William Ernest Leigh (190720 November 1972) was an English professional snooker and

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.

Biography

William Ernest Leigh was born in Derby in 1907. His father was the licensee of the Station Hotel, Derby. He won the 1923 under-16s

British Junior English Billiards Championship The British Junior English Billiards championship is an English billiards competition for players in the UK. There are three divisions, the "Girls" Championship for all female players under 19 years, the "Boys" championship for players under 16, and ...

, defeating Frank Edwards 600–482 in the final. By 1927, having received coaching from

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 others, Leigh had turned professional. In 1933 he entered the World Professional Snooker Championship for the first time, taking a 4–0 lead against fellow debutant

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 ...

before Donaldson levelled the match at 4–4. The players were also tied at 8–8 and 10–10 before Donaldson won 13–11. Leigh did not enter the championship again before it was suspended from 1940 to 1945 due to

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 ...

. He served for five years in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. His second world championship entry was in 1946 World Championship. Against Stanley Newman in the qualifying competition, Leigh recovered from 11–14 to lead 15–14, Newman then taking the 30th frame to force a . With the scores at 29 points each in the last frame, and only the left, Leigh failed to complete a straightforward of the , and Newman went on to win the match 16–15. Later that month, Leigh was defeated 6,782–8,972 by John Barrie in the

UK Professional English Billiards Championship The UK Open Billiards Championship, formerly known as the United Kingdom Professional English Billiards Championship, is an English billiards tournament, first contested in 1934. Joe Davis won the inaugural UK Professional English Billiards Cham ...

. He entered the World Snooker Championship twice more, winning two qualifying matches each time. In 1947 he eliminated Herbert Francis 19–16 and Sydney Lee 25–10 before losing 14–21 to

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 ...

. At the 1948 championship he defeated Herbert Holt in the deciding frame, 18–17, and then, having trailed Barrie 5–9, won 14 of the next 16 and progressed with a 21–14 win. He lost on the in the deciding frame against

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 ...

, 17–18. Leigh, one of whose brothers was footballer Syd Leigh, became a resident professional at a

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 ...

in Nottingham, and provided coaching. He died on 20 November 1972, aged 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh, Willie English snooker players English players of English billiards 1907 births 1972 deaths Sportspeople from Derby