Women's Professional Snooker Championship

The Women's Professional Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament run from 1934 to 1950 by the Women's Billiards Association. The event was the world championship for female players during this time. Ruth Harrison was the most successful player, winning eight of the ten events. The event was later replaced by the World Women's Snooker Championship.

Women's Professional Snooker Championship
Tournament information
LocationLondon
CountryEngland
Established1934
Organisation(s)Women's Billiards Association
FormatKnockout
Final year1950
Final champion(s)Thelma Carpenter

History

The tournament was held ten times from 1934 to 1950,[1][2] with a break from 1941 to 1947. Only four different players reached the final during its existence, with Ruth Harrison winning eight of the ten events. The first tournaments were held at Burroughes Hall, London, and the tournaments after the break were held at Leicester Square Hall, London.

The last time that the tournament was held, in 1950, Thelma Carpenter won, a few days after winning the World Women's Billiards Championship title.[3] This proved to be the last time the tournament was held, as public interest in the contest declined.[1]

Although the competition was billed as a World Championship, no players from outside the United Kingdom participated.

Agnes Morris, the 1949 champion (and three-times runner-up), later competed in the World Women's Snooker Championship under her married name of Agnes Davies, and reached the final in 1980.[4]

Finals
Year Winner Runner-up Final score Venue
1934[2] Ruth Harrison Joyce Gardner 7–6 Burroughes Hall, London
1935[5] Ruth Harrison Joyce Gardner 7–5 Burroughes Hall, London
1936[6] Ruth Harrison Thelma Carpenter 7–3 Burroughes Hall, London
1937[7] Ruth Harrison Joyce Gardner 9–4 Burroughes Hall, London
1938[8] Ruth Harrison Thelma Carpenter 11–2 Burroughes Hall, London
1939[9] Ruth Harrison Thelma Carpenter 8–5 Burroughes Hall, London
1940[10] Ruth Harrison Agnes Morris 11–2 Burroughes Hall, London
1941–1947[1] No tournament held
1948[11][12] Ruth Harrison Agnes Morris 16–14 Leicester Square Hall, London
1949[13] Agnes Morris Thelma Carpenter 16–15 Leicester Square Hall, London
1950[3] Thelma Carpenter Agnes Morris 20–10 Leicester Square Hall, London

Finals – Statistics by player
Rank Name Nationality Winner Runner-up
1 Ruth Harrison (snooker player)  England 8 0
2 Thelma Carpenter (billiards player)  England 1 4
3 Agnes Davies  Wales 1 3
4 Joyce Gardner  England 0 3

Championship Details

1934 Championship

Source: Gloucestershire Echo,[14] Coventry Evening Telegraph[15] Birmingham Daily Gazette,[16] Sheffield Independent.[17]

There were five entrants.

First round

Semi-finals

Final: Ruth Harrison 7–6 Joyce Gardner (73–38, 30–39, 49–58, 23–57, 43–51, 31–62, 65–11, 37–59, 66–20, 80–23, 63–32, 51–43, 51–33)

Harrison won the last five frames, after being four frames down at 2–6, to win the title.

1935 Championship

Source: The Times, [18] Gloucester Citizen.[19]

There were three entrants.

Semi-finals

Final: Ruth Harrison 7–5 Joyce Gardner

1936 Championship

Source: The Billiard Player, June 1936.[20] There were four entrants.

Semi-finals

Final: Ruth Harrison 7 -3 Thelma Carpenter (58–48, 41–71, 55–48, 48–40, 61–29, 67–44, 43–60, 66–56, 54–51, 16–71)

1937 championship

Source: Billiards and Snooker, June 1937.[21] There were four entrants.

Semi-finals

Final: Ruth Harrison 9–4 Joyce Gardner (84–20, 68–22, 11–64, 70–51, 48–36, 69–22, 54–62, 78–32, 61–60, 58–50, 37–54, 22–48, 76–43)

1938 championship

Sources: Western Daily Press,[22] Birmingham Daily Gazette,[23] Daily Herald.[24]

There were five entrants.

Heat 1

Semi-finals

Final: Ruth Harrison 11–2 Thelma Carpenter

1939 championship

Source: The Billiard Player, May 1939.[25] There were five entrants, but Joyce Gardener withdrew due to influenza.

Heat 1: G.I. Rowley 3–2 Barbara Meston (52–38, 57–28, 46–47, 16–34, 52–41)

Semi-finals

Final: Ruth Harrison 8–5 Thelma Carpenter (70–50, 65–44, 57–46, 62–58, 45–44, 26–69, 55–39, 42–52, 52–29, 60–39, 24–57, 42–59, 34–81)

1940 championship

Sources: Western Mail,[26][27] Birmingham Daily Gazette,[28] The People.[29]

There were five entrants. Joyce Gardner withdrew because her husband was ill.

