The World Series of Snooker was played for the first time in the 2008/2009 season. Although 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. It was a series of five non-ranking tournaments spread over Europe, where top professional players performed against regional wildcard players. The series consisted of four tournaments plus a Grand Final for which the winner earned €50,000.
The winner of each tournament received five points, the runner-up three and losing semi-finalists one each. These points determined the seeding positions for the Grand Final, with the top four getting a bye to quarter-finals and fifth and sixth getting a bye to the second round. In the final Shaun Murphy defeated John Higgins 6–2.
World Series of Snooker Jersey
The first event was held in Saint Helier, Jersey between 21 and 22 June 2008.
John Higgins won in the final 6–3 against Mark Selby.
Players
Professionals: Mark Selby Ken Doherty Shaun Murphy John Higgins
Wildcards: Rafał Jewtuch Gary Britton Martyn Desperques Aaron Canavan
Main draw
Century breaks 105 Mark Selby 104 John Higgins
World Series of Snooker Berlin
The second event was held in Berlin, Germany between 12 and 13 July 2008.
Graeme Dott won in the final 6–1 against Shaun Murphy.
Players
Professionals: Graeme Dott John Higgins Stephen Maguire Shaun Murphy
Wildcards: Chris McBreen Lasse Münstermann Hans Blankaert Patrick Einsle
Main draw
Century breaks 132 Shaun Murphy 113 Graeme Dott
World Series of Snooker Warsaw
The third event was held in Warsaw, Poland between 25 and 26 October 2008.
Ding Junhui won in the final 6–4 against Ken Doherty.
Players
Professionals: Steve Davis Mark Selby Ding Junhui Ken Doherty
Wildcards: Rafał Górecki Mariusz Sirko Piotr Murat Rafał Jewtuch
Main draw
Century breaks 102, 100 Mark Selby 101 Ding Junhui
World Series of Snooker Moscow
The fourth event was held in Moscow, Russia between 22 and 23 November 2008.
John Higgins won in the final 5–0 against Ding Junhui.
Players
Professionals: John Higgins Ding Junhui Mark Selby
Wildcards: Anna Mazhirina Shachar Ruberg Sergey Vasiliev Ruslan Chinakhov Sergey Isaenko
Main draw
Century breaks 127 John Higgins
Points table RankPlayerTotal1 John Higgins 5 1 - 5112 Ding Junhui - - 5 383 Graeme Dott - 5 - -5 Mark Selby 3 - 1 155 Shaun Murphy 1 3 - -46 Ken Doherty 0 - 3 -37 Gary Britton 1 - - -1 Stephen Maguire - 1 - -1 Steve Davis - - 1 -1 Shachar Ruberg - - - 11
World Series of Snooker Grand Final
The Grand Final of the World Series of Snooker was held in Portimão, Portugal between 8–10 May 2009.
Shaun Murphy won in the final 6–2 against John Higgins. This was the only Grand Final in the history of the World Series of Snooker. Murphy won the title a week after losing the World Snooker Championship Final to Higgins.
Players
Group one:
Ryan Day Lasse Munstermann Michal Zielinski Garry Britton
Group two:
Jimmy White Schachar Ruberg Itaro Santos Luca Brecel
Knockout stage:
Ryan Day Garry Britton Luca Brecel Jimmy White Steve Davis Stephen Maguire Ken Doherty Shaun Murphy John Higgins Ding Junhui Graeme Dott Mark Selby
Note: professional players in bold.
Round-robin stage Round one was played in a round robin format. The matches were best of seven frames. Each player played each other once. The winner and runner-up advanced to round two.
Group one
Table POSPlayerMPMWFWFLFDPTS1 Ryan Day 3 3 12 2 +10 32 Garry Britton 3 2 8 9 −1 23 3 1 7 9 −2 14 Michał Zieliński 3 0 4 12 −8 0
Matches: Ryan Day 4–0 Garry Britton Michał Zieliński 1–4 Lasse Münstermann Ryan Day 4–1 Michał Zieliński Lasse Münstermann 2–4 Garry Britton Ryan Day 4–1 Lasse Münstermann Garry Britton 4–2 Michał Zieliński
Group two
Table POSPlayerMPMWFWFLFDPTS1 Luca Brecel 3 3 12 6 +6 32 Jimmy White 3 2 11 5 +6 23 Itaro Santos 3 1 6 10 −4 14 Schachar Ruberg 3 0 4 12 −8 0
Matches: Jimmy White 4–1 Itaro Santos Luca Brecel 4–2 Schachar Ruberg Jimmy White 4–0 Schachar Ruberg Itaro Santos 1–4 Luca Brecel Jimmy White 3–4 Luca Brecel Schachar Ruberg 2–4 Itaro Santos
Knockout stage
Century breaks 122, 105, 100 Shaun Murphy 101 John Higgins 100 Graeme Dott
References