The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, the sport was popular in the mostly across the British Isles. The championship had traditionally been played as a single-elimination tournament annually since 1927 with a hiatus for between 1940 and 1946. Known as the World Professional Match-play Championship in 1957 the event failed to generate interest from the top professional players, with defending champion Fred Davis failing to enter. The event was won by John Pulman, but with waining interest and the highest ranked players not playing the event was not held after 1957.