The 1931 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the

Lounge Hall Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol-bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, England from 27 April to 1 May 1931. Despite increasing interest in the game of snooker, only two players entered the competition for the title: defending 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 ...

and three-times runner-up Tom Dennis. It was the fifth time that the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...

had been contested since its inception in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

. Davis won his fifth World title by defeating Dennis 25–21. Dennis led 19–16 at one stage but Davis won 9 of the next 11 to take the title. The highest of the match was 72, compiled by Davis in the 41st frame.

Background

The

is a professional tournament and the official

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

of the game of snooker. The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India. Professional

English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team ...

player and

billiard hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serv ...

manager

noticed the increasing popularity of snooker compared to billiards in the 1920s, and with

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

-based billiards equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season. In 1927, the final of the first snooker world championship was held at Camkin's Hall; Davis won the tournament by beating Tom Dennis in the final. Davis also won the title in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

, with Dennis runner-up in three of the first four years of the championship, the exception being 1928, when Fred Lawrence lost to Davis in the final.

Championship details

The closing date for entries for the championship was 28 February 1931. Only two players entered,

and Tom Dennis and so only one match was necessary, with the players left to decide the date and venue for a contest over 49 . The match was played from 27 April to 1 May. There were ten frames played each day with five frames in the afternoon and five in the evening (four on the final day). The match was held at The Lounge Billiard Hall, Shakespeare Street,

, which was owned by Dennis. Dennis led 3–2 after the first afternoon session and increased his lead to 6–4 at the end of the first day. On the second day, Davis won each of the afternoon and evening sessions 3–2 to level the match at 10–10. Dennis won the third afternoon session 4–1. In frame 24, Davis made a of 41, the first break over 40 of the match, but lost the frame 57–49. At one stage in the frame Dennis was behind the "but jumped the cue ball clean over that obstacle" to make his escape, according to a report in the ''

Nottingham Evening Post The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is published Monday to Saturday ...

''. In the 25th frame Davis made a 56 break before a when preparing to pot the , missing his chance of beating his Championship record break of 79. Davis then won the evening session 4–1 to level the match again at 15–15. On the fourth day Dennis again won the afternoon session 4–1 but Davis won all five frames in the evening to take a 21–19 lead. On the final day Davis won the first frame which included a 48 break and then the second frame with a 72 break, the highest of the match, missing an attempted into the middle . The afternoon session ended with Davis leading 24–21, needing just one more frame for victory. Davis took the first frame of the evening by a score 75–43, including a 58 break, to win the Championship 25–21. Davis was awarded with the "Championship Cup" by

Tinsley Lindley Dr. Tinsley Lindley OBE (27 October 1865 – 31 March 1940) was an English footballer. He was described as "an ideal centre forward". He scored three goals in his debut aged 16 for Nottingham Forest. He was an amateur who did not wear football ...

, who also presented Dennis with the runner-up medal. Davis and Dennis played a further four frames for the benefit of the spectators. Of the finals that Davis and Dennis contested, this was the closest match. Snooker historian

Clive Everton Clive Harold Everton (born 7 September 1937) is a sports commentator, journalist, author and former professional snooker and English billiards player. He founded '' Snooker Scene'' magazine, which was first published (as ''World Snooker'') i ...

has considered whether Davis may have allowed Dennis to win some frames in order to prolong the match and therefore increase the

gate receipts Gate receipts, or simply "gate", is the sum of money taken at a sporting venue for the sale of tickets. Traditionally, gate receipts were largely or entirely taken in cash. Today, many sporting venues will operate a season ticket scheme, which will ...

, and concluded that it seems more likely that Dennis was playing better than Davis had expected. Everton wrote that when Davis was 16–19 behind, "it was entirely credible, though, that Joe should react to danger by raising his game and imposing his more positive personality when he needed to." Davis's brother Fred Davis, was a spectator at the match. Discussing his brother's early years of domination of the World Snooker Championship, Fred Davis wrote that "it was in nobody's financial interest for the match to be decided early" and that this is probably why there were few one-sided matches. Fred Davis also opined that as Joe Davis's ability was so far ahead of other players, "as soon as oestarted to apply himself fully, there could be only one winner."

Final

References

{{World Snooker Championship

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...