1953/1954 News of the World Snooker Tournament

The 1953/1954 News of the World Snooker Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the News of the World. The tournament was won by John Pulman who won 7 of his 8 matches and finished ahead of Joe Davis who won 5 matches. The News of the World Snooker Tournament ran from 1949/50 to 1959.

News of the World Tournament

Tournament information
Dates	7 September 1953 – 16 January 1954 (1953-09-07 – 1954-01-16)
Venue	Leicester Square Hall
City	London
Country	United Kingdom
Format	Non-Ranking event
Total prize fund	£1500
Winner's share	£500
Final
Champion	John Pulman
Runner-up	Joe Davis
← 1952/53 1954/55 →

Format

The 1953/54 event was a round-robin snooker tournament and was played from 7 September 1953 to 16 January 1954. All matches were played at Leicester Square Hall in London. There were 9 competitors and a total of 36 matches. The competitors were Joe Davis, Fred Davis, Walter Donaldson, John Barrie, Albert Brown, Alec Brown, John Pulman, Jackie Rea and Rex Williams.^[1] Sidney Smith was due to participate, but withdrew before the tournament started.^[1] Each match lasted three days and was the best of 37 frames.

Each match was separately handicapped. Joe Davis played level with Fred Davis and gave Walter Donaldson 14, John Barrie, Albert Brown, Alec Brown and John Pulman 21 and Jackie Rea and Rex Williams 25. Fred Davis gave Walter Donaldson 7, Albert Brown 10, John Pulman 12, John Barrie 14, Alec Brown 16 and Jackie Rea and Rex Williams 18. Walter Donaldson gave Albert Brown 7, Alec Brown and John Pulman 12, John Barrie 14 and Jackie Rea and Rex Williams 18. Albert Brown gave Alec Brown and John Pulman 5, John Barrie 8 and Jackie Rea and Rex Williams 14. John Pulman played level with Alec Brown and gave John Barrie 7 and Jackie Rea and Rex Williams 14. John Barrie played level with Alec Brown and gave Jackie Rea 7. Alec Brown gave Jackie Rea 5 and Rex Williams 9. Jackie Rea played level with Rex Williams.

Nineteen century breaks were made during the tournament, ten of them by Joe Davis.^[2]

Results

John Pulman made certain of winning the tournament by beating John Barrie on 30 December^[3]

Fred Davis beat his brother Joe 21–16 in the final match of the tournament. Joe was already assured of second place but the win gave Fred third place.^[4]

Fred Davis scored the first century of the tournament, a break of 102, on the second day of his match against Walter Donaldson.^[5] Donaldson made a break of 120 the following day.^[6] In the next match Joe Davis made a break of 131 against Donaldson.^[7]

Winner	Score	Loser	Date	Ref
Alec Brown	19–18	Rex Williams	7–9 September	[8]
Rex Williams	20–17	Albert Brown	10–12 September	[9]
John Barrie	25–12	Albert Brown	14–16 September	[10]
John Barrie	19–18	Walter Donaldson	17–19 September	[11]
Jackie Rea	19–18	Alec Brown	21–23 September	[12]
John Pulman	20–17	Jackie Rea	24–26 September	[13]
Alec Brown	20–17	Fred Davis	28–30 September	[14]
Fred Davis	25–12	Walter Donaldson	1–3 October	[6]
Joe Davis	22–15	Walter Donaldson	5–7 October	[15]
John Pulman	20–17	Joe Davis	8–10 October	[16]
Albert Brown	23–14	Jackie Rea	12–14 October	[17]
Fred Davis	22–15	Albert Brown	15–17 October	[18]
Joe Davis	20–17	Jackie Rea	19–21 October	[19]
John Barrie	w/o–w/d	Rex Williams	22–24 October	[20]
John Pulman	22–15	Rex Williams	26–28 October	[21]
John Pulman	25–12	Fred Davis	29–31 October	[22]
Joe Davis	22–15	Alec Brown	2–4 November	[23]
Alec Brown	20–17	John Barrie	5–7 November	[24]
Jackie Rea	20–17	Walter Donaldson	9–11 November	[25]
Rex Williams	23–14	Walter Donaldson	12–14 November	[26]
John Pulman	24–13	Albert Brown	16–18 November	[27]
Joe Davis	23–14	John Barrie	19–21 November	[28]
John Barrie	19–18	Fred Davis	23–25 November	[29]
Fred Davis	19–18	Jackie Rea	26–28 November	[30]
John Pulman	25–12	Alec Brown	30 November–2 December	[31]
Joe Davis	22–15	Rex Williams	3–5 December	[32]
Albert Brown	23–14	Joe Davis	7–9 December	[33]
Walter Donaldson	24–13	Alec Brown	10–12 December	[34]
Jackie Rea	20–17	John Barrie	14–16 December	[35]
Jackie Rea	25–12	Rex Williams	17–19 December	[36]
John Pulman	24–13	John Barrie	28–30 December	[3]
Walter Donaldson	31–6	Albert Brown	31 December–2 January	[37]
Rex Williams	19–18	Fred Davis	4–6 January	[38]
Alec Brown	23–14	Albert Brown	7–9 January	[39]
Walter Donaldson	20–17	John Pulman	11–13 January	[40]
Fred Davis	21–16	Joe Davis	14–16 January	[4]

