1948 World Snooker Championship

The 1948 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament. The final was held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England, from 19 April to 1 May.[1]

World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	9 February–1 May 1948
Final venue	Leicester Square Hall
Final city	London
Country	England
Organisation(s)	Billiards Association and Control Council
Highest break	Fred Davis (109)
Final
Champion	Fred Davis
Runner-up	Walter Donaldson
Score	84–61
← 1947 1949 →

For the second year running the final was contested by Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson. Davis won his first World title by defeating Donaldson 84–61 in the final,[1] although he reached the winning margin already at 73–52.[2] Davis also made the highest break of the tournament with 109.[3]

Schedule

Match	Dates	Venue, city
Clark McConachy v John Pulman	9–14 February 1948	Rochdale
Albert Brown v Sidney Smith	1–4 March 1948	Blackpool
Fred Davis v Alec Brown	15–20 March 1948	Manchester
Walter Donaldson v Kingsley Kennerley	22–25, 27 March 1948	Newcastle
Walter Donaldson v Albert Brown	29 March–3 April 1948	Leicester Square Hall, London
Fred Davis v Clark McConachy	5–10 April 1948	Leicester Square Hall, London
Walter Donaldson v Fred Davis	19–24, 26 April–1 May 1948	Leicester Square Hall, London

Main draw

Sources:[4][5][6]

	Quarter-finals 71 frames					Semi-finals 71 frames					Final 145 frames
		Walter Donaldson	46
		Kingsley Kennerley	25				Walter Donaldson	40
		Sidney Smith	35				Albert Brown	31
		Albert Brown	36									Walter Donaldson	61
		Fred Davis	43									Fred Davis	84
		Alec Brown	28				Fred Davis	43
		Clark McConachy	42				Clark McConachy	28
		John Pulman	29

Qualifying

All qualifying matches were held at Burroughes Hall in London. The first-round matches were held from 1 to 13 December 1947. In the first match Sydney Lee conceded his match to John Pulman before the second day's play because of an abscess on his neck. Pulman was leading 8–2 after the first day.[7] Only 10 frames had been played because of a power cut which curtailed the afternoon session to three frames.[8] Conrad Stanbury comfortably won the second match, against Eric Newman, taking a 19–5 winning lead after the second day.[9] The third match between Willie Leigh and Herbert Holt was very close. Leigh won the final frame 83–35 to win the match.[10] The final first-round matches between John Barrie and Herbert Francis was also close. The match was 12–12 after two days. Barrie won the match 19–16.[11]

The semi-finals were held from 5 to 10 January 1948. Pulman beat Stanbury in the first semi-final, taking a winning 18–15 lead on the final evening.[12] In the second semi-final Leigh led 10–6 and won 21–14. Barrie made a break of 101 during the final evening session.[13] In the final, played from 12 to 14 January, Leigh led 7–5 after the first day and 13–11 after two days. The match went to a final frame decider with Pulman winning 60–49, potting the last black.[14]

Round 1 35 frames

Round 2 35 frames

Round 3 35 frames

John Pulman

w/o

Sydney Lee

w/d

John Pulman

19

Conrad Stanbury

26

Conrad Stanbury

16

Eric Newman

9

John Pulman

18

Herbert Francis

16

Willie Leigh

17

John Barrie

19

John Barrie

14

Willie Leigh

18

Willie Leigh

21

Herbert Holt

17

References

1. Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
2. "Snooker Champ". Sunday Times. 2 May 1948. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
3. "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
4. "World Championship 1948". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
5. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
6. Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. pp. 143–144. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
7. "Snooker – Sydney Lee withdraws". Western Morning News. 3 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Snooker – Pulman leading – Power cuts hold up play in qualifying match". Western Morning News. 2 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Another M'Conachy century". Dundee Courier. 6 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Snooker – Marsh-Carter final". Western Daily Press. 11 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Sport in brief". Western Daily Press. 15 December 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Pulman successful". Western Morning News. 8 January 1948. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "Items". Nottingham Evening Post. 12 January 1948. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
14. "John Pulman beats Willie Leigh – Wins on black in last frame". Western Daily Press. 15 January 1948. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.