World Series of Snooker 2008/2009

The World Series of Snooker was played for the first time in the 2008/2009 season. Although there was a previous incarnation of the event organised by Matchroom Sport, that ran in the 1987/88 season, and from 1990/91 until 1992/93.^[1] It was a series of five non-ranking tournaments spread over Europe, where top professional players performed against regional wildcard players. The series consisted of four tournaments plus a Grand Final for which the winner earned €50,000.

Logo of the World Series of Snooker

The winner of each tournament received five points, the runner-up three and losing semi-finalists one each. These points determined the seeding positions for the Grand Final, with the top four getting a bye to quarter-finals and fifth and sixth getting a bye to the second round. In the final Shaun Murphy defeated John Higgins 6–2.

World Series of Snooker Jersey

The first event was held in Saint Helier, Jersey between 21 and 22 June 2008. John Higgins won in the final 6–3 against Mark Selby.[2] Players Professionals: Mark Selby Ken Doherty Shaun Murphy John Higgins Wildcards: Rafał Jewtuch Gary Britton Martyn Desperques Aaron Canavan Main draw [3][4] Quarter-finals Best of 7 Frames Semi-finals Best of 9 Frames Final Best of 11 Frames                   Mark Selby 4 Rafał Jewtuch 0 Mark Selby 5 Gary Britton 1 Ken Doherty 1 Gary Britton 4 Mark Selby 3 John Higgins 6 Shaun Murphy 4 Martyn Desperques 1 Shaun Murphy 2 John Higgins 5 John Higgins 4 Aaron Canavan 0 Century breaks 105 – Mark Selby 104 – John Higgins

World Series of Snooker World Series of Snooker Jersey Tournament information Dates 21–22 June 2008 (2008-06-21 – 2008-06-22) Venue Fort Regent City Saint Helier Country Jersey Organisation FSTC Sports Management Format Non-ranking event Highest break 105 Final Champion John Higgins Runner-up Mark Selby Score 6–3

World Series of Snooker Berlin

The second event was held in Berlin, Germany between 12 and 13 July 2008. Graeme Dott won in the final 6–1 against Shaun Murphy.[5] Players Professionals: Graeme Dott John Higgins Stephen Maguire Shaun Murphy Wildcards: Chris McBreen Lasse Münstermann Hans Blankaert Patrick Einsle Main draw [6][7] Quarter-finals Best of 7 Frames Semi-finals Best of 9 Frames Final Best of 11 Frames                   Graeme Dott 4 Chris McBreen 1 Graeme Dott 5 John Higgins 4 John Higgins 4 Lasse Münstermann 3 Graeme Dott 6 Shaun Murphy 1 Stephen Maguire 4 Hans Blankaert 0 Stephen Maguire 3 Shaun Murphy 5 Shaun Murphy 4 Patrick Einsle 0 Century breaks 132 – Shaun Murphy 113 – Graeme Dott

World Series of Snooker World Series of Snooker Berlin Tournament information Dates 12–13 July 2008 (2008-07-12 – 2008-07-13) Venue Tempodrom City Berlin Country Germany Organisation FSTC Sports Management Format Non-ranking event Highest break 132 Final Champion Graeme Dott Runner-up Shaun Murphy Score 6–1

World Series of Snooker Warsaw

The third event was held in Warsaw, Poland between 25 and 26 October 2008. Ding Junhui won in the final 6–4 against Ken Doherty.[8] Players Professionals: Steve Davis Mark Selby Ding Junhui Ken Doherty Wildcards: Rafał Górecki Mariusz Sirko Piotr Murat Rafał Jewtuch Main draw [9][10] Quarter-finals Best of 7 Frames Semi-finals Best of 9 Frames Final Best of 11 Frames                   Ken Doherty 4 Rafał Górecki 0 Ken Doherty 5 Mark Selby 3 Mark Selby 4 Mariusz Sirko 0 Ken Doherty 4 Ding Junhui 6 Steve Davis 4 Rafał Jewtuch 0 Steve Davis 1 Ding Junhui 5 Ding Junhui 4 Piotr Murat 0 Century breaks 102, 100 – Mark Selby 101 – Ding Junhui

World Series of Snooker World Series of Snooker Warsaw Tournament information Dates 25–26 October 2008 (2008-10-25 – 2008-10-26) Venue EXPO XXI City Warsaw Country Poland Organisation FSTC Sports Management Format Non-ranking event Highest break 102 Final Champion Ding Junhui Runner-up Ken Doherty Score 6–4

