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Snooker Events - World Snooker Championship |
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Thursday, 30 November 2006 07:14 |
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World Snooker Championship The World Championship Snooker is the most important Snooker event of the year in terms of prestige, prize money and world ranking points. The championship is currently held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was held in 1927. The matches took place in different venues and the final was held in Camkin's Hall in Birmingham.
The legendary Joe Davis became the first champion when beating Tom Dennis by 20-11. Joe Davis later won every competition until 1940 when he was beaten by his younger brother Fred 37-36. In the next championship organized after the II World War in 1946 Joe won his 15th title which remain an unbeaten record.
Fred Davis dominated the world championship between 1948 and 1956. In 1952, as a result of a disagreement between the governing bodies (the Billiards Association and Control Council), and some of the players, two tournaments were held. The World Matchplay, organised by the players and widely viewed as the "real" world championship, continued until 1957. The BA&CC event only lasted one year. Meanwhile the 'official' world championship did attract two entrants in 1952, Horace Lindrum from Australia beating New Zealander Clark McConachy.
Between 1958 and 1963 no tournament was held and the tournament was revived in 1964 on an invitation matches that took place on irregular basis. The format of invitation matches lasted until 1969 when a knockout tournament was organized. Ray Reardon was the runner-up in this tournament, but later came to dominate the 1970s by winning six titles between 1970 and 1978.
In 1976 the Championship was first sponsored by Embassy, the cigarettes brand and in the following year it moved to its current residence in the Crucible Theatre. The BBC has been giving major TV coverage for the competition since that time.
In the 1980s it was Steve Davis who dominated the tournaments with 6 titles and in the 1990s it was Stephen Hendry who took seven titles.
Recent United Kingdom legislation has placed restrictions on tobacco advertising, including sponsorship of sporting events. Embassy had a special dispensation to continue snooker sponsorship until 2005. Currently the Championship is sponsored by 888.com, after the company signed a five-year sponsorship contract. Back to Articles Page
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