The Sportingbet.com World Series of Snooker was a series of invitational snooker tournaments set up as a complement to the WPBSA's tour 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.
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, 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, and wanted to give something back to the sport. 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.
Results
1987/1988 DateNameVenueWinnerRunner-upScoreRef.1987Hong Kong Masters Hong Kong Steve Davis9–3 1987Tokyo Masters Tokyo Dennis Taylor Terry Griffiths6–3 1987Canadian Masters Toronto Dennis Taylor Jimmy White9–7
1990/1991 DateNameVenueWinnerRunner-upScoreRef.1990World Series Challenge Hong Kong James Wattana Jimmy White9–3 1990 Scottish Masters Motherwell Terry Griffiths10–61990Humo Masters Antwerp John Parrott Jimmy White9–6
1991/1992 DateNameVenueWinnerRunner-upScoreRef.1991Thailand Masters Bangkok Steve Davis6–31991Hong Kong Challenge Hong Kong James Wattana9–1 1991Indian Challenge Delhi Stephen Hendry John Parrott9–5 1991 Scottish Masters Motherwell Mike Hallett Steve Davis10–61991Humo Masters Antwerp Mike Hallett Neal Foulds9–71991Belgian Challenge Antwerp Steve Davis Stephen Hendry10–9
1992/1993 DateNameVenueWinnerRunner-upScoreRef. 1992Kent Classic Beijing John Parrott6–5 1992 Scottish Masters Motherwell Neal Foulds Gary Wilkinson10–81992Humo Masters Antwerp John Parrott10–51992World Matchplay Doncaster James Wattana Steve Davis9–4
2007/2008 DateNameVenueWinnerRunner-upScore Warsaw Snooker Tour Mark Selby John Higgins 5–3
2008/2009
DateNameVenueWinnerRunner-upScore21–22 June 2008World Series of Snooker – Jersey6–312–13 July 2008 World Series of Snooker – BerlinBerlin Graeme Dott6–125–26 October 2008 Warsaw Ding Junhui Ken Doherty6–4 Moscow John Higgins Ding Junhui5–08–10 May 2009 Portimão John Higgins6–2
2009/2010
DateNameVenueWinnerRunner-upScore16–17 May 2009 Killarney Shaun Murphy Jimmy White5–117–18 October 2009 Prague Jimmy White Graeme Dott 5–3
References