Sidney Smith

Sidney Smith was a professional billiards and snooker player from the 1930s to the 1950s. He was born on 26 March 1908 in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, England. He was the first player to make a total clearance in snooker competition, a break of 136 in 1939 in the Daily Mail Gold Cup, and had previously made a world record high break of 133 on 11 December 1936 at the Thurston's Snooker Handicap tournament. Smith's most notable tournament wins were the 1948 United Kingdom Professional Billiards Championship and the News of the World Snooker Championship in 1952. Smith was the runner-up to Joe Davis in the World Snooker Championships of 1938 and 1939, and he was a semi-finalist on four occasions. Smith was the runner-up to Joe Davis in the 1950 News of the World Snooker Championship, and was twice runner-up to Alec Brown in a prestigious tournament of the late 1930s, the Daily Mail Gold Cup. Smith made three 1000+ billiard breaks in his career, with his highest being a break of 1292. Smith died in 1990 aged 82.