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Kingsley Kennerley

Kingsley Kennerley (27 December 1913 – 26 June 1982)[2][3] was an English billiards and snooker player.

Kingsley Kennerley
Born(1913-12-27)27 December 1913
Congleton, Cheshire, England[1]
Died26 June 1982(1982-06-26) (aged 68)
Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, England
Sport country England
Professional1945–1982
Best ranking finishLast 24 (x1)

Career

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Kennerley started playing English billiards and snooker aged 11.[4] He practised at the Congleton Brass Band Club, nominally attending as a cornet player.[4] At the club he saw an exhibition match played by professional Jim Harris, which sparked Kennerley's interest in top-of-the-table play.[4]

In the period from 1937 to 1940 Kennerley enjoyed success as an amateur in both billiards and snooker, appearing in each national English Amateur Snooker Championship and English Amateur Billiards Championship final held in that period.[5] He won the Billiards Championship for those four consecutive years, and the Snooker title in 1937 and 1940.[5] The correspondent for The Times reporting on the 1937 billiards final wrote that Kennerley had "the subtlety of thought which gives him imagination and, with it, scoring ability" and praised his positional play and self-control.[6] Kennerley's billiards break of 549 in the 1937 event remained the championship record until 1978,[5] and he held the record break in the snooker tournament, 69, in 1939.[7] In 1938 he travelled to Melbourne and was runner-up in the Empire Amateur Billiards Championship, losing to Bob Marshall.[4] In 1939 he made the first officially-recognised century break by an amateur player.[8]

After World War II Kennerley turned professional.[5] He announced in 1945 that he intended to become a professional after completing his national service in October that year.[9] The Billard Player, official magazine of the Billiards Association and Control Council, described him as "one of the greatest amateurs the world has ever seen ... a welcome addition to the professional ranks."[9] He played in the World Snooker Championship each year from 1946 until 1954 but did not progress beyond the second round.[5] After missing the 1955 and 1956 World Championships,[10] he was one of the four entrants in 1957, when he lost his semi-final match against Jackie Rea 12–25.[11]

He was runner-up in the United Kingdom Professional English Billiards Championship in 1950, when he lost 5,069–9,046 to John Barrie, and again the following year when he was defeated 6,011–8,120–6,011 by Fred Davis.[12]

With the revival of snooker in 1968–69, he played in the first three series of Pot Black from 1969 to 1971. Afterwards, he continued to play occasionally in professional snooker events, making his last appearance in a major event in the 1982 Bass and Golden Leisure Classic at the age of 68. Kennerley died the following month after having his third heart attack.[4]

Snooker performance timeline

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Post-war

Tournament 1945/
46 		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
Sunday Empire News Tournament Not Held LQ Tournament Not Held
World Championship LQ LQ QF QF QF QF A Tournament Not Held
News of the World Snooker Tournament[nb 1][nb 2] Tournament Not Held A LQ LQ LQ A 4 A A A A A
Professional Matchplay Championship Tournament Not Held QF QF QF A A SF Not Held

Modern era

Tournament 1968/
69 		1969/
70 		1970/
71 		1973/
74 		1979/
80 		1980/
81 		1981/
82
Ranking tournaments
World Championship A A A 1R LQ A A
Non-ranking tournaments
International Open Tournament Not Held LQ
UK Championship Tournament Not Held A LQ LQ
Pot Black SF RR RR A A A A
Bass & Golden Leisure Classic Tournament Not Held LQ
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round)
QF advanced to but not past the quarterfinals SF advanced to but not past the semi-finals
F advanced to the final, tournament runner-up W won the tournament
NH event was not held A did not participate in the tournament
  1. ^ Round-robin handicap tournament
  2. ^ Snooker Plus event in 1959/60 season

Career titles

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Snooker

Billiards

References

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  1. ^ "FamilySearch.org". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  2. ^ "FamilySearch.org". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Search probate records for documents and wills (England and Wales)". probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Obituary: Kingsley Kennerley". Snooker Scene. July 1982. p. 9.
  5. ^ a b c d e Morrison 1987, pp. 64–65.
  6. ^ "Billiards". The Times. 8 April 1937. p. 6.
  7. ^ Everton 1993, p. 26.
  8. ^ Morrison 1987, p. 16.
  9. ^ a b "Amateur Champion Turns Professional". The Billard Player. August 1945. p. t.
  10. ^ Kobylecky 2019, pp. 127–128.
  11. ^ Hayton & Dee 2004, p. 144.
  12. ^ "UK Championship History". World Billiards. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2024.

Books

  • Everton, Clive (1993). The Embassy Book of World Snooker. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-1610-1.
  • Hayton, Eric; Dee, John (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
  • Kobylecky, John (2019). The Complete International Directory of Snooker Players – 1927 to 2018. Kobyhadrian Books. ISBN 978-0-9931433-1-1.
  • Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker (Revised ed.). Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-600-55604-6.
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