John Pulman
Herbert John Pulman[1] (12 December 1923 – 25 December 1998)[1] was an English professional snooker player who was the World Snooker Champion from 1957 to 1968. He won the title at the 1957 Championship, and retained it across seven challenge matches from 1964 to 1968. When the tournament reverted to a knockout event in 1969 he lost in the first round. He was runner-up to Ray Reardon in 1970.
Born | Devon | 12 December 1923
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Died | 25 December 1998 75) (aged Northampton |
Sport country | |
Professional | 1946–1982 |
Highest ranking | 7 (1977/78) |
Best ranking finish | Semi-final (1977 World Championship) |
Tournament wins | |
Major | 12 |
World Champion | 1957, 1964–68 (8 times) |
Having won the English Amateur Championship in 1946, Pulman turned professional, and achieved some successes in the News of the World Snooker Tournament. He became a television commentator, and retired from competitive play in 1981 after breaking his leg in a traffic accident. He died in 1998 after a fall downstairs at his home.
Career
Early career
Pulman's father had bought a billiard hall with two tables after selling his bakery and confectionery business in 1929. Pulman started playing billiards at the age of nine, and made his first billiards century break aged twelve. In 1938, he entered the British Boys Billiards Championship, but left his cue on the train on his way to the event at Burroughes Hall. He was allowed to pick a cue from a selection at the venue, and used that cue for the rest of his career. In his first match with the cue, against Barrie Smith, Pulman was 199–196 ahead in a 200-up match when he ran a coup. Barrie then go the points he needed to win. The cue that Pulman chose included a metal plate mentioning Sidney Smith, and Pulman filed Smith's name off when he became a professional, as he felt he couldn't play exhibitions using a cue with another professional's name on it. During World War II, Pulman was enlisted in the army for three months, making Spitfire wings.[1][2][3]
Pulman won the 1946 English Amateur Championship title, with a 5–3 win over Albert Brown in the final, and turned professional shortly afterwards.[2][4][5] In 1947 he had his first appearance at the World Championship, losing 14–21 to Brown in the first round of qualification.[6] The next season, he won the qualifying section of the World Snooker Championship by defeating Willie Leigh on the black in the deciding frame.[7] He lost 29–42 to Clark McConachy in the first round of the main draw.[6] In the 1948 Sunday Empire News Tournament he won the qualifying event and finished second in the main event behind Joe Davis. Pulman won a total of £400; £150 for the qualifying and £250 for finishing second.[8]
World snooker champion
He first reached the final of the World Professional Match-play Championship in 1955, losing to Fred Davis at 25–31 with the score after "dead" frames (i.e. frames played after a player has achieved a winning margin) being 29–32. Davis beat him again in the 1956 final, at 33–37 (35–38 after dead frames). Davis was not among the four entrants for the 1957. Pulman was level at 12–12 with Rex Williams in the semi-final before winning at 19–16 and also taking the two dead frames. In the final, Pulman trailed Jack Rea at 2–4, 5–8 and 8–11, before equalising at 11–11. Rea then opened up a lead again to leave Pulman 15–20 behind. Pulman took four successive frames to narrow his deficit to 19–20, going on to take the lead 24–22, and then start the final day 32–27 in front. He won the title at 37–29, and the score finished at 39–34 after dead frames. The tournament received little media coverage, and the championship was not staged again for another seven years.[8]
In 1964, the Conayes £200 Professional Tournament was staged at the Rex Williams Snooker Centre in Blackheath, being the first commercially sponsored professional snooker event since 1960. Pulman was one of the four competitors, along with Williams, Davis, and Jack Rea, and won the event.[9]:8[10] Williams was the driving force behind the revival of the World Snooker Championship in 1964, obtaining sanction for the competition after taking the Billiards Association and Control Council (BA&CC) chairman Harold Phillips out to lunch. The championship was staged on a challenge basis, with the first match being scheduled between Pulman, the winner of the 1957 Championship, and Davis.[9]:8 Pulman beat Davis 19–16 at Burroughes Hall in April 1964.[11]:294–295[12]:41[8]
In October 1964, Williams challenged Pulman for the title. The match was over 73 frames, played from 12 to 17 October at Burroughes Hall. Williams led 8–4 at the end of the first day[13] but Pulman won 11 of the 12 frames on the second day to lead 15–9.[14] Pulman extended his lead to 31–17 after four days[15] and won the match on the fifth day, taking a 37–23 winning lead. Pulman made a break of 109 in frame 57.[16] The remaining 13 "dead" frames were played on the final day with Pulman finishing 40–33 ahead.[17]
In March 1965, Pulman retained his title in the deciding frame by defeating challenger Davis 37–36, winning the last two frames from 35–36 behind.[8][18] Williams and Pulman met again in late 1965 in a series of short matches in South Africa, with Pulman winning by 25 matches to 22. At one venue where no spectators were present, they reputedly spun a coin to determine the winner instead of playing the match.[19][12]{rp|41}} Also in 1965, Pulman defeated another challenger, Fred Van Rensburg 39–12.[20]
Davis challenged Pulman for a third time in 1966, in a series of seven best-of-five frames matches. Pulman won the series at five matches to Davis' two and took the final match as well to win by five matches to two.[6] In 1968, Pulman won the title for the eighth time by seeing off the challenge of Eddie Charlton.[6] Charlton led 16–14 after thirty frames, with Pulman then winning five of the nest six frames, three of them on the black, to leave Charlton 17–19 behind. Pulman went on to win the match at 37–28, and was 39–34 up after dead frames.[6]
