1972 World Amateur Snooker Championship Explained

The 1972 World Amateur Snooker Championship was the fifth edition of the tournament that later became known as the IBSF World Snooker Championship. The 1972 tournament was played in venues in Wales from 4 to 20 January 1973. Ray Edmonds defeated Mannie Francisco 11–10 in the final to win the title.

Tournament summary

The first World Amateur Snooker Championship was held in 1963. Jonathan Barron, who won the title in 1970, was the defending champion for 1972.^[1]

The tournament was held at venues in Wrexham, Cardiff, and Aberdare from 4 to 20 January 1973.^{[2] [3]} There were four round-robin groups, with the top two players from each group progressing to a second round-robin stage. The top two players from the second-stage groups progressed to the knockout stage.

Ray Edmonds defeated Mannie Francisco 11–10 in the final to win the title. The final was held on 19 and 20 January, at Sophia Gardens Pavilion, Cardiff. Edmonds was 1–6 behind at the end of the first day's play, but won five of the seven frames in the afternoon on 20 January to reduce his deficit to two frames at 6–8. Franscico won the first frame of the third session to lead 9–6, before Edmonds levelled the match at 9–9. Edmonds took the lead at 10–9, but Francisco forced a by winning the twentieth frame. Edmonds won the last frame to claim victory.

Edmonds made the highest of the tournament, 101, during the first group stage; and the highest break of the final, 40.^[4]

Qualifying groups

The final tables are shown below. Players in bold qualified for the next round.

Group A

Player
	3	12	6	45
	1	8	8	50
	1	6	8	32
	1	6	10	41

Group B

Player
	3	15	5	47
	3	15	10	50
	2	12	11	59
	2	11	14	41
	0	3	16	46

Group C

Player
	4	16	5	61
	3	14	7	101
	2	8	8	36
	1	7	12	47
	0	3	16	30

Group D

Player
	2	10	6	38
	2	9	7	48
	2	9	9	34
	0	6	12	42

Semi-final Group A

Player
	3	12	4	35
	2	10	8	68
	1	6	8	29
	0	6	12	50

Semi-final Group B

Player
	2	11	9	70
	2	11	9	39
	1	8	10	51
	1	9	11	78

Knockout

Players in bold denote match winners.

Final

Scores in bold indicate winning scores.

Final: Best of 21 frames. Sophia Gardens Pavilion, Cardiff. 19–20 January 1973
Ray Edmonds	11–7	Mannie Francisco
19 January: 19–69; 46–56; 30–61; 33–60; 45–54; 23–70; 52–42 20 January afternoon: 55–46; 43–51; 61–34; 57–34; 82–20; 31–74; 54–43; 20 January evening: 37–49; 50–43; 61–26; 58–26; 58–49; 40–60; 54–31

Notes and References

1. Book: Everton, Clive . 1981 . The Guinness Book of Snooker . Guinness Superlatives Ltd . Enfield . 0851122302 . 150–151.
2. News: Taylor . Frank . Sing-along Savur bids for a title . Daily Mirror . 10 January 1973 . 27.
3. News: Edmonds's rally preserves England's record . The Times . London . 22 January 1973 . 9.
4. Book: Morrison, Ian . 1989 . Snooker: records, facts and champions . Guinness Superlatives Ltd . 0851123643. 129.