It seems that the World Championship these days is only ever won by a repeat champion. For instance, in the last 10 years the WSC was won by five different individuals. If you think about it, this makes sense given the arduous journey one has to go through to reach the summit so it seems right that an experienced player that has accomplished this feat is more likely to lift the trophy again before others can do so for the first time.
We’re all familiar with the players that frequently lift the title but there are some that can go unnoticed, or perhaps forgotten with time. I’m going to highlight some of those players and the journeys they had to go through to become World Snooker Champions.
Walter Donaldson (1947, 1950)
Between the years 1947-51, each of the WSC finals were contested between Walter Donaldson and Fred Davis. On the two above occasions, Donaldson was able to better Davis with scores of 82-63 and 51-46. This was during the period where World Championship matches spanned significantly longer periods, with the inclusion of ‘dead frames’ in order to play matches until a desired number of frames were reached, despite the winning line already being crossed.
Horace Lindrum (1952)
There were actually two World Championships held in 1952 due to a dispute between governing bodies and the lesser recognised event only contested one match between the two ‘finalists’. Horace Lindrum and Clark McConachy played one match over a series of days which ultimately resulted in a 94-49 finish. Whether it is recognised or not, this edition of the WSC is written in the history books despite the other format being given more official recognition.
John Spencer (1977)
Spencer has won the WSC on three occasions: 1969, 1971 and 1977. The triumph in 1977 is one that is more likely to be remembered seeing as this introduced The Crucible to the world of snooker. Spencer beat the likes of John Virgo, Ray Reardon (who was champion each of the four prior years), John Pulman (who won the WSC when it was in the challenge format during the 1960s, click here to read that) before overcoming Cliff Thorburn in the final with a 25-21 score line.
Terry Griffiths (1979)
Not many people would have predicted Griffiths becoming the eventual winner of the 1979 WSC given he had to progress through two qualifying matches to reach the main stage. Following this qualifying success, Griffiths had to endure a series of close matches against the likes of Perrie Mans, Alex Higgins, Eddie Charlton and Dennis Taylor in the final to become the first qualifier to win the World Championship at The Crucible. The final score was 24-16. This was also Griffiths’ second tournament as a professional.
Cliff Thorburn (1980)
Having reached the final three years prior, Thorburn found success at the turn of the 1980s where he most notably battled against Alex Higgins in a close fought 18-16 final. The final was watched by 14.5 million viewers and saw a contrast of styles between two players - one of which had an erratic display of break-building; and the other whose slower, more procedural approach eventually overcame the onslaught. This is the match that earned Thorburn his nickname ‘The Grinder’.
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