Pontins Professional

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Pontins Professional
Tournament information
Venue Pontins
Location Prestatyn
Country Wales
Established1974
Organisation(s) WPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Final year2000
Final champion Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan

The Pontins Professional was an invitational professional non-ranking snooker tournament which ran from 1974 until 2000.

Contents

History

Top snooker professionals had regularly supplemented their income from professional events by playing exhibition matches on the holiday camp circuit, with Pontins being a regular venue for entertaining holiday-makers. Beginning in 1974, a tournament involving eight professional players began at Pontins and became a regular point in the snooker calendar, usually occurring in the summer after the World Snooker Championship. This ran in conjunction with an Open tournament, in which many young amateur players took part, and provided a springboard for future stars such as Paul Hunter and Judd Trump. [1] There were also juniors, seniors, and ladies events.

While top professional players regularly entered in the tournament's early years, the increase in the number of events on the snooker tour led to the biggest stars choosing not to enter in later years, and the professional tournament was last held in 2000.

Winners

[2]

YearWinnerRunner-upFinal scoreSeason
1974 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon Flag of England.svg John Spencer 10–9 1973/74
1975 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon Flag of England.svg John Spencer 10–9 1974/75
1976 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon Flag of England.svg Fred Davis 10–4 1975/76
1977 Flag of England.svg John Spencer Flag of England.svg John Pulman 7–5 1976/77
1978 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon Flag of England.svg John Spencer 7–2 1977/78
1979 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Doug Mountjoy Flag of England.svg Graham Miles 8–4 1978/79
1980 Flag of England.svg John Virgo Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon 9–6 1979/80
1981 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Terry Griffiths Flag of England.svg Willie Thorne 9–8 1980/81
1982 Flag of England.svg Steve Davis Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon 9–4 1981/82
1983 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Doug Mountjoy Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon 9–7 1982/83
1984 Flag of England.svg Willie Thorne Flag of England.svg John Spencer 9–7 1983/84
1985 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Terry Griffiths Flag of England.svg John Spencer 9–7 1984/85
1986 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Terry Griffiths Flag of England.svg Willie Thorne 9–6 1985/86
1987 Flag of England.svg Neal Foulds Flag of England.svg Willie Thorne 9–6 1986/87
1988 Flag of England.svg John Parrott Flag of England.svg Mike Hallett 9–1 1987/88
1989 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan Flag of Malta.svg Tony Drago 9–2 1988/89
1990 Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry Flag of England.svg Mike Hallett 9–6 1989/90
1991 Flag of England.svg Neal Foulds Flag of England.svg Mike Hallett 9–6 1990/91
1992 Flag of England.svg Steve James Flag of England.svg Neal Foulds 9–8 1991/92
1993 Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan 9–3 1992/93
1994 Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty Flag of England.svg Nigel Bond 9–5 1993/94
1995 Flag of England.svg Peter Ebdon Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty 9–8 1994/95
1996 Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty Flag of England.svg Nigel Bond 9–7 1995/96
1997 Flag of England.svg Martin Clark Flag of England.svg Andy Hicks 9–7 1996/97
1998 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams Flag of England.svg Martin Clark 9–6 1997/98
1999 Flag of England.svg Jimmy White Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 9–5 1998/99
2000 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Darren Morgan Flag of England.svg Jimmy White 9–2 1999/00

Statistics

Finalists

RankNameNationalityWinnerRunner-upFinals
1 Ray Reardon Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 437
2 Ken Doherty Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 314
3 Terry Griffiths Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 303
4 Neal Foulds Flag of England.svg  England 213
4 Darren Morgan Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 213
6 Doug Mountjoy Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 202
7 John Spencer Flag of England.svg  England 156
8 Willie Thorne Flag of England.svg  England 134
9 Martin Clark Flag of England.svg  England 112
9 Jimmy White Flag of England.svg  England 112
11 Steve Davis Flag of England.svg  England 101
11 Peter Ebdon Flag of England.svg  England 101
11 Stephen Hendry Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 101
11 Steve James Flag of England.svg  England 101
11 John Parrott Flag of England.svg  England 101
11 John Virgo Flag of England.svg  England 101
11 Mark Williams Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 101
18 Mike Hallett Flag of England.svg  England 033
19 Nigel Bond Flag of England.svg  England 022
20 Fred Davis Flag of England.svg  England 011
20 Tony Drago Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 011
20 Andy Hicks Flag of England.svg  England 011
20 Graham Miles Flag of England.svg  England 011
20 John Pulman Flag of England.svg  England 011
20 Matthew Stevens Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 011

Champions by country

CountryPlayersTotalFirst titleLast title
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 51219742000
Flag of England.svg  England 101119771999
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 1319931996
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 1119901990

See also

References

  1. "Pontins Pointed The Way To Fame For Paul". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  2. "Brief History of the Pontins Open and Professional". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2017.