and John Barrie met in the first quarter-final match in Ealing, London. Brown took a 10–8 lead after the first day and led 18–12 after two days and 26–22 after three days. Brown won with a final score of 35–26. Fred Davis met Harry Stokes in the second quarter-final in Middlesbrough. Davis dominated and led 29–7 after three days, which included a break of 109 of the third day. Davis took a winning 38–10 lead after four days and eventually won 45–15. Walter Donaldson and Kingsley Kennerley met in the third quarter-final in Jersey. Donaldson led 30–18 after four days, needing just one more frame on the final day, and eventually won 36–25. John Pulman and Jackie Rea met in Belfast in the last quarter-final. It was closest of the four quarter-finals and was level at 24 frames at the start of the final day. Rea won four of the six frames on the final afternoon but Pulman won five of the first six frames in the evening to win 31–29. Fred Davis and John Pulman played their semi-final in Bolton. Pulman led 20–16 after three days but Davis won 9 of the 12 frames on the fourth day to lead 25–23. Davis won 7 of the 13 frames on the final day to win 32–29. Donaldson and Alec Brown played their semi-final in Leeds. At the end of the afternoon session on the second day, Brown led 10–5. Donaldson then dominated and led 29–21 after day five, including a break of 108. The final score was 36–25. Fred Davis and Walter Donaldson met in their eighth successive final. It was the most one-sided of the finals with Davis leading 33–15 after four days. Even before losing the match, Donaldson said that he would not enter the world championship again, saying he could not give enough time to the practice he felt was necessary. Davis secured the victory by winning the first three frames on the fifth day to lead 36–15. The final score was 45–26 with Donaldson making a break of 121 on the final day.
Main draw
Sources:
Qualifying
and Rex Williams played a 31-frame qualifying match in Edinburgh, planned for 5 to 7 October 1953. Williams led 3–2 after the first session. He was then ill and the match was abandoned, to be rearranged for a later date. The match was, however, later cancelled and Stokes advanced to the next round.
