1971 World Snooker Championship

Snooker tournament, held 1970

The 1971 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 28 September and 7 November 1970 in Australia. The tournament was the 1971 edition of the World Snooker Championship, first held in 1927 but was held in 1970. It was the first time the event had been held outside England outside of two challenge matches in 1965, with matches held at various locations in New South Wales and Brisbane. The event featured nine participants, with a round robin round producing four qualifiers, who then competed in a single elimination tournament. Ray Reardon was the defending champion, having defeated John Pulman in the 1970 final, however Reardon lost to John Spencer in the semi final. Spencer won the event for the second time by defeating Warren Simpson 37–29 in the final held in the Chevron Hotel in Sydney. Eddie Charlton made the highest of the tournament with a 129 in the final session of his round robin match against Gary Owen.

The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, the sport was popular in the British Isles. This championship featured nine professional players competing in one on one snooker matches in a round robin format, from which four players qualified to a single elimination format. Each match is played over a predetermined number of and Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, the final match being held in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England.

The championship was held from 28 September to 7 November 1970 at several locations across Australia. This was the first time the championship was held outside the United Kingdom aside from two challenge matches in 1965, and it would be later hosted in Australia again in 1975.

The remaining four players contested a knockout round. The basis on which the semi final draw was organised is not known. The 22 October edition of The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Reardon would play Spencer in the second semi final. At the time Reardon and Spencer still had to play each other and Charlton, Owen and Simpson also had one match to play. So the final order of the group was still undecided. The draw and results from the semi finals and final are shown below. Players in bold denote match winners. Final: Best of 73 frames. Sydney. November 1970 John Spencer 37–29 Warren Simpson First day: 62–20, 98–18, 32–88, 43–62, 65–58, 125–7, 71–34, 26–65, 62–35, 79–24, 44–66, 84–18 (ended 8–4)Second day: 80–34, 50–45, 44–74, 51–65, 66–56, 122–2; 35–54, 126–6, 110–15, 64–67, 60–50, 93–45 (ended 17–7)Third day: 85–21, 23–57, 22–78, 66–42, 47–73, 54–42; 25–73, 45–57, 18–90, 34–66, 53–62, 10–86 (ended 20–16)Fourth day: 75–35, 18–52, 65–55, 10–78, 76–73, 69–33; 22–68, 69–22, 86–39, 99–27, 63–34, 48–32 (ended 29–19)Fifth day: 40–58, 54–76, 75–33, 52–58, 81–50, 66–46; 61–55, 48–70, 113–5, 58–66, 8–101, 15–111 (ended 34–26)Sixth day: 63–41, 80–23, 49–62, 59–68, 40–49, 75–33; 46–83, 68–44, 20–103, 68–51, 115–11, 68–35, 74–67 (ended 42–31; winning margin was reached at 37–29)