2008–09 snooker season

The 2008–09 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 4 June 2008 and 10 May 2009. Four players missed the fourth ranking event of the season, the Bahrain Championship, and therefore lost ranking points; this was due to a clash with some Premier League matches whose date had already been approved by the game's governing body.^[1]

2008–09 snooker season

Details
Duration	4 June 2008 – 10 May 2009 (2008-06-04 – 2009-05-10)
Tournaments	34 (8 ranking events)
Triple Crown winners
UK Championship	Shaun Murphy
Masters	Ronnie O'Sullivan
World Championship	John Higgins
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

New professional players

Countries

•  China
•  England
•  India
•  Ireland
•  Netherlands
•  New Zealand
•  Northern Ireland
•  Scotland
•  Thailand
•  Wales

Note: new means in these case, that these players were not on the 2007/2008 professional Main Tour.

International champions:[2] IBSF World Snooker Championship winner: Atthasit Mahitthi[3] IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship winner: Michael Georgiou[4] EBSA European Snooker Championships winner: David Grace[5] EBSA International Play Off winner: Stefan Mazrocis EBSA European Under-19 Snooker Championships winner: Stephen Craigie[2][6] ACBS Asian Snooker Championship winner: Jin Long[7] ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship winner: Li Hang Oceania Championship runner-up: Chris McBreen[8] NGB nominations[2] English nomination 1:[n 1] Wayne Cooper English nomination 2:[n 2] Andy Lee Welsh nomination:[n 3] Andrew Pagett Scottish nomination:[n 4] Robert Stephen Irish nomination:[n 5] Vincent Muldoon Northern Irish nomination:[n 6] Declan Hughes ACBS Asian Nomination: Aditya Mehta

From PIOS Tour[2][9] Kuldesh Johal Peter Lines Jamie Jones Simon Bedford Daniel Wells Lewis Roberts Matthew Couch Paul Davison

Calendar

The following table outlines the results and dates for all the ranking and major invitational events.^[10]

World Snooker Tour

Start	Finish	Country	Tournament name	Venue	City	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Ref.
4 Jun	8 Jun	CHN	Jiangsu Classic	Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium	Nanjing Wuxi	Ding Junhui	Mark Selby	6–5	[11]
8 Jul	13 Jul	THA	Six-red Snooker International	Montien Riverside Hotel	Bangkok	Ricky Walden	Stuart Bingham	8–3	[12]
24 Aug	31 Aug	NIR	Northern Ireland Trophy	Waterfront Hall	Belfast	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Dave Harold	9–3	[13][14]
29 Sep	5 Oct	CHN	Shanghai Masters	Shanghai Grand Stage	Shanghai	Ricky Walden	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10–8	[15]
11 Oct	18 Oct	SCO	Grand Prix	S.E.C.C.	Glasgow	John Higgins	Ryan Day	9–7	[16]
8 Nov	15 Nov	BHR	Bahrain Championship	Bahrain International Exhibition Centre	Manama	Neil Robertson	Matthew Stevens	9–7	[17]
21 Nov	26 Nov	ENG	Masters Qualifying Event	English Institute of Sport	Sheffield	Judd Trump	Mark Joyce	6–1	[18]
11 Sep	7 Dec	ENG	Premier League	Potters Leisure Resort	Hopton-on-Sea	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Mark Selby	7–2	[19]
13 Dec	21 Dec	ENG	UK Championship	Telford International Centre	Telford	Shaun Murphy	Marco Fu	10–9	[20]
11 Jan	18 Jan	ENG	Masters	Wembley Arena	London	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Mark Selby	10–8	[21][22]
16 Feb	22 Feb	WAL	Welsh Open	Newport Centre	Newport	Ali Carter	Joe Swail	9–5	[23][24]
5 Jan	26 Mar	ENG	Championship League	Crondon Park Golf Club	Stock	Judd Trump	Mark Selby	3–2	[25][26]
30 Mar	5 Apr	CHN	China Open	Beijing University Students' Gymnasium	Beijing	Peter Ebdon	John Higgins	10–8	[27]
18 Apr	4 May	ENG	World Snooker Championship	Crucible Theatre	Sheffield	John Higgins	Shaun Murphy	18–9	[28]

