world

World Professional Championship

World Ranking Event

A brief history of the World Professional Championship

Although snooker had been around since at least the 1870s, the rules were not officially set down until 1919 by the Billiards Association and Control Council Club—later Council (BA & CC). Billiards was the dominant cue game and it was not until the early 1920s that regional professional tournaments began to be promoted. Many players of the day could see potential in the game and urged the BA & CC to organise an open event. In the end it was Bill Camkin, a Birmingham billiard hall proprietor, who was instrumental in getting the idea off the ground. He was a friend of Joe Davis who had been playing snooker in his family billiard hall for many years. Together Bill and Joe put forward their proposals for a professional snooker championship to the BA & CC and the idea was accepted. The first event would end with a final at Camkin’s club in Birmingham in 1927.

Ten players took part and the first match began in November 1926 between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman. Joe beat Tom Dennis in the final 20-11 and collected the prize of £6.10s and a trophy which he bought himself. In the following year, the event was played as a challenge with Joe, as champion, exempt until the other contenders had played an elimination tournament to find a challenger. Entries dropped until only two took part in 1931 but then a few overseas players joined in including Horace Lindrum, nephew of the great billiards champion, Walter who was just about the only player who could give Joe a reasonable challenge. Nevertheless Joe remained unbeaten up to the suspension of the event due to the war, in 1940. The closest match he had was when his younger brother, Fred met him in the final in 1940 for the only time and it went to a decider with Joe squeezing home 37-36.

Joe made the first championship century, 110, in 1935 and raised the record to 136 in the 1946 final in which he neat Lindrum over no less than 145 frames. He then decided to retire from the event after fifteen straight wins. Fred and Scotland’s Walter Donaldson shared the next few titles before a dispute with the governing body led to all the top players setting up their own event, the Professional Matchplay championship, in 1952 which was regarded by most as the world title. The BA & CC meanwhile went ahead with a meaningless ‘official’ championship between Lindrum and Clark McConachie, both by now well past their best. Fred won all the Matchplay championships until he pulled out in 1957 when John Pulman took the title but there was by then little interest in the game and the championship was suspended for seven years.

With the agreement of the BA & CC, Rex Williams revived the championship on a challenge basis in 1964. Pulman survived seven challenges and then, in 1969, by which time several new professionals had come into the game, with sponsorship from Players No. 6, the championship was played on a knockout basis. Unlike today however the matches were spread over the whole season and the final itself over some 70 frames took many days.

The ‘1971’ event, actually played in November 1970 in Australia, used a round robin format but other that that it has remained as a knockout ever since. Australia hosted the final again in 1975 but back home in 1976 began the long run of Embassy sponsorship and the following year the championship found a new home at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Things have changed very little since then other than the number of players in the final stages going up from 16 to 24 and then to 32 as it is today and in 1980 the final was reduced to the best of 35 frames.

The biggest changes have come in the standard of break building. Centuries were still quite rare in the 1970s but in 2002 there were no less than 68 at the Crucible alone. Six maximums have been seen and it is now unlikely than a break of less than 140 will stand a chance of the high break prize.

Over the years there have been many special moments and Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry have each dominated one of the last three decades. No one will forget Dennis Taylor beating Steve Davis on the final black well after midnight or the tears as Alex Higgins won his second title in 1982. Jimmy White will always have a special place in people’s hearts for the dignity with which he bore six final defeats, five of them in succession, as will Fred Davis who reached the semi-final in 1978 at the age of 64. The will be many more such moments I am sure.

The curtain came down on thirty years of Embassy sponsorship in 2005 when Shaun Murphy, the world number 48, became the lowest ranked player ever to win the title. In 2006 888.com became the new sponsors. The final did not finish until 00.53 am as Peter Ebdon tried in vain to recover an eight frame deficit with which he started the final session. Scotland’s Graeme Dott prevailed for an 18-14 victory. Another late finish in 2007 saw John Higgins regain the title after nine years.

