Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

1940 World Snooker Championship

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Venue
  
Thurston's Hall

Country
  
England

City
  
London

Organisation(s)
  
BACC

Dates
  
22 February–20 March 1940

Highest break
  
Fred Davis (101) Joe Davis (101)

The 1940 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the Thurston's Hall in London, England.

Contents

Joe Davis won his fourteenth World title by defeating his younger brother Fred Davis 37–36 in the final, although the winning margin was reached at 37–35 as dead frames were still played out. Joe Davis compiled a century break in the penultimate frame to win the match. This was the last World Championship to be held until the end of the Second World War, the next one being held in 1946.

Detail

There were nine entries for the Championship. The number in the competition proper was reduced again to eight with a qualifying match between Herbert Holt and Conrad Stanbury.

Holt met Walter Donaldson in the first match of the competition proper. Donaldson won the first four frames and led 6–4 overnight. Donaldson won eight frames on the second day to lead 14–6, two frames from victory. Donaldson won the first two frames on the final day to win 16–6 and eventually won 10 of the 11 frames played, leaving a final score of 24–7. All 11 frames on the final day were completed in 2 hours 15 minutes.

Joe Davis and Alec Brown played in the second quarter-final. Brown had recently won the Daily Mail Gold Cup beating Davis 39–22. However, in that match he had received a start of 25 in each frame. Brown took a 2–1 lead but David led 7–3 after the first day. Davis extended his lead to 10–3 but at the end of the second day Brown had reduced Davis's lead to 12–8. By winning the last frame of the final afternoon session, Davis took a winning 16–9 lead. The final score was 20–11.

Fred Davis met Sydney Lee in the third quarter-final. On the first day Lee won frame 4 but Davis led 9–1. The players shared the second day so that Davis led 14–6. Davis won the first two frames on the third day to win the match 16–6. The final score was 20–11, Davis making a break of 88 in the evening session.

The last quarter-final was between Sidney Smith and Tom Newman. Newman won the first frame with a break of 53 but Smith led 8–2 overnight and won comfortably 16–3 on the second day. The final score was 22–9.

Joe Davis and Donaldson met in the first semi-final. Davis won the first three frames but Donaldson levelled the match at 5–5 at the end of the first day. Davis won 7 frames on the second day to lead 12–8. On the final day Donaldson won the first frame but Davis won the next four to win the match 16–9. Davis then extended his winning run to 10 frames to leave a final score of 22–9.

The second semi-final between Fred Davis and Sidney Smith was a close match. Smith took a 7–2 lead, before Davis won the last frame of the day to reduce the gap to four frames. Davis won seven frames on the second to level the match at 10–10 and then won three frames on the final afternoon to lead 13–12. Winning first two frames gave him a 15–12 lead and, although Smith won the next, Davis won the match 16–13. The final score was 17–14.

Brothers Joe and Fred Davis met in the final. Joe took an 8–4 lead on the first day and led 14–10 after the second day. Fred won the first 10 frames on the third day and led 21–15 at the end of the day. Including the last frame on the second day, Fred had won 11 frames in succession. Joe won 9 frames on the fourth day to level the match at 24–24. The fifth afternoon session was shared. Fred made a 101 break in frame 50, including 13 reds, 11 blacks, a pink and a blue. It was the first century of the tournament. Joe won four frames in the evening to lead 31–29. On the final day Joe won the first three frames to lead 34–29 but Fred won the next four frames. When Joe won frame 70 he took a 36–34 lead but Fred won the next. In frame 72 Fred scored the first 12 points but Joe then made a 101 break to take a winning 37–35 lead. Joe got his century by potting the blue, leaving just the pink and black remaining. The spectators cheered for nearly a minute when Joe made his century. Fred won the last frame, giving a final score of 37–36.

Main draw

Sources:

Qualifying

Herbert Holt and Conrad Stanbury met at Thurston's Hall for their qualifying match, played from 19–21 February. Holt led 6–4 after the first day and 13–7 after day two. Although he lost the first frame on the final, he won the next three to take a winning 16–8 lead. Stanbury won five of the seven dead frames to leave a final score of 18–13.

References

1940 World Snooker Championship Wikipedia