World Cup & World Team Classic                   (click for Nations Cup)
 
The World Cup began in 1979 when television could not get enough snooker and new events began to blossom. With sponsorship from British American Tobacco the event started life as the State Express World Challenge Cup. Six teams, England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, Australia and a combined Rest of the World side were split into two round robin groups. Each team had three players and matches were of 15 frames. Each player played five, three against one of the opposing team and one each against the others. The top team from each group met in the semi final. The first event, played in Birmingham in October was won by the Welsh trio of Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths and Doug Mountjoy who beat England, represented by Fred Davis, John Spencer and Graham Miles in the final.
 
In 1980 it moved to the New London Theatre and this time the top two teams from each group of three went into semi fianls. An all Ireland team replaced the one from Northern Ireland but the same Welsh team triumphed in the final this time beating Canada who had a very strong line-up of Cliff Thorburn, Bill Werbeniuk and Kirk Stevens, all in the top 16.
 
A new home was found at the Hexagon in Reading for 1981 and the name was changed the State Express World Team Classic. The matches were reduced to best of seven there were now seven teams. Scotland entered for the first time instead of the Rest of the World and both Northern Ireland and the Republic fielded teams. Scotland and the Republic played a preliminary match for the right to go into one of the groups and it was Scotland who were eliminated. England won for the first time, Steve Davis, John Spencer and David Taylor just edging past the familiar Welsh trio. The same seven teams competed in 1982 when the strong Canadian team took the title. After England won for the second time in 1983, State Express ended their backing of the event and the slot in the calendar was taken by a new ranking event, the Grand Prix, which also took over the Reading venue.
 
The event the moved to the spring in 1985, Guinness provided sponsorship and a new venue was found, the International Centre at Bournemouth which would be its home for six years and the title became simply the World Cup. This time there were eight teams in a straight knock out format. Ireland fielded a combined team, the Rest of the World were back, and England, as holders, had two teams. The Irish team of Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Eugene Hughes beat England in the final.  Guinness pulled out after just one year and there were four different sponsors in the next five years. Ireland were allowed two entries in 1986 and they won again and made it a hat trick in 1987. After England gained two further wins, Canada won the final event in the series in 1990.
 
With the huge intake of new professionals in the early 1990s, the idea of reviving the World Cup with many more countries began to take shape. Finally it was set for the autumn of 1996 in Thailand. There was a huge entry and qualifying groups were held with 20 teams of three going to the final stages. The teams were divided into four round robin groups with the top two in each moving forward to the quarter finals. Scotland were hot favourites with their team of Hendry, Higgins and McManus and they duly obliged beating the Republic of Ireland 10-7. It was to me may years before that event was held again although a Nations Cup involving the home countries began in 1999 with some other teams joining in 2001.

The World Cup itself returned to the calendar in 2011. A field of 20 teams comprising eight seeded teams, eight qualifiers, two wild cards invitations and 2 from the host country, Thailand, were split into four groups with the top two in each going into the knockout stage.

John Higgins

1999/00

v. Dennis Taylor (SCO v.NIR)

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© Chris Turner 2011