In 2008, for the first time ever, there were two maximum breaks at the Crucible. The first gave Ronnie O’Sullivan his third at this famous venue and Ali Carter made his first ever the following day. Fittingly it was these two players who contested the final with Ronnie collecting his third world crown. John Higgins added his third in 2009, 11 years after his first, the longest span between firrst and last titles at the Crucible.

In 2010, Neil Robertson became the firts Australian to win the title and only the third from outside the UK.

Roll Of Honour

Year	Venue	Sponsor	Winner	Runner Up	Score	1st Prize
1927	Camkin's Hall, Birmingham	none	Joe Davis	Tom Dennis	20-11	£6.10s
1928	Camkin's Hall, Birmingham	none	Joe Davis	Fred Lawrence	16-13	n/a
1929	Lounge Hall, Nottingham	none	Joe Davis	Tom Dennis	19-14	n/a
1930	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Tom Dennis	25-12	n/a
1931	Lounge Hall, Nottingham	none	Joe Davis	Tom Dennis	25-21	n/a
1932	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Clark McConachy	30-19	n/a
1933	Joe Davis Centre, Chesterfield	none	Joe Davis	Willie Smith	25-18	n/a
1934	Lounge Hall, Nottingham	none	Joe Davis	Tom Newman	25-23	n/a
1935	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Willie Smith	25-20	n/a
1936	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Horace Lindrum	34-27	n/a
1937	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Horace Lindrum	32-29	n/a
1938	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Sidney Smith	37-24	n/a
1939	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Sidney Smith	43-30	n/a
1940	Thurston's Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Fred Davis	37-36	n/a
1941-5	not held	none	none	none	none	none
1946	Horticultural Hall, London	none	Joe Davis	Horace Lindrum	78-67	n/a
1947	Leicester Square Hall, London	none	Walter Donaldson	Fred Davis	82-63	n/a
1948	Leicester Square Hall, London	none	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	84-61	n/a
1949	Leicester Square Hall, London	none	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	80-65	n/a
1950	Tower Circus, Blackpool	none	Walter Donaldson	Fred Davis	51-46	n/a
1951	Tower Circus, Blackpool	none	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	58-39	n/a
1952¶	Houldsworth Hall, Manchester	none	Horace Lindrum	Clark McConachy	94-49	n/a
1977	PROFESSIONAL MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
1952	Tower Circus, Blackpool	none	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	38-35	n/a
1953	Leicester Square Hall, London	none	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	37-34	n/a
1954	Houldsworth Hall, Manchester	none	Fred Davis	Walter Donaldson	39-21	n/a
1955	Tower Circus, Blackpool	none	Fred Davis	John Pulman	37-34	n/a
1956	Tower Circus, Blackpool	none	Fred Davis	John Pulman	38-35	n/a
1957	Jersey	none	John Pulman	Jackie Rea	39-34	n/a
1958-63	No Championship	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	nn/a/a
1964-8	Decided by Challenge
1964	Bourroughes Hall, London	none	John Pulman	Fred Davis	19-16	n/a
1964	Bourroughes Hall, London	none	John Pulman	Rex Williams	40-33	n/a
1965	Bourroughes Hall, London	none	John Pulman	Fred Davis	37-36	n/a
1965	South Africa	none	John Pulman	Rex Williams	25-22	n/a
1965	South Africa	none	John Pulman	Freddie van Rensberg	39-12	n/a
1966	St. George's Hall, Liverpool	none	John Pulman	Fred Davis	5-2*	n/a
1968	Co-operative Hall, Bolton	none	John Pulman	Eddie Charlton	39-34	n/a
	Reverted to Knockout Format
1969	Victoria Hall, London	Player's No.6	John Spencer	Gary Owen	37-24	£1,300
1970	Victoria Hall, London	Player's No.6	Ray Reardon	John Pulman	37-33	£1,225
1971¹	Sydney, Australia	none	John Spencer	Warren Simpson	37-29	£2,333
1972	Selly Park British Legion, Birmingham	Park Drive	Alex Higgins	John Spencer	37-31	£400
1973	City Exhibition Hall, Manchester	Park Drive	Ray Reardon	Eddie Charlton	38-32	£1,500
1974	Belle Vue, Manchester	Park Drive	Ray Reardon	Graham Miles	22-12	£2,000
1975	Melbourne, Australia	none	Ray Reardon	Eddie Charlton	38-30	£4,000
1976	Wythenshawe Forum/ Middlesborough	Embassy	Ray Reardon	Alex Higgins	27-16	£6,000