Heat 1: Agnes Davies 3–2 Margaret Lennan (37–42, 33–43, 61–16, 65–15, 53–50)

Semi-finals

Final: Ruth Harrison 11–2 Agnes Davies

After the first day of the final, Harrison led 6–2 and needed only one frame to win. She won the ninth frame 54–38 to take the match. Four further frames were played, which Harrison won 67–13, 72–40, 71–34 and 50–37.

1948 Championship

Source: The Billiard Player, May 1948 and June 1948.[30][31]

There were four entrants.

Heats:

Playoff: Agnes Morris 11–10 Thelma Carpenter

Final: Ruth Harrison 16-14 Agnes Morris

(Cumulative frames won after each session, Harrison first: 3–2, 7–3, 9–6, 13–7, 15–10, 16–14.) Morris won the last four frames, after the result of the match had been decided.

1949 Championship

Source: The Billiard Player, July 1949.[32] There were three entrants.

Semi-final: Thelma Carpenter 20–11 Joyce Gardner. Carpenter won nine consecutive frames (from the 8th to the 16th) and at one point was leading 15–5. The highest break of the match was 37 by Carpenter.

Final: Agnes Morris 16–15 Thelma Carpenter(Match progress in frames won after each session: 1–4, 5–5, 6–9, 10–10, 11–14, 15–15, 16–15.) The highest break of the match was 33 by Morris, in the final frame.

1950 Championship

Source: The Billiard Player, June 1950 and July 1950.[33][34] There were only two entrants.

Final: Thelma Carpenter 20–10 Agnes Morris

The score at the winning frame was 16–7.

References
  1. Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 154-156. ISBN 0851124488.
  2. "Women's Snooker Championship". The Times. No. 46690. p.6. 28 February 1934 – via The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. "Bath City Signings". Western Daily Mail. p.5. 25 June 1950 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. World Champions Archived 18 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine World Women's Snooker. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  5. "Women's Snooker Champion". The Observer. p.28. 17 February 1935 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  6. "Women's Snooker Championship". The Times. No. 47365. p.5. 4 May 1936 – via The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. "Women's Snooker Title". The Observer. p.37. 2 May 1937 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. "Women's Snooker Championship". The Times. No. 48001. p.16. 23 May 1938 – via The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. "Ruth Harrison Wins Snooker Title". Daily Record. p.27. 17 April 1939 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  10. "Snooker Championship". The Times. No. 48578. p.3. 1 April 1940 – via The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 17 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. "Miss Adcock Takes Snooker Title". Daily Mirror. p.5. 22 May 1948 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. "Snooker". The Daily Telegraph. No. 28989. p.3. 24 May 1948 – via The Telegraph Historical Archive. Retrieved 22 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  13. "Bath City Signings". Snooker Title Won on Last Frame. p.5. 20 June 1949 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2019.CS1 maint: location (link)
  14. "Women's Professional Title". Gloucestershire Echo. 8 February 1934. p. 8 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  15. "Women's Professional Snooker Championship". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 17 February 1934. p. 12 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  16. ""Trade" Snooker". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 20 February 1934. p. 12 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
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  18. "Women's Snooker Championship". The Times. No. 46990. 16 February 1934. p. 5 – via The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  19. "Women's Professional Championship". Gloucester Citizen. 6 February 1935. p. 6 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  20. Carpenter, Thelma. "Billiards for Women". The Billiard Player. No. June 1936). p.8.CS1 maint: location (link)
  21. Carpenter, Thelma. "Women's Professional Snooker Championship". Billiards and Snooker. No. June 1937). p. 4.
  22. "Untitled article". Western Daily Press. 19 May 1938. p. 3 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  23. "Women's Snooker". Gloucester Citizen. 20 May 1938. p. 12 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  24. "Snooker". Daily Herald. 21 May 1938. p. 16 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  25. "Woman". The Billiard Player. No. May 1939). p. 27.
  26. "Welsh girl's bid for title". Western Mail. 27 March 1940. p. 3 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  27. "Welsh girl in the final". Western Mail. 28 March 1940. p. 3 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  28. "Snooker". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 28 March 1940. p. 7 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  29. "Ruth still champion". The People. 31 March 1940. p. 15 – via The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  30. "The Women's Championships". The Billiard Player. No. May 1948). p. 6.
  31. "A really grand finale". The Billiard Player. No. June 1948). p. 8.
  32. "Women's Professional Billiards and Snooker Championships". The Billiard Player. No. July 1949). pp. 3–5.
  33. "North East West South". The Billiard Player. No. June 1950). p. 5.
  34. "Women's Professional Championships (1949–50)". The Billiard Player. No. July 1950). p. 7.
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