The 1953 World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

tournament, the second edition of the

World Professional Match-play Championship The World Professional Match-play Championship was a professional snooker tournament established in 1952 as an alternative to the professional World Snooker Championship by some of the professional players, following a dispute with the Billiar ...

, held from 10 November 1952 to 28 March 1953. The event was held across several venues in the United Kingdom, with the final held at the

Leicester Square Hall Thurston's Hall was a major billiards and snooker venue between 1901 and 1955 in Leicester Square, London. The hall was in the premises of Thurston & Co. Ltd which relocated to Leicester Square in 1901. The building was bombed in 1940 and reope ...

in London, England. Fred Davis was the defending champion, after winning the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

event, with a 38–35 win over

Walter Donaldson Walter Donaldson may refer to: * Walter Donaldson (snooker player), (1907–1973) Scottish snooker player * Walter Donaldson (songwriter), (1893–1947) American songwriter {{human name disambiguation, Donaldson, Walter ...

. The same players contested the 1953 final, with Davis defeating Donaldson 37–34 in the 71- final. The highest break of 133 was made by

John Pulman Herbert John Pulman (12 December 192325 December 1998) was an English professional snooker player who was the World Snooker Champion from 1957 to 1968. He first won the title at the 1957 Championship and retained it across seven challenges ...

in his semi-final loss to Davis.

Overview

The

was created in

as an alternative to the

Billiards Association and Control Council The Billiards and Snooker Control Council (B&SCC) (formerly called the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC)) was the governing body of the games of English billiards and snooker and organised professional and amateur championships ...

(BA&CC) professional

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

, which was retrospectively recognised as a world championship. However, founder and 15-time champion

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...

of the BA&CC's events did not participate in the Match-play Championships. The defending champion of the event was Davis' brother Fred Davis, who had won the World Snooker Championship as the BA&CC authorised event, and the match-play championship in 1952. Davis won his second World title by defeating

38–35 in the final.

Format

The 1953 World Professional Match-play Championship was held over several months between 10 November 1952 to 28 March 1953. The final was held at

in London, England from 23 to 28 March 1953. The event featured eight participants. The rounds were played at different locations in the United Kingdom over different match lengths. Matches were played as the best-of-61 in the quarter and semi-finals, and a best-of-73 frames final.

Schedule

Below is the list of venues and dates for the matches during the championships.

Summary

The qualifying section was held at

from 25 August to 6 September 1952. 66-year-old Willie Smith met

Jim Lees James Travers Lees, QPM (18 August 1920 – 3 September 2004) was the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police from 17 October 1979 to 29 December 1981. Private life Lees was born in 1920 at Hornsby, New South Wales, and went on to attend t ...

from 25 to 27 August. Smith led 16–8 after two days and won 21–14. The match between

Kingsley Kennerley Kingsley Kennerley (27 December 1913 – 26 June 1982) was an English billiards and snooker player. From 1937 to 1940, he appeared in each English Amateur Snooker Championship and English Amateur Billiards Championship final. He won the Bill ...

and

Rex Williams Desmond Rex Williams (born 20 July 1933) is an English retired professional billiards and snooker player. He was the second player to make an official maximum break in snooker, achieving this in an exhibition match in December 1965. Williams ...

was played from 28 to 30 August. Kennerley led 16–8 after two days and won 25–12. Smith and Kennerley met from 1 to 6 September in the six-day final. Kennerley led 27–21 after four days and took a winning 36–24 lead after the fifth day, winning all six of the evening session frames. The final score was 42–29. Albert Brown and

Alec Brown Alec Thomas Brown (born July 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Taoyuan Pauian Pilots of the P. League+. He played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Brown was drafted 50th overall in the ...

met in the first quarter-final, played in

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

, played over 6 days. Albert Brown took a 7–3 lead on the first day but Alec Brown had levelled the match at 15–15 after day 3. Albert Brown won all 5 frames on the fourth afternoon session and led 23–17 after four days. Alec Brown reduced Albert Brown's lead to 26–24 after day 5 but won only 2 frames on the last day as Albert secured a 35–26 win. Defending champion Fred Davis played John Barrie at the Mechanics Institute in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

. Davis led 20–16 after three days, making a break of 121 on day 3, but Barrie levelled the match at 24–24 on the fourth day, where he made a

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

. On the final day, Davis led 28–26 after the afternoon session, despite a break of 125 by Barrie, and Davis eventually won 32–29.

met

Jackie Rea John Joseph Rea (6 April 1921 – 20 October 2013), better known as Jackie Rea was a Northern Irish snooker player. He turned professional in 1947 and was the leading Irish snooker player until the emergence of Alex Higgins and held the Iris ...

in the five-day match played at the RAOB Hall,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. This was the first World Championship match to be played in Ireland. Pulman had the best of the first four days and led 29–19, needing just two frames on the final day for victory. Pulman won the match by taking a 31–21 after winning the fourth afternoon frame on the final day. The match ended with Pulman completing a 36–25 victory.

met

, the winner of the qualifying competition, in the final quarter-final played in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

. Donaldson dominated the match, leading 27–8 after the fourth afternoon session. Kennerley won all five frames in the evening session, but Donaldson took a winning lead of 31–14 after the fifth afternoon. The match ended with Donaldson 42–19 ahead. Fred Davis met John Pulman in the first semi-final played at the Wrekin Hall in

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated northwest of Telford and east of Shrewsbury, near the western terminus of the M54 motorway. The summit of The Wrekin lie ...

. Davis tok a winning 31–17 lead after the fourth day. The final score was 36–25. In the final afternoon session Davis made a break of 101 while Pulman made a 105 break and the highest break of the championship - a 133 - in the evening, and finished 36–25. Albert Brown withdrew from his semi-final match against Walter Donaldson in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

before the second day's play, on medical advice, but was trailing 1–9 after the first day. The final was held at

for the first time since 1949, the last time the final was held there and was held over 71 frames. The match was level at 6–6 after the first day but Donaldson took a 13–11 lead after day 2, despite a break of 107 by Davis. Donaldson led 20–16 after day 3 but Davis tied the match at 24–24 after the fourth day which included another Davis century, this time of 102. David led 28–26 after the fifth afternoon session but Donaldson took a 31–29 lead at the end of the fifth day. The match was again level at 33–33 after the final afternoon session but Davis crept ahead in the evening session to win 37–34.

Main draw

The draw for the competition is below. Players in bold denote match winners.

Qualifying

The draw for the qualifying competition is below. Players in bold denote match winners.

References

{{World Professional Match-play Championship

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

International sports competitions in London World Snooker Championship, 1953