The Snooker Legends [1] was created in 2009 by Jason Francis [2] at Premier Stage Productions [3] to stage events for retired and current snooker players to play exhibition matches once again in some of snooker's most iconic venues. In 2017, Snooker Legends promoted and held its first professional event the 2017 World Seniors Championship. Later in 2017 they created the World Seniors Tour for players aged 40 and above. This tour consisted of four non-ranking events in the 2017/2018 season. They introduced an invitational event in the 2021/2022 season. In early 2022 The 'Merseyside Masters' was staged in Liverpool. [4] [5]
The first event was 8 April 2010 and saw Jimmy White, Cliff Thorburn, [6] John Parrott, John Virgo, Michaela Tabb and Alex Higgins return to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The event is best remembered as the last time Alex Higgins played snooker as he died in July that year. [7] Alex was replaced by Dennis Taylor and the tour also featured guest appearances by Ray Reardon, [8] Tony Knowles and Ken Doherty. The highlight of the tour was a maximum 147 break in Redhill by Jimmy White. [9]
In 2011, a further 30 events were held and Ronnie O'Sullivan, [10] Kirk Stevens, Doug Mountjoy, Tony Drago joined the team. In Dundalk Jimmy White again had a maximum break, however this was from the break off without his opponent ever having a shot. [11] [12]
In 2012, events saw Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry join the team. 'The Legends Cup' [13] was staged in Bedworth where a team from England and Northern Ireland beat a team from The Rest of the World 18–16.
In 2012 Snooker Legends staged a series of 7 events between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White. In the first match in Croydon Ronnie made a maximum 147 break, the 3rd perfect break since the tour began.
In 2013, there were 12 events held on the Snooker Legends tour. [14] This included the Legends Cup which was again staged in Bedworth on 10–12 May, and coverage was broadcast live on Eurosport. The teams were England and Northern Ireland vs The Rest of the World, with Dennis Taylor and Cliff Thorburn as respective captains. The Rest of the World won 18–14. [15]
Other events in the same year included the additions of Mark Williams and Joe Johnson to the tour. The format was changed to include doubles matches as well as the single matches, and also involved a colour clearance time challenge in which two teams of doubles cleared only the colours as quickly as they could alternating shots. The exhibitions also gave members of the audience a chance to play a doubles match with the professional players.
The tour started off with visits to Guildford where Chelsea Footballer John Terry played and also Southend, Watford and Durham. In April the legends went back to the crucible with the addition of Joe Johnson and Tony Knowles and then in May moved onto Ipswich and Hamm in Germany. A snookerlegends app was created to show live streaming with the 2014 legends cup shown on pay per view in the app. The Legends Cup saw debuts for 10 times world champion Reanne Evans.
In July 2014 the first snooker legends pro am series was held. This was a competition to allow amateur players to challenge some of the best professionals in the world, receiving a 21 handicap start. The competition as attended by 70 amateurs and won by Daniel Wells who carried off £1200 for beating professional Ben Woollaston 4–3 in the final.
More exhibitions were held with the doubles event in Watford being won by Cliff Thorburn and Tony Drago. Also the Snooker Legends Book was published. Ronnie O'Sullivan made 147 breaks in Scunthorpe, Copenhagen, Leicester and Newry.
In 2017, Snooker Legends organised the World Seniors Championship for the first time. It had previously been a WPBSA sanctioned event. This paved the way for the creation of the World Seniors Tour the following season.
In 2017 Snooker Legends created the World Seniors Tour for players aged 40 and above. This tour consisted of a series of 4 non-ranking events in the 2017/2018 season: the UK Seniors Championship, the Seniors Irish Masters, The Seniors Masters and the World Seniors Championship.
Snooker Legends staged its first invitational event in four seasons in February 2022. This was in part due to the fact that the World Seniors Tour was only staging two events in the 2021/2022 season. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the Merseyside Masters beating Jimmy White 6–5 in the final. [16]
James Warren White is an English professional snooker player who has won four seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, swift and attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 Six-red World champion, a record four-time World Seniors Champion, 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins.
The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest, with total prize money of £2,395,000 in 2023, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it is now one of the three tournaments that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series. The reigning world champion is Luca Brecel.
Ken Doherty is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter.
