1949 World Snooker Championship

World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	21 February–7 May 1949
Venue	Leicester Square Hall
City	London
Country	England
Organisation(s)	Billiards Association and Control Council
Highest break	Walter Donaldson (115)
Final
Champion	Fred Davis
Runner-up	Walter Donaldson
Score	80–65
← 1948 1950 →

The 1949 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England.^[1]

For the third year running the final was contested by Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson. Davis became the second player to defend his first world title after Joe Davis in 1928 by defeating Donaldson 80–65 in the final,^[1] although he had taken a winning lead of 73–58 on the previous day. The match was still in the balance with the score at 63–58 before Davis won 10 frames in a row to take the title.^[2] Donaldson made the highest break of the tournament with 115 on the last day of his semi-final match against John Pulman.^[3][4]

Schedule

Match	Dates	Venue, city
Walter Donaldson v Conrad Stanbury	21–26 February 1949	Leicester Square Hall, London
Sidney Smith v Alec Brown	28 February–5 March 1949	Leicester Square Hall, London
Fred Davis v Kingsley Kennerley	7–12 March 1949	Leicester Square Hall, London
John Pulman v Albert Brown	14–19 March 1949	Leicester Square Hall, London
Walter Donaldson v John Pulman	28 March–2 April 1949	Leicester Square Hall, London
Fred Davis v Sidney Smith	4–9 April 1949	Leicester Square Hall, London
Fred Davis v Walter Donaldson	25–30 April, 2–7 May 1949	Leicester Square Hall, London

Main draw

Sources:^[5][6][7]

	Quarter-finals 71 frames					Semi-finals 71 frames					Final 145 frames
		Fred Davis	50
		Kingsley Kennerley	21				Fred Davis	42
		Sidney Smith	41				Sidney Smith	29
		Alec Brown	30									Fred Davis	80
		Walter Donaldson	58									Walter Donaldson	65
		Conrad Stanbury	13				Walter Donaldson	49
		Albert Brown	29				John Pulman	22
		John Pulman	42

Qualifying

John Barrie withdrew for business reasons, giving Herbert Holt a bye into the final of the qualifying event.^[8] Conrad Stanbury beat Herbert Francis 18–17 in his first round match played from 10 to 12 February 1949^[9] and then beat Barrie by the same score in a match played from 14 to 16 February. Stanbury then played Holt in the final of the qualifying from 17 to 19 February and recorded his third 18–17 victory, winning the exciting final frame.^[10] All three matches were at Leicester Square Hall.

Round 1 Best of 35 frames

Round 2 Best of 35 frames

Round 3 Best of 35 frames

Herbert Holt

w/o

John Barrie

w/d

Herbert Holt

17

Conrad Stanbury

18

Conrad Stanbury

18

Herbert Francis

17

Conrad Stanbury

18

Jackie Rea

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 title for Fred Davis". Nottingham Evening Post. 7 May 1949. Retrieved 21 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
3. "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
4. "Snooker and billiards". The Glasgow Herald. 4 April 1949. p. 2.
5. "World Championship 1949". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 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. 143. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
8. "J Barrie". The Times. 15 October 1948. p. 6.
9. "C Stanbury". The Times. 14 February 1949. p. 2.
10. "Snooker". The Times. 21 February 1949. p. 6.