The 1948 Sunday Empire News Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the ''

Sunday Empire News The ''Empire News'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom. The newspaper was founded in 1884 in Manchester as ''The Umpire''. A penny newspaper, it was the first successful provincial Sunday newspaper in England. Owned by H. S. Jennings, ...

'' newspaper. The tournament was won by

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 ...

with

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 won the title at the 1957 Championship, and retained it across seven challenges from 1 ...

finishing in second place. The tournament saw the re-introduction of the popular round-robin handicap format had been used for Daily Mail Gold Cup before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Thurston's 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 reopen ...

, the home of the Daily Mail Gold Cup, had re-opened in late 1947, although renamed as the

Leicester Square Hall Thurston's Hall was a major English billiards, billiards and snooker venue between 1901 and 1955 in Leicester Square, London. The hall was in the premises of John Thurston (inventor), Thurston & Co. Ltd which relocated to Leicester Square in 1901 ...

. It was the only time the tournament was held although the format continued with the

News of the World Snooker Tournament The News of the World Snooker Tournament was one of the leading professional tournaments of the 1950s, widely considered as more important than the World Snooker Championship, world championship due to the involvement of Joe Davis. The event was ...

. In the final match of the tournament Fred Davis, playing without a points handicap, beat brother Joe 36–35. This was the first time Joe had lost a competitive match when playing on level terms. However, under the "sealed handicap" aspect of the event, Joe received 2 frames and won the match 37–36.

Format

The tournament was conceived by

Ted Lowe Edwin Charles Ernest Lowe (1 November 19201 May 2011) was an English snooker commentator for the BBC and ITV. His husky, hushed tones earned him the nickname "Whispering Ted". Life and career Born in Lambourn, Berkshire, Lowe was general man ...

, the manager of

. He suggested that Fred Davis, who was writing for the ''Empire News'' at the time approach the paper with the idea, and they agreed to sponsor the tournament with £1,000 prize money. The event was a round-robin snooker tournament and was played from 11 October to 18 December 1948. All matches were played at Leicester Square Hall in London. The competitors were

, Fred Davis,

Walter Donaldson Walter Donaldson (February 15, 1893 – July 15, 1947) was an American prolific popular songwriter and publishing company founder, composing many hit songs of the 1910s to 1940s, that have become standards and form part of the Great American Song ...

, Sidney Smith and

. Each match lasted six days and was the best of 71 frames. There was a qualifying competition prior to the main event. This involved 5 players in a round-robin tournament with the winner, John Pulman, advancing to the main event. The event had two handicapping aspects. In each match a handicap could be given to one of the players, a given number of points start in each frame. In addition there was a sealed handicap for each match. This was an additional adjustment to be made after each match (a specific number of frames) which was kept secret until the end of the match. For the points aspect of the handicapping,

, Fred Davis and

didn't give or receive points when they played each other but gave points to the other two players. Joe and Fred gave 7 points to Sidney Smith and 16 points to John Pulman. Donaldson gave 14 points to Pulman while Smith gave 10 points to Pulman.

Results

Joe Davis beat Sidney Smith 49–25 in the opening match. Fred Davis beat John Pulman 39–32 in their match, having won 8 of the 11 frames on the final day, but Pulman received 9 frames in the sealed handicap and won the match 41–39. Pulman received 8 frames in the sealed handicap in his next match against Joe Davis but Joe, aware that a substantial handicap was likely to be given, had beaten Pulman 51–20. Fred and Joe Davis met In the final match. Fred won all six frames on the third evening to lead 20–16. Fred still led 31–29 at the start of the final day and eventually won the match 36–35. When the sealed handicap was opened it revealed that Joe received 2 frames and that he had won 37–36.

scored his 300th century break in the first match against Sidney Smith, making 119 on 14 October. On 10 November Fred Davis in his match against

made a break of 139, just one short of the record of 140 made by Joe Davis on 9 February 1948. Fred had been unable to get on the black off the 14th red and had taken the pink instead. On 15 December, during the final match, Fred Davis made a break of 138, winning the frame 138–0, and then, in the next frame made a break of 84, winning that frame 129–0. Two days later Joe Davis almost beat his own record of 140. On 123, he missed the blue when a 141 break was possible. The "Score" column include frames received in the sealed handicap. Figures in brackets are the points handicap received per frame. Smith conceded his match against Donaldson before the start. He was suffering from

tonsilitis Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and en ...

. Table John Pulman won an additional £150 for winning the qualifying competition.

Qualifying

The qualifying tournament was played from 30 August to 2 October 1948. These matches were also played at

in London but each match only lasted three days and was the best of 35 frames. 5 players competed with the winner advancing to the final stages, The 5 players were: John Barrie, Albert Brown,

Kingsley Kennerley Kingsley Kennerley (27 December 1913 – 26 June 1982) was an English billiards and snooker player. Career In the period from 1937 to 1940 Kennerley enjoyed considerable success as an amateur in both billiards and snooker. He won the English ...

, Sydney Lee and

. Players received points handicaps and sealed frame handicaps in the same way as in the main event. John Pulman won the qualifying with 6 points from his 4 matches ahead of Kingsley Kennerley with 5 points. Sydney Lee needed to win the last match against Albert Brown but he lost 22–15. Lee had beaten Pulman in the first match of the tournament. Lee received a 5-point lead in each frame but Pulman had won the match 18–17. Lee, however, had been given 2 frames in the sealed handicap to win 19–18.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday Empire News Tournament Snooker competitions in England 1948 in snooker 1948 in English sport 1948 sports events in London October 1948 sports events in the United Kingdom November 1948 sports events in the United Kingdom December 1948 sports events in the United Kingdom