1927 World Snooker Championship

World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	29 November 1926–12 May 1927
Final venue	Camkin's Hall
Final city	Birmingham
Country	England
Organisation(s)	BACC
Highest break	Albert Cope (60)
Final
Champion	Joe Davis
Runner-up	Tom Dennis
Score	16–7
← First 1928 →

The 1927 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at various venues throughout the season. This was the inaugural edition of the tournament and was organised by Joe Davis and Bill Camkin.^[1] The final took place at the Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England with Joe Davis winning the title by defeating Tom Dennis.^[1][2] Originally called the Professional Snooker Championship, it did not become the World Championship until 1935.^[3]

The highest break of the tournament was 60, made by Albert Cope in his match against Joe Davis.^[4] In recognition of this break Cope later received a commemorative certificate from the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC).^[5] The break remained the best in the Championship until Davis made a 61 in the 1929 final.

Background

Joe Davis drafted the conditions under which a Championship could take place, after a conversation with Bill Camkin, and sent it to the BACC, who gave their consent. The players had to arrange their own venues, with the final being held at the Camkin's Hall on John Bright Street in Birmingham.^[6] The entry fee was five guineas per player, with a five-guineas sidestake.^[7] It was planned that the half of the entry fees would be split up between the winner and runner-up, with the winner becoming sixty percent, and half of the BACC gate receipts after expenses equally shared out between the players.^[6] However, Joe Davis, the eventual champion, won the £6 and 10 shillings from gate receipts, and the BACC used the player's part of the fees towards purchasing the trophy.^[6]

Schedule

Detail

The first match played was between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman at Thurston's Hall, Leicester Square in London. The snooker was played as an added extra to the main event, a billiards match. The match was played on an experimental table with 3¼ inch pockets, ¼ inch smaller than normal. The billiards match was to 16,000 with Inman receiving a 3,500 start. The match started on Monday 29 November 1926 with two sessions per day until Saturday 11 December. One frame of snooker was played at the end of each session.^[8] Inman won the first two frames,^[9] but after 8 frames Newman led 5–3.^[10] Inman then won the next five frames to win 8–5, the match finishing on the Monday afternoon, a week after it started.^[11] Newman won the billiards match easily 16000–13039 despite giving a 3,500 handicap.^[12]

Tom Dennis and Fred Lawrence played their match on 9 and 10 December at the Lord Nelson Hotel, Carlton Street, Nottingham.^[13] Dennis led 5–3 after the first day. Although Dennis won the first frame on the second afternoon, Lawrence won the other three to leave the match level at 6–6. In the evening session Dennis won the first two frames to win 8–6.^[14]

Tom Carpenter and Nat Butler played their match on 31 December 1926 and 1 January 1927 at Thurston's Hall. Eight frames were played on the first day, in two sessions. The score was 2–2 after the afternoon but Carpenter won all four in the evening to lead 6–2.^[15] Butler won the first frame on the second day but Carpenter won the next two to win 8–3.^[16]

The first semi-final saw Joe Davis meet Albert Cope over three days from 31 January to 2 February in Birmingham. Davis had beaten Irishman Joe Brady 11–5 in Liverpool. On the first day Davis won the four afternoon frames and three of the four in the evening to lead 7–1.^[17] On the second day Davis extended his lead to 10–1 before Cope won three successive frames. Davis still led 11–4 overnight, just one frame from victory.^[18] On the final day Davis won three frames in the afternoon to lead 14–5 and eventually won 16–7. Cope made a 60 break in frame 21, winning the frame 87–24.^[19]

The match between Inman and Carpenter was also played at Thurston's Hall, Leicester Square in London. Like the Inman v Newman match it was played as an added extra to a billiards match. The billiards match was to 7,000 with Carpenter receiving a 1,000 start. The match was played from Monday 14 to Saturday 19 March 1927 with two sessions per day. One frame of snooker was generally played in each session, although with a possible 15 frames and only 12 sessions, two frames would be required on occasions. Two frames were played on the Wednesday afternoon. Carpenter won the evening frame on the Friday to win the match 8–3, having led throughout.^[20] Carpenter also won the billiards match 7000–4798, which finished the following day.^[21]

The second semi-final between Dennis and Carpenter was played from 20 to 22 April in Birmingham. Carpenter led 5–3 after the first day^[22] but Dennis won all four frames on the second afternoon to lead 7–5. The second day ended with Dennis 9–7 ahead.^[23] Carpenter won three frames on the final afternoon to level the match at 10–10 but Dennis won the first two in the evening to win the match 12–10.^[24]

The final between Davis and Dennis was played from 9 to 12 May in Camkin's Hall in Birmingham. Davis won the first seven frames before Dennis took the last of the day to give Davis a 7–1 lead after the first day.^[25] Davis won three frames on the second afternoon and, although the evening session was shared, Davis led 12–4. Davis made a 57 break in frame 11, winning the frame 78–32.^[26] Both sessions on the third day were shared to leave Davis 16–8 ahead. Davis had taken a winning lead by taking frame 23 80–34 to lead 16–7.^[27] Davis won four of the seven frames on the final day to win 20–11.^[28] The final was refereed by Bill Camkin.^[6]

Main draw

^{[12][14][16][19][21][24][28][29]}

	Round 1 Best of 15 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 15 frames					Semi-finals Best of 23 frames					Final Best of 31 frames
							Tom Dennis	8
							Fred Lawrence	6
												Tom Dennis	12
		Tom Carpenter	8									Tom Carpenter	10
		Nat Butler	3				Tom Carpenter	8
		Melbourne Inman	8				Melbourne Inman	3
		Tom Newman	5														Tom Dennis	7
																	Joe Davis	16
							Albert Cope	8
							Alec Mann	6
												Albert Cope	7
												Joe Davis	16
							Joe Brady	5
							Joe Davis	10

The score in the matches between Davis and Brady and between Davis and Cope are the final scores including "dead" frames. The score when Davis won the matches is not known.

Final

Final: Best of 31 frames. Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England, 9–12 May 1927. Referee: Bill Camkin.[25][26][27][28]
Joe Davis  England	16–7	Tom Dennis  England
Day 1: 65–42, 81–48, 75–44, 74–36, 78–37, 76–43, 51–49, 30–80 Day 2: 68–49, 43–56, 78–32 (57), 54–26, 28–76, 40–76, 83–26, 91–32 Day 3: 91–27, 30–77, 42–36, 29–77, 82–35, 54–58, 80–34, 55–77 Day 4: 89–14, 37–54, 32–108, 108–16, 65–48, 23–82, 74–54
"Dead" frames were played, Davis winning the match 20–11.

References