1935 World Snooker Championship

Professional snooker tournament 1935 World Snooker Championship 1935 04 8 1935 04 27 y Thurston's Hall London England BACC Joe Davis ENG (110) Joe Davis ENG Willie Smith ENG 28–21 1934 1936 The 1935 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at Thurston's Hall in London, England from 8 to 27 April 1935. It was the first edition of the Championship to incorporate "world" in its name, being called the World's Professional Snooker Championship. Joe Davis won the title for the ninth time by defeating Willie Smith by 28 frame frames to 21 in the final, having achieved a winning margin at 25–20. Davis recorded the first century break in the history of the championship, a 110 in his semi-final match against Tom Newman. There were five entrants, including Conrad Stanbury, who became the first ever Canadian to enter the championship. For the 1934 championship, only Davis and Newman had entered. Stanbury was drawn to play Smith, with the winner meeting Alec Mann in one semi-final, and Davis was drawn to play Newman in the other semi-final. All the matches in the 1935 tournament took place at Thurston's Hall, whereas in previous years players had been required to arrange venues for some matches themselves. From July to November 1934, Davis had been in Australia, and from 29 October to 6 November he played an 81-frame match against Horace Lindrum which was reported as being the unofficial world championship. Davis won comfortably against Lindrum, taking a winning 41–22 lead. The match ended 46–29. Background The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker.Snooker championship Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 11 May 1927 12 March 2019 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19270511/425/0020 20 British Newspaper Archive subscription The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India.Hayton Eric Dee John 2004 The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History Rose Villa Publications 978-0954854904 1 Professional English billiards player and billiard hall manager Joe Davis noticed the increasing popularity of snooker compared to billiards in the 1920s, and with Birmingham-based billiards equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season.Everton Clive 23 September 2004 Davis, Joseph [Joe] https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31013 10.1093/ref:odnb/31013 11 May 2020 subscription https://web.archive.org/web/20190903050418/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31013 3 September 2019 live In 1927, the final of the first professional snooker championship was held at Camkin's Hall; Davis won the tournament by beating Tom Dennis in the final.Morrison Ian 1987 The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker Hamlyn Publishing Group London 9780600556046 27–30 The annual competition was not titled the World Championship until the 1935 tournament,Billiards – Professional title Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 3 November 1934 24 November 2015 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19341103/342/0007 7 British Newspaper Archive subscription Canadian's bid for Snooker title Dundee Courier 20 October 1934 20 January 2016 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19341020/167/0009 British Newspaper Archive subscription but the 1927 tournament is now referred to as the first World Snooker Championship.Everton Clive 1993 The Embassy Book of World Snooker Bloomsbury London 0747516103 11–13History of snooker – a timeline https://wpbsa.com/about-us/history/ World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association 29 May 2021 Davis had also won the title every year from 1928 to 1934.Everton Clive 1986 The History of Snooker and Billiards Partridge Press Haywards Heath 1852250135 50–52 Unofficial World Championship In late June and early July 1934, Joe Davis had travelled to Australia to play in the World Billiards Championship. Davis left Tilbury on 26 JuneJoe Davis Dundee Courier 28 May 1934 20 January 2016 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19340528/157/0009 British Newspaper Archive subscription and started his tour playing Clark McConachy in an exhibition billiards match in Sydney starting on 9 July.The Times 10 July 1934 7 Billiards in Australia Davis received a bye to the final of the Billiards Championship and played Walter Lindrum, the defending Champion, in Melbourne, from 14 to 27 October. Walter Lindrum won a close match 23,553–22,678.The Glasgow Herald https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A6NAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kqUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6329%2C8619198 29 October 1934 9 World's billiards championship – Lindrum retains his title – British champion beaten Davis had been due to leave Australia on 30 October but accepted an offer of a snooker match against Horace Lindrum, delaying his departure until 7 November.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article183742572 For £100 Aside Sporting Globe Melbourne 24 October 1934 19 January 2016 9 Edition1 National Library of Australia An 81-frame snooker match was arranged to be played at the Tivoli Billiard Theatre, Bourke Street, Melbourne from 29 Octoberhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205877480 Advertising The Age Melbourne 27 October 1934 20 January 2016 17 National Library of Australia to 6 November with two session sessions of five frames played each day.The Times 30 October 1934 7 Snooker in Australia Davis insisted on using the same table that had been used for the World Billiards Championship final.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205874219 Snooker Championship The Age Melbourne 25 October 1934 20 January 2016 15 National Library of Australia The match was reported in both The Age and The Glasgow Herald as being the unofficial world championship. Lindrum won the first two frames of the match, but Davis led 6–4 at the end of the first day. Davis made a break of 56 in the fifth frame.