1928 World Snooker Championship

World Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	28 December 1927–17 May 1928
Final venue	Camkin's Hall
Final city	Birmingham
Country	England
Organisation(s)	BACC
Highest break	Alec Mann (46)
Final
Champion	Joe Davis
Runner-up	Fred Lawrence
Score	16–13
← 1927 1929 →

The 1928 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held at various venues throughout the season. The final was held at the Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England.^[1] It was played on a challenge basis with the other 6 entries, playing off for the right to challenge Joe Davis in the final. The highest break of the tournament was 46 made by Alec Mann.^[2]

Davis won in the final 16–13 against Fred Lawrence, and retained the title.

Schedule

Detail

The Championship was played on a challenge basis with the entrants, playing off for the right to challenge the Champion, Joe Davis, in the final. The Billiards Championship was contested on a challenge basic at the time and the same system was used for the snooker championship.

The first match played was between Tom Newman and Fred Smith at the Albert Hall, Kenilworth Street, Leamington Spa from 28 to 30 December. Newman led 7–1 after the first day and 10–6 at the end of the second day.^[3] Newman won the first two frames on the final day to win the match 12–6.^[4]

The match between Tom Dennis and Newman was played from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 March at The Lounge, Shakespeare Street, Nottingham. Newman took a 5–3 lead on the first day and increased this to 11–5 after two days, just one frame from victory. Newman won the first frame on the final day to take a winning 12–5 lead. The evening session was rearranged to include a billiards match as well as a frame of snooker.^[5]

Newman and Fred Lawrence met in Birmingham from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 May. Lawrence led 6–2 after the first day. Newman won the last two frames on the second day to reduce Lawrence's lead to 9–7 but Lawrence won the first three frames on the final day to win the match 12–7.^[6]

The final between Davis and Lawrence was played from 14 to 17 May in Camkin's Hall in Birmingham. Lawrence and Davis shared the afternoon session but Davis won all four frames in the evening to lead 6–2 after the first day.^[7] Lawrence won three frames on the second evening but Davis still led 9–7 after two days play.^[8] Davis won three frames on the third afternoon and led 14–10 after the third day, needing just two frames on the final day.^[9] Lawrence won three of the four afternoon frames on the final day to reduce Davis's lead to 15–13. Lawrence led 52–14 in the first evening frame but Davis eventually won it 64–56 to retain his title.^[10] The highest break of the final was a 44 by Davis on the third evening.^[2][11]

Main draw

^{[4][5][6][10][12]}

	Round 1 Best of 23 frames					Round 2 Best of 23 frames					Round 3 Best of 23 frames					Final Best of 31 frames
							Fred Lawrence	12
		Alec Mann	14				Alec Mann	11
		Albert Cope	9									Fred Lawrence	12				Joe Davis	16
												Tom Newman	7				Fred Lawrence	13
							Tom Dennis	5
		Tom Newman	12				Tom Newman	12
		Fred Smith	6

The score in the match between Mann and Cope includes "dead" frames. The match between Lawrence and Mann may also include "dead" frames.

Final

Final: Best of 31 frames. Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England, 14–17 May 1928. Referee: Fred Smith.[7][8][9][10][13]
Joe Davis  England	16–13	Fred Lawrence  England
Day 1: 95–38, 47–54, 93–28, 38–81, 84–59, 57–46, 89–20, 60–43 Day 2: 68–42, 95–29, 43–69, 40–63, 54–51, 40–44, 32–73, 59–66 Day 3: 74–65, 83–20, 41–74, 58–45, 50–78, 66–55, 44–71, 80–23 Day 4: 41–68, 38–69, 54–43, 40–74, 64–56

References