Pontins Open

Pontins Open
Tournament information
Venue	Pontins
Location	Prestatyn
Country	Wales
Established	1974
Format	Pro–am event
Final year	2011

The Pontins Open events were a series of pro–am snooker tournaments which ran from 1974 until 2011.^[1]

History[]

From the early 1970s, top professionals had supplemented their income entertaining and coaching holiday makers on the holiday camp circuit and at Pontin's in particular. That organisation organised several Snooker Festivals at which ordinary members of the public could join with top amateurs and the best professionals in open tournaments.

The first of these events was held in 1974 and eight top professionals were invited to take part in the Pontins Professional (which ended in 2000) while many others joined them in the Open event where up to 1000 hopefuls would set out with the chance to meet one of their idols in the later rounds. The most important of these festivals was the Pontins Spring Open held at Prestatyn, Wales. A similar Open event, the Pontins Autumn Open was held later in the year and attracted almost as many top names as the spring event.

The professionals had to concede up to 25 points per frame to the amateurs (this figure varied over the years) and this format meant that many of the star names fell to good amateurs. In the earlier years nearly all the top players took part but as the number of tour events increased very few entered in later years.

The Autumn Open ended in 2009 and the Spring Open ended in 2011 and the festival in later years also hosted the final Challenge Tour event where players battle for places on the main tour in the following season.

A later event which began in 2006, the Pontins World Series consisted of six qualifying events, open to amateurs and main tour professionals and was played in the summer and autumn. Points were awarded for each event with the best five results counting towards a merit table. The leading 64 players qualified to play in the series final. This tournament ran for four editions ending in 2009.^[1]

Finals[]

Pontins Spring Open[]

^[1]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Season
1974	Doug Mountjoy	John Spencer	7–4	1973/74
1975	Ray Reardon	John Virgo	7–1	1974/75
1976	Doug Mountjoy		7–1	1975/76
1977	Alex Higgins	Terry Griffiths	7–4	1976/77
1978	Steve Davis	Tony Meo	7–6	1977/78
1979	Steve Davis	Jimmy White	7–3	1978/79
1980	Willie Thorne	Cliff Wilson	7–3	1979/80
1981	John Hargreaves	Cliff Wilson	7–2	1980/81
1982	John Parrott	Ray Reardon	7–4	1981/82
1983	Terry Griffiths	Ray Reardon	7–3	1982/83
1984	Neal Foulds	Doug Mountjoy	7–4	1983/84
1985		John Parrott	7–6	1984/85
1986	John Parrott		7–6	1985/86
1987	Stefan Mazrocis	Barry Pinches	7–2	1986/87
1988	Ken Doherty		7–5	1987/88
1989	Peter Ebdon	Ken Doherty	7–4	1988/89
1990		Paul Davies	7–3	1989/90
1991	Mike Hallett		7–5	1990/91
1992	Declan Hughes	Steve James	7–2	1991/92
1993	Mike Hallett	Steve James	7–6	1992/93
1994		Graeme Dott	7–3	1993/94
1995	Mark Williams	Peter Ebdon	7–4	1994/95
1996	Ken Doherty	Darren Morgan	7–3	1995/96
1997	Ken Doherty		7–6	1996/97
1998		Neal Foulds	7–0	1997/98
1999		Luke Simmonds	7–4	1998/99
2000	Ian Preece	Scott MacKenzie	7–4	1999/00
2001	Luke Simmonds	Brian Morgan	7–5	2000/01
2002		Scott MacKenzie	4–3	2001/02
2003	Judd Trump	Mike Hallett	4–2	2002/03
2004	Stuart Bingham	Wayne Cooper	5–3	2003/04
2005	Jamie Cope		5–0	2004/05
2006	Stuart Bingham		5–2	2005/06
2007	Leo Fernandez	Daniel Wells	5–2	2006/07
2008	David Grace	Nigel Bond	5–1	2007/08
2009	Stuart Bingham	Matthew Couch	5–1	2008/09
2010	Nigel Bond	Stephen Craigie	5–2	2009/10
2011	Leo Fernandez	Sydney Wilson	5–1	2010/11

Pontins Autumn Open[]

^[1]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Season
1976^[2]	Cliff Wilson	Paul Medati	7–4	1976/77
1977^[2]	Billy Kelly	George Scott	7–5	1977/78
1978^[2]	Jimmy White	Sid Hood	7–6	1978/79
1979^[2]	Tony Knowles	Dave Martin	7–0	1979/80
1980^[2]	Paul Medati	Vic Harris	7–4	1980/81
1981	Bill Oliver	Ian Williamson	7–5	1981/82
1982	Steve Duggan		7–3	1982/83
1983	Roger Bales		7–0	1983/84
1984	Barry West		7–3	1984/85
1985		Mark Johnston-Allen	7–5	1985/86
1986		Craig Edwards	5–4	1986/87
1987	Nick Terry	Mark Johnston-Allen	5–4	1987/88
1988	Jason Ferguson	Jonathan Birch	5–2	1988/89
1989	Jonathan Birch	Drew Henry	5–4	1989/90
1990	Anthony Hamilton	Joe Swail	5–1	1990/91
1991	Drew Henry	John Read	5–2	1991/92
1992	Nick Walker		5–3	1992/93
1993	Peter Lines		5–1	1993/94
1994	John Read	Craig Edwards	5–2	1994/95
1995	Graeme Dott	Stephen Lee	5–1	1995/96
1996	Matthew Couch	Gary Ponting	5–4	1996/97
1997		Matthew Couch	5–3	1997/98
1998	Matthew Couch	Brian Salmon	5–1	1998/99
1999	Craig Butler		5–4	1999/00
2000	Kuldesh Johal		5–3	2000/01
2001	Sean O'Neill	Rodney Goggins	5–1	2001/02
2002		Brendan O'Donoghue	5–4	2002/03
2003	Mark King	Craig Butler	5–4	2003/04
2004	Stuart Bingham	Mark Davis	4–2	2004/05
2005	Joe Swail	Dave Harold	5–3	2005/06
2006	Ryan Day	Jamie Cope	5–2	2006/07
2007	Jamie Cope	Lee Page	5–0	2007/08
2008	Craig Steadman	Leo Fernandez	5–0	2008/09
2009	Michael Georgiou	David Donovan	5–2	2009/10
2010		Michael Holt	5–4	2010/11

Pontins World Series[]

^[1]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Season
2006	Ken Doherty	Ricky Walden	4–2	2006/07
2007	Joe Perry	Ricky Walden	4–2	2007/08
2008	Jamie Cope	Craig Steadman	4–1	2008/09
2009	Stuart Bingham	Ken Doherty	3–1	2009/10

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Brief History of the Pontins Open and Professional". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Morrison, Ian (1986). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 100. ISBN 0600501922.

[Turner-1] "Brief History of the Pontins Open and Professional". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2018.

[HAMLYN-2] Morrison, Ian (1986). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker. Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 100. ISBN 0600501922.

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