| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 25 February – 8 March 1952 |
| Venue | Houldsworth Hall |
| City | Manchester |
| Country | England |
| Organisation | BACC |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Horace Lindrum (AUS) |
| Runner-up |  Clark McConachy (NZL) |
| Score | 94–49 |
← 1951 1952 → | |
The 1952 World Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament held between 25 February and 8 March 1952 at Houldsworth Hall, in Manchester, England. The event featured only two entrants – Australian Horace Lindrum and New Zealander Clark McConachy. Due to a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC), most players withdrew from the event. The BACC thought the championship was primarily about honour, and financial consideration should come second, whilst the PBPA disagreed. The PBPA established an alternative 'world championship' called the PBPA Snooker Championship which would later become the official world championship as the World Professional Match-play Championship.
The competition was played as one continual match, held over 145 frames. Lindrum won the match, taking a winning 73–37 lead early on the 10th day and won 94–49. In winning the event, Lindrum became the first player from outside the British Isles to gain victory in the tournament, and the only one of four players to do so, with Cliff Thorburn in 1980, Neil Robertson in 2010, and Luca Brecel in 2023. The status of the event is debated, with some historians only counting Thorburn's, Robertson's & Brecel's wins due to the field of just two players.