship". The Times. 9 December 1937. p. 6.
  5. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 17 March 1938. p. 6.
  6. "Snooker – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 21 March 1938. p. 5.
  7. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 24 March 1938. p. 6.
  8. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 28 March 1938. p. 5.
  9. "The Professional Championship – J Davis beats W Smith". The Times. 31 March 1938. p. 6.
  10. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 4 April 1938. p. 6.
  11. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 5 April 1938. p. 7.
  12. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 6 April 1938. p. 7.
  13. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 7 April 1938. p. 6.
  14. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 8 April 1938. p. 6.
  15. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 9 April 1938. p. 6.
  16. "Snooker – J Davis wins again". The Times. 11 April 1938. p. 6.
  17. "World Championship 1938". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  18. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  19. Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 143. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
  20. "Snooker – Professional title – Joe Davis increases his lead to ten games". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 9 April 1938. Retrieved 14 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 10 March 1938. p. 6.
  22. "Snooker – The Professional Championship". The Times. 14 March 1938. p. 7.
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