World Billiards Championship (English billiards)

The World Billiards Championship is an international cue sports tournament in the discipline of English billiards. It has been played annually since 1980, is one of the oldest sporting World Championships in the world, dating in earnest to the mid-19th century. The event was known as the World Professional Billiards Championship until 2010.

History

In the early 19th century, Jack Carr and Edwin Kentfield were the prominent players in the game of English Billiards. Carr challenged Kentfield to a championship game. But, ironically, Carr died on the eve of the match, and Kentfield hence assumed the title. He would remain unchallenged for 24 years.

John Roberts, Sr. won the title, when after many years trying to build his name, he challenged Kentfield to a game. There was much controversy over the table and the pockets, and Kentfield decided not to play the game. He preferred to be a retired champion, rather than a beaten one, and Roberts Sr. therefore assumed the title of World Champion by default.

Two youngsters then rose onto the Billiards scene. William Cook, and Roberts's son John Roberts, Jr. were very much the understudies, but Cook beat Roberts Jr. in a match in 1869, and challenged Roberts Sr. for the title. Due to this being the first actual match for the World Championship, the players themselves drew up a special set of rules for the game. Roberts managed to get the pocket width reduced to 3–inches (from the original 3⁵⁄₈–in), and the "D" and spots were adjusted so that Cook's spot stroke strength was weakened. Cook was nonetheless considered the favourite, and the 20-year-old had improved much from his win over Roberts Jr. the previous year. At 1:38 a.m., Cook defeated Roberts to win the title, and won a newly-created trophy, £100 and a Maltese cross. The Prince of Wales even attended the match at St. James's Hall. This match ended the dominance of Roberts Sr., as the wave of new players took over the game.

That initiated the World Championship, and it led to many challenges for the title. Roberts Jr. and Cook were the dominant players of the era. There were occasional uncontested matches. The rule said that a player had to accept a challenge within two months of it being issued. If it were ignored, the challenger became World Champion.

There was still the issue of the rules however. Many players preferred the "spot-barred" style, but some preferred the "all-in" rules. The spot-barred prevented repeat potting of the red, a tactic of the all-in variant that made the game boring for spectators. The tactic was a great strength for William Peall in particular, and he was naturally in favour of the all-in game.

There were three all-in competitions held separately from the title that Roberts held. Roberts was never challenged for that title. Billy Mitchell and Peall excelled in the late 1880s.

In 1892, the Billiards Association took the chance to take control of the situation. They sanctioned two championships, a spot-barred and an all-in. Roberts ignored the competition, but the tournaments went ahead regardless. The "championship table" that Roberts Sr. had created was abandoned, and the normal table was instead used. Peall held the all-in title unchallenged, whereas Mitchell dominated spot-barred.

In 1899, after 5 years without challenges, the Billiards Association changed the rules of the game. After two spot strokes, the red would be replaced on the centre spot, to limit the repetition of "all-in" play. Peall accepted this, although at the detriment of his personal fortunes, voting for the introduction of the new rule. This collectively gave rise to the modern version of English billiards, still played (with minor changes) today.

Until 1910, there were many challenges, but in 1911, the competition was altered so that it became an annual tournament, to cope with the influx of new professionals.

In 1934, the tournament was won by Walter Lindrum, and the championship then collapsed. There were two matches held for the title in a span of decades, in 1951 and 1964.

In the 1970s, the challenges began to return. Rex Williams was dominant in this period.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association had been formed by 1980, and attempted to control the professional billiards game on a tournament basis. Fred Davis won at the age of 67 to become World Champion. During the 1980s, (and again in 2003), the championship has been played on many shorter games.

Since 1980, the title has been held almost annually. Mike Russell has been the most successful player in that era, closely followed by Geet Sethi. A small number of Australian players had some success in the 1980s, most notably Robbie Foldvari (winner 1986, runner-up 1987) and Eddie Charlton (twice runner-up, 1984 and 1988), and there are now a number of Indian players besides Sethi involved in the game.

As of 2012, the WPBSA World Championship was merged with the former IBSF World Billiards Championship. Under the name World Billiards Championship, tournaments were held in both points and timed format.

World Championship Results

Initial, self-declared World Champions

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
1825	Edwin Kentfield		Declared Champion
1849	John Roberts Sr.		Declared Champion

Challenge "spot-barred" World Championships

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
February 1870	William Cook	1,200	John Roberts Sr.	1,083
April 1870	John Roberts, Jr.	1,000	William Cook	552
May 1870	John Roberts, Jr.	1,000	Alfred Bowles	752
November 1870	Joseph Bennett	1,000	John Roberts, Jr.	905
January 1871	John Roberts, Jr.	1,000	Joseph Bennett	637
May 1871	William Cook	1,000	John Roberts, Jr.	985
November 1871	William Cook	1,000	Joseph Bennett	942
April 1872	William Cook	1,000	John Roberts, Jr.	799
February 1874	William Cook	1,000	John Roberts, Jr.	784
May 1875	John Roberts, Jr.	1,000	William Cook	837
December 1875	John Roberts, Jr.	1,000	William Cook	865
April 1876	William Cook		Declared Champion
May 1877	John Roberts, Jr.	1,000	William Cook	779
July 1878	William Cook		Declared Champion
November 1880	Joseph Bennett	1,000	William Cook	949
January 1881	Joseph Bennett	1,000	Tom Taylor	910
September 1881	William Cook		Declared Champion
February 1885	John Roberts, Jr.		Declared Champion
March 1885	John Roberts, Jr.	3,000	William Cook	2,908
June 1885	John Roberts, Jr.	3,000	Joseph Bennett	1,360