Ranking event

Non-ranking event

World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association

Start	Finish	Country	Tournament name	Venue	City	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Ref.
13 Sep	13 Sep	ENG	Wytech Masters	North East Derbyshire Snooker Centre	Chesterfield	Reanne Evans	Katie Henrick	3–2	[29]
14 Sep	14 Sep	ENG	UK Ladies Championship	North East Derbyshire Snooker Centre	Chesterfield	Reanne Evans	Maria Catalano	3–1	[30]
11 Oct	11 Oct	ENG	East Anglian Championship	Cambridge Snooker Centre	Cambridge	Reanne Evans	Maria Catalano	3–0	[31]
15 Nov	15 Nov	ENG	British Open	Newmarket Snooker & Bowl	Newmarket	Emma Bonney	June Banks	3–1	[32]
7 Feb	7 Feb	ENG	South Coast Classic	Q Ball Snooker Club	Eastbourne	Reanne Evans	Maria Catalano	3–0	[33]
7 Mar	7 Mar	ENG	Connie Gough Memorial	Rileys Snooker Club	Luton	Reanne Evans	Katie Henrick	3–1	[34]
4 Apr	8 Apr	ENG	World Ladies Championship	Cambridge Snooker Centre	Cambridge	Reanne Evans	Maria Catalano	5–2	[35]

Pontin's International Open Series

Start	Finish	Country	Tournament name	Venue	City	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Ref.
23 Jun	27 Jun	WAL	PIOS I	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Bjorn Haneveer	Andrew Atkinson	6–2	[36][37]
3 Aug	8 Aug	WAL	PIOS II	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Xiao Guodong	Noppadol Sangnil	6–5	[36][38]
25 Aug	29 Aug	WAL	PIOS III	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Shokat Ali	Michael White	6–3	[36][39]
19 Oct	24 Oct	WAL	PIOS IV	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Craig Steadman	Mike Hallett	6–1	[36][40]
9 Nov	14 Nov	WAL	PIOS V	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Chris Norbury	Alfie Burden	6–2	[36][41]
27 Feb	4 Mar	WAL	PIOS VI	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Xiao Guodong	Jack Lisowski	6–0	[36][42]
25 Mar	29 Mar	WAL	PIOS VII	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	Lee Page	6–3	[36][43]
5 May	9 May	WAL	PIOS VIII	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Joe Jogia	Ben Woollaston	6–5	[36][44]

Other events

Start	Finish	Country	Tournament name	Venue	City	Winner	Runner-up	Score	Ref.
21 Jun	22 Jun	JEY	World Series of Snooker Jersey	Fort Regent	Saint Helier	John Higgins	Mark Selby	6–3	[45]
12 Jul	13 Jul	GER	World Series of Snooker Berlin	Tempodrom	Berlin	Graeme Dott	Shaun Murphy	6–1	[46]
27 Jul	3 Aug	ENG	Paul Hunter English Open	Northern Snooker Centre	Leeds	Xiao Guodong	Ben Woollaston	6–2	[47][48]
2 Aug	3 Aug	IRL	Irish Classic	Celbridge Snooker Club	Kildare	Ken Doherty	Fergal O'Brien	5–2	[49]
28 Aug	31 Aug	GER	Paul Hunter Classic	Stadthall	Fürth	Shaun Murphy	Mark Selby	4–0	[50]
19 Sep	21 Sep	BEL	Belgian Open	Sportcentrum De Pollepel	Duffel	Ricky Walden	Graeme Dott	4–0	[51]
23 Oct	26 Oct	AUT	Austrian Open	BRP-Rotax-Halle	Wels	Ryan Day	Jamie Cope	6–3	[52]
25 Oct	26 Oct	POL	World Series of Snooker Warsaw	EXPO XXI	Warsaw	Ding Junhui	Ken Doherty	6–4	[53]
22 Nov	23 Nov	RUS	World Series of Snooker Moscow	Krilya Sovetov Sports Arena	Moscow	John Higgins	Ding Junhui	5–0	[54]
20 Dec	21 Dec	NED	Dutch Open	De Dieze	's-Hertogenbosch	Stuart Bingham	Joe Swail	6–3	[55]
9 Jan	10 Jan	WAL	Pontin's Pro Am Series	Pontin's	Prestatyn	Jamie Cope	Craig Steadman	4–1	[56]
8 May	10 May	POR	World Series of Snooker Grand Final	Pavilhão Arena	Portimão	Shaun Murphy	John Higgins	6–2	[57]

Official rankings

Main article: Snooker world rankings 2008/2009

The top 16 of the world rankings, these players automatically played in the final rounds of the world ranking events and were invited for the Masters.^[58][59]

