1957 World Professional Match-play Championship

The 1957 World Professional Match-play Championship was a snooker tournament held from 1 to 13 April in Saint Helier, Jersey. This was the first time the final was held outside England. The World Championship was not held again until 1964.[1] John Pulman won his first world title by defeating Jackie Rea 39–34 in the 73-frame final. Rea led in the early stages but Pulman pulled ahead and took a winning lead of 37–29 after the final afternoon session.[2]

World Professional Match-play Championship

Tournament information
Dates	1–13 April 1957
City	Saint Helier
Country	Jersey
Final
Champion	John Pulman
Runner-up	Jackie Rea
Score	39–34
← 1956 1964 → 1976 →

Jersey

Jersey relative to the UK

In the 1956/1957 News of the World Snooker Tournament that had been played from October 1956 to March 1957, John Pulman had been handicapped as the fourth strongest player. None of the three higher handicapped players (Joe Davis, Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson) played in the Championship.

Schedule

Match	Dates	Venue, city
Jackie Rea v Kingsley Kennerley	1–3 April 1957	Saint Helier, Jersey[3]
John Pulman v Rex Williams	4–6 April 1957	Saint Helier, Jersey[4]
John Pulman v Jackie Rea	8–13 April 1957	Saint Helier, Jersey[2]

Main draw

Sources:[5][6][7]

	Semi-finals 37 frames					Final 73 frames
		John Pulman	21
		Rex Williams	16
							John Pulman	39
							Jackie Rea	34
		Jackie Rea	25
		Kingsley Kennerley	12

Final

The final was over 73 frames.[4] Jackie Rea led 8–5 after the opening day,[8] 14–12 after the second day[9] and 20–19 after day three.[10] There was just one session on the fourth day and with Pulman winning 5 of the 7 frames he took the lead at 24–22.[11] Pulman also had the best of the fifth day and extended his lead to 32–27.[12] On the final day, Pulman won 5 of the 7 frames in the afternoon session to take a winning lead of 37–29. Rea won 5 of the 7 frames in the evening session to give a final score of 39–34.[2]

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". The Glasgow Herald. 15 April 1957. p. 11.
3. "Snooker & Billiards". The Glasgow Herald. 2 April 1957. p. 5.
4. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 8 April 1957. p. 4.
5. "World Championship 1957". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
6. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
7. Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 144. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
8. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 9 April 1957. p. 4.
9. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 10 April 1957. p. 4.
10. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 11 April 1957. p. 4.
11. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 12 April 1957. p. 4.
12. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 13 April 1957. p. 4.