1931 World Snooker Championship

The 1931 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the Lounge Hall in Nottingham, England.[1] Despite a surge in popularity in the game, only two players competed for the title: defending champion Joe Davis and Tom Dennis, previously twice runner-up. Davis won his fifth World title by defeating Dennis 25–21.[2] Dennis led 19–16 at one stage but Davis won 9 of the next 11 frames to take the Championship.

World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	27 April–1 May 1931
Venue	Lounge Hall
City	Nottingham
Country	England
Organisation(s)	BACC
Highest break	Joe Davis (72)
Final
Champion	Joe Davis
Runner-up	Tom Dennis
Score	25–21
← 1930 1932 →

Detail

Only two players entered, Joe Davis and Tom Dennis and so only one match was necessary.[3] The match was played from Monday 27 April to Friday 1 May and was over 49 frames. There were ten frames played each day with five frames in the afternoon and five in the evening (four on the final day). The match was held at The Lounge, Shakespeare Street, Nottingham.

Dennis led 3–2 after the first afternoon session[4] and increased his lead to 6–4 at the end of the day. On the second day, Davis won the afternoon session 3–2[5] and the evening session by the same margin to leave the match level at 10–10. Dennis won the third afternoon session 4–1. In frame 24, Davis made a break of 41, the first 40 break of the match, but lost the frame 57–49. At one stage in the frame Dennis was snookered behind the brown "but jumped the cue ball clean over that obstacle" to make his escape. In the 25th frame Davis made a 56 break before fouling a red when preparing to pot the black, missing his chance of beating his Championship record break of 79.[6] Davis then won the evening session 4–1 to level the match again at 15–15.[7]

On the fourth day Dennis again won the afternoon session 4–1 but Davis won all 5 in the evening to take a 21–19 lead. On the final day Davis won the first frame which included a 48 break and then the second frame with a 72 break, the highest of the match, missing an attempted double into the middle pocket.[8] The afternoon session ended with Davis leading 24–21, needing just one more frame for victory. Davis took the first in the evening by a score 75–43, including a 58 break, to win the Championship 25–21.[9]

Davis was presented with the "Championship Cup" by Dr. Tinsley Lindley, who also presented Dennis with the runner-up medal. Afterwards they played a further four frames for the benefit of the spectators.[9]

Main draw

Source:[9]

	Final Best of 49 frames
		Joe Davis	25
		Tom Dennis	21

Final

Final: Best of 49 frames. Lounge Hall in Nottingham, England, 27 April–1 May 1931.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Joe Davis  England	25–21	Tom Dennis  England
Day 1: 57–47, 22–60, 44–66, 74–45, 41–50, 5 frame scores not known Day 2: 48–43, 32–54, 36–52, 80–36, 68–18, 5 frame scores not known Day 3: 8–101, 45–59, 7–59, 49–57, 75–32 (56), 5 frame scores not known Day 4: 42–53, 9 frame scores not known Day 5: 116–14, 110–2 (72), 3 frame scores not known, 75–43 (58)

References

1. "Lounge Billiards Hall – Shakespeare Street, Nottingham (advert)". Nottingham Evening Post. 27 April 1931. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Professional championship". The Glasgow Herald. 2 May 1931. p. 13.
3. "Billiards – Snooker Pool Championship". The Times. 3 March 1931. p. 7.
4. "World's Championship – Tom Dennis challenges Davis at Snooker". Nottingham Evening Post. 27 April 1931. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Snooker Championship – Dennis and Davis at The Lounge". Nottingham Evening Post. 28 April 1931. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Snooker Championship – Dennis wins four frames this afternoon". Nottingham Evening Post. 29 April 1931. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "World's Snooker Championship – Match at The Lounge becomes exciting". Nottingham Evening Post. 30 April 1931. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Davis leads Dennis – Final stages of Professional Snooker Championship – Highest break of the match". Nottingham Evening Post. 1 May 1931. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Snooker cup retained – Fifth successive victory of Joe Davis – Good fight by Dennis". Nottingham Evening Post. 2 May 1931. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.