1936 World Snooker Championship

World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	23 March–2 May 1936
Final venue	Thurston's Hall
Final city	London
Country	England
Organisation(s)	BACC
Highest break	Horace Lindrum (101)
Final
Champion	Joe Davis
Runner-up	Horace Lindrum
Score	34–27
← 1935 1937 →

The 1936 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament mostly held at the Thurston's Hall in London, England.^[1] There were a record thirteen entries;^[2] a significant increase from the five in the previous year and just two in 1934. Joe Davis won the Championship for the tenth time in a row, beating Horace Lindrum in the final.^[1] The final signalled that snooker became a major game, with the Daily Mail Gold Cup switching from billiards to snooker and The Billiard Player changing its name to Billiards and Snooker in October 1936.^[3]

Horace Lindrum became the first Australian to compete at the World Championship,^[3] and made the highest break of the tournament with 101 in his semi-final match against Stanley Newman.^[4]

Schedule

Match	Dates	Venue, city
Clare O'Donnell v Sydney Lee	23–25 March 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Horace Lindrum v Bert Terry	26–28 March 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Joe Davis v Tom Newman	30 March–1 April 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Willie Smith v Sidney Smith	2–4 April 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Conrad Stanbury v Alec Mann	6–8 April 1936	Burroughes Hall, London
Stanley Newman v Tom Dennis	6–8 April 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Horace Lindrum v Clare O'Donnell	13–15 April 1936	Burroughes Hall, London
Joe Davis v Willie Smith	13–15 April 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Alec Brown v Conrad Stanbury	16–18 April 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Horace Lindrum v Stanley Newman	20–22 April 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Joe Davis v Alec Brown	23–25 April 1936	Thurston's Hall, London
Joe Davis v Horace Lindrum	27 April–2 May 1936	Thurston's Hall, London

Detail

The Championship started on 23 March, immediately following the 1935/1936 Daily Mail Gold Cup billiards tournament which has fully occupied Thurston's Hall since the beginning of the year. Sessions were extended to five frames, compared to the four frames that had been played in 1935.

The first match was between Clare O'Donnell and Sydney Lee. O'Donnell led 6–4 after the first day and 11–9 after two days. Lee won the last two frames on the final afternoon to reduce O'Donnell's lead to 13–12 and then won the first three in the evening to lead 15–13 before O'Donnell won the last three frames to win the match 16–15.^[5]

Horace Lindrum met Bert Terry in the second match. The score was level at 5–5 after the first day but Lindrum won 8 frames on the second day to lead 13–7. Terry won the first frame on the final day but Lindrum won the next three to comfortably win the match 16–8. The match ended with Lindrum leading 20–11.^[6]

Joe Davis met Tom Newman in the first match of the second week. Davis won all 10 frames on the first day and the first 6 on the second to win the match 16–0. Newman won frame 18 to end Davis's run of 17 successive frames but the match ended with Davis 29–2 ahead.^[7]

Willie Smith met Sidney Smith in the second match of the week. Sidney Smith won the first four frames and the day end with him leading 6–4. The second day was level and Sidney Smith ended the day 11–9 ahead. Willie Smith made a break of 92 in frame 18, the highest of the Championship at that stage. Sidney Smith won four of the five frames on the final afternoon to lead 15–10, needing just one frame for victory. However, Willie Smith won all six frames in the evening to win the match 16–15. Frame 30 was the closest frame on the final evening; Willie Smith winning the frame 57–54 on the final black.^[8]

Conrad Stanbury met Alec Mann in the final first round match at Burroughes Hall. Stanbury led 6–4 and 12–8. He then won the first four frames on the final day to win the match 16–8. The final score was 22–9.^[9]

In the first of the quarter-final matches Tom Dennis had to withdraw after having an operation on his right eye. As a result, Newman received a bye to the semi-final.^[10]

After a break for Easter, Lindrum met O'Donnell at Burroughes Hall. Lindrum led 8–2 and 15–5 after the first two days. O'Donnell won frame 21 but Lindrum won the match in the next frame, winning 16–6. The afternoon session ended with Lindrum 19–6 ahead.^[11] O'Donnell did not appear for the evening session and Lindrum played an exhibition match against Bert Terry.^[12]

At the same time Davis played Willie Smith at Thurston's Hall. Davis led 7–3 after the first day. He extended his lead to 10–5 and then won all five frames on the second evening to lead 15–5. Davis won the first frame on the third day to win the match 16–5, the final score being 22–9.^[11]

Brown played Stanbury in the last quarter-final match. Brown led 7–3 after the first day but Stanbury has the better of the second day and Brown's lead was reduced to 11–9 after two days. Stanbury won three frames in the afternoon and only trailed by one frame, Brown leading 13–12. Stanbury won three of the first four frames in the evening to lead 15–14 but Brown won frame 30 to level the match. In the final frame Stanbury led 45–30 with just the colours left but Brown gained points from a number of snookers and won the frame 65–45 with just the black remaining.^[13]

Lindrum met Stanley Newman in the first semi-final. Newman, the younger brother of Tom Newman, had got to this stage without playing a match. Lindrum dominated throughout, leading 9–1 and 19–1; the match finishing with the score at 29–2.^[14] Having already won the match 16–1, Lindrum made a break of 101 in frame 18, which included 13 reds, 10 blacks and 3 pinks.^[15]