No.	Ch.	Player	Points 2006/07	Points 2007/08	Total
1		Ronnie O'Sullivan	20750	29700	50450
2		Stephen Maguire	19550	25975	45525
3		Shaun Murphy	21350	23700	45050
4		Mark Selby	18275	20050	38325
5		John Higgins	23100	14825	37925
6		Stephen Hendry	17375	16900	34275
7		Ali Carter	15750	18425	34175
8		Ryan Day	14450	19425	33875
9		Peter Ebdon	18000	14975	32975
10		Neil Robertson	20550	12400	32950
11		Ding Junhui	16325	15869	32194
12		Joe Perry	12175	18250	30425
13		Graeme Dott	18675	8469	27144
14		Marco Fu	8925	18075	27000
15		Mark King	12325	13675	26000
16		Mark Allen	10650	15075	25725

World ranking points

Main article: Snooker world ranking points 2008/2009

^[60][61][62]

No.	Ch	Player	Points 07/08	NIT	SM	GP	BC	UK	WO	CO	WSC	Points 08/09	Total
1		Ronnie O'Sullivan	29700	5000	4000	3125	700	2850	1900	2500	3800	23875	53575
2		Stephen Maguire	25975	2500	3200	875	2500	4800	2500	700	5000	22075	48050
3		Shaun Murphy	23700	700	700	875	700	7500	2500	2500	8000	23475	47175
4	1	John Higgins	14825	3200	1900	6250	0	3750	1900	4000	10000	31000	45825
5	2	Ali Carter	18425	3200	700	4000	700	4800	5000	1900	3800	24100	42525
6	2	Ryan Day	19425	1900	2500	5000	1900	1050	700	3200	5000	21250	40675
7	3	Mark Selby	20050	1900	3200	2375	0	1050	2500	1900	5000	17925	37975
8	6	Marco Fu	18075	700	2500	2375	700	6000	2500	700	3800	19275	37350
9	1	Neil Robertson	12400	700	1900	875	5000	2850	3200	1900	6400	22825	35225
10	4	Stephen Hendry	16900	700	700	2375	3200	1050	700	2500	5000	16225	33125
11	5	Mark Allen	15075	2500	575	875	3200	2850	700	700	6400	17800	32875
12		Joe Perry	18250	1900	1900	2375	1900	3750	700	700	1400	14625	32875
13	2	Ding Junhui	15869	700	700	3125	0	2850	1900	700	3800	13775	29644
14	5	Peter Ebdon	14975	700	700	2375	700	2850	700	5000	1400	14425	29400
15	7	Mark Williams	15100	1900	2500	719	575	3750	575	1400	2800	14219	29319
16	1	Mark King	13675	700	1900	875	700	2850	1900	1900	3800	14625	28300

Points distribution

2008/2009 Points distribution for world ranking events:^[63]

Tournament	Round →	L96	L80	L64	L48	L32	L16	QF	SF	F	W
Northern Ireland Trophy	Unseeded loser	400	650	900	1150	1400	1900	2500	3200	4000	5000
	Seeded loser	200	325	450	575	700	–	–	–	–	–
Shanghai Masters	Unseeded loser	400	650	900	1150	1400	1900	2500	3200	4000	5000
	Seeded loser	200	325	450	575	700	–	–	–	–	–
Grand Prix	Unseeded loser	500	813	1125	1438	1750	2375	3125	4000	5000	6250
	Seeded loser	250	407	563	719	875	–	–	–	–	–
Bahrain Championship	Unseeded loser	400	650	900	1150	1400	1900	2500	3200	4000	5000
	Seeded loser	200	325	450	575	700	–	–	–	–	–
UK Championship	Unseeded loser	600	975	1350	1725	2100	2850	3750	4800	6000	7500
	Seeded loser	300	488	675	863	1050	–	–	–	–	–
Welsh Open	Unseeded loser	400	650	900	1150	1400	1900	2500	3200	4000	5000
	Seeded loser	200	325	450	575	700	–	–	–	–	–
China Open	Unseeded loser	400	650	900	1150	1400	1900	2500	3200	4000	5000
	Seeded loser	200	325	450	575	700	–	–	–	–	–
World Championship	Unseeded loser	800	1300	1800	2300	2800	3800	5000	6400	8000	10000
	Seeded loser	400	650	900	1150	1400	–	–	–	–	–

Notes

1. Wayne Cooper qualified by topping the Pro Ticket Tour rankings.
2. Andy Lee qualified by winning the Pro Ticket Tour Play Offs.
3. Andrew Pagett qualified by topping the Welsh rankings.
4. Robert Stephen qualified by topping the Scottish rankings.
5. Vincent Muldoon qualified by topping the Irish rankings.
6. Declan Hughes qualified by topping the Northern Irish rankings.