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1971 World Snooker Championship

Snooker tournament, held 1970

Field	Value
tournament_name	1971 World Snooker Championship
dates
final_location	yes
venue	Chevron Hotel
location	Sydney
country	Australia
organisation	B&SCC
winners_share	£2,333
highest_break	Eddie Charlton (129)
winner	John Spencer
runner_up	Warren Simpson
score	37–29
previous	[1970](1970-world-snooker-championship)
next	[1972](1972-world-snooker-championship)

The 1971 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 28 September and 7 November 1970 in Australia. The tournament was the 1971 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927, but was held in 1970. It was the first time the event had been held outside England outside of two challenge matches in 1965, with matches held at various locations in New South Wales and Brisbane. The event featured nine participants, with a round-robin round producing four qualifiers, who then competed in a single-elimination tournament.

Ray Reardon was the defending champion, having defeated John Pulman in the 1970 final, however Reardon lost to John Spencer in the semi-final. Spencer won the event for the second time by defeating Warren Simpson 37–29 in the final held in the Chevron Hotel in Sydney. Eddie Charlton made the highest of the tournament with a 129 in the final session of his round-robin match against Gary Owen.

Overview

The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, the sport was popular in the British Isles. However, in the modern era it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand.

This championship featured nine professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a round-robin format, from which four players qualified to a single elimination format. Each match is played over a predetermined number of and . Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, the final match being held in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England.

Format

The championship was held from 28 September to 7 November 1970 at several locations across Australia. This was the first time the championship was held outside the United Kingdom aside from two challenge matches in 1965, and it would be later hosted in Australia again in 1975. The initial stage was a round robin in which the matches were of 37 frames, played across three days, and each competitor played four of the other eight competitors. The number of frames needed to win a match increased at the semi-finals stage. The semi-finals were scheduled to be the best-of-49 and the final as the best-of-73 frames.

Tournament summary

Round-robin

The first match was held from 28 to 30 September between Paddy Morgan and Warren Simpson. Eddie Charlton and Norman Squire met in the second match, during which Charlton made a break of 106, the first century break of the championship. The British players did not start their matches until 6 October when John Spencer, John Pulman and Gary Owen started their first matches.

Ray Reardon started his first match on 9 October where he defeated Perrie Mans. Spencer made a break of 105 in his second win, over Norman Squire, which finished 27–10. Simpson met Owen from 13 to 15 October, and trailed 14–17 and 17–18 but won the last two frames to win 19–18.

Owen scored his first century of the tournament in his match against Squire, a break of 102. Owen and Charlton won their second matches and met over the following three days, with Charlton making the highest break of the tournament, a 129. Reardon met Morgan in Brisbane and led 20–10, before Morgan did not appear for the final session, awarding Reardon a 27–10 win. The third win guaranteed his place in the semi-final where he would meet John Spencer. Charlton beat Owen to give him his third win and a place in the semi-final. Simpson then beat Perrie Mans 19–18 to gain the last semi-final place.

Knockout rounds

The first semi-final, between Charlton and Simpson, was played from 25 to 28 October at Forbes Golf Club. The last five frames on the third day was won by Simpson to lead 21–15. Simpson clinched the match of the fourth and final day when he won the third frame of the evening session to lead 25–20. Dead frames were played with the final score being 27–22. The highest break of the match was a 95 by Simpson.

The second semi-final, between Spencer and Reardon, was played from 27 to 30 October at Parramatta Leagues Club, Sydney. Spencer extended his lead to 19–5 after two days and won the match 25–7 on the third evening. The match ended with Spencer leading 34–15. Reardon's defeat meant he held the record as the player with the shortest reign as world champion.

The final was held from 2 to 7 November at the Chevron Hotel in Sydney. Spencer led 8–4 after the first day, and 17–7 after the second day. He made a break of 105 on the second afternoon and then made breaks of 126 and 107 in the second and third frames of the evening session. At the half-way stage Simpson had reduced Spencer's lead to 20–16, but missed a number of easy shots as Spencer won nine of the twelve frames on the fourth day to lead 29–19. Spencer was 34–26 ahead by the end of day five, and eventually won the match 37–29 in the final frame of the afternoon session on the sixth day, having led 36–26. The remaining "dead frames" were played, resulting in a final score of 42–31 to Spencer. Spencer won his second world title and earned £2,333. Simpson had reached the final at his first attempt.