Later career
Pulman had been touring snooker clubs as promotional work for the tobacco brand John Player, and the company had sponsored his 1968 match against Charlton. The good attendances for the championship match led to John Player deciding to sponsor the 1969 World Snooker Championship as a knockout tournament, the championship which is generally regarded as the start of the modern snooker era.[21][22][12]:46
Pulman failed to successfully defend his title, losing 18–25 to John Spencer in the first round. He reached the final in 1970 but lost 33–37 to Ray Reardon, having earlier recovered from 14–27 to 33–34. In 1971 he failed to qualify from the round-robin stages that determined the semi-finalists, and in 1972 he lost 23–31 to eventual champion Alex Higgins in the quarter-finals. Pulman did not reach as far as the quarter-finals at the world championship until 1977, the first time the event was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Pulman reached the semi-finals with wins over Fred Davis and Graham Miles before losing 16–18 to Spencer, the eventual winner. After 1977, he did not win any further world championship matches. He reached the final of the 1977 Pontins Professional event, where he also lost to Spencer, 5–7. After Snooker world rankings were introduced in 1976, Pulman achieved his highest placing of 7th in the 1977/1978 list.[5][20]
He retired from professional play in 1981, after breaking his leg when being hit by a London bus and being hospitalised for six months. He later said that he had already lost his enthusiasm for playing snooker by the time of his accident.[1][23][24] Whilst hospitalised, he accepted an offer from ITV to work as a television commentator, having previously worked in that role for the BBC and for STV.[2] His book "Tackle Snooker This Way" was published in 1965 and revised and published as "Tackle Snooker" in 1974.[25]
Personal life
Pulman attended Exeter Episcopal School and was a schoolboy swimming champion, also representing Exeter at water polo.[3][8] At the start of his professional career, he lived at the house of his patron Bill Lampard, a confectioner from Bristol. Lampard built a billiard room where Pulman could practice. Snooker historian Clive Everton claims that this arrangement ended after Pulman was discovered in bed with Lampard's wife.[12]:38
He was adjudged bankrupt on 7 February 1979 with debts of £5,916. By this time he was recently divorced, suffering from severe motivational problems and living in a hotel in Bromley.[26] He died on Christmas Day 1998, soon after falling downstairs at home.[12]:376
Performance and rankings timeline
Post-war
Tournament | 1946/ 47 |
1947/ 48 |
1948/ 49 |
1949/ 50 |
1950/ 51 |
1951/ 52 |
1952/ 53 |
1953/ 54 |
1954/ 55 |
1955/ 56 |
1956/ 57 |
1957/ 58 |
1958/ 59 |
1959/ 60 |
Apr 1964 |
Oct 1964 |
Mar 1965 |
Nov 1965 |
Dec 1965 |
Apr 1966 |
Mar 1968 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sunday Empire News Tournament[nb 1] | Not Held | 3 | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||
Sporting Record Masters' Tournament[nb 1] | Not Held | 3 | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||
Professional Matchplay Championship | Tournament Not Held | 1R | SF | SF | F | F | W | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||
News of the World Snooker Tournament[nb 1][nb 2] | Not Held | 6 | 2 | 5 | 6 | W | 6 | 4 | W | 2 | 3 | 3 | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||
World Championship[nb 3] | LQ | QF | SF | QF | SF | A | Tournament Not Held | W | W | W | W | W | W | W |
Modern era
Tournament | 1968/ 69 |
1969/ 70 |
1970/ 71 |
1971/ 72 |
1972/ 73 |
1973/ 74 |
1974/ 75 |
1975/ 76 |
1976/ 77 |
1977/ 78 |
1978/ 79 |
1979/ 80 |
1980/ 81 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking[27] | No ranking system | 15 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship | QF | F | RR | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | SF | 1R | LQ | 1R | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Canadian Open | Tournament Not Held | A | F | QF | 1R | 2R | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK Championship | Tournament Not Held | WD | 2R | 1R | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pot Black | SF | SF | RR | LQ | RR | SF | RR | A | RR | A | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Masters | Tournament Not Held | QF | QF | 1R | QF | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yamaha Organs Trophy[nb 4] | Tournament Not Held | RR | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pontins Professional | Tournament Not Held | QF | QF | QF | F | RR | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Park Drive 2000 (Spring) | Not Held | RR | RR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Park Drive 2000 (Autumn) | Not Held | RR | RR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Men of the Midlands | Not Held | WD | RR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwich Union Open | Tournament Not Held | F | QF | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Watney Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Canadian Club Masters | Tournament Not Held | SF | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Holsten Lager International | Tournament Not Held | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pontins Camber Sands | Tournament Not Held | QF | NH |
Performance Table Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
Career finals
Amateur (1 title)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | Ref. |
Winner | 1. | 1946 | English Amateur Championship | 5–3 | [2][4] | |
Non-ranking finals: 21 (12 titles, 9 runners-up)
Notes
References
Sources
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