1949/1950 News of the World Snooker Tournament

The 1949/1950 News of the World Snooker Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the News of the World. The tournament was won by Joe Davis with Sidney Smith finishing in second place. It was the first News of the World Tournament, a tournament that ran until 1959.

News of the World Tournament
Tournament information
Dates10 October 1949–21 January 1950
VenueLeicester Square Hall
CityLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
FormatNon-Ranking event
Total prize fund£1500
Winner's share£500
Final
Champion Joe Davis
Runner-up Sidney Smith
First
1950/51

Format

The 1949/1950 event was a round-robin snooker tournament and was played from 10 October 1949 to 21 January 1950. All matches were played at Leicester Square Hall in London. There were 8 competitors and a total of 28 matches. The competitors were Joe Davis, Walter Donaldson, George Chenier, Horace Lindrum, Sidney Smith, Peter Mans and Albert Brown. Each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames. There was a qualifying competition prior to the main event. This involved 4 players in a round-robin tournament with the winner, Albert Brown, advancing to the main event. 1949 World Snooker Champion Fred Davis did not enter as he objected to the matches being over only three days rather than the normal six.[1]

Each player was given a handicap at the start of the tournament. The handicaps were: Davis: -7, Donaldson: 0, Chenier, Lindrum and Smith: 13, Pulman: 14, Mans: 16 and Brown: 19. The player with the higher handicap received a start in each frame, being the difference between the two handicaps. Thus Brown received a 3-point start in his match against Mans.

Results

The two top-seeded players met in the first match. Joe Davis beat Walter Donaldson, won a tough match; taking a winning 19–16 lead in the final session.[2] In the second match Albert Brown, receiving a 26-point start each frame, led Joe Davis 18–6 after two days and won comfortably.[3]

Going into his last match Albert Brown seemed the likely winner of the tournament. He and Joe Davis had won 5 matches out of 6 but Brown had an 8 frame lead.[4] This meant that if Brown won his last match 19–18, Davis would need to win his last match 28–9 to win the event. However Brown lost his last match, against Horace Lindrum, which meant that Davis only needed to win his match against George Chenier to win the tournament. In the next match Sidney Smith won 26–11, overtaking Brown in the standings and meaning that Smith would win the tournament if Davis lost.[5] Davis took a 19–4 lead against Chenier to guarantee the £500 first prize with Smith in second place and Brown third.[6]

Joe Davis scored the first century of the tournament on 8 November in his match against John Pulman. Pulman potted a red before Davis cleared the table with a break of 130.[7] Davis scored a break of exactly 100 against Sidney Smith on 3 January.[8] George Chenier scored a break of 107 on 19 January in his match against Davis.[9]

WinnerScoreLoserDates
Joe Davis19–18Walter Donaldson10–12 October
Albert Brown25–12Joe Davis13–15 October
Albert Brown22–15Peter Mans17–19 October
Peter Mans23–14George Chenier20–22 October
Sidney Smith27–10George Chenier24–26 October
Sidney Smith21–16Horace Lindrum27–29 October
Walter Donaldson19–18Peter Mans31 October–2 November
Walter Donaldson20–17John Pulman3–5 November
Joe Davis22–15John Pulman7–9 November
Albert Brown22–15George Chenier10–12 November
Albert Brown20–17Walter Donaldson14–16 November
Sidney Smith19–18Peter Mans17–19 November
George Chenier24–13John Pulman21–23 November
John Pulman19–18Albert Brown24–26 November
Joe Davis25–12Horace Lindrum28–30 November
Horace Lindrum21–16John Pulman1–3 December
Albert Brown20–17Sidney Smith5–7 December
George Chenier25–12Walter Donaldson8–10 December
Horace Lindrum19–18Walter Donaldson12–14 December
Joe Davis21–16Peter Mans15–17 December
Horace Lindrum24–13George Chenier26–28 December
Peter Mans19–18Horace Lindrum29–31 December
Joe Davis20–17Sidney Smith2–4 January
Sidney Smith20–17John Pulman5–7 January
John Pulman23–14Peter Mans9–11 January
Horace Lindrum20–17Albert Brown12–14 January
Sidney Smith26–11Walter Donaldson16–18 January
Joe Davis25–12George Chenier19–21 January

Table [10]

PosPlayerPldMWFWPrize
1 Joe Davis76144£500
2 Sidney Smith75147£300
3 Albert Brown75144£200
4 Horace Lindrum74130£150
5 Peter Mans72123£100
6 John Pulman72120£75
7 Walter Donaldson72115£75
8 George Chenier72113£50

The positions were determined firstly by the number of matches won (MW) and, in the event of a tie, the number of frames won (FW). Albert Brown won an additional £50 for winning the qualifying competition.

Qualifying

The qualifying tournament was played from 19 September to 8 October 1949. These matches were also played at Leicester Square Hall in London. As in the main event, each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames. Albert Brown and Alec Brown each won their first two matches which meant that the final match, between the two, would decide the winner.[11] Albert Brown won a close match 20–17.[12] Alec had led 13–11 at the start of the final day.[13] Conrad Stanbury conceded his match against John Barrie because of illness. Barrie was leading 8–4 at the time. Barrie played a two-day exhibition match against Peter Mans instead.[14]

WinnerScoreLoserDates
Albert Brown22–15John Barrie19–21 September
Alec Brown20–17John Barrie22–24 September
Alec Brown24–13Conrad Stanbury26–28 September
Albert Brown25–12Conrad Stanbury29 September–1 October
John Barriew/o–w/dConrad Stanbury3–5 October
Albert Brown20–17Alec Brown6–8 October

References

  1. "Snooker champion won't play". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 5 August 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "Grim snooker struggle won by Joe Davis". Aberdeen Journal. 13 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Joe Davis beaten". Aberdeen Journal. 17 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Brown should win snooker prize". Portsmouth Evening News. 7 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Smith awaits Davis-Chenier result". Aberdeen Journal. 19 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Davis wins £500 first prize". Aberdeen Journal. 21 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Davis gains lead". Aberdeen Journal. 9 November 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Smith tried pot off the lampshade". Aberdeen Journal. 4 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Joe Davis is eight frame in front". Aberdeen Journal. 20 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Davis surprises himself". Western Daily Press. 23 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Brown to meet Brown". Aberdeen Journal. 3 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Albert Brown wins". Aberdeen Journal. 10 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Snooker". Aberdeen Journal. 8 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "Conrad Stanbury ill". Aberdeen Journal. 5 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
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