|
World Snooker UK Tour
World Snooker Challenge Tour |
| WPBSA Secondary Professional Tour |
Brief
History of the UK
/ Challenge Tour
Following on from the opening up of the professional game to ‘all
comers’, the organisation of the pro circuit became more and more of a
logistical problem with over 500 players on the tour requiring nine or ten qualifying
rounds for each event which resulted in the qualifying events taking most of
the summer to complete. It was decided at the end of the 1996/97 season to
reduce the tour to the top 96 players and to set up a secondary tour for the
remainder from which the leading players at the end of each season would move
up to the Main Tour. At the beginning lower ranked Main Tour players were also
permitted to enter thus giving them a second chance of qualifying for the next
season’s Main Tour. Since 1999/2000 this practice was discontinued.
The UK Tour, as it was initially called, began in the 1997/98
season and it comprised five events at various venues spread throughout the
season plus the Embassy World Championship. The number of players who moved up
to the Main Tour has varied each season as has the number of players on the
tour. In 1998/99 it was sponsored and known as the Riley UK Tour and the number
of events reduced to four at which level it has remained ever since with the
world championship counting as well but with a different points tariff to that
for the Main Tour Players. The Riley sponsorship only lasted one season.
Since 2000/01 it has been known as the Challenge Tour and in 2003/4 the
events took up a new permanent home at the World Snooker Centre at Pontins in
Prestatyn. In 2004, World Snooker, as a cost cutting measure, announced that
the 2004/5 series would be that and that only the top six in the Order of Merit
would qualify for the next season’s main tour. In future there would be no secondary
professional tour and all players outside the main tour would effectively
return to amateur status.
UK/Challenge Tour Order of Merit Winners
| Season |
Sponsor |
Winner
|
Runner Up |
| 1997/8 |
none |
Paul McPhillips |
Mark Fenton |
| 1998/9 |
Riley |
Alfie Burden |
Joe Swail |
| 1999/00 |
none |
Barry Hawkins |
Simon Bedford |
| 2000/1 |
none |
Shaun Murphy |
Andrew Norman |
| 2001/2 |
none |
Ryan Day |
Lee Spick |
| 2002/3 |
none |
Martin Gould |
Tom Ford |
| 2003/4 |
Pontins Holidays |
Brian Salmon |
Steve James |
| 2004/5 |
Pontins Holidays |
Jamie Cope |
Lee Spick |
UK/Challenge Tour Events - Winners & Runners Up
| Season |
Venue |
Event |
Winner
|
Runner Up |
Score |
1st Prize |
| 1997/8 |
Breaks Snooker Club, Aldershot |
UK Tour Event 1 |
Paul McPhillips |
Michael Holt |
6-5 |
£7,000 |
| 1978 |
Hazel Grove SC, Stockport |
UK Tour Event 2 |
Mark Fenton |
Antony Bolsover |
6-4 |
£7,000 |
| 1979 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
UK Tour Event 3 |
Simon Bedford |
Robert Milkins |
6-3 |
£7,000 |
| 1980 |
Spencer's Snooker Club, Stirling |
UK Tour Event 4 |
Patrick Wallace |
Shaun Murphy |
6-4 |
£7,000 |
| 1981 |
Club Snooker, Newcastle-under-Lyme |
UK Tour Event 5 |
Paul Sweeny |
Hugh Abernethy |
6-5 |
£7,000 |
| 1998/9 |
Hazel Grove SC, Stockport |
UK Tour Event 1 |
Alfie Burden |
Anthony Davies |
6-5 |
£7,000 |
| 1983 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
UK Tour Event 2 |
Joe Swail |
Alfie Burden |
6-1 |
£7,000 |
| 1984 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
UK Tour Event 3 |
Stuart Bingham |
Matthew Couch |
6-1 |
£7,000 |
| 1985 |
Hazel Grove SC, Stockport |
UK Tour Event 4 |
James Reynolds |
Jason Ferguson |
6-4 |
£7,000 |
| 1999/00 |
Riley's Oldham |
UK Tour Event 1 |
Matt Wilson |
Barry Hawkins |
6-4 |
£5,750 |
| 1987 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
UK Tour Event 2 |
Andrew Higginson |
Scott MacKenzie |
6-3 |
£5,750 |
| 1988 |
Riley's Stockport |
UK Tour Event 3 |
Simon Bedford |
Barry Hawkins |
6-5 |
£5,750 |
| 1989 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
UK Tour Event 4 |
Barry Hawkins |
Craig Butler |
6-1 |
£5,750 |
| 2000/1 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
Challenge Tour Event 1 |
Adrian Rosa |
Surinder Gill |
6-4 |
£10,000 |
| 1991 |
Manhattan SC, Harrogate |
Challenge Tour Event 2 |
Andrew Norman |
Luke Fisher |
6-3 |
£10,000 |
| 1992 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
Challenge Tour Event 3 |
Shaun Murphy |
Andrew Norman |
6-3 |
£10,000 |
| 1993 |
Manhattan SC, Harrogate |
Challenge Tour Event 4 |
Shaun Murphy |
Luke Simmonds |
6-2 |
£10,000 |
| 2001/2 |
Manhattan SC, Harrogate |
Challenge Tour Event 1 |
James Reynolds |
Steve Judd |
6-5 |
£5,000 |
| 1995 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
Challenge Tour Event 2 |
Leo Fernandez |
Ryan Day |
6-3 |
£5,000 |
| 1996 |
Manhattan SC, Harrogate |
Challenge Tour Event 3 |
Lee Spick |
Joe Delaney |
6-3 |
£5,000 |
| 1997 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
Challenge Tour Event 4 |
David B. Gilbert |
Ryan Day |
6-3 |
£5,000 |
| 2002/3 |
Towers Snooker Club, Mansfield |
Challenge Tour Event 1 |
Chris Melling |
Tom Ford |
6-2 |
£5,000 |
| 1999 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
Challenge Tour Event 2 |
Adrian Rosa |
Stuart Mann |
6-5 |
£5,000 |
| 2000 |
Jesters Snooker Club, Swindon |
Challenge Tour Event 3 |
Michael Rhodes |
Luke Simmonds |
6-5 |
£5,000 |
| 2001 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 4 |
Kurt Maflin |
James Leadbetter |
6-2 |
£5,000 |
| 2003/4 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 1 |
Stefan Mazrocis |
Paul S. Davison |
6-2 |
£5,000 |
| 2003 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 2 |
Hugh Abernethy |
Steve James |
6-0 |
£5,000 |
| 2004 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 3 |
Brian Salmon |
Gary Wilson |
6-1 |
£5,000 |
| 200 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 4 |
Gary Wilson |
Jin Long |
6-4 |
£5,000 |
| 2004/5 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 1 |
Jamie Cope |
Chris Norbury |
6-2 |
£5,000 |
| 2005 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 2 |
James Tatton |
Matthew Barnes |
6-4 |
£5,000 |
| 2006 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 3 |
James McBain |
Mark Allen |
6-3 |
£4,250 |
| 2007 |
World Snooker Centre, Prestatyn |
Challenge Tour Event 4 |
Jamie Cope |
Matthew Couch |
6-0 |
£4,250 |
Maximum Breaks
| Stuart Bingham |
1998/9 |
Event 3 v. Barry hawkins |
| Nick Dyson |
1998/9 |
Event 4 v. Adrian Gunnell |
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© Chris Turner 2008
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