World Series of Snooker Moscow

The fourth event was held in Moscow, Russia between 22 and 23 November 2008. John Higgins won in the final 5–0 against Ding Junhui.[11] Players Professionals: John Higgins Ding Junhui Mark Selby Wildcards: Anna Mazhirina Shachar Ruberg Sergey Vasiliev Ruslan Chinakhov Sergey Isaenko Main draw [12][13] Quarter-finals Best of 7 Frames Semi-finals Best of 7 Frames Final Best of 9 Frames                   John Higgins 4 Anna Mazhirina 0 John Higgins 4 Shachar Ruberg 0 Shachar Ruberg 4 Sergey Vasiliev 1 John Higgins 5 Ding Junhui 0 Ding Junhui 4 Sergey Isaenko 0 Ding Junhui 4 Mark Selby 2 Mark Selby 4 Ruslan Chinakhov 1 Century breaks 127 – John Higgins

World Series of Snooker World Series of Snooker Moscow Tournament information Dates 22–23 November 2008 (2008-11-22 – 2008-11-23) Venue Krilya Sovetov Sports Arena City Moscow Country Russia Organisation FSTC Sports Management Format Non-ranking event Highest break 127 Final Champion John Higgins Runner-up Ding Junhui Score 5–0

Points table

Rank	Player					Total
1	John Higgins	5	1	-	5	11
2	Ding Junhui	-	-	5	3	8
3	Graeme Dott	-	5	-	-	5
	Mark Selby	3	-	1	1	5
5	Shaun Murphy	1	3	-	-	4
6	Ken Doherty	0	-	3	-	3
7	Gary Britton	1	-	-	-	1
	Stephen Maguire	-	1	-	-	1
	Steve Davis	-	-	1	-	1
	Shachar Ruberg	-	-	-	1	1

World Series of Snooker Grand Final

The Grand Final of the World Series of Snooker was held in Portimão, Portugal between 8–10 May 2009.[14][15] Shaun Murphy won in the final 6–2 against John Higgins. This was the only Grand Final in the history of the World Series of Snooker. Murphy won the title a week after losing the World Snooker Championship Final to Higgins.[16] Players Group one: Ryan Day Lasse Munstermann Michal Zielinski Garry Britton Group two: Jimmy White Schachar Ruberg Itaro Santos[17] Luca Brecel Knockout stage: Ryan Day Garry Britton Luca Brecel Jimmy White Steve Davis Stephen Maguire Ken Doherty Shaun Murphy John Higgins Ding Junhui Graeme Dott Mark Selby Note: professional players in bold.

World Series of Snooker Grand Final Tournament information Dates 8–10 May 2009 (2009-05-08 – 2009-05-10) Venue Pavilhão Arena City Portimão Country Portugal Organisation FSTC Sports Management Format Non-ranking event Highest break 122 Final Champion Shaun Murphy Runner-up John Higgins Score 6–2

Round-robin stage

Round one was played in a round robin format. The matches were best of seven frames. Each player played each other once. The winner and runner-up advanced to round two.

Group one

Table POS Player MP MW FW FL FD PTS 1 Ryan Day 3 3 12 2 +10 3 2 Garry Britton 3 2 8 9 −1 2 3 Lasse Münstermann 3 1 7 9 −2 1 4 Michał Zieliński 3 0 4 12 −8 0

Matches: Ryan Day 4–0 Garry Britton Michał Zieliński 1–4 Lasse Münstermann Ryan Day 4–1 Michał Zieliński Lasse Münstermann 2–4 Garry Britton Ryan Day 4–1 Lasse Münstermann Garry Britton 4–2 Michał Zieliński

Group two

Table POS Player MP MW FW FL FD PTS 1 Luca Brecel 3 3 12 6 +6 3 2 Jimmy White 3 2 11 5 +6 2 3 Itaro Santos 3 1 6 10 −4 1 4 Schachar Ruberg 3 0 4 12 −8 0

Matches: Jimmy White 4–1 Itaro Santos Luca Brecel 4–2 Schachar Ruberg Jimmy White 4–0 Schachar Ruberg Itaro Santos 1–4 Luca Brecel Jimmy White 3–4 Luca Brecel Schachar Ruberg 2–4 Itaro Santos

Knockout stage

	Round two Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 9 frames					Final Best of 11 frames
						John Higgins		5
	Steve Davis		5			Steve Davis		2
	Jimmy White		4								John Higgins		5
											Stephen Maguire		3
						Ding Junhui		2
	Stephen Maguire		5			Stephen Maguire		5
	Garry Britton		2													John Higgins		2
																Shaun Murphy		6
						Graeme Dott		5
	Ken Doherty		3			Luca Brecel		4
	Luca Brecel		5								Graeme Dott		4
											Shaun Murphy		5
						Mark Selby		4
	Shaun Murphy		5			Shaun Murphy		5
	Ryan Day		1

Century breaks

• 122, 105, 100 – Shaun Murphy
• 101 – John Higgins
• 100 – Graeme Dott