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan is an English professional snooker player, and current world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a modern-era record he holds jointly with Stephen Hendry. He has also won a record seven Masters titles and a record eight UK Championship titles for a total of 22 Triple Crown titles, the most achieved by any player. He holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 40, and has held the top ranking position multiple times.
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final. He is generally recognised as the sport's first world champion from outside the United Kingdom—since Australian Horace Lindrum's 1952 title is usually disregarded—and he remains the only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. At the 1983 tournament, Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break in a World Championship match, achieving the feat in his second-round encounter with Terry Griffiths.
A maximum break is the highest possible break in a single frame of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 reds with 15 blacks for 120 points, followed by all six colours for a further 27 points. Compiling a maximum break is regarded as a highly significant achievement in the game of snooker, and may be compared to a nine-dart finish in darts or a 300 game in ten-pin bowling.
The Irish Masters was a professional snooker tournament. It was founded in 1978, following on from the successful Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament. The final champion of the tournament was Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Darren Morgan is a Welsh former professional snooker player who now competes as an amateur.
The Masters is a professional invitational snooker tournament. Held every year since 1975, it is the second-longest-running professional tournament after the World Snooker Championship. It is one of the three Triple Crown events, and although not a ranking event, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit. It is currently televised by the BBC as part of that corporation's agreement with World Snooker to broadcast the prestigious Triple Crown events. The reigning champion is Judd Trump.
Judd Trump is an English professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently fifth on the list of all-time ranking event winners with 26 ranking titles. He has also won four Triple Crown titles.
Nick Dyson is an English former professional snooker player. He competed on the main tour over sixteen seasons between 1989 and 2006.
The 1984 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22 and 29 January 1984 at the Wembley Conference Centre. The Masters, in its 10th year, changed the format into a championship for the game's top 16 ranked players. The BBC extended their television coverage to show all 8 days of the event and the prize money was more than double that of the previous year.
The 2010 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 17 April and 3 May 2010 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The final ranking event of the 2009-10 snooker season, it was the 34th year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, first held in 1927. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and had a total prize fund of £1,111,000, with £250,000 going to the winner of the event. The tournament was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred.
The 2012 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 21 April to 7 May 2012 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 36th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible and the last ranking event of the 2011–12 snooker season. The event was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and in Europe by Eurosport.
The 2017–18 snooker season was a series of professional snooker tournaments played between 4 May 2017 and 7 May 2018. The season began with the pro–am Vienna Snooker Open in May 2017 and ended with the 2018 World Snooker Championship in April the following year. Ronnie O'Sullivan earned a joint-record five ranking titles in the season. He joined Stephen Hendry (1990/1991), Ding Junhui (2013/2014), and Mark Selby (2016/2017) in winning five ranking titles in the same season.
Ronnie O'Sullivan started his professional snooker career in 1992 and is widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. His play and accomplishments are described by some peers and pundits as being the greatest in the modern era of snooker. O'Sullivan is a seven-time world champion, and holds many records, including the fastest maximum break in professional competition; the highest number of century breaks; the highest number of maximum breaks, and the most Triple Crown event titles (22).
The 2020 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 31 July to 16 August 2020 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 44th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible. The final ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season, the tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 18 April to 4 May 2020, but both the qualifying stage and the main rounds were postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was one of the first to allow live audiences since the onset of the pandemic, but on the first day it was announced that the event would be played behind closed doors for subsequent days. A limited number of spectators were allowed in for the final two days of the championship.
The 2022 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2022 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 46th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the venue. The 16th and final ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, the tournament was organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by sports betting company Betfred. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, in Europe by Eurosport, and elsewhere in the world by Matchroom Sport and other broadcasters. The total prize fund was £2,395,000, of which the winner received £500,000.
The 2023 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 2023 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 47th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. The 15th and final ranking tournament of the 2022–23 snooker season, it was organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored for the first time by car retailer Cazoo. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, in Europe by Eurosport, and elsewhere in the world by Matchroom Sport and other broadcasters. The total prize fund was £2,395,000, of which the winner received £500,000.
The 2022 Champion of Champions was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 31 October and 6 November 2022 at the University of Bolton Stadium in Bolton, England. The 12th edition of the Champion of Champions since the tournament was first staged in 1978, it featured 16 participants, primarily winners of significant tournaments since the previous year's event. As an invitational tournament, it carried no world ranking points. The winner received £150,000 from a total prize fund of £440,000.