World Series of Snooker

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 event
Final year2009/2010
Final champion(s) 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

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

1987/1988
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
Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
1990 Hong Kong 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
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
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
Date Name Venue Winner Runner-up Score
16–17 June 2007 Warsaw Snooker Tour Warsaw Mark Selby John Higgins 5–3

2008/2009
Main article: World Series of Snooker 2008/2009
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
Main article: World Series of Snooker 2009/2010
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
  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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Turner, Chris (2008). "World Series of Snooker". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
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