 W. J. Peall | |
| Born | 30 December 1854 St Pancras, London |
|---|---|
| Died | 6 June 1952 (aged 97) Hove |
| Sport country | England |
| Highest break | 3,304 |
| Tournament wins | |
| Major wins | Billiard Association Billiard Championship (1892) |
William Peall (often known as W. J. Peall) was an English player of English billiards. He won the 1892 Billiard Association Billiard Championship, which can be regarded as the equivalent of the world billiards championship.
Peall was born on 31 December 1854, at St. Pancras, London. He learnt to play billiards at the age of 13 [1] and received some playing lessons from John Roberts Sr. [2]
Following success as an amateur player, he became a professional in 1881. He was known as the leading exponent of repeated potting of the red ball . [3] In 1884, he completed 548 consecutive pots of the red in a match against Billy Mitchell, and in 1895,again against Mitchell, achieved 643 consecutive pots of the red. [4]
In October 1887, Peall and Mitchell played each other at the Royal Aquarium in a 15,000-up match advertised as the "All-in Championship." Despite this billing, it was not actually recognised by the recently formed Billiard Association as a championship match. On the last day, Mitchell was almost 2,000 points behind Peall, but with a series of breaks including 801 and 912, recovered to win the match 15,000–13,733. The second of these unofficial matches was staged in March 1888 at the same venue, and this time Peall won by a large margin, 15,00–6,753, including a record break of 2,031. [5] [6]
Peall was the runner-up to Mitchell in the first of three "Championship of the World" tournaments promoted from 1889 to 1891 by billiard table manufacturers George Wright and Company, and won the other two. [6]
In 1891, the Billiard Association decided to run separate championship tournaments for both "spot-barred" matches, where there were restrictions on the number of consecutive pots of the red ball allowed, and for "all-in" matches, where there were no restrictions on consecutive pots. There were eight entrants for the "all-in" championship. Peall beat both Charles Dawson and Mitchell easily on his way to winning the title. He concluded the final against Mitchell with an unfinished break of 2,099, winning 5,000–1,755. [6] Mitchell won the "spot-barred" title held soon afterwards. [6] [4]
He was still making practice breaks of over 200 in his eighties. [3] His highest break was 3,304, against Dawson in 1890, and it was reported that in his prime he could score 1,000 points in under an hour from the spot stroke. [7]
Peall died on 6 June 1952, in Hove. [8]
Joseph Davis 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 now played, such as break-building. With the help of equipment manufacturer Bill Camkin, he drove the creation of the World Snooker Championship by persuading the Billiards Association and Control Council to recognise an official professional snooker championship in 1927. Davis won the first 15 world championships from 1927 to 1946, and he is the only undefeated player in World Snooker Championship history. In 1930, he scored the championship's first century break.
Walter Weir Wilson Donaldson was a Scottish professional snooker and billiards player. He contested eight consecutive world championship finals against Fred Davis from 1947 to 1954, and won the title in 1947 and 1950. Donaldson was known for his long potting and his consistency when playing, and had an aversion to the use of side. In 2012, he was inducted posthumously into the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association's World Snooker Hall of Fame.
The 1927 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at several venues from 29 November 1926 to 12 May 1927. At the time, it was titled the Professional Championship of Snooker but it is now recognised as the inaugural edition of the World Snooker Championship. The impetus for the championship came from professional English billiards player Joe Davis and billiard hall manager Bill Camkin, who had both observed the growing popularity of snooker, and proposed the event to the Billiards Association and Control Council. Ten players entered the competition, including most of the leading English billiards players. The two matches in the preliminary round were held at Thurston's Hall in London, and the semi-finals and final took place at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham. The players involved determined the venues for the quarter-finals, resulting in matches in London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Liverpool.
The 1928 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament held at various venues from 28 December 1927 to 17 May 1928. It was the second staging of the World Snooker Championship. It was played on a challenge basis with the other six entrants playing off for the right to challenge defending champion Joe Davis in the final. The final was held at the Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England, with three of the other matches contested there, and one each played in Leamington Spa and Nottingham.
The 1929 World Snooker Championship, known at the time as the Professional Championship of Snooker, was a snooker tournament held between 17 December 1928 and 7 March 1929 at various venues in England, with the final taking place from 4 to 7 March 1929 at the Lounge Hall, Nottingham. Defending champion Joe Davis won the title for the third time by defeating Tom Dennis by 19 frames to 14 in the final, after securing a winning margin at 17–12.
The World Billiards Championship is an international cue sports tournament in the discipline of English billiards, organised by World Billiards, a subsidiary of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). In its various forms, and usually as a single competition, the title is one of the oldest sporting world championships, having been contested since 1870.
William Cook was a professional player of English billiards in the 19th century. He won the World Championship on five occasions.
John Roberts Jr was a dominant English professional player of English billiards. He won the world professional title eight times in matches between 1870 - 1885 when it was held on a challenge basis. His highest break came in 1894. Roberts was also a notable manufacturer of billiards cues and tables, and promoter of the sport.
The 1930 World Snooker Championship, known at the time as the Professional Championship of Snooker, was a snooker tournament held between 17 March and 23 May 1930 at various venues in England, with the final taking place from 19 to 24 May at Thurston's Hall, London. Defending champion Joe Davis won the title for the fourth time by defeating Tom Dennis by 25 frames to 12 in the final.
The 1931 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at the Lounge Hall in Nottingham, 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 and three-times runner-up Tom Dennis. It was the fifth time that the World Snooker Championship had been contested since its inception in 1927. 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 frames to take the title. The highest break of the match was 72, compiled by Davis in the 41st frame.
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The 1933 World Snooker Championship, known at the time as the Professional Championship of Snooker, was a snooker tournament held between 23 March and 16 June at various venues in England, with the final beginning on 12 June 1933 at Joe Davis's Saloon in Chesterfield, England. It was the seventh edition of the championship, and Joe Davis won his seventh title by defeating Willie Smith by 25 frames to 18 in the final. The highest break of the tournament was 72, compiled by Davis in the fortieth frame of the final.
The 1935 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at Thurston's Hall in London, England from 8 to 27 April 1935. It was the first edition of the Championship to incorporate "world" in its name, being called the World's Professional Snooker Championship. Joe Davis won the title for the ninth time by defeating Willie Smith by 28 frames to 21 in the final, having achieved a winning margin at 25–20. Davis recorded the first century break in the history of the championship, a 110 in his semi-final match against Tom Newman.
The 1947 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 January to 25 October 1947. The final was held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England, from 13 to 25 October. The semi-finals were completed in March, but the final was delayed due to building works at the venue, which had been bombed in October 1940. Walter Donaldson won the title by defeating Fred Davis by 82 frames to 63 in the final, although he reached the winning margin earlier, at 73–49. Davis made the highest break of the tournament with a 135 clearance in frame 86 of the final.
The 1948 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 9 March to 1 May 1948. It was an edition of the World Snooker Championship first held in 1927. A qualifying event with eight participants was held from 1 to 13 December 1947 at Burroughes Hall and was won by John Pulman, who joined seven other players in the main event.
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Frederick William Lawrence was an English Billiards and snooker player. In 1919 he won a second-class professional billiards tournament at Thurston's Hall. He won the Midland Counties Billiards Championship in 1920, and 1921. Lawrence lost 13 - 16 to Joe Davis in the final of the 1928 World Snooker Championship.
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