World Snooker Championship 1965, 1966

[Theodor Cepraga]

I know that in a Challenge match in 1966 the final score was John Pulman - Fred Davis 5-2. But it is known that the title was decided over a series of matches rather then frames.
How about the challenge match from 1965 where John Pulman defeated Rex Williams 25-22. I read that the numbers represent matches not frames, exactly like in 1966, but i couldn't not find the exact matches anywhere. The 5-2 match is present in detail at the world championship complete records. Does anyone know the exact scores of the each 47 matches?

[fateric]

God, I thought you had posted a youtube link to one of the matches!!!:-)

That would have been great to watch.

Didn't Pullman v Williams take place on a tour of South Africa if my memory serves?

Mat Wilson

[Theodor Cepraga]

Yes, indeed the match took place in South Africa, but i couldn't not find the scores of the smaller matches which finally gave the result.

[The Statman]

Yes the result is almost always recorded as 5-2 without explaining that it is 5 matches to 2, rather than frames.

The results of each match were: (Pulman first) 3-2, 4-1, 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1.

With regard to the previous year, since that is 47 frames, I would imagine it is a similar set-up of maybe seven 7-frame matches, but with the aggregate frame score being the deciding factor rather than match wins. Perhaps the last match was not played to a full conclusion because the winning lead was achieved. I have nothing to back this suggestion up, though.

[The Statman]

Just as a footnote to that, it was in the 1965 series that Rex Williams made the championship record break of 142, which would stand until equalled by Bill Werbeniuk at the Crucible in 1979. The highest break of 1966 was Fred Davis's 85, the only year without a century since the championship's first ton in 1935.

[PaddyLowson]

I guess that would fit - seven, seven frame matches, like the seven frame sessions that we used to have in the SFs at the Crucible.

[Theodor Cepraga]

Thank for your answer The Statman. While looking for the answers to my question I came accros anothing odd thing. If a player is ranked in the top 48 why did he have to play 3 qualifying mathces for the Crucible. An example is Cliff Thorburn in 1994.Although he was ranked 41 he had to play 3 qualifying matches. Alex Higgins who was ranked 61, played 3 qualifying matches either. What is the explanation? I thought the rule is clear: if you in top 32, 1 match to qualify, in top 48 -2 matches, top 64 3 mathces...and so on.

[jon]

Thank for your answer The Statman. While looking for the answers to my question I came accros anothing odd thing. If a player is ranked in the top 48 why did he have to play 3 qualifying mathces for the Crucible. An example is Cliff Thorburn in 1994.Although he was ranked 41 he had to play 3 qualifying matches. Alex Higgins who was ranked 61, played 3 qualifying matches either. What is the explanation? I thought the rule is clear: if you in top 32, 1 match to qualify, in top 48 -2 matches, top 64 3 mathces...and so on.

33-64 seeds played against 32 qualifiers, the winners then had to play a further round to reduce to 16 to play seeds 17-32 in the final qualifying round. Seeds came in in blocks of 32 between 1985 and 2000, with the extra round due to splitting 1-16 from 17-32 in the World Champs and in overseas tournaments from 1993.

[AndrewB]

Yes the result is almost always recorded as 5-2 without explaining that it is 5 matches to 2, rather than frames.

The results of each match were: (Pulman first) 3-2, 4-1, 3-2, 2-3, 2-3, 4-1, 4-1.

With regard to the previous year, since that is 47 frames, I would imagine it is a similar set-up of maybe seven 7-frame matches, but with the aggregate frame score being the deciding factor rather than match wins. Perhaps the last match was not played to a full conclusion because the winning lead was achieved. I have nothing to back this suggestion up, though.

In "Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards", Clive Everton refers to it as a "47-match series".

[The Statman]

Another thing I read just last evening, was that in that South African tour in 1965, Williams and Pulman were so disappointed with the attendance figures that one evening they flipped a coin rather than play the match!

I don't know if I can actually believe this, but it is in the Guinness or the Embassy book of World Snooker, both by Clive Everton - one published in the mid-80s and the other an excellent book published in 1993.

[AndrewB]

Yes, Black Farce and Cueball Wizards also has this story, claiming that in fact no spectators turned up.

[philip in china]

Before colour TV snooker just wasn't very popular. So figures for people attending contests were tiny. It would be just a small number of die hard fanatics.