1954/1955 News of the World Snooker Tournament

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News of the World Tournament
Tournament information
Dates6 September 1954 – 15 January 1955 (1954-09-06 – 1955-01-15)
Venue
Leicester Square Hall
CityLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
FormatNon-Ranking event
Total prize fund£1500
Winner's share£500
Highest breakEngland Joe Davis (146)
Final
ChampionNorthern Ireland Jackie Rea
Runner-upEngland Joe Davis
← 1953/54
→

The 1954/1955 News of the World Snooker Tournament was a professional

Leicester Square Hall
, which closed soon after the end of the tournament.

Format

The 1954/55 event was a

Leicester Square Hall in London. There were 9 competitors and a total of 36 matches. The competitors were Joe Davis, Fred Davis, Walter Donaldson, John Barrie, Albert Brown, Alec Brown, John Pulman, Jackie Rea and qualifier Kingsley Kennerley
. Each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames.

Each match was separately handicapped. Joe Davis played level with Fred Davis and gave Walter Donaldson and John Pulman 14, Albert Brown 18, Alec Brown 23, John Barrie 24, Jackie Rea and Kingsley Kennerley 25. Fred Davis gave John Pulman 10, Walter Donaldson 12, Albert Brown and John Barrie 14, Alec Brown 16, Jackie Rea 18 and Kingsley Kennerley 21. Walter Donaldson played level with John Pulman and gave Albert Brown and John Barrie 12, Alec Brown 14, Jackie Rea 16 and Kingsley Kennerley 18. John Pulman gave Albert Brown 5, Alec Brown 10, John Barrie 14, Jackie Rea 16 and Kingsley Kennerley 18. Albert Brown played level with Alec Brown and John Barrie and gave Kingsley Kennerley 12 and Jackie Rea 14. John Barrie played level with Alec Brown 0 and Jackie Rea and Kingsley Kennerley 7. Alec Brown gave Jackie Rea 5 and Kingsley Kennerley 12. Jackie Rea gave Kingsley Kennerley 7.

Results

Joe Davis made a break of 146 on 7 December, the second day of his match against Albert Brown. He potted a pink after his fourth red. The break equalled Davis's own record break, set on 1 March 1950.[1]

Jackie Rea won all his 8 matches, clinching victory after his 19–18 win against John Barrie on 15 December.[2]

The match between

Leicester Square Hall before it closed. Joe won the match 19–18 and made a 137 clearance on the final day.[3][4] The following Saturday, Joe Davis compiled the first officially recognised maximum break in a match against 68-year-old fellow Englishman Willie Smith.[5]
The match between Davis and Smith was played as part of a series of events marking the closure of the hall.

Winner Score Loser Date
Jackie Rea 22–15 Kingsley Kennerley 6–8 September
Kingsley Kennerley 21–16 Albert Brown 9–11 September
Albert Brown 25–12 John Barrie 13–15 September
Walter Donaldson 21–16 John Barrie 16–18 September
Jackie Rea 22–15 Alec Brown 20–22 September
Jackie Rea 23–14 John Pulman 23–25 September
Fred Davis 20–17 Alec Brown 27–29 September
Fred Davis 19–18 Walter Donaldson 30 September–2 October
Joe Davis 22–15 Walter Donaldson 4–6 October
Joe Davis 24–13 John Pulman 7–9 October
Jackie Rea 26–11 Albert Brown 11–13 October
Fred Davis 19–18 Albert Brown 14–16 October
Jackie Rea 21–16 Joe Davis 18–20 October
Kingsley Kennerley 19–18 John Barrie 21–23 October
Kingsley Kennerley 22–15 John Pulman 25–27 October
Fred Davis 19–18 John Pulman 28–30 October
Joe Davis 19–18 Alec Brown 1–3 November
Alec Brown 21–16 John Barrie 4–6 November
Jackie Rea 21–16 Walter Donaldson 8–10 November
Walter Donaldson 23–14 Kingsley Kennerley 11–13 November
John Pulman 20–17 Albert Brown 15–17 November
John Barrie 25–12 Joe Davis 18–20 November
Fred Davis 22–15 John Barrie 22–24 November
Jackie Rea 20–17 Fred Davis 25–27 November
John Pulman 21–16 Alec Brown 29 November–1 December
Joe Davis 28–9 Kingsley Kennerley 2–4 December
Joe Davis 23–14 Albert Brown 6–8 December
Alec Brown 20–17 Walter Donaldson 9–11 December
Jackie Rea 19–18 John Barrie 13–15 December
Kingsley Kennerley 19–18 Alec Brown 16–18 December
John Pulman 20–17 John Barrie 27–29 December
Albert Brown 22–15 Walter Donaldson 30 December–1 January
Kingsley Kennerley 19–18 Fred Davis 3–5 January
Albert Brown ?–? Alec Brown 6–8 January
Walter Donaldson 20–17 John Pulman 10–12 January
Joe Davis 19–18 Fred Davis 13–15 January

Table the final standings are shown below.[6]

Pos Player Pld MW FW FL Prize
1 Northern Ireland Jackie Rea 8 8 174 122 £500
2 England Joe Davis 8 6 163 133 £300
3 England Fred Davis 8 5 152 144 £200
4 England Kingsley Kennerley 8 5 138 158 £150
5 Scotland Walter Donaldson 8 3 145 151 £100
6 England Albert Brown 8 3 142 154 £75
7 England John Pulman 8 3 138 158 £75
8 England Alec Brown 8 2 143 153 £50
9 England John Barrie 8 1 137 159 £30

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 led Alec Brown 15–9 after the second day of their match,[7] after which Alec Brown withdrew due to illness.[8]

Qualifying

The qualifying tournament was held from 6 to 15 May 1954. These matches were also played at

Leicester Square Hall in London. There were 3 competitors: Kingsley Kennerley, Sydney Lee and Harry Stokes. Like the main event, each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames. Kennerley won both his matches to qualify.[9][10] Stokes beat Lee in the other match.[11]

Broadcasting

The BBC showed three short, 30 minute, TV programmes during the matches between Joe Davis and John Pulman on 8 October,[12] between John Pulman and John Barrie on 28 December,[13] and between Walter Donaldson and John Pulman on 12 January.[14] The commentator on each occasion was Sidney Smith.

References

  1. The Glasgow Herald
    . 8 December 1954. p. 4.
  2. The Glasgow Herald
    . 16 December 1954. p. 2.
  3. The Glasgow Herald
    . 17 January 1955. p. 7.
  4. ^ "Joe beats Fred for second place". Dundee Courier. 17 January 1955. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Maximum Snooker Record". The Times. 24 January 1955. p. 12.
  6. ^ "Final table - 'News of the World' £1,500 Snooker Tournament". the Billiard Player. February 1955. p. 13.
  7. The Glasgow Herald
    . 8 January 1955. p. 2.
  8. ^ "Professional results - Final table - 'News of World £1,500Tournament'". the Billiard Player. February 1955. p. 13.
  9. The Glasgow Herald
    . 13 May 1954. p. 4.
  10. ^ "Professional Snooker". The Times. 17 May 1954. p. 10.
  11. The Glasgow Herald
    . 10 May 1954. p. 11.
  12. ^ "BBC Television – 8 October – Snooker: Joe Davis v. John Pulman". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  13. ^ "BBC Television – 28 December – Snooker: John Pulman v. John Barrie". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  14. ^ "BBC Television – 12 January – Snooker: Walter Donaldson v. John Pulman". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
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