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10955398 International Snooker The Argus Melbourne 30 October 1934 20 January 2016 10 National Library of Australia Davis extended his lead to 12–8 on the second dayhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10964705 Davis leads at Snooker The Argus Melbourne 31 October 1934 20 January 2016 11 National Library of Australia and then won eight frames on the third day to lead 20–10. Davis made breaks of 56 and 54 on the third day.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10990556 Davis Brilliant The Argus Melbourne 1 November 1934 20 January 2016 17 National Library of Australia Davis extended his lead to 27–13 on the fourth dayhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10990909 Snooker Challenge The Argus Melbourne 2 November 1934 20 January 2016 15 National Library of Australia but Lindrum won 6 frames on the fifth day to leave Davis 31–19 ahead.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10991162 Lindrum Improves The Argus Melbourne 3 November 1934 20 January 2016 24 National Library of Australia On the Saturday, the sixth day, Davis won 8 frames to lead 39–21, including a 50 break.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10991552 Winning lead at Snooker The Argus Melbourne 5 November 1934 20 January 2016 7 National Library of Australia Davis won frames 1 and 3 on the Monday afternoon to take a winning 41–22 lead. With the result decided the match became more open and Lindrum had breaks of 54 and 80, the highest of the match.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10991591 Snooker Challenge The Argus Melbourne 6 November 1934 20 January 2016 12 National Library of Australia The final Tuesday afternoon session was abandoned, because it clashed with the Melbourne Cup. After a final evening session of 5 frames Davis finished 46–29 ahead.The Glasgow Herald https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cKNAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kaUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3375%2C897023 7 November 1934 6 Billiards – Davis's tour at an endhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205075042 International Snooker The Age Melbourne 7 November 1934 20 January 2016 6 National Library of Australia In late November, Fred Lindrum, Horace Lindrum's uncle, criticised Davis for demanding a £100 side-bet and for insisting on the use of the match table that had been used for the World Billiards Championship final against Walter Lindrum. Horace had just successfully challenged Fred for the Australian Professional Billiards Championship.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41523897 Billiards title The Cairns Post Qld. 27 November 1934 20 January 2016 7 National Library of Australia In 1974, Horace Lindrum wrote that although the money that he lost was approximately equivalent to his fare to England and this had deprived him of the opportunity to enter the following professional championship, the contest provided "match experience against a top class overseas player. It was experience I urgently needed."Lindrum Horace Horace Lindrum's Snooker, Billiards and Pool Paul Hamlyn Pty Dee Why West, Australia 1974 0727101056 74 Summary There were five entrants to the 1935 World Snooker Championship: defending champion Joe Davis, Willie Smith, Alec Mann, Tom Newman, and Conrad Stanbury, who became the first ever Canadian to enter the championship. Davis and Newman had been the only entrants in 1934. All of the matches in the 1935 tournament took place at Thurston's Hall, whereas in previous years players had been required to arrange venues for some matches themselves.Professional billiards and snooker championships The Billiard Player W. G. Clifford October 1926 2The Professional snooker championship of snooker The Billiard Player W. G. Clifford November 1929 27 The final was to be 49 frames played over five days, with the other matches all being 25 frames played over three days each. Stanbury was drawn to play Smith, with the winner meeting Mann in one semi-final, and Davis was drawn to play Newman in the other semi-final. On 6 April, Davis retained the UK Professional English Billiards Championship, by completing a 21,733–19,910 defeat of Newman at Thurston's.Davis keeps title Dundee Courier 8 April 1935 3 First round Willie Smith and Conrad Stanbury played their first-round match from 8 to 10 April. The players and referee agreed in advance that, contrary to the official rules of the game, they would call nominate a colour ball being played for only if there might be some doubt, rather than in every case.World's pro. snooker tourney Dundee Courier 9 April 1935 9The current rules of snooker require a player to verbally nominate the object ball only if requested by the referee.Official rules of the games of snooker and English billiards https://wpbsa.com/wp-content/uploads/WPBSA-Official-Rules-of-the-Games-of-Snooker-and-Billiards-2020.pdf World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association November 2019 9 July 2021 7 August 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200807130223/https://wpbsa.com/wp-content/uploads/WPBSA-Official-Rules-of-the-Games-of-Snooker-and-Billiards-2020.pdf dead Stanbury took a 2–0 lead, and Smith won the other frames played in the afternoon to equalise. in the evening, Smith moved into a 4–2 lead, and the day ended with the layers at 4–4. Stanbury won five of the eight frames on the second day to lead 9–7. Smith won three frames in the final afternoon session to level the match at 10–10. Stanbury took a 12–11 lead but Smith won the last two frames to win the match,The Times 11 April 1935 6 Snooker's Pool – The Professional Championship after Stanbury missed a straightforward attempt to pot the pink ball in the deciding frame. Semi-finals In the first semi-final, played from 11 to 13 April, Smith faced Alec Mann. Smith won all eight frames