Unofficial "all-in" World Championships

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
October 1887	Billy Mitchell	15,000	William Peall	13,733
March 1888	William Peall	15,000	Billy Mitchell	5,753

"Championship of the World" Tournaments

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
January 1889	Billy Mitchell
February 1890	William Peall
March 1891	William Peall

Billiard Association tournament World Championships

All-in

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
April 1892	William Peall	5,000	Billy Mitchell	1,755

Spot-barred

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
April 1892	Billy Mitchell	3,000	John North	2,697
February 1893	Billy Mitchell	9,000	John North	7,525
January 1894	Billy Mitchell	9,000	Charles Dawson	8,163

Billiard Association challenge World Championships

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
January 1899	Charles Dawson	9,000	John North	4,715
April 1900	Charles Dawson	9,000	Harry Stevenson	6,775
January 1901	Harry Stevenson	9,000	Charles Dawson	6,406
April 1901	Charles Dawson	9,000	Harry Stevenson	5,796
November 1901	Harry Stevenson		Declared Champion
March 1903	Charles Dawson	9,000	Harry Stevenson	8,700
1908	Melbourne Inman		Declared Champion
March 1909	Melbourne Inman	9,000	Albert Williams	7,662
April 1909	Harry Stevenson		Declared Champion
October 1910	Harry Stevenson	18,000	Melbourne Inman	16,907

Billiard Association tournament World Championships

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
1911	Harry Stevenson	18,000	Melbourne Inman	16,914
1912	Melbourne Inman	18,000	Tom Reece	9,675
1913	Melbourne Inman	18,000	Tom Reece	16,627
1914	Melbourne Inman	18,000	Tom Reece	12,826
1919	Melbourne Inman	18,000	Harry Stevenson	9,468
1920	Willie Smith	16,000	Claude Falkiner	14,500
1921	Tom Newman	16,000	Tom Reece	10,744
1922	Tom Newman	16,000	Claude Falkiner	15,167
1923	Willie Smith	16,000	Tom Newman	15,180
1924	Tom Newman	16,000	Tom Reece	14,845
1925	Tom Newman	16,000	Tom Reece	10,092
1926	Tom Newman	16,000	Joe Davis	9,505
1927	Tom Newman	16,000	Joe Davis	14,763
1928	Joe Davis	16,000	Tom Newman	14,874
1929	Joe Davis	18,000	Tom Newman	17,219
1930	Joe Davis	20,198	Tom Newman	20,117
1932	Joe Davis	25,161	Clark McConachy	19,259
1933	Walter Lindrum	21,815	Joe Davis	21,121
1934	Walter Lindrum	23,553	Joe Davis	22,678

Post-WWII challenge World Championships

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
1951	Clark McConachy	9,274	John Barrie	6,691
1968	Rex Williams	5,499	Clark McConachy	5,234
June 1971	Leslie Driffield	9,029	Jack Karnehm	4,342
1971	Rex Williams	9,250	Bernard Bennett	4,058
January 1973	Leslie Driffield	9,204	Albert Johnson	4,696
September 1973	Rex Williams	8,360	Jack Karnehm	4,336
September 1974	Rex Williams	7,017	Eddie Charlton	4,916
1976	Rex Williams	9,105	Eddie Charlton	5,149

WPBSA World Championships

Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
May 1980	Fred Davis	5,978	Rex Williams	4,452
November 1980	Fred Davis	3,037	Mark Wildman	2,064
1982	Rex Williams	3,000	Mark Wildman	1,785
1983	Rex Williams	1,500	Fred Davis	605
1984	Mark Wildman	1,045	Eddie Charlton	1,012
1985	Ray Edmonds	3	Norman Dagley	1
1986	Robby Foldvari	3	Norman Dagley	1
1987	Norman Dagley	3	Robby Foldvari	1
1988	Norman Dagley	7	Eddie Charlton	4
1989	Mike Russell	2,242	Peter Gilchrist	1,347
1991	Mike Russell	1,352	Robby Foldvari	957
1992	Geet Sethi	2,529	Mike Russell	718
1993	Geet Sethi	2,139	Mike Russell	1,140
1994	Peter Gilchrist	1,539	Mike Russell	645
1995	Geet Sethi	1,661	Devendra Joshi	931
1996	Mike Russell	2,534	Geet Sethi	1,848
1998	Geet Sethi	1,400	Mike Russell	1,015
1999	Mike Russell	2,000	Peter Gilchrist	832
2001	Peter Gilchrist	1,287	Mike Russell	863
2002	Mike Russell	2,251	Peter Gilchrist	1,273
2003	Mike Russell	6	Peter Gilchrist	4
2004	Mike Russell	2,402	David Causier	1,349
2005	Chris Shutt	1,620	Mike Russell	1,365
2006	Geet Sethi	2,073	Lee Lagan	1,057
2007	Mike Russell	2,166	Chris Shutt	1,710
2008	Mike Russell	1,823	Geet Sethi	1,342
2009	Pankaj Advani	2,030	Mike Russell	1,253
2010	Mike Russell	1,738	Dhruv Sitwala	1,204
2011	Mike Russell	1,500	David Causier	558

World Billiards Championships

Date	Format	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Score
2012	Points	Rupesh Shah	6	Matthew Bolton	2
	Timed	Pankaj Advani	1,895	Mike Russell	1,216

References

General

• EABA (English Amateur Billiards Association) past champions
• Cue Sporte India: Roll of Honour

Special