World Series of Snooker

World Series of Snooker
Tournament information
Venue Pavilhão Arena
Location Portimão
Country Portugal
Established 1987
Organisation(s) FSTC Sports Management
Format non-ranking event
Final Year 2009/2010
Final champion(s) England Shaun Murphy

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.

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

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 and playing a trial event 2007 in Warsaw (the Warsaw Snooker Tour), the first season was arranged. There were also plans for future seasons to feature as many as ten events, running during the game's traditional off-season from May to August.[6]

Results

1987/1988

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

1990/1991

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

1991/1992

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

1992/1993

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

2008/2009

Date Venue Winner Runner-up Score[16]
21–22 June 2008 Jersey Fort Regent, St. Helier Scotland John Higgins England Mark Selby 6–3
12–13 July 2008 Germany Tempodrom, Berlin Scotland Graeme Dott England Shaun Murphy 6–1
25–26 October 2008 Poland EXPO XXI, Warsaw China Ding Junhui Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 6–4
22–23 November 2008 Russia Krilya Sovetov Sports Arena, Moscow Scotland John Higgins China Ding Junhui 5–0
8–10 May 2009 Portugal Pavilhão Arena, Portimão England Shaun Murphy Scotland John Higgins 6–2

2009/2010

Date Venue Winner Runner-up Score[16]
16–17 May 2009 Republic of Ireland INEC, Killarney England Shaun Murphy England Jimmy White 5–1
17–18 October 2009 Czech Republic Aréna Sparta Podvinný Mlýn, Prague England Jimmy White Scotland Graeme Dott 5–3

References

  1. ↑ "Eurosport announce World Series". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  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". London: guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Higgins excited about World Series". Setanta Sports. 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. ↑ 8.0 8.1 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. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 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. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 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. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Turner, Chris (2008). "World Series of Snooker". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.