John Pulman

John Pulman (12 December 1923 – 25 December 1998) was an English professional snooker player who dominated the game throughout the 1960s.

Pulman won the 1946 English Amateur title and turned professional shortly after. In 1947 he had his first appearance at the World Championship losing 14-21 to Albert Brown in round 1 of the qualification. His first professional title was The Empire News event in 1951. He first reached the final of the World Matchplay in 1955, losing to Fred Davis. Davis beat him again in the 1956 final, but Davis did not enter in 1957 and Pulman won the title, after which the event was discontinued. In 1964 the World Championship was resumed on a challenge basis. Pulman won the championship and successfully defended it in all further title challenges, the last being in 1968 when he beat the Australian Eddie Charlton. In 1969 the World Championship became a knockout tournament (which is generally regarded as the birth of the modern snooker era) and Pulman failed to successfully defend his title. He reached the final in 1970 but lost to Ray Reardon. Pulman reached the semi finals of the World Championship when it was first held at The Crucible in Sheffield in 1977, narrowly losing to the eventual winner John Spencer by 18 frames to 16.

After a depressing run of results, Pulman was adjudged bankrupt on 7 February 1979, with debts of £5916. By this point, a recently divorced Pulman was suffering from severe motivational problems and living in a hotel in Bromley.

Pulman retired from professional play in 1982, by which time he had joined the BBC as a commentator. A short time later he joined ITV, where he commentated alongside Dennis Taylor, Mark Wildman, Ray Edmonds and Jim Meadowcroft. He remained the lead commentator until the sport was dropped by the channel in 1992. Pulman died on Christmas Day 1998 after falling downstairs at home.