The 1958 News of the World Snooker Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the News of the World. The tournament was won by Fred Davis who won 7 of his 9 matches, beating his brother Joe in all their three matches. Joe won 5 matches and finished in second place ahead of John Pulman by winning more frames overall. The News of the World Snooker Tournament ran from 1949/50 to 1959.
Format There were four competitors: Joe Davis, Fred Davis, John Pulman and Walter Donaldson. Rather than 3-day matches of 37 frames, matches were over 13 frames on a single day with each playing the others three times. Originally the tournament was planned to take place over three consecutive weeks but the third week of matches were delayed for three weeks. Unlike previous News of the World tournaments there was no handicapping. All matches were played in Burroughes Hall, London.
The highest of the competition was a 114 compiled by Fred Davis in his match against Pulman on 10 October. Davis also made the only other century break of the tournament, a 100 against Joe Davis on 18 October.
Results Winner Score Loser Date RefJoe Davis 11–2 John Pulman 6 October Fred Davis 7–6 Joe Davis 7 October Fred Davis 9–4 Walter Donaldson 8 October Joe Davis 8–5 Walter Donaldson 9 October John Pulman 8–5 Fred Davis 10 October John Pulman 7–6 Walter Donaldson 11 October John Pulman 7–6 Walter Donaldson 13 October Joe Davis 9–4 Walter Donaldson 14 October Joe Davis 9–4 John Pulman 15 October John Pulman 7–6 Fred Davis 16 October Fred Davis 10–3 Walter Donaldson 17 October Fred Davis 9–4 Joe Davis 18 October Fred Davis 9–4 Walter Donaldson 10 November John Pulman 9–4 Walter Donaldson 11 November Joe Davis 8–5 John Pulman 12 November Walter Donaldson 7–6 Joe Davis 13 November Fred Davis 10–3 John Pulman 14 November Fred Davis 7–6 Joe Davis 15 November
Table
Pos Player Pld MW FW Prize 1 Fred Davis 9 7 72 £400Prize money for Fred Davis totaled £625 including matches won and break prizes. The Billiard Player No. 456 December 1958, p5. 2 Joe Davis 9 5 57 £375 3 John Pulman 9 5 52 £325 4 Walter Donaldson 9 1 43 £175
The positions were determined firstly by the number of matches won (MW) and, in the event of a tie, the number of frames won (FW).
References