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International Open Series

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International Open Series
Tournament information
VenueWorld Snooker Centre
LocationPrestatyn
CountryWales
Established2001
Organisation(s)WPBSA (2001/02)
EASB (2002/03–2009/10)
FormatProfessional (2001/02)
Pro-am (2002/03)
Amateur (2003/04–2009/10)
Final year2010
Final championEngland Jack Lisowski

The International Open Series (often referred to as Pontins International Open Series or PIOS[1][2] for sponsorship reasons), was a series of snooker tournaments that ran from the 2001–02 season until the 2009–10 season. It was originally called the Open Tour but was renamed in 2005.[3] The tour was established to provide players not on the Main Tour or the minor Challenge Tour (now WPBSA Q Tour) with some degree of professional competition, and the best performers were initially promoted to the Challenge Tour.

The series was abandoned after the 2009–10 season and replaced by Q School in the 2010–11 season.

History

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It was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) during its first season, but the English Association of Snooker and Billiards (EASB), an amateur body, took it over from the 2002–03 season.[3] The event was open to professionals, amateurs and international players for the first couple of seasons, but following the EASB's split from the WPBSA in 2003 the entry criteria were revised barring professional and non-English players from entering.[3]

After the Challenge Tour was discontinued, the entry criteria were revised again to allow international amateur players to compete, and from the 2005–06 season the competition promoted players directly to the Main Tour.[4]

Event finals

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Season Event Winner Runner-up Final score
WPBSA Open Tour (professional non-ranking)[3]
2001/02 Event 1 England Mark Gray England Shaun Murphy 5–2
Event 2 England Brian Morgan Republic of Ireland Leo Fernandez 5–2
Event 3 Finland Robin Hull Republic of Ireland Colm Gilcreest 5–4
Event 4 England Matthew Couch England Munraj Pal 5–3
Event 5 England Lee Spick England Mark Gray 5–3
Event 6 England Stuart Bingham England Matthew Selt 5–4
EASB Open Tour (pro-am)[3]
2002/03 Event 1 Wales Ryan Day Wales James Reynolds 5–4
Event 2 Wales Ryan Day England Mark Gray 5–3
Event 3 England Rory McLeod England Mark Gray 5–2
Event 4 England Ricky Walden England Jamie Cope 5–1
EASB Open Tour (amateur)[3]
2003/04 Event 1 England David KL Taylor England Darren McVicar 4–3
Event 2 England James Tatton England Lee Richardson 4–2
Event 3 England Lee Richardson England Jamie Barratt 4–0
Event 4 England Sean Bullock England Andy Radford 4–0
Event 5 England Andy Radford England Mark Sutton 4–0
Event 6 England Eddie Cooper England Nick Spelman 4–2
Event 7 England Alan Trigg England Wayne Cooper 4–1
Event 8 England Paul Davison England Wayne Cooper 4–2
Final play-off England Wayne Cooper England Nick Spelman 5–1
PIOS (amateur)[4]
2005/06 Event 1 China Tian Pengfei England Martin Gould 6–3
Event 2 England Mark Joyce England James Leadbetter 6–3
Event 3 China Liu Song England Stephen Rowlings 6–1
Event 4 Republic of Ireland Colm Gilcreest England Mark Joyce 6–3
Event 5 England Chris Melling England Paul Davison 6–5
Event 6 China Liu Song England Paul Davison 6–3
Event 7 China Tian Pengfei China Liu Song 6–3
Event 8 England Andrew Higginson England Jamie O'Neill 6–3
2006/07 Event 1 England Munraj Pal Norway Kurt Maflin 6–3
Event 2 Northern Ireland Julian Logue England Alex Davies 6–5
Event 3 Republic of Ireland Leo Fernandez Wales Lee Walker 6–5
Event 4 England Kuldesh Johal Wales Lee Walker 6–4
Event 5 Norway Kurt Maflin England Ashley Wright 6–3
Event 6 England Jamie O'Neill England Ashley Wright 6–2
Event 7 Belgium Bjorn Haneveer England Craig Steadman 6–2
Event 8 Scotland James McBain Norway Kurt Maflin 6–4
2007/08 Event 1 England Simon Bedford England Gary Wilkinson 6–3
Event 2 England Kuldesh Johal Wales Andrew Pagett 6–4
Event 3 England Paul Davison England Michael King 6–2
Event 4 England Matthew Couch England Michael Wild 6–3
Event 5 England Peter Lines Wales Daniel Wells 6–5
Event 6 England Kuldesh Johal England Simon Bedford 6–5
Event 7 Wales Jamie Jones England Peter Lines 6–2
Event 8 England Liam Highfield England Justin Astley 6–2
2008/09 Event 1[usurped] Belgium Bjorn Haneveer England Andrew Atkinson 6–2
Event 2[usurped] China Xiao Guodong Thailand Noppadol Sangnil 6–5
Event 3[usurped] Pakistan Shokat Ali Wales Michael White 6–3
Event 4[usurped] England Craig Steadman England Mike Hallett 6–1
Event 5[usurped] England Chris Norbury England Alfie Burden 6–2
Event 6[usurped] China Xiao Guodong England Jack Lisowski 6–0
Event 7[usurped] Thailand Thepchaiya Un-Nooh England Lee Page 6–3
Event 8[usurped] England Joe Jogia England Ben Woollaston 6–5
2009/10 Event 1[usurped] England Jack Lisowski England Liam Highfield 6–5
Event 2[usurped] England Liam Highfield England Neal Jones 6–2
Event 3[usurped] England Paul Davison England Kyren Wilson 6–4
Event 4[usurped] Wales Jamie Jones Wales Jak Jones 6–0
Event 5[usurped] Scotland Anthony McGill England Farakh Ajaib 6–0
Event 6[usurped] England Kyren Wilson England Liam Highfield 6–4
Event 7[usurped] England Paul Davison England Justin Astley 6–2
Event 8[usurped] England Jack Lisowski England Justin Astley 6–1

Order of Merit winners

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[4]

Season Winner
2005/06 China Liu Song
2006/07 Norway Kurt Maflin
2007/08 England Kuldesh Johal
2008/09[usurped] England Joe Jogia
2009/10[usurped] England Jack Lisowski

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Pontin's &– Working with Global Snooker". London: Global Snooker. 2009. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Pontin's International Open Series: Rules of Entry 2009/10" (PDF). Global-Snooker.com: Maximum Snooker Coverage. 2009. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Suffolk: Rose Villa Publications. pp. Introduction & 178–186. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
  4. ^ a b c "Pontins International Open Series". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
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