1977	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	John Spencer	Cliff Thorburn	25-21	£6,000
1978	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Ray Reardon	Perrie Mans	25-18	£7,500
1979	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Terry Griffiths	Dennis Taylor	24-16	£10,000
1980	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Cliff Thorburn	Alex Higgins	18-16	£15,000
1981	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Steve Davis	Doug Mountjoy	18-12	£20,000
1982	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Alex Higgins	Ray Reardon	18-15	£25,000
1983	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Steve Davis	Cliff Thorburn	18-6	£30,000
1984	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Steve Davis	Jimmy White	18-16	£44,000
1985	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Dennis Taylor	Steve Davis	18-17	£60,000
1986	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Joe Johnson	Steve Davis	18-12	£70,000
1987	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Steve Davis	Joe Johnson	18-14	£80,000
1988	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Steve Davis	Terry Griffiths	18-11	£85,000
1989	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Steve Davis	John Parrott	18-3	£105,000
1990	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Stephen Hendry	Jimmy White	18-12	£120,000
1991	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	John Parrott	Jimmy White	18-11	£135,000
1992	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Stephen Hendry	Jimmy White	18-14	£150,000
1993	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Stephen Hendry	Jimmy White	18-5	£175,000
1994	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Stephen Hendry	Jimmy White	18-17	£180,000
1995	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Stephen Hendry	Nigel Bond	18-9	£190,000
1996	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Stephen Hendry	Peter Ebdon	18-12	£200,000
1997	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Ken Doherty	Stephen Hendry	18-12	£210,000
1998	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	John Higgins	Ken Doherty	18-12	£220,000
1999	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Stephen Hendry	Mark J. Williams	18-11	£230,000
2000	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Mark J. Williams	Matthew Stevens	18-16	£240,000
2001	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Ronnie O'Sullivan	John Higgins	18-14	£250,000
2002	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Peter Ebdon	Stephen Hendry	18-17	£260,000
2003	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Mark J. Williams	Ken Doherty	18-16	£270,000
2004	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Graeme Dott	18-8	£250,000
2005	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Embassy	Shaun Murphy	Matthew Stevens	18-16	£250,000
2006	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	888.com	Graeme Dott	Peter Ebdon	18-14	£200,000
2007	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	888.com	John Higgins	Mark Selby	18-13	£220,000
2008	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	888.com	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Allister Carter	18-8	£250,000
2009	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Betfred.com	John Higgins	Shaun Murphy	18-9	£250,000
2010	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Betfred.com	Neil Robertson	Graeme Dott	18-13	£250,000
2011	Crucible Theatre Sheffield	Betfred.com	John Higgins	Judd Trump	18-15	£250,000

¶ Not generally recognised ¹Held November 1970 *Series of seven matches

Maximum Breaks

Final Stage
Cliff Thorburn	1983	Last 16 v. Terry Griffiths
Jimmy White	1992	Last 32 v. Tony Drago
Stephen Hendry	1995	Semi Final v. Jimmy White
Ronnie O'Sullivan	1997	Last 32 v. Mick Price
Ronnie O'Sullivan	2003	Last 32 v. Marco Fu
Mark J. Williams	2005	Last 32 v. Robert Milkins
Ronnie O'Sullivan	2008	Last 16 v. Mark J. Williams
Allister Carter	2008	Quarter Final v. Peter Ebdon
Stephen Hendry	2009	Quarter Final v. Shaun Murphy
Qualifying Rounds
Robert Milkins	2006	Last 48 v Mark Selby