Table ^[2]

Pos	Player	Pld	MY	FW	FL	Prize
1	John Pulman	8	7	177	119	£500
2	Joe Davis	8	5	156	140	?
3	Fred Davis	8	4	152	144	?
4	Jackie Rea	8	4	150	146	?
5	John Barrie	8	4	143	153
6	Alec Brown	8	4	140	156
7	Walter Donaldson	8	3	151	145
8	Rex Williams	8	3	140	156	?
9	Albert Brown	8	2	123	173

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). Rex Williams was ill for his match against John Barrie from 22 to 24 October. Barrie played an exhibition match against Kingsley Kennerley instead,^[20] and was awarded a 19–18 win against Williams.^[2]

Qualifying

The qualifying tournament was played from 25 May to 13 June 1953 at Leicester Square Hall in London. There were 3 competitors: Sydney Lee, Jim Lees and Rex Williams. Matches were over 71 frames, except in the match between Lee and Williams which was over 59 frames. The qualifying was won by Rex Williams who advanced to the main event.^[41][1]

Qualifying results

Winner	Score	Loser	Date	Ref
Rex Williams	50–21	Jim Lees	25 – 30 May	[1][42][43]
Rex Williams	40–19	Sydney Lee	1 – 6 June	[1][44][45]
Sydney Lee	41–30	Jim Lees	8 – 13 June	[1][46][47]

Broadcasting

The BBC showed two short TV programmes during the matches between John Barrie and Albert Brown on 16 September,^[48] and between Walter Donaldson and Alec Brown on 12 December.^[49] The commentator on both occasions was Sidney Smith.

References

1. "Professional matches". The Billiard Player. The Billiards Association and Control Club. July 1953. p. 16.
2. "Professional play". The Billiard Player. The Billiards Association and Control Club. February 1954. p. 9.
3. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 31 December 1953. p. 2.
4. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 18 January 1954. p. 9.
5. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 3 October 1953. p. 4.
6. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 5 October 1953. p. 3.
7. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 7 October 1953. p. 9.
8. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 10 September 1953. p. 9.
9. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 14 September 1953. p. 3.
10. "John Barrie". Dundee Courier. 17 September 1953. Retrieved 10 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 21 September 1953. p. 9.
12. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 24 September 1953. p. 9.
13. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 28 September 1953. p. 9.
14. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 1 October 1953. p. 9.
15. "Joe Davis beats Donaldson". The Glasgow Herald. 8 October 1953. p. 9.
16. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 12 October 1953. p. 3.
17. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 15 October 1953. p. 9.
18. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 19 October 1953. p. 9.
19. "Billiards and Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 22 October 1953. p. 9.
20. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 23 October 1953. p. 3.
21. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 29 October 1953. p. 11.
22. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 2 November 1953. p. 9.
23. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 5 November 1953. p. 9.
24. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 9 November 1953. p. 9.
25. "Other Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 12 November 1953. p. 9.
26. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 16 November 1953. p. 5.
27. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 19 November 1953. p. 9.
28. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 23 November 1953. p. 11.
29. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 26 November 1953. p. 2.
30. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 30 November 1953. p. 9.
31. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 3 December 1953. p. 11.
32. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 7 December 1953. p. 9.
33. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 10 December 1953. p. 2.
34. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 14 December 1953. p. 7.
35. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 17 December 1953. p. 2.
36. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 21 December 1953. p. 9.
37. "Professional Snooker". The Times. 4 January 1954. p. 9.
38. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 7 January 1954. p. 2.
39. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 11 January 1954. p. 2.
40. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 14 January 1954. p. 9.
41. "Snooker". The Glasgow Herald. 2 June 1953. p. 2.
42. "Rex Williams leads 10–2". Birmingham Gazette. 26 May 1953. p. 5.
43. "Rex Williams wins his qualifying heat". Birmingham Gazette. 1 June 1953. p. 6.
44. "Snooker". Daily Herald. 2 June 1953. p. 8.
45. "Rex Williams qualifies". Birmingham Gazette. 8 June 1953. p. 6.
46. "Snooker". Northern Whig. 9 June 1953. p. 6.
47. "Snooker". Northern Whig. 15 June 1953. p. 6.
48. "BBC Television – 16 September – Snooker: John Barrie v. Albert Brown". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
49. "BBC Television – 12 December – Snooker: John Pulman v. John Barrie". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2016.