Walter Donaldson (snooker player)

Walter Weir Wilson Donaldson[1] (2 February 1907[1] – 24 May 1973[2]) was a Scottish professional snooker and billiards player.

Walter Donaldson
Born(1907-02-02)2 February 1907
Edinburgh
Died24 May 1973(1973-05-24) (aged 66)
Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire
Sport country Scotland
Professional1923–1958
Highest break142 (1946)
Tournament wins
Major2
World Champion1947, 1950

Biography

Born in Gardner's Crescent, Edinburgh,[1] the son of Alexander Donaldson, a Billiard room manager,[1] he was the first Scottish-born player to make a mark in the world of snooker. He was considered one of the greatest long potters of all time and was regarded as a great grafter, who never gave up when he appeared to be in a hopeless situation.

He won the Under-16 Billiards Championship in 1922 at the age of 15[3] and then turned professional the following year.

He first entered the World Snooker Championship in 1933 when he lost in the semi-finals to the great Joe Davis. He missed the next few championships but came back in 1939 and reached the quarter-finals and went to the semi-finals the next year. The championship was then suspended for the remainder of the war, in which he served on the front line as Royal Signals Sergeant.

The championship resumed in 1946, with Joe Davis winning again. Following that victory Davis retired from the event, leaving Donaldson, Joe's younger brother Fred, and Horace Lindrum vying for the number one position. Donaldson shortly afterwards set a new world record for the highest professional break in competition, 142, and, to the surprise of many, won the 1947 Championship, beating Lindrum in the semi-final and Fred Davis 82–63 in the final.

This was the first of eight consecutive finals, from 1947 to 1954, featuring the two players, but Donaldson only won one more title, in 1950. After the 1954 final, in which he lost heavily to Fred Davis, Donaldson did not enter any further world championships.[4] Donaldson continued to play after this and inflicted Fred Davis' only defeat in the 1957/1958 News of the World Snooker Tournament (21–16), before finishing 3rd of 5 players in the final table.[5] Earlier in the same tournament he defeated Joe Davis, also by 21–16, but had received 14 start. He did however make the highest break of the season – 141.[6] Later in life he converted his snooker room into a cowshed, breaking up the slates from the table to make a path, and died soon after snooker began its modern resurgence.[7][8]

His name could be found on series of snooker cues on sale until the late sixties and he was featured in the Joe Davis book Advanced Snooker.

He died at his home in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire in 1973.[2][9] He had also lived for some years in Belvedere, South East London.[10] In 2012 Donaldson was inducted into the World Snooker Hall of Fame.[11]

Achievements
  • World Professional Snooker Champion, 1947, 1950
  • Scottish Professional Championship (various challengers) (pre and post World War II)

References
  1. "1907 Births in the District of Saint Giles in the City of Edinburgh". Statutory Birth Record 685/040185. ScotlandsPeople. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  2. "Find a will". Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  3. "Under 16 Champions". English Amateur Billiards Association. Archived from the original on 16 September 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  4. Everton, Clive, Guinness Book of Snooker, Guinness Publishing, 1982, p63.
  5. The Billiard Player, No. 448, April 1958, p7.
  6. The Billiard Player, No 444, December 1957, p5.
  7. Everton, C., Guinness Book of Snooker, Guinness Publishing, 1982, p65.
  8. "Snooker: The unknown potter". The Daily Herald. 14 April 2003. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  9. "On this Week: English shame". Eurosport. 1 February 2014. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  10. "Surnames beginning with D". bexley.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  11. "Luca Brecel: rookie of the year". Snooker Scene. Birmingham: Everton's News Agency. July 2012. p. 33.
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