Scottish Open (snooker)

Scottish Open
Tournament information
Location Glasgow
Country Scotland
Established 1981
Organisation(s) World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Format Ranking event
Current champion(s) China Ding Junhui

The Scottish Open is a ranking professional snooker tournament held in Scotland. The tournament had many name changes in its history, as the tournament was formerly called International Open, Goya Matchroom Trophy and Players Championship. Apart from a hiatus in the 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 seasons, the tournament remained a ranking event until 2003/2004. In the 2012/2013 season the tournament was added back to the calendar as part of the Players Tour Championship minor-ranking series. The last champion was Ding Junhui.

On April 29, 2015, Barry Hearn announced it would return to the main tour in 2016 at an unspecified Glasgow venue, as part of a new "Home Series" with the existing Welsh Open and new English Open and Irish Open tournaments.[1][2]

History

The tournament began in 1981 as the International Open at the Assembly Rooms in Derby, and became the following year the second ranking event after the World Championship. The event moved to the Eldon Square in Newcastle upon Tyne. Until 1984 the event was sponsored by Jameson Whiskey.[3]

In 1985 the event moved to the Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent and was renamed (for this year only) to the Goya Matchroom Trophy due to sponsorship from Matchroom and Goya. The International Open name returned the following year and the sponsorship was overtaken by BCE (1986 and 1989) and Fidelity Unit Trusts (1987 and 1988). After 1989 the event went on a two-year hiatus.[3]

The event returned in the 1992/1993 season with the sponsorship of Sky Sports. The event was moved to the second half of the season and was played at the Plymouth Pavilions. The event was moved again in 1994, this time to the Bournemouth International Centre. After an unsponsored year Sweater Shop took over for 1995 and 1996. In 1997 the event was moved to the Aberdeen Exhibition Centre and it was sponsored by Highland Spring.[3]

In 1998 the event was renamed to Scottish Open, and it was sponsored by Imperial Tobacco through their Regal brand, who also sponsored the Scottish Masters and Welsh Open.[3][4] In 2003 the event was moved to Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh. For the first time in twelve years no top 16 player reached the final. The event than was renamed to the Players Championship for 2004, as it became the final event in the LG Electronics Tour.[4] The event was sponsored by Daily Record and held at the SECC in Glasgow. After the event Sky decided not to renew their contract, and without television coverage the event was dropped.[5] The event was added back to the calendar in the 2012/2013 season as minor-ranking tournament and was known as the Scottish Open. It was held at Ravenscraig as the fifth event of the European Tour.[6] In 2015 Barry Hearn announced that the tournament will return in the 2016/17 season. The event will be held in Glasgow and will be part of the "Home Series" events, which will feature tournaments in the other home nations and have an one million pound bonus.[7]

Steve Davis was the tournament's most prolific winner, with a record 6 wins from 8 finals. This included a 9–0 whitewash of Dennis Taylor in the 1981 final. There were three maximum breaks in the history of the tournament, two at the 2000 event. Stephen Maguire at the first qualifying round against Phaitoon Phonbun and Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32 against Quinten Hann.[4][8] In 2012 Kurt Maflin achieved a 147 in the last 32 against Stuart Carrington.[9]

Winners

Year Winner Runner-up Final score Venue Season
International Open (non-ranking)[3][10]
1981 England Steve Davis Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 9–0 England Derby 1981/82
International Open (ranking)[3][10]
1982 England Tony Knowles England David Taylor 9–6 England Derby 1982/83
1983 England Steve Davis Canada Cliff Thorburn 9–4 England Newcastle upon Tyne 1983/84
1984 England Steve Davis England Tony Knowles 9–2 England Newcastle upon Tyne 1984/85
Goya Matchroom Trophy (ranking)[3][10]
1985 Canada Cliff Thorburn England Jimmy White 12–10 England Stoke-on-Trent 1985/86
International Open (ranking)[3][10]
1986 England Neal Foulds Canada Cliff Thorburn 12–9 England Stoke-on-Trent 1986/87
1987 England Steve Davis Canada Cliff Thorburn 12–5 England Stoke-on-Trent 1987/88
1988 England Steve Davis England Jimmy White 12–6 England Stoke-on-Trent 1988/89
1989 England Steve Davis Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–4 England Stoke-on-Trent 1989/90
1993 Scotland Stephen Hendry England Steve Davis 10–6 England Plymouth 1992/93
1994 England John Parrott Thailand James Wattana 9–5 England Bournemouth 1993/94
1995 Scotland John Higgins England Steve Davis 9–5 England Bournemouth 1994/95
1996 Scotland John Higgins England Rod Lawler 9–3 England Bournemouth 1995/96
1997 Scotland Stephen Hendry Malta Tony Drago 9–1 Scotland Aberdeen 1996/97
Scottish Open (ranking)[4][10]
1998 England Ronnie O'Sullivan Scotland John Higgins 9–5 Scotland Aberdeen 1997/98
1999 Scotland Stephen Hendry Scotland Graeme Dott 9–1 Scotland Aberdeen 1998/99
2000 England Ronnie O'Sullivan Wales Mark Williams 9–1 Scotland Aberdeen 1999/00
2001 England Peter Ebdon Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 9–7 Scotland Aberdeen 2000/01
2002 England Stephen Lee England David Gray 9–2 Scotland Aberdeen 2001/02
2003 England David Gray England Mark Selby 9–7 Scotland Edinburgh 2002/03
Players Championship (ranking)[5]
2004 England Jimmy White England Paul Hunter 9–7 Scotland Glasgow 2003/04
Scottish Open (minor-ranking)
2012[11] China Ding Junhui Scotland Anthony McGill 4–2 Scotland Ravenscraig 2012/13
Scottish Open (ranking)
2016 2016/17

References

  1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/snooker/32519199
  2. http://www.worldsnooker.com/hearn-announces-new-five-year-plan/
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Turner, Chris. "International Open, Goya Matchroom Trophy". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Turner, Chris. "Scottish Open". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  5. 1 2 Turner, Chris. "Players Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  6. "Betfair Sponsor New European Tour". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  7. http://www1.skysports.com/more-sports/snooker/news/12243/9828300/barry-hearn-announces-big-changes-to-snooker-schedule-and-prizes
  8. Turner, Chris. "Maximum breaks". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  9. "Maflin Scores Maximum In Ravenscraig". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Scottish Open Finals". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  11. "European Tour Event Five (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, May 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.