World Series of Snooker

Summary

The Sportingbet.com World Series of Snooker was a series of invitational snooker tournaments set up as a complement to the WPBSA's tour[1] Its first season was played in 2008/2009, consisting of four two-day tournaments in St. Helier, Berlin, Moscow and Warsaw and the three-day Grand Final in Portimão.

World Series of Snooker
Tournament information
VenuePavilhão Arena
LocationPortimão
CountryPortugal
Established1987
Organisation(s)FSTC Sports Management
FormatNon-ranking events
Final year2009/2010
Final championEngland Shaun Murphy

It featured ten leading players – each tournament featured four of these taking on four wild cards. Points were awarded for reaching at least the semi-finals. The winner of each tournament received five points, the runner-up three and losing semi-finalists one each. These points determined seeding positions for the Grand Final.

There was a previous incarnation of the event organised by Matchroom Sport, that ran in the 1987/88 season, and from 1990/91 until 1992/93.[2]

Management and purpose edit

The tour was set up by FSTC Sports Management, who managed leading snooker players John Higgins and Graeme Dott, as well as Eurosport (who screened the events alongside the coverage of the WPBSA tour), Higgins,[3] and leading referee Michaela Tabb. Higgins felt that the game's attendances were too low, and that potential new venues outside the game's traditional United Kingdom and recently developed Far East markets were not being utilised,[4] and wanted to give something back to the sport.[5] After conducting exploratory tours a trial event was staged in 2007 in Warsaw. The event was called the 2007 Warsaw Snooker Tour. This paved the way and the World Series started in the 2008/2009 season.. The World Series lasted for two seasons.[6]

Results edit

1987/1988 edit

Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score[7] Ref.
1987 Hong Kong Masters   Hong Kong   Steve Davis   Stephen Hendry 9–3 [8]
1987 Tokyo Masters   Tokyo   Dennis Taylor   Terry Griffiths 6–3 [8]
1987 Canadian Masters   Toronto   Dennis Taylor   Jimmy White 9–7 [9]

1990/1991 edit

Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
1990 World Series Challenge   Hong Kong   James Wattana   Jimmy White 9–3 [10]
1990 Scottish Masters   Motherwell   Stephen Hendry   Terry Griffiths 10–6 [11]
1990 Humo Masters   Antwerp   John Parrott   Jimmy White 9–6 [10]

1991/1992 edit

Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score[12] Ref.
1991 Thailand Masters   Bangkok   Steve Davis   Stephen Hendry 6–3 [13]
1991 Hong Kong Challenge   Hong Kong   Stephen Hendry   James Wattana 9–1 [10]
1991 Indian Challenge   Delhi   Stephen Hendry   John Parrott 9–5 [10]
1991 Scottish Masters   Motherwell   Mike Hallett   Steve Davis 10–6 [11]
1991 Humo Masters   Antwerp   Mike Hallett   Neal Foulds 9–7 [10]
1991 Belgian Challenge   Antwerp   Steve Davis   Stephen Hendry 10–9 [10]

1992/1993 edit

Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score[14] Ref.
1992 Kent Classic   Beijing   John Parrott   Stephen Hendry 6–5 [10]
1992 Scottish Masters   Motherwell   Neal Foulds   Gary Wilkinson 10–8 [11]
1992 Humo Masters   Antwerp   James Wattana   John Parrott 10–5 [10]
1992 World Matchplay   Doncaster   James Wattana   Steve Davis 9–4 [15]

2007/2008 edit

Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score
16–17 June 2007 Warsaw Snooker Tour   Warsaw   Mark Selby   John Higgins 5–3

2008/2009 edit

Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score[16]
21–22 June 2008 World Series of Snooker – Jersey St. Helier   John Higgins   Mark Selby 6–3
12–13 July 2008 World Series of Snooker – Berlin Berlin   Graeme Dott   Shaun Murphy 6–1
25–26 October 2008 World Series of Snooker – Warsaw Warsaw   Ding Junhui   Ken Doherty 6–4
22–23 November 2008 World Series of Snooker – Moscow Moscow   John Higgins   Ding Junhui 5–0
8–10 May 2009 World Series of Snooker Grand Final Portimão   Shaun Murphy   John Higgins 6–2

2009/2010 edit

Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score[16]
16–17 May 2009 World Series of Snooker – Killarney Killarney   Shaun Murphy   Jimmy White 5–1
17–18 October 2009 World Series of Snooker – Prague Prague   Jimmy White   Graeme Dott 5–3

References edit

  1. ^ "Eurosport announce World Series". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 23 June 2008.[dead link]
  2. ^ Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Suffolk: Rose Villa Publications. pp. 154–164. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
  3. ^ Everton, Clive (16 January 2008). "Higgins backs new world series". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  4. ^ "Higgins excited about World Series". Setanta Sports. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  5. ^ "Higgins relishing World Series". Eurosport UK. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  6. ^ "New Snooker World League for 2008". sportbusiness.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  7. ^ Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 155. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
  8. ^ a b Turner, Chris. "Other Non-Ranking and Invitation Events First held 1980–1989". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  9. ^ Turner, Chris. "Canadian Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Turner, Chris. "Other Non-Ranking and Invitation Events First held 1990–1999". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  11. ^ a b c Turner, Chris. "Scottish Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  12. ^ Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 63. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
  13. ^ Turner, Chris. "Thailand Open, Thailand Classic, Thailand Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chri Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  14. ^ Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Lowestoft: Rose Villa Publications. p. 66. ISBN 0-9548549-0-X.
  15. ^ Turner, Chris. "World Matchplay". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  16. ^ a b Turner, Chris (2008). "World Series of Snooker". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.