Pontins Professional

Pontins Professional
Tournament information
VenuePontins
LocationPrestatyn
CountryWales
Established1974
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Final year2000
Final championWales Darren Morgan

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

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]

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

Statistics

Finalists

Rank Name Nationality Winner Runner-up Finals
1 Ray Reardon  Wales 4 3 7
2 Ken Doherty  Ireland 3 1 4
3 Terry Griffiths  Wales 3 0 3
4 Neal Foulds  England 2 1 3
4 Darren Morgan  Wales 2 1 3
6 Doug Mountjoy  Wales 2 0 2
7 John Spencer  England 1 5 6
8 Willie Thorne  England 1 3 4
9 Martin Clark  England 1 1 2
9 Jimmy White  England 1 1 2
11 Steve Davis  England 1 0 1
11 Peter Ebdon  England 1 0 1
11 Stephen Hendry  Scotland 1 0 1
11 Steve James  England 1 0 1
11 John Parrott  England 1 0 1
11 John Virgo  England 1 0 1
11 Mark Williams  Wales 1 0 1
18 Mike Hallett  England 0 3 3
19 Nigel Bond  England 0 2 2
20 Fred Davis  England 0 1 1
20 Tony Drago  Malta 0 1 1
20 Andy Hicks  England 0 1 1
20 Graham Miles  England 0 1 1
20 John Pulman  England 0 1 1
20 Matthew Stevens  Wales 0 1 1

Champions by country

Country Players Total First title Last title
 Wales 5 12 1974 2000
 England 10 11 1977 1999
 Ireland 1 3 1993 1996
 Scotland 1 1 1990 1990

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.