World Billiards Championship (English billiards)

The World Billiards Championship (WPBSA World Billiards Championship or World Professional Billiards Championship) is an international cue sports tournament in the discipline of English billiards, organised by World Billiards, a subsidiary of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). In its various forms, and usually as a single competition, the title is one of the oldest sporting world championships, having been contested (though irregularly) since 1870.

From 2012 to 2014 there were separate timed and points divisions, with the tournament held in association with the International Billiards and Snooker Federation. In those years, there was no separate IBSF World Billiards Championship.

The rules adopted by the Billiards Association in 1899 are essentially the rules still used today. The tournament has been played on a regular annual schedule since 1980, when it became administered by the WPBSA. The event was known as the World Professional Billiards Championship until 2010, and has had other names in the past, e.g. Billiards Championship of the World. In addition, the World Ladies Billiards Championship has been played since 1931 (with interruptions) and organized by World Ladies Billiards and Snooker since 1998.^[1]

Before the introduction of formal championships in English billiards, "champions" were recognised by public acclaim, usually based on their performances in money matches.^[2] After Jack Carr's defeat of Jerry Flanagan, who was known as "the Cork Marker", for a stake of 75 Guineas, Carr's backers issued a challenge that Carr would play anyone for a stake of 100 sovereign (British coin)s.^[3][4][5] Edwin "Jonathan" Kentfield accepted the challenge, and assumed the title after Carr was too ill to play. He would remain unchallenged for 24 years.^[3][6][7]

John Roberts Sr., who had spent years touring and establishing his reputation as a billiards player, challenged Kentfield in 1849.^[3] Kentfield declined to play, so Roberts styled himself as champion, a title he held unchallenged until 1870, when he lost to William Cook.^[3][8]

William Cook challenged Roberts Sr. for the title in the Autumn of 1869.^[3] As this was the first actual match for the Championship, a group of players and representatives from three billiard table manufacturers drew up a special set of rules for the game. Roberts managed to have the pocket width reduced to 3 inches (from the original 35⁄8 inches), and the "D" and spots were adjusted so that Cook's spot stroke strength, derived from his proficiency at consecutively potting the red ball from its spot, was weakened.^[8] Cook was nonetheless considered the favourite.^[8] The match started at 8:27 p.m. on 11 February 1870 and concluded at 1:38 a.m the followign morning as Cook reached the target of 1,200 points.^[8] The match at St. James's Hall in London was attended by Edward VII, the Prince of Wales.^[8] There were a further ten matches for the trophy by December 1875,^[9] In April 1876 Cook was awarded the title when reigning champion John Roberts Jr., who had won the title five times, failed to accept five-time Champion Cook's challenge because of his planned tour of Australia.^[8][10] The pair played in May 1877, when Roberts prevailed, after which Cook claimed the title in 1878 when Roberts did not formally accept his challenge.^[8] Cook resigned the title a month later and travelled to join Roberts on tour in India.^[8]

The Billiard Association was formed in early 1885 by a group of professional players and trade representatives, and produced a new set of rules in September 1885.^[12] The first two editions of the Association's championship were won by Roberts, against Cook and then against Joseph Bennett; the latter match was the last where the "championship table" that had been created by Roberts Sr. was used.^[13] After five unofficial events now recognised as editions of the Championship had taken place,^[14] The Association sanctioned two championships, one with a "spot-barred" format and the other "all-in".^[14] From 1889, the Association held only one championship, with rules largely similar to the "spot-barred" format.^[14] Another change was that while earlier championships were only open only to its members, the Association decided in 1888 that "the championship of Great Britain and Ireland shall be open to the world."^[15] In 1909, the Billiard Control Club was established as a rival to the Billiard Association and staged several editions of their own event.^[16] the rival organisations merged in 1919 as the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC).^[16] After the 1933 tournament won by Australian Walter Lindrum, who insisted on defending the title in his home country, the title of the tournament was changed to the world championship and a separate event for UK players was initiated.^[17]

The 1934 edition was the first to be held outside the UK, and Lindrum won again, after which only two challenge matches took place over the next three decades.^[17] In 1950, Clark McConachy issued a challenge to Lindrum for the title, but Lindrum announced his retirement and returned the championship trophy to the BACC.^[18] The BACC decided that McConachy would play the winner of the UK Championship for the title, but when UK Champion Fred Davis declined to play because he felt the match was too early in the season, John Barrie was nominated in his place.^[18] McConachy defeated Barrie comfortably in 1951, and held the title unchallenged for the next 17 years.^[18] In 1968, Rex Williams decided to travel to Auckland to challenge McConachy, who was aged 73 by this time and whose play was affected by his Parkinson's disease. In what turned out to be a poor-quality match, Williams won the title.^[19]

Leslie Driffield, a member of the BA&CC governing body, was nominated by the Association as the challenger to Williams for the Championship. Williams declined to play Driffield within the five-month time limit set by the BA&CC, thus forfeiting the title in July 1970. In October 1970, the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA)—which had been re-established in 1968 by Williams and seven other players—disaffiliated from the BA&CC. The PBPA then changed its name to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) in December 1970, and declared itself the governing body for the professional game, recognising Williams as champion. The BA&CC title was contested between Driffield and Jack Karnehm in June 1971; they were the only two professionals who continued to recognise the BA&CC as having authority over the game.^{[20][21][22][23][24][25]}

In the 1970s, there were further challenge matches for the title. Williams was dominant in this period. In 1980, Fred Davis won at the age of 67 to become World Champion. Since the 1980s, the world championship has sometimes been contested as a series of shorter games, for example in 150-up, the first player to win a designated number of games of first-to-150 is the victor.

From 1989 to 2011, Mike Russell was the dominant player, closely followed by Geet Sethi who won five titles. Some Australian players were successful in the 1980s, most notably Robby Foldvari (winner 1986, runner-up 1987) and Eddie Charlton (twice runner-up, 1984 and 1988).

In November 2011, WPBSA formed a subsidiary called World Billiards, which organised the 2012 championships as an amalgamation of the WPBSA and IBSF World Billiards Championship.^[26][27] There were separate events for timed and "short-up" (multiples of 150-up games).^[27] The same arrangements applied for the next two years, after which the IBSF withdrew and revived its own competition.^[28]

David Causier (with eight titles), Pankaj Advani (three titles), and Peter Gilchrist are other multiple title winners in the modern game.

The list of events now recognised as championship editions below is derived from A History of Billiards (2012) by Clive Everton,^[29] and the World Billiards website.

• IBSF World Billiards Championship
• World Women's Billiards Championship
• Women's Professional Billiards Championship

Books

• Bennett, Joseph (1899). Billiards (Sixth ed.). London: Thos. De Las Rue & Co.
• Dawson, Charles (1904). Practical Billiards. Surbiton: self-published.
• Dixon, Sydenham (1896). "1. History of Billiards". In Broadfoot, W. (ed.). The Badminton Library: Billiards. London: Longmans, Green. pp. 7–59.
• Everton, Clive (1985). Frei, Beatrice (ed.). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 0851124488.
• Everton, Clive (2012). A History of Billiards. englishbilliards.org. ISBN 978-0-9564054-5-6.
• Shamos, Mike (1999). The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. New York: The Lyons Press. ISBN 978-1-55821-797-3.

• The Professional Championship, 1800–1899 English Amateur Billiards Association
• World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) Official website
• World Billiards Official website