1950 Sporting Record Masters' Snooker Tournament

Last updated
Sporting Record Masters' Snooker Tournament
Tournament information
Dates3 April – 10 June 1950 (1950-04-03 – 1950-06-10)
Venue Leicester Square Hall
CityLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
FormatNon-Ranking event
Total prize fund£500
Winner's share£270
Final
Champion Flag of England.svg Joe Davis
Runner-up Flag of England.svg Sidney Smith

The 1950 Sporting Record Masters' Snooker Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the Sporting Record newspaper. Entry was restricted to past finalists in the World Snooker Championship. The tournament was won by Joe Davis with Sidney Smith finishing in second place. It was the only time the tournament was held.

Contents

Format

The event was a round-robin snooker tournament and was played from 3 April to 10 June 1950. All matches were played at Leicester Square Hall in London. Initially there were 5 competitors and a total of 10 matches were planned. The competitors were Joe Davis, Fred Davis, Walter Donaldson, Horace Lindrum and Sidney Smith. Each match lasted six days and was the best of 70 frames. Three points were available for each match, one for winner of the match, one for leader after the first 35 frames and one for the winner over the last 35 frames.

Each player was given a handicap at the start of the tournament. The handicaps were: Joe Davis, Fred Davis and Donaldson: 0, Smith: 21 and Lindrum: 23. The player with the higher handicap received a start in each frame, being the difference between the two handicaps.

Horace Lindrum withdrew from the event complaining about his overly generous handicap of 23 points which would give the public the wrong impression about his ability. [1] It was also announced that Lindrum had retired from snooker but Lindrum later issued a statement stating that he had not retired "in any sense whatever." [2] His elder daughter Jan was born in London during the period when Lindrum should have been playing his first match. [3]

Results

WinnerScoreLoserDates
Joe Davis 43–27 (19–16 & 24–11) Walter Donaldson 3–8 April
Fred Davis 41–29 (23–12 & 18–17) Walter Donaldson 17–22 April
Sidney Smith 46–24 (22–13 & 24–11) Fred Davis 1–6 May
Joe Davis 43–27 (21–14 & 22–13) Fred Davis 15–20 May
Sidney Smith 37–33 (20–15 & 17–18) Walter Donaldson 22–27 May
Joe Davis 37–33 (17–18 & 20–15) Sidney Smith 5–10 June

The original 10-week schedule was retained, despite Lindrum's withdrawal. This meant that there were 4 weeks when no match was played. The first match was played over 5 days rather than 6 because Good Friday fell on 7 April. The first 35 frames finished after the afternoon session on the Wednesday. After 5 days of the Sidney Smith/Fred Davis match Smith was leading 41–18 with a 19–5 lead in the second half of the match. [4] The final score for Sidney Smith versus Fred Davis was 46–24. [5]

Table [6]

PosPlayerPldPtsPrize
1 Flag of England.svg Joe Davis 38£270
2 Flag of England.svg Sidney Smith 36£110
3 Flag of England.svg Fred Davis 33£65
4 Flag of Scotland.svg Walter Donaldson 31£55

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References

  1. ↑ "Lindrum withdraws" . Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 4 April 1950. Retrieved 26 December 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ↑ "Mr Horace Lindrum" . Gloucestershire Echo. 17 April 1950. Retrieved 26 December 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ↑ "Mrs Horace Lindrum" . Aberdeen Journal. 15 April 1950. Retrieved 26 December 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Smith beats Fred Davis" . Aberdeen Journal. 6 May 1950. Retrieved 26 December 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ The Billiard Player magazine June 1950.
  6. ↑ "Davis and Smith seek big prize" . Dundee Evening Telegraph. 5 June 1950. Retrieved 26 December 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
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