Nations Cup (snooker)

Nations Cup

Tournament information
Venue	The Hexagon
Location	Reading
Country	England
Established	1999
Organisation(s)	World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Format	Non-ranking team event
Final year	2001
Final champion(s)	Scotland Stephen Hendry John Higgins Alan McManus

The Nations Cup was an non-ranking team snooker tournament created in 1999, and the second team tournament after the World Cup. The annual contests featured team of four players representing their country against other such teams.

History

The event began in the 1998/1999 season. It was held at the Telewest Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne. The five home countries participated, who were represented by four player teams and were identified by coloured waistcoats. It was played on a round robin basis with the top two meeting in the final. For the final two years the event moved to the Hexagon Theatre in Reading. In 2001 there were eight teams, as Thailand, Malta and China joined the competition. Teams consisted of three players and were split into two round robin groups, from where the top two teams advanced to the semi-finals. It was planned to rename the event to World Cup in 2002, but it was abandoned because ITV discontinued their snooker coverage.^[1]

Winners

Year	Winners		Runners-up		Final Score	Season
	Team	Player	Team	Player
1999[2]	Wales	Darren Morgan Mark Williams Matthew Stevens Dominic Dale	Scotland	Stephen Hendry John Higgins Alan McManus Chris Small	6–4	1998/99
2000[3]	England	John Parrott Ronnie O'Sullivan Stephen Lee Jimmy White	Wales	Darren Morgan Mark Williams Matthew Stevens Dominic Dale	6–4	1999/00
2001[4]	Scotland	Stephen Hendry John Higgins Alan McManus	Republic of Ireland	Ken Doherty Fergal O'Brien Michael Judge	6–2	2000/01
Source:[1]

References