Results

Round-robin stage

Match	Winner	Score	Runner up	Dates	Venue
1	Paddy Morgan	21–16	Warren Simpson	28–30 September	Kings Cross RSL Club, Sydney
2	Eddie Charlton	27–10	Norman Squire	2–4 October	Kurri Kurri RSL Club
3	John Spencer	20–17	Perrie Mans	6–8 October	Canterbury-Bankstown Leagues Club, Sydney
4	Warren Simpson	22–15	John Pulman	6–8 October	South Newcastle Leagues Club, Newcastle
5	Gary Owen	26–11	Paddy Morgan	6–8 October	Wentworthville RSL Club, Sydney
6	John Spencer	27–10	Norman Squire	9–11 October	Lithgow Workers' Club
7	Ray Reardon	21–16	Perrie Mans	9–11 October	Wingham RSL Club
8	John Spencer	23–14	John Pulman	12–14 October	Wagga Wagga RSL Club
9	Ray Reardon	21–16	Eddie Charlton	12–14 October	Wallsend RSL Club, Newcastle
10	Warren Simpson	19–18	Gary Owen	13–15 October	Dubbo Ex-Servicemen's Club
11	John Pulman	25–12	Paddy Morgan	15–17 October	Coogee-Randwick RSL Club, Sydney
12	Gary Owen	19–18	Norman Squire	17–19 October	Port Macquarie RSL Club
13	Eddie Charlton	26–11	Perrie Mans	17–19 October	Nambucca Heads RSL Club
14	Ray Reardon	27–10	Paddy Morgan	19–21 October	Queensland Masonic Club, Brisbane
15	Eddie Charlton	23–14	Gary Owen	20–22 October	City Tattersalls Club, Sydney
16	Warren Simpson	19–18	Perrie Mans	21–23 October	Griffith Ex-Servicemen's Club
17	John Pulman	26–11	Norman Squire	21–23 October	Parramatta RSL Club, Sydney
18	Ray Reardon	21–16	John Spencer	22–24 October	Lismore Workers' Club

Table

Player
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Knockout stage

The remaining four players contested a knockout round. The basis on which the semi-final draw was organised is not known. The 22 October edition of The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Reardon would play Spencer in the second semi-final. At the time Reardon and Spencer still had to play each other and Charlton, Owen and Simpson also had one match to play. So the final order of the group was still undecided. The draw and results from the semi-finals and final are shown below. Players in bold denote match winners. 49 frames Best of 73 frames | RD1-seed1= | RD1-team1=Australia Eddie Charlton | RD1-score1=22 | RD1-seed2= | RD1-team2=AUS Warren Simpson | RD1-score2=27 | RD1-seed3= | RD1-team3=ENG John Spencer | RD1-score3=34 | RD1-seed4= | RD1-team4=WAL Ray Reardon | RD1-score4=15 | RD2-seed1= | RD2-team1=AUS Warren Simpson | RD2-score1=29 | RD2-seed2= | RD2-team2=ENG John Spencer | RD2-score2=37

Final

Frame scores in bold are winning scores.

First day: 62–20, 98–18, 32–88, 43–62, 65–58, 125–7, 71–34, 26–65, 62–35, 79–24, 44–66, 84–18 (ended 8–4)
Second day: 80–34, 50–45, 44–74, 51–65, 66–56, 122–2; 35–54, 126–6, 110–15, 64–67, 60–50, 93–45 (ended 17–7)
Third day: 85–21, 23–57, 22–78, 66–42, 47–73, 54–42; 25–73, 45–57, 18–90, 34–66, 53–62, 10–86 (ended 20–16)
Fourth day: 75–35, 18–52, 65–55, 10–78, 76–73, 69–33; 22–68, 69–22, 86–39, 99–27, 63–34, 48–32 (ended 29–19)
Fifth day: 40–58, 54–76, 75–33, 52–58, 81–50, 66–46; 61–55, 48–70, 113–5, 58–66, 8–101, 15–111 *(ended 34–26)
Sixth day: 63–41, 80–23, 49–62, 59–68, 40–49, 75–33; 46–83, 68–44, 20–103, 68–51, 115–11, 68–35, 74–67 (ended 42–31; winning margin was reached at 37–29)*

Notes

References

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