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Pro Challenge Series
The Pro Challenge Series was a series of non-ranking snooker tournaments held during the 2009–10 snooker season. The events were open to all players on the main tour and were intended to give tour players more playing opportunities. Seven events were planned but only four took place before the series was cancelled, due to low player participation. The series was not repeated and was replaced by the Players Tour Championship, which started the following season. Prize fund Except for event 2, events had a prize fund of £15,000 with the winner receiving £5,000. Event 2, which was played using the six-red format, had a prize fund of £10,000 with the winner receiving £3,000. In event 2 the £500 break prize went to the player with the fastest maximum break. Schedule The schedule for the Events 1 to 5 is listed below. Event 4 was cancelled and event 5 was the final tournament played. Event 2 was played using the six-red format. Events 6 and 7 were cancelled. Event 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century, the game is played with twenty-two balls, comprising a , fifteen red balls, and six other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black—collectively called the colours. Using a cue stick, the individual players or teams take turns to strike the white to other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each time the opposing player or team commits a . An individual of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points. A snooker ends when a player reaches a predetermined number of frames. Snooker gained its identity in 1875 when army officer Sir Neville Chamberlain, stationed in Ootacamund, Madras, and Jabalpur, devised a set of rules ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Holt (snooker Player)
Michael Holt (born 7 August 1978) is an English former professional snooker player from Nottingham. A former world Top 20 player, he has won one Snooker world rankings, ranking event – the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out – and two minor-ranking tournaments. He has been runner-up at two ranking events – the 2016 Riga Masters and the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out. He also reached the semi-finals of the 2013 Shanghai Masters as well as five further quarter-finals. Career 2001–2010 Holt lost in the final qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship in 2001 and 2002. Holt almost qualified for the 2004 event – he was 9–5 ahead in his final qualifying match against Anthony Hamilton (snooker player), Anthony Hamilton, before losing the next five frames to lose the match. In the 2005 World Snooker Championship, he beat his friend Paul Hunter in the first round. In the second round he faced Steve Davis, losing 10–13 after having led 8–2. For the 2005 tournament he used eBay to auct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerard Greene
Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his career, reaching his highest ranking, 26th, for the 2004–05 season, and has reached one ranking final, at the 2014 Players Championship Grand Final, where he lost 4–0 to Barry Hawkins. Alongside this, Greene reached a ranking semi-final, at the 2007 Grand Prix, losing to the eventual champion Marco Fu, and five quarter-finals. Representing Northern Ireland with teammate Mark Allen, he reached the final of the 2011 World Cup, where they lost to China. Greene has qualified for the World Championship five times without winning a match at the Crucible Theatre, although he twice drew the defending champion – John Higgins in 1999, and Peter Ebdon in 2003. He was ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1997 until he fell off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Swail
Joe Swail (born 29 August 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player from Belfast. He retired in May 2019 after being relegated from the tour. He has reached ten major ranking semi-finals, including the 2000 and 2001 World Championships but only one final. Swail is renowned for playing well at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the last 16 on four further occasions. He is also a former English amateur champion and Northern Ireland amateur runner-up, and has captained Northern Ireland internationally. He was Irish champion in 1992 and 2005. Career Swail has had a very mixed history in the rankings. He took just two seasons to reach the Top 32, and three to reach the top sixteen, but only remained there for one season,Profile on Global Snooker Ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamie Cope
Jamie Cope (born 12 September 1985) is an English former professional snooker player. A finalist in two ranking tournaments, the 2006 Grand Prix and the 2007 China Open, Cope also reached the semi-finals of the 2011 Masters. He reached his highest ranking, 13th, in September 2010, but thereafter developed a tremor which has been attributed to being either an essential tremor or the yips, which makes his cue arm shake. This condition caused Cope to slip markedly down the rankings in the 2010s, culminating in his relegation from the main tour at the end of the 2016–17 season. He was known for his fast, entertaining style, being nicknamed "Shotgun" due to his speed around the table and aggressive playing style. Career Early career Cope had an impressive record as a junior, but dropped off the Main Tour after two largely unsuccessful seasons. However, he finished top in the Challenge Tour for emerging players in the 2004–05 season, winning two of its four tournaments. Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Baird
Sam Baird (born 17 June 1988) is an English former professional snooker player. He first entered the professional tour for the 2009/10 season, by winning the EBSA Pro-Ticket Tour Play-offs. Career 2011/2012 season Baird reached the main draw of a ranking event for the first time in 2012 by coming through four qualifying matches, concluding with a 4–2 win over Dominic Dale, to make the 2012 Welsh Open. He played against world number 1, Mark Selby in the first round of the event and almost pulled off the result of his career as he led the best-of-seven match, 3–2. Baird then missed a blue off the spot with two balls remaining when he required just the blue and pink for the match and, despite chances in the decider, he would lose the game 3–4. Baird also qualified for the 2012 World Open in Haikou, China. He again won four matches, sealing his place with a 5–4 victory over Mark Davis. He was required to play in a wild-card round in China to make the last 32 of the event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Norman (snooker Player)
Andrew Norman (born 27 June 1980) is an English former professional snooker player from Bristol. Career Norman turned professional in 2001. He progressed up the ranking list between 2005 and 2007, jumping 30 places. His consistency was epitomised in 2006 as he lost his opening match in just one of the seven ranking events and had his best result in Aberdeen at the Royal London Watches Grand Prix when he reached the last 16 before losing to the eventual winner, Neil Robertson. Norman works as a part-time van driver for his sponsor Hills Delivery during the summer. In 2009, he was ranked 75 in the World Rankings, however, since then he fell out of the top 100. On 16 May 2011, he won a qualifying game at the Snooker Q School to regain his tour card for the 2011–12 season. Norman would need to win four qualifying matches to reach the main draws of the ranking events in the new season. He came closest to doing so in the first two events of the year, the Australian Goldfiel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Norbury .
