1949/1950 News of the World Snooker Tournament

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News of the World Tournament
Tournament information
Dates10 October 1949 – 21 January 1950 (1949-10-10 – 1950-01-21)
VenueLeicester Square Hall
CityLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
FormatNon-Ranking event
Total prize fund£1500
Winner's share£500
Final
ChampionEngland Joe Davis
Runner-upEngland Sidney Smith
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1950/51 →

The 1949/1950 News of the World Snooker Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the News of the World. The tournament was won by Joe Davis with Sidney Smith finishing in second place. It was the first News of the World Tournament, a tournament that ran until 1959.

Format[]

The 1949/1950 event was a round-robin snooker tournament and was played from 10 October 1949 to 21 January 1950. All matches were played at Leicester Square Hall in London. There were 8 competitors and a total of 28 matches. The competitors were Joe Davis, Walter Donaldson, George Chenier, Horace Lindrum, Sidney Smith, and Albert Brown. Each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames. There was a qualifying competition prior to the main event. This involved 4 players in a round-robin tournament with the winner, Albert Brown, advancing to the main event. 1949 World Snooker Champion Fred Davis did not enter as he objected to the matches being over only three days rather than the normal six.[1]

Each player was given a handicap at the start of the tournament. The handicaps were: Davis: -7, Donaldson: 0, Chenier, Lindrum and Smith: 13, Pulman: 14, Mans: 16 and Brown: 19. The player with the higher handicap received a start in each frame, being the difference between the two handicaps. Thus Brown received a 3-point start in his match against Mans.

Results[]

The two top-seeded players met in the first match. Joe Davis beat Walter Donaldson, won a tough match; taking a winning 19–16 lead in the final session.[2] In the second match Albert Brown, receiving a 26-point start each frame, led Joe Davis 18–6 after two days and won comfortably.[3]

Going into his last match Albert Brown seemed the likely winner of the tournament. He and Joe Davis had won 5 matches out of 6 but Brown had an 8 frame lead.[4] This meant that if Brown won his last match 19–18, Davis would need to win his last match 28–9 to win the event. However Brown lost his last match, against Horace Lindrum, which meant that Davis only needed to win his match against George Chenier to win the tournament. In the next match Sidney Smith won 26–11, overtaking Brown in the standings and meaning that Smith would win the tournament if Davis lost.[5] Davis took a 19–4 lead against Chenier to guarantee the £500 first prize with Smith in second place and Brown third.[6]

Joe Davis scored the first century of the tournament on 8 November in his match against John Pulman. Pulman potted a red before Davis cleared the table with a break of 130.[7] Davis scored a break of exactly 100 against Sidney Smith on 3 January.[8] George Chenier scored a break of 107 on 19 January in his match against Davis.[9]

Winner Score Loser Dates
Joe Davis 19–18 Walter Donaldson 10–12 October
Albert Brown 25–12 Joe Davis 13–15 October
Albert Brown 22–15 17–19 October
23–14 George Chenier 20–22 October
Sidney Smith 27–10 George Chenier 24–26 October
Sidney Smith 21–16 Horace Lindrum 27–29 October
Walter Donaldson 19–18 31 October–2 November
Walter Donaldson 20–17 John Pulman 3–5 November
Joe Davis 22–15 John Pulman 7–9 November
Albert Brown 22–15 George Chenier 10–12 November
Albert Brown 20–17 Walter Donaldson 14–16 November
Sidney Smith 19–18 17–19 November
George Chenier 24–13 John Pulman 21–23 November
John Pulman 19–18 Albert Brown 24–26 November
Joe Davis 25–12 Horace Lindrum 28–30 November
Horace Lindrum 21–16 John Pulman 1–3 December
Albert Brown 20–17 Sidney Smith 5–7 December
George Chenier 25–12 Walter Donaldson 8–10 December
Horace Lindrum 19–18 Walter Donaldson 12–14 December
Joe Davis 21–16 15–17 December
Horace Lindrum 24–13 George Chenier 26–28 December
19–18 Horace Lindrum 29–31 December
Joe Davis 20–17 Sidney Smith 2–4 January
Sidney Smith 20–17 John Pulman 5–7 January
John Pulman 23–14 9–11 January
Horace Lindrum 20–17 Albert Brown 12–14 January
Sidney Smith 26–11 Walter Donaldson 16–18 January
Joe Davis 25–12 George Chenier 19–21 January

Table [10]

Pos Player Pld MW FW Prize
1 England Joe Davis 7 6 144 £500
2 England Sidney Smith 7 5 147 £300
3 England Albert Brown 7 5 144 £200
4 Australia Horace Lindrum 7 4 130 £150
5 South Africa 7 2 123 £100
6 England John Pulman 7 2 120 £75
7 Scotland Walter Donaldson 7 2 115 £75
8 Canada George Chenier 7 2 113 £50

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 won an additional £50 for winning the qualifying competition.

Qualifying[]

The qualifying tournament was played from 19 September to 8 October 1949. These matches were also played at Leicester Square Hall in London. As in the main event, each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames. Albert Brown and Alec Brown each won their first two matches which meant that the final match, between the two, would decide the winner.[11] Albert Brown won a close match 20–17.[12] Alec had led 13–11 at the start of the final day.[13] Conrad Stanbury conceded his match against John Barrie because of illness. Barrie was leading 8–4 at the time. Barrie played a two-day exhibition match against instead.[14]

Winner Score Loser Dates
Albert Brown 22–15 John Barrie 19–21 September
Alec Brown 20–17 John Barrie 22–24 September
Alec Brown 24–13 Conrad Stanbury 26–28 September
Albert Brown 25–12 Conrad Stanbury 29 September–1 October
John Barrie w/o–w/d Conrad Stanbury 3–5 October
Albert Brown 20–17 Alec Brown 6–8 October

References[]

  1. ^ "Snooker champion won't play". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 5 August 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ "Grim snooker struggle won by Joe Davis". Aberdeen Journal. 13 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Joe Davis beaten". Aberdeen Journal. 17 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Brown should win snooker prize". Portsmouth Evening News. 7 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Smith awaits Davis-Chenier result". Aberdeen Journal. 19 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Davis wins £500 first prize". Aberdeen Journal. 21 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Davis gains lead". Aberdeen Journal. 9 November 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Smith tried pot off the lampshade". Aberdeen Journal. 4 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Joe Davis is eight frame in front". Aberdeen Journal. 20 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Davis surprises himself". Western Daily Press. 23 January 1950. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Brown to meet Brown". Aberdeen Journal. 3 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "Albert Brown wins". Aberdeen Journal. 10 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Snooker". Aberdeen Journal. 8 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "Conrad Stanbury ill". Aberdeen Journal. 5 October 1949. Retrieved 25 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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