1959 News of the World Snooker Plus Tournament

Summary

The 1959 News of the World Snooker Plus Tournament was a professional snooker tournament sponsored by the News of the World. The event was played under the Snooker Plus rules, a variant of snooker with two additional colours (orange and purple). The tournament was won by Joe Davis with Fred Davis finishing in second place. It was the eleventh and final News of the World Tournament, which ran from 1949/50 to 1959.

News of the World Tournament
Tournament information
Dates26 October – 21 November 1959 (1959-10-26 – 1959-11-21)
VenueBurroughes Hall
CityLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
Total prize fund£750
Winner's share£400
Final
ChampionEngland Joe Davis
Runner-upEngland Fred Davis
1958
Last →

Snooker plus edit

 
Snooker plus table layout
Colour Value
  Red 1 point
  Yellow 2 points
  Green 3 points
  Brown 4 points
  Blue 5 points
  Pink 6 points
  Black 7 points
  Orange 8 points
  Purple 10 points

Snooker plus was a variant of snooker created by Joe Davis in 1959 with two additional colours, orange (8 points) and purple (10 points). The orange spot was midway between the pink and blue, while the purple spot was midway between the brown and blue. If a frame ended in a tie, the purple was re-spotted on the black spot. The extra colours allowed a maximum break of 210.[1][2][3] This variant failed to gain popularity but has appeared in some video games such as the World Snooker Championship series.[4]

Format edit

There were three competitors, Joe Davis, Fred Davis and John Pulman, competing for prize money of £750. Matches were of 25 frames over two days. Each played the other, three times. All matches were played in Burroughes Hall, London.

Results edit

Joe Davis made the first century break, 108, on the opening day of the tournament.[2]

Joe Davis made sure of victory by beating John Pulman in the penultimate match.[5] Fred Davis lost the last match 13–12 but he had needed to win only 11 frames to finish in second place ahead of Pulman.[6]

Winner Score Loser Dates Ref
Joe Davis 17–8 Fred Davis 26–27 October [7]
John Pulman 15–10 Fred Davis 28–29 October [8]
Joe Davis 14–11 John Pulman 30–31 October [9]
John Pulman 14–11 Fred Davis 9–10 November [10]
Joe Davis 15–10 John Pulman 11–12 November [11]
Fred Davis 15–10 Joe Davis 13–14 November [12]
Fred Davis 16–9 John Pulman 16–17 November [13]
Joe Davis 14–11 John Pulman 18–19 November [5]
Joe Davis 13–12 Fred Davis 20–21 November [6]

Table

Pos Player Pld MW FW Prize
1   Joe Davis 6 5 83 £400
2   Fred Davis 6 2 72 £250
3   John Pulman 6 2 70 £100

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 edit

  1. ^ "Definitions of terms used in Snooker and English Billiards (search for snooker plus)". snookergames.co.uk. Snooker Games. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Snooker Plus". The Glasgow Herald. 27 October 1959. p. 10.
  3. ^ "J Davis launches Snooker Plus". The Times. 27 October 1959. p. 17.
  4. ^ Word Snooker Championship 2005 (French) at jeuxvideo.com. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Snooker Plus". The Glasgow Herald. 20 November 1959. p. 6.
  6. ^ a b "Snooker Plus". The Glasgow Herald. 23 November 1959. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Snooker Plus". The Glasgow Herald. 28 October 1959. p. 11.
  8. ^ "Snooker Plus". The Glasgow Herald. 30 October 1959. p. 10.
  9. ^ "Snooker Plus". The Glasgow Herald. 2 November 1959. p. 10.
  10. ^ "Snooker". The Times. 11 November 1959. p. 17.
  11. ^ "Snooker Plus". The Times. 13 November 1959. p. 17.
  12. ^ "Snooker Plus". The Times. 16 November 1959. p. 17.
  13. ^ "Snooker Plus". The Glasgow Herald. 18 November 1959. p. 11.