Pontins Professional

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

Pontins Professional

Tournament information
Venue	Pontins
Location	Prestatyn
Country	Wales
Established	1974
Organisation(s)	WPBSA
Format	Non-ranking event
Final year	2000
Final champion	Darren Morgan

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

• 1980 Pontins Camber Sands

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.