1948 World Snooker Championship
The 1948 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament. The final was held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England, from 19 April to 1 May.[1]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 9 February – 1 May 1948 |
| Final venue | Leicester Square Hall |
| Final city | London |
| Country | England |
| Organisation(s) | Billiards Association and Control Council |
| Highest break |  Fred Davis (109) |
| Final | |
| Champion | Fred Davis |
| Runner-up |  Walter Donaldson |
| Score | 84–61 |
← 1947 1949 → | |
For the second year running the final was contested by Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson. Davis won his first World title by defeating Donaldson 84–61 in the final,[1] although he reached the winning margin already at 73–52.[2] Davis also made the highest break of the tournament with 109.[3]
Schedule
| Match | Dates | Venue, city |
|---|---|---|
| Clark McConachy v John Pulman | 9–14 February 1948 | Rochdale |
| Albert Brown v Sidney Smith | 1–4 March 1948 | Blackpool |
| Fred Davis v Alec Brown | 15–20 March 1948 | Manchester |
| Walter Donaldson v Kingsley Kennerley | 22–25, 27 March 1948 | Newcastle |
| Walter Donaldson v Albert Brown | 29 March–3 April 1948 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| Fred Davis v Clark McConachy | 5–10 April 1948 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
| Walter Donaldson v Fred Davis | 19–24, 26 April–1 May 1948 | Leicester Square Hall, London |
Main draw
| Quarter-finals 71 frames | Semi-finals 71 frames | Final 145 frames | ||||||||||||
|
| Walter Donaldson | 46 | ||||||||||||
|
| Kingsley Kennerley | 25 |
| Walter Donaldson | 40 | |||||||||
|
| Sidney Smith | 35 |
| Albert Brown | 31 | |||||||||
|
| Albert Brown | 36 |
| Walter Donaldson | 61 | |||||||||
|
| Fred Davis | 43 |
| Fred Davis | 84 | |||||||||
|
| Alec Brown | 28 |
| Fred Davis | 43 | |||||||||
| Clark McConachy | 42 |
| Clark McConachy | 28 | |||||||||
|
| John Pulman | 29 | ||||||||||||
Qualifying
All qualifying matches were held at Burroughes Hall in London. The first-round matches were held from 1 to 13 December 1947. In the first match Sydney Lee conceded his match to John Pulman before the second day's play because of an abscess on his neck. Pulman was leading 8–2 after the first day.[7] Only 10 frames had been played because of a power cut which curtailed the afternoon session to three frames.[8] Conrad Stanbury comfortably won the second match, against Eric Newman, taking a 19–5 winning lead after the second day.[9] The third match between Willie Leigh and Herbert Holt was very close. Leigh won the final frame 83–35 to win the match.[10] The final first-round matches between John Barrie and Herbert Francis was also close. The match was 12–12 after two days. Barrie won the match 19–16.[11]
The semi-finals were held from 5 to 10 January 1948. Pulman beat Stanbury in the first semi-final, taking a winning 18–15 lead on the final evening.[12] In the second semi-final Leigh led 10–6 and won 21–14. Barrie made a break of 101 during the final evening session.[13] In the final, played from 12 to 14 January, Leigh led 7–5 after the first day and 13–11 after two days. The match went to a final frame decider with Pulman winning 60–49, potting the last black.[14]
| Round 1 35 frames | Round 2 35 frames | Round 3 35 frames | ||||||||||||
|
| John Pulman | w/o | ||||||||||||
|
| Sydney Lee | w/d |
| John Pulman | 19 | |||||||||
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| Conrad Stanbury | 26 |
| Conrad Stanbury | 16 | |||||||||
|
| Eric Newman | 9 |
| John Pulman | 18 | |||||||||
|
| Herbert Francis | 16 |
| Willie Leigh | 17 | |||||||||
|
| John Barrie | 19 |
| John Barrie | 14 | |||||||||
|
| Willie Leigh | 18 |
| Willie Leigh | 21 | |||||||||
|
| Herbert Holt | 17 | ||||||||||||
References
- 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.
- "Snooker Champ". Sunday Times. 2 May 1948. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- "World Championship 1948". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. 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. pp. 143–144. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
- "Snooker – Sydney Lee withdraws". Western Morning News. 3 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Snooker – Pulman leading – Power cuts hold up play in qualifying match". Western Morning News. 2 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Another M'Conachy century". Dundee Courier. 6 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Snooker – Marsh-Carter final". Western Daily Press. 11 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Sport in brief". Western Daily Press. 15 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Pulman successful". Western Morning News. 8 January 1948. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "Items". Nottingham Evening Post. 12 January 1948. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- "John Pulman beats Willie Leigh – Wins on black in last frame". Western Daily Press. 15 January 1948. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.