Christopher Norbury (born 14 August 1986) is an English former professional snooker player. He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003, at the time the second-level professional tour. Norbury first entered Main Tour for the 2005–06 season, after finishing the 2004/05 Challenge Tour Rankings on the rank 5. He played in the latter stages of the Paul Hunter Classic in both 2008 and 2009, losing in the first round to Shaun Murphy 4–1 in 2008, and losing to Dave Harold 4–2 in 2009. He runs Elite Snooker Club in Lostock Hall, Lancashire along with fellow professional player, Shokat Ali Shokat Ali (born 4 March 1970) is an English snooker player of Pakistani descent, who represents Pakistan in international tournaments. Personal life Chris supports his local football, team Accrington Stanley. Ch ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Couch
Matthew Couch (born 30 June 1974) is an English former professional snooker player. Career During a professional career lasting from 1992 to 2012, Couch had little success in ranking events, although he reached the quarter-finals of the UK Championship in 1998, and his highest break is 141 from 2002. He returned to the Main Tour for the 2008/2009 season, and survived due to a fine run in the World Championship qualifiers, including a 10–3 victory over former champion John Parrott. In October 2010, Couch had one of his best results to date, reaching the final of the 2010 Brugge Open, where he lost 4–2 against former World Champion Shaun Murphy. He dropped off the snooker tour at the end of the 2011–12 season. Personal life Couch is also an official World Snooker coach, and currently resides in Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an Industrial city, industrial town and unparished area in the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Joyce
Mark Joyce (born 11 August 1983) is an English professional snooker player who lives in Walsall. He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003. Joyce enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, winning the European Under-19 Championship in 2001, the English Open in 2005 and the English Amateur Championship in 2006, beating Martin O'Donnell 8–3 in the final. Joyce also finished fifth on the 2005/06 Pontin's International Open Series, winning the second of eight events, to book a place on Main Tour. Career 2006/07 season Joyce had a very uneventful first season on Main Tour, failing to qualify for any of the major events. He ended the season losing in the penultimate qualifying round of the World Championship to Fergal O'Brien 10–4. He also recorded his highest break of 130 in professional play during the qualifiers. This would remain his highest break until the qualifying stages of the 2010 World Championship. He ended the season ranked 73rd. 2007/08 sea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judd Trump
Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranking event winners, with 23 ranking titles. Trump won his maiden ranking title at the 2011 China Open, was runner-up to John Higgins at the 2011 World Snooker Championship, and captured his first Triple Crown title at the 2011 UK Championship. By the end of the 2017–18 season, he had won eight ranking titles, but was facing persistent criticism that he was underachieving in the sport, given his talent. In the 2018–19 season, his form and focus notably improved. He completed his Triple Crown by winning both the Masters and World Championship, won two other ranking events, and became the first player to win over £1 million in prize money in a single season. In the 2019–20 season, he won six ranking events, setting a new record for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Selt
Matthew Selt (born 7 March 1985) is an English professional snooker player originally from Romford, east London and now living in Chelmsford, Essex. He qualified for the professional tour by finishing seventh on the Pontin's International Open Series in 2006/2007. Selt played in his first professional final in 2014 at the minor-ranking Lisbon Open, which he lost to Stephen Maguire, and has reached five quarter-finals in full ranking events. Selt won his first ranking title when he beat Lyu Haotian in the 2019 Indian Open final. Career He made an important breakthrough at the start of the 2009–10 season by reaching the last 32 of the Shanghai Masters by winning four qualifying matches, ending with a 5–4 victory over Steve Davis. There he faced John Higgins, losing 5–2. He also impressed at the Grand Prix, by recovering from 0–4 against Jordan Brown to win 5–4 and going on to beat Jimmy White, Stuart Pettman and Fergal O'Brien to reach the final stages of a tournam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
