Tom Newman (billiards player)

Tom Newman (born Tom Pratt, 1894; died 1943) was an English professional player of snooker and English billiards.

He established himself as one of the best billiards players of the 1920s, appearing in every World Professional Billiards Championship final between 1921 and 1930, and winning the title six times.

Newman was a great break builder at billards, and was a master of the cannon shot. His first century break at the "three ball game" came when he was just 11 years of age; and in the 1930-31 season he made over 30 breaks of 1000.

Like so many players of that era he regarded snooker as the less "serious" of the two sports, but nevertheless he made an officially recognized record snooker break of 89 in 1919, and in 1934 reached the World Championship final. He met the legendary Joe Davis in that final - a predictable clash, as they were the only two contestants.

That same year he met Davis in the United Kingdom Billiards final and again Newman came out second best. He met Davis in six World finals, the honours being equally distributed overall at three wins each.

Newman died in 1943, just short of his 50th birthday.

Tournament wins

• World Billiards Champion 1921-22, 1924-27.

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