1964–68 World Snooker Championships

After a six-year hiatus, the World Snooker Championship was revived by Rex Williams on a challenge basis in 1964 with the agreement of the Billiards Association and Control Council. The 1957 World Champion John Pulman played seven challenge matches against various opponents in the next five years, until the tournament reverted to a knock-out format in 1969.[1][2]

Challenge matches
Date Defending champion Score[1][2][3] Challenger Venue Highest break[4] Reference
Apr 1964 John Pulman 19–16 Fred Davis Burroughes Hall, London 112 (Pulman) [5]
Oct 1964 John Pulman 40–33 Rex Williams Burroughes Hall, London, England 107 (Williams) [5]
Mar 1965 John Pulman 37–36 Fred Davis Burroughes Hall, London, England [6]
Sep–Dec 1965 John Pulman 25–22 Rex Williams South Africa 142 (Williams) [6][7][n 1]
Dec 1965 John Pulman 39–12 Fred Van Rensburg South Africa [6]
Apr 1966 John Pulman 5–2 Fred Davis St George's Hall, Liverpool [8][n 1]
Mar 1968 John Pulman 39–34 Eddie Charlton Co-operative Hall, Bolton 122 (Charlton) [9]

April 1964 match

The World Professional Snooker Championship was revived in 1964 with a match between 40-year-old John Pulman and 50-year-old Fred Davis. It was a best-of-37-frames match, played over three days from 20 to 22 April at Burroughes Hall in London. The last official World Snooker Championship was held in 1952, while the last unofficial world snooker championship to take place was the 1957 World Professional Match-play Championship. Davis had won the official championship three times and the World Professional Match-play Championship five times. He had not taken part in the last championship in 1957, which Pulman had won.

Pulman took an early 4–2 lead, but Davis was ahead 7–5 at the end of the first day[10] and maintained his two-frame advantage after the second day, leading 13–11.[11] Davis made a break of 108 on the afternoon of the final day, but Pulman won four of the six frames in the session to level the match at 15–15. He then won the first three frames of the evening session to lead 18–15 and, although Davis won the next frame, Pulman took the fifth to win the title 19–16.[12]

October 1964 challenge match

Six months after winning the world title, John Pulman was challenged by Rex Williams in another match held at Burroughes Hall in London. The match consisted of 73 frames played over six days, from 12 to 17 October 1964. As a young professional, Williams had played in a number of Match-play championships and News of the World tournaments in the 1950s, but with little success.

Williams led 8–4 at the end of the first day,[13] but Pulman won 11 of the 12 frames on the second day to go ahead 15–9,[14] extending his lead to 31–17 after four days.[15] Pulman won the match on the fifth day with a 37–23 winning lead, making a break of 109 in frame 57.[16] The remaining 13 "dead frames" were played on the final day with Pulman finishing 40–33 ahead.[17]

March 1965 challenge match

Fred Davis challenged John Pulman for the world title in March 1965. The match was again 73 frames long, played over six days from 15 to 21 March at Burroughes Hall in London. The two players were closely matched throughout. Davis led 7–5 after the first day,[18] but Pulman had taken the lead 13–11 by the end of the second day[19] and pulled further ahead on the third, before Davis recovered to level the match at 18–18.[20] Pulman made a break of 100 on the fourth day; they won six frames apiece to level the score once again at 24–24.[21] The pair were still tied after the fifth day at 30–30, with Davis making a break of 105.[22] Pulman eventually won the match 37–36.[23]

Challenge matches in South Africa

In September 1965, John Pulman and Rex Williams left England to play a series of 51 seven-frame matches in South Africa for the World Championship.[24] The number of matches was later reduced to 49 and in December Pulman took a winning lead of 25–20 to retain the title. Eventually only 47 matches were played, with Pulman winning the series 25–22.[25] In the 24th match of the series, played in November in the South African city of East London, Williams compiled a break of 142, breaking the official tournament record of 136 set by Joe Davis in 1946.[26] Although equalled by Bill Werbeniuk in 1979, this remained the highest break at the World Championship until Doug Mountjoy compiled a 145 in the 1981 tournament.[7]

After winning this series of matches, Pulman played South African Fred Van Rensburg in December 1965, winning the match 39–12.[6] In January 1966, Pulman and Williams played a 5-day 35-frame match against Van Rensburg and amateur Manuel Francisco, taking a winning 20–8 lead on the fourth day; the match ending 24–11.[27][28][29]

April 1966 challenge matches

Fred Davis met John Pulman for the third time in early 1966. There were seven separate matches, each of five frames, played in Liverpool. Pulman won four of the first six matches to retain the title on 22 April.[30] He won the last match the following day to finish with five wins to Davis's two.[31]

March 1968 challenge match

Eddie Charlton challenged John Pulman, and the pair met in Bolton for a 73-frame match played from 4 to 9 March 1968.[32] The score was level at 6–6 after the opening day's play but Pulman led 13–11 after the second day.[33] In the 21st frame, after Pulman had potted the first red, Charlton potted the 14 remaining reds, with seven blacks, six pinks and a green, and then all the colours except the black, for a break of 122.[33] Pulman retained a 19–17 lead after the third day,[34] extending his lead to 28–20 after the fourth day; he led 34–26 after the fifth day,[35] needing three of the remaining 13 frames. Pulman won three of the first five frames on the final afternoon to win the match 37–28.[36] The remaining eight "dead frames" were played, the final score being 39–34.[37]

Notes
  1. The title was decided over a series of matches rather than frames.
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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. Hayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
  3. "Hall of Fame". snooker.org. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  4. "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  5. "World Championship 1964". global-snooker.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  6. "World Championship 1965". global-snooker.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  7. Everton, Clive (1981). Guinness Book of Snooker. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-85112-230-4.
  8. "World Championship 1966". global-snooker.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  9. "World Championship 1968". global-snooker.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  10. "Snooker revival". The Times. 21 April 1964. p. 3.
  11. "Snooker". The Times. 22 April 1964. p. 4.
  12. "Professional snooker title for Pulman". The Times. 23 April 1964. p. 4.
  13. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 13 October 1964. p. 5.
  14. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 14 October 1964. p. 5.
  15. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 16 October 1964. p. 6.
  16. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 17 October 1964. p. 6.
  17. "Snooker". The Times. 19 October 1964. p. 5.
  18. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 16 March 1965. p. 6.
  19. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 17 March 1965. p. 6.
  20. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 18 March 1965. p. 8.
  21. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 19 March 1965. p. 8.
  22. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 20 March 1965. p. 6.
  23. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 22 March 1965. p. 10.
  24. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 22 September 1965. p. 6.
  25. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 16 December 1965. p. 6.
  26. "World Snooker Record". The Times. 17 November 1965. p. 4.
  27. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 4 January 1965. p. 8.
  28. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 7 January 1965. p. 6.
  29. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 8 January 1965. p. 4.
  30. "Pulman champion". The Times. 23 April 1966. p. 4.
  31. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 25 April 1966. p. 4.
  32. "Eddie lost game, but revived snooker". The Sun-Herald. 28 March 1976. p. 64.
  33. "Snooker lead to Pulman". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 March 1968. p. 15.
  34. "Close match in snooker". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 March 1968. p. 15.
  35. "Aust. Lags". The Sun-Herald. 10 March 1968. p. 70.
  36. "Snooker win to Pulman". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 March 1968. p. 12.
  37. "Pulman still champion". The Guardian. 11 March 1968. p. 14 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
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