World Cup (snooker)

Last updated

World Cup
World Cup (snooker) logo.jpg
Tournament information
Location Wuxi
CountryChina
Established1979
Organisation(s) World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatNon-Ranking team event
Total prize fund$800,000
Current championFlag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
John Higgins
Stephen Maguire

The World Cup is an invitational team snooker tournament created by Mike Watterson. The annual contests featured teams of three (two since 2011) players representing their country against other such teams. Steve Davis has won the event more times than any other player, with four titles for England.

Contents

History

The event began in 1979 as the World Challenge Cup with the sponsorship of State Express. It was held at the Haden Hill Leisure Centre, Birmingham, with six teams participating: England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, Australia and Rest of the World. The teams were broken into two round-robin groups and the matches were best of 15 frames. The top teams in the groups met in the final. In 1980 the tournament moved to the New London Theatre and the Northern Ireland team was replaced by an All-Ireland team. [1]

The event was renamed to the World Team Classic in 1981 and moved to the Hexagon Theatre in Reading. The matches were reduced to best of seven and the top two teams from the groups advanced to the semi-finals. This time seven teams competed. Team Rest of the World were replaced by Team Scotland and instead of an All-Ireland team both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland fielded teams. After the 1983 event State Express ended their sponsorship of the event and the tournament's place in the snooker calendar was taken by the Grand Prix. [1]

The event was moved to spring for the 1984/1985 season and the event was renamed the World Cup. It was held at the International, Bournemouth. The tournament also became a knock-out contest and featured eight teams. Ireland and Northern Ireland fielded a combined team, known as All-Ireland, the Rest of the World team returned and the defending champions, England, had two teams. The event was terminated after the 1990 event. [1]

The event was briefly revived for 1996 and it was held at the Amari Watergate Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. There were many entries and qualification was held. The 20 qualified teams were split into four groups of five and the top two teams of the groups advanced to the quarter-finals. [1]

On 22 March 2011 it was revealed that the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association planned to revive the event with the sponsorship of PTT and EGAT. It was held between 11 and 17 July at the Bangkok Convention Centre, Bangkok and twenty two-men teams participated at the tournament. [2] [3]

Winners

[1]

YearWinnersRunners-upFinal scoreHost citySeason
TeamPlayersTeamPlayers
World Challenge Cup (team event)
1979 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Terry Griffiths
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Doug Mountjoy
Flag of England.svg England Flag of England.svg Fred Davis
Flag of England.svg John Spencer
Flag of England.svg Graham Miles
14–3 Flag of England.svg Birmingham 1979/80
1980 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Terry Griffiths
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Doug Mountjoy
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Cliff Thorburn
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kirk Stevens
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Bill Werbeniuk
8–5 Flag of England.svg London 1980/81
World Team Classic (team event)
1981 [4] Flag of England.svg England Flag of England.svg Steve Davis
Flag of England.svg John Spencer
Flag of England.svg David Taylor
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Terry Griffiths
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Doug Mountjoy
4–3 Flag of England.svg Reading 1981/82
1982 [5] Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Cliff Thorburn
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kirk Stevens
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Bill Werbeniuk
Flag of England.svg England Flag of England.svg Steve Davis
Flag of England.svg Tony Knowles
Flag of England.svg Jimmy White
4–2 Flag of England.svg Reading 1982/83
1983 [6] Flag of England.svg England Flag of England.svg Steve Davis
Flag of England.svg Tony Knowles
Flag of England.svg Tony Meo
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Wales Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ray Reardon
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Terry Griffiths
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Doug Mountjoy
4–2 Flag of England.svg Reading 1983/84
World Cup (team event)
1985 [7] All-Ireland Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins
Ulster Banner.svg Dennis Taylor
Flag of Ireland.svg Eugene Hughes
Flag of England.svg England A Flag of England.svg Steve Davis
Flag of England.svg Tony Knowles
Flag of England.svg Tony Meo
9–7 Flag of England.svg Bournemouth 1984/85
1986 [8] Ireland A Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins
Ulster Banner.svg Dennis Taylor
Flag of Ireland.svg Eugene Hughes
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Cliff Thorburn
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kirk Stevens
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Bill Werbeniuk
9–7 Flag of England.svg Bournemouth 1985/86
1987 [8] Ireland A Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins
Ulster Banner.svg Dennis Taylor
Flag of Ireland.svg Eugene Hughes
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Cliff Thorburn
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kirk Stevens
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Bill Werbeniuk
9–2 Flag of England.svg Bournemouth 1986/87
1988 [9] Flag of England.svg England Flag of England.svg Steve Davis
Flag of England.svg Jimmy White
Flag of England.svg Neal Foulds
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Eddie Charlton
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Campbell
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Warren King
9–7 Flag of England.svg Bournemouth 1987/88
1989 [8] Flag of England.svg England Flag of England.svg Steve Davis
Flag of England.svg Jimmy White
Flag of England.svg Neal Foulds
Rest of the World Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg Silvino Francisco
Flag of New Zealand.svg Dene O'Kane
Flag of Malta.svg Tony Drago
9–8 Flag of England.svg Bournemouth 1988/89
1990 [8] Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Cliff Thorburn
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alain Robidoux
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Bob Chaperon
Ulster Banner.svg Northern Ireland Ulster Banner.svg Alex Higgins
Ulster Banner.svg Dennis Taylor
Ulster Banner.svg Tommy Murphy
9–5 Flag of England.svg Bournemouth 1989/90
1996 [10] Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins
Flag of Scotland.svg Alan McManus
Flag of Ireland.svg Republic of Ireland Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty
Flag of Ireland.svg Fergal O'Brien
Flag of Ireland.svg Stephen Murphy
10–7 Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok 1996/97
2011 [3] Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo
Ulster Banner.svg Northern Ireland Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen
Ulster Banner.svg Gerard Greene
4–2 Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok 2011/12
2015 [11] Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China B Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Yan Bingtao
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Yuelong
Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire
4–1 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wuxi 2015/16
2017 [12] Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China A Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo
Flag of England.svg England Flag of England.svg Judd Trump
Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins
4–3 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wuxi 2017/18
2019 Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China B Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Yuelong
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo
4–0 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wuxi 2019/20

See also

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