The second semi-final was between Davis and Brown. Brown won the first frame to great applause but Davis led 7–3 at the end of the day. He extended the lead to 14–6 after two days, needing just two frames on the final day. The match ended quickly on the third day, Davis taking the first two frames to win 16–6. The match ended with the score at 21–10.^[16]

The final was played between Lindrum and defending champion Davi]. Lindrum led 6–4 and 11–9,^[17][18] before Davis won four out of the next five frames with top breaks of 75 and 78 to lead 13–12.^[3] However Lindrum levelled the match at 15–15,^[19][20] before winning six out of ten frames to lead 21–19,^[21][22] and led at the conclusion of the penultimate day 26–24. He then won the first frame of the final day, before Davis won the last ten frames in a row to win 34–27, having already won the match 31–27.^[3]

Main draw

Sources:^[23][24][25]

	Round 1 31 frames					Quarter-finals 31 frames					Semi-finals 31 frames					Final 61 frames
		Joe Davis	29
		Tom Newman	2				Joe Davis	22
		Willie Smith	16				Willie Smith	9
		Sidney Smith	15									Joe Davis	21
		Conrad Stanbury	22									Alec Brown	10
		Alec Mann	9				Conrad Stanbury	15
							Alec Brown	16
																	Joe Davis	34
																	Horace Lindrum	27
							Stanley Newman	w/o
							Tom Dennis	w/d
												Stanley Newman	2
		Horace Lindrum	20									Horace Lindrum	29
		Bert Terry	11				Horace Lindrum	19
		Clare O'Donnell	16				Clare O'Donnell^[a]	6
		Sydney Lee	15

^a Clare O'Donnell did not appear for the final session of the match.^[3]

Final

Final: 61 frames. Thurston's Hall, London, England, 27 April–2 May 1936.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]
Joe Davis  England	34–27	Horace Lindrum  Australia
Day 1: 60–42, 44–74, 43–71, 33–80, 78–21, 64–41, 38–70, 47–81, 55–45, 27–79 Day 2: 26–79 (52), 74–20, 68–46, 55–62, 46–69, 39–80, 84–38 (70), 28–90, 76–20, 59–35 Day 3: 113–7 (75), 73–37, 75–42, 34–62, 108–19 (78), 46–52, 49–63, 88–32, 45–66, 57–55 Day 4: 55–69, 95–42, 37–79, 49–62, 62–64, 60–63, 45–56, 74–41, 77–27, 92–36 Day 5: 99–39, 88–23, 36–81, 68–71 (Davis 64), 77–24, 62–44, 63–68, 87–23, 54–62, 15–101 (69) Day 6: 54–65, 66–53, 75–32, 73–42, 55–48, 110–5, 75–47, 57–47, 104–17, 70–50, 83–39
"Dead" frames were played, Davis had won the match 31–27.

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. "Professional Snooker Championship". The Times. 2 January 1936. p. 5.
3. Kumar, Ashok (1999). Snooker and Billiards. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House. p. 10. ISBN 978-81-7141-475-8.
4. "2004 Embassy World Championship Information". globalsnookercentre.co.uk. Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on December 8, 2004. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
5. "Snooker Pool – The Professional Championship". The Times. 26 March 1936. p. 5.
6. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 30 March 1936. p. 6.
7. "Snooker Pool". The Times. 2 April 1936. p. 6.
8. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 6 April 1936. p. 6.
9. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 9 April 1936. p. 6.
10. "Tom Dennis's bad luck – Has to withdraw from snooker championship". Nottingham Evening Post. 31 March 1936. Retrieved 9 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
11. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 16 April 1936. p. 5.
12. "Snooker Championship – Unexpected ending to Lindrum-O'Donnell match". Aberdeen Journal. 16 April 1936. Retrieved 12 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
13. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 20 April 1936. p. 7.
14. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 23 April 1936. p. 6.
15. "Lindrum's century snooker break – Enters final of world title event". Dundee Courier. 22 April 1936. Retrieved 12 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
16. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 27 April 1936. p. 6.
17. "H. Lindrum leading in final". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 April 1936. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
18. "Lindrum Still Leading". The Mercury. 30 April 1936. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
19. "Davis catches Lindrum in snooker final". The Advertiser. 1 May 1936. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
20. "Davis improves in Snooker Championship". The Courier-Mail. 1 May 1936. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
21. "Lindrum again leading". The Mercury. 2 May 1936. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
22. "Lindrum leads Davis". The Courier-Mail. 2 May 1936. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
23. "World Snooker Championship 1936". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
24. "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
25. Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 143. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
26. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 28 April 1936. p. 7.
27. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship". The Times. 29 April 1936. p. 6.
28. "Snooker Pool – The Professional Championship". The Times. 30 April 1936. p. 6.
29. "Snooker Pool – The Professional Championship". The Times. 1 May 1936. p. 6.
30. "Snooker Pool – World's Professional Championship – Lindrum leads Davis". The Times. 2 May 1936. p. 7.
31. "Snooker Pool – Davis retains the Championship". The Times. 4 May 1936. p. 5.
32. "Snooker – Davis still champion". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 4 May 1936. Retrieved 1 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).