on the first day, and compiled a 74 break in frame 5. Mann took the first three frames on the second day, but the score at the end of the day was 12–4 to Smith, leaving him just one frame from victory. Smith took the first frame on the third day 50–44 to win the match 13–4. The remaining dead frame "dead" frames were played, with the eventual score being 18–7 to Smith.The Times 15 April 1935 7 Snooker's Pool – The Professional Championship Joe Davis and Tom Newman met in the second semi-final, from 15 to 17 April. Newman won the first frame but at the end of the first day Davis led 5–3, extending his lead to 7–5 after the second morning session, and 10–6 after two days. On the final day Davis won the first three frames to win the match 13–6. In frame 24, a "dead" frame, Davis made a break of 110 winning the frame 135–0. Davis eventually finished 15–10 ahead.Joe Davis increases his lead Dundee Courier 17 April 1935 4The Times 18 April 1935 6 Snooker's Pool – The Professional Championship The 110 was the first century break in the history of the tournament. Final The final between Davis and Smith was held from 22 to 27 April. Davis won the first four frames, but the evening session was tied to leave the score at 6–2.The Times 23 April 1935 6 Snooker's Pool – The Championship Final Smith then reduced the gap after the second day, which ended with Davis leading 9–7.The Times 24 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – The Championship Final Davis led 14–10 at the half-way stageThe Times 25 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – The Championship Final with the score at 18–14 after day 4,The Times 26 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – The Championship Final and 22–18 after day 5.The Times 27 April 1935 14 Snooker's Pool – The Championship Final After the final afternoon session the score was 24–20 and the match ended on the first evening frame which Davis won by 58 point points to 39, securing victory at 25–20. The remaining frames were played out with Davis eventually winning 28–21.The Times 29 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – Davis retains the Championship Davis scored the highest break of the final, a 92 break in frame 38, with 12 red ball reds, 8 black ball blacks and 4 pinks. It was Davis's ninth consecutive title victory in the championship. Aftermath Snooker historian Clive Everton later claimed that the championship record break of 110 made the tournament more financially viable, saying that it "established the [world snooker championship] as a paying proposition." In his column for Reynolds's Illustrated News, published the day after the conclusion of the final, Smith wrote that snooker was "gradually ousting billiards in the clubs and public halls", saying that he regretted this, as he preferred billiards because it was harder to master. He noted that "the public seems to like snooker best at the professional games" and that for the final against Davis, "the hall has been packed – the first time it has happened in the history of the Professional Snooker Championship."Smith Willie Toe safety snooker shots Reynolds's Illustrated News 28 April 1935 26 The Billiard Player similarly reported that "For the first time in its history this contest drew large and continuous crowds to Thurstons."Professional snooker championship The Billiard Player May 1935 W. G. Clifford 20 Previously, snooker had featured at Thurston's only for the championship itself or alongside headlining billiards matches, but the following season included the first week-long snooker matches at the venue. Schedule +1935 World Snooker Championship scheduleOfficial notices The Billiard Player March 1935 W. G. Clifford 16 Match Dates Venue, city Willie Smith v Conrad Stanbury 8–10 April 1935 Thurston's Hall, London Willie Smith v Alec Mann 11–13 April 1935 Thurston's Hall, London Joe Davis v Tom Newman 15–17 April 1935 Thurston's Hall, London Joe Davis v Willie Smith 22–27 April 1935 Thurston's Hall, London Main draw Match results are shown below. Winning players and scores are denoted in bold text. Round 1Best of 25 frames Semi-finals25 frames Final49 frames 150 Willie Smith ENG 13 Conrad Stanbury CAN 1921 12 ENG Joe Davis 15 ENG Tom Newman 10 ENG Alec Mann 7 ENG Willie Smith 18 ENG Joe Davis 25 ENG Willie Smith 20 Final Final: Best of 49 frames.Thurston's Hall, London, England, 22–27 April 1935.The Times 23 April 1935 6 Snooker's Pool – The Championship FinalThe Times 24 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – The Championship FinalThe Times 25 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – The Championship FinalThe Times 26 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – The Championship FinalThe Times 27 April 1935 14 Snooker's Pool – The Championship FinalThe Times 29 April 1935 5 Snooker's Pool – Davis retains the Championship Joe DavisEngland 25–20 Willie SmithEngland Day 1: 56–52, 65–41, 95–9, 66–37, 44–68, 62–48, 65–27, 40–55Day 2: 26–88, 109–9, 26–77, 84–1, 53–27, 51–64, 35–85, 27–76Day 3: 88–15, 72–44, 70–42, 60–46, 48–76, 69–45, 30–67, 43–56Day 4: 35–69, 62–45, 104–11, 26–93, 71–34, 58–63, 50–54, 81–29Day 5: 20–77; 35–83; 35–77, 65–55, 80–39, 100–28 (92), 44–53, 76–18Day 6: 52–62; 64–51; 101–24 (75); 28–89; 58–39 "Dead" frames were played. Davis had secured victory at 25–20. Century breaks The 110 break by Joe Davis in his semi-final match against Tom Newman was the first century break in the eight-year history of the tournament.Turner Chris World Professional Championship http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/world.html https://web.archive.org/web/20130416080933/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/world.html 16 April 2013 cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk Chris Turner's Snooker Archive 9 February 2011 110 Joe Davis Notes References 1935 World Snooker Championship World Snooker Championship World Snooker Championship World Snooker Championship, 1935 Category:April 1935 in the United Kingdom