Scottish Open (snooker)

The Scottish Open is a ranking professional snooker tournament held in Scotland. The tournament had many name changes in its history, as the tournament was formerly called International Open, Matchroom Trophy and Players Championship. Apart from a hiatus in the 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 seasons, the tournament remained a ranking event until 2003/2004. In the 2012/2013 season the tournament was added back to the calendar as part of the Players Tour Championship minor-ranking series. The most recent champion is Mark Selby.

Scottish Open
Tournament information
LocationGlasgow
CountryScotland
Established1981
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£405,000
Current champion(s) Mark Selby

On 29 April 2015, Barry Hearn announced it would return to the main tour in 2016 at the Emirates Arena Glasgow, as part of the new Home Nations Series with the existing Welsh Open, and the new English Open and Northern Ireland Open tournaments.[1][2]

History

The tournament began in 1981 as the International Open at the Assembly Rooms in Derby, and became the following year the second ranking event after the World Championship. The event moved to the Eldon Square in Newcastle upon Tyne. Until 1984 the event was sponsored by Jameson Whiskey.[3]

In 1985 the event moved to the Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent and was renamed (for this year only) to the Matchroom Trophy due to sponsorship from Matchroom and Goya. The International Open name returned the following year and the sponsorship was overtaken by BCE (1986 and 1989) and Fidelity Unit Trusts (1987 and 1988). After 1989 the event went on a two-year hiatus.[3]

The event returned in the 1992/1993 season with the sponsorship of Sky Sports. The event was moved to the second half of the season and was played at the Plymouth Pavilions. The event was moved again in 1994, this time to the Bournemouth International Centre. After an unsponsored year Sweater Shop took over for 1995 and 1996. In 1997 the event was moved to the Aberdeen Exhibition Centre and it was sponsored by Highland Spring.[3]

In 1998 the event was renamed to Scottish Open, and it was sponsored by Imperial Tobacco through their Regal brand, who also sponsored the Scottish Masters and Welsh Open.[3][4] In 2003 the event was moved to Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh. For the first time in twelve years no top 16 player reached the final. The event than was renamed to the Players Championship for 2004, as it became the final event in the LG Electronics Tour.[4] The event was sponsored by Daily Record and held at the SECC in Glasgow. After the event Sky decided not to renew their contract, and without television coverage the event was dropped.[5] The event was added back to the calendar in the 2012/2013 season as minor-ranking tournament and was known as the Scottish Open. It was held at Ravenscraig as the fifth event of the European Tour.[6]

In 2015 Barry Hearn announced that the tournament will return in the 2016/17 season. The event will be held in Glasgow and will be part of the Home Nations Series events, which will feature tournaments in the other home nations and have a one million pound bonus.[7]

Steve Davis was the tournament's most prolific winner, with a record 6 wins from 8 finals. This included a 9–0 whitewash of Dennis Taylor in the 1981 final. There were three maximum breaks in the history of the tournament, two at the 2000 event. Stephen Maguire at the first qualifying round against Phaitoon Phonbun and Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32 against Quinten Hann.[4][8] In 2012 Kurt Maflin achieved a 147 in the last 32 against Stuart Carrington.[9]

Winners
Year Winner Runner-up Final score Venue Season
International Open (non-ranking)[3][10]
1981 Steve Davis Dennis Taylor 9–0 Derby 1981/82
International Open (ranking)[3][10]
1982 Tony Knowles David Taylor 9–6 Derby 1982/83
1983 Steve Davis Cliff Thorburn 9–4 Newcastle upon Tyne 1983/84
1984 Steve Davis Tony Knowles 9–2 Newcastle upon Tyne 1984/85
Matchroom Trophy (ranking)[3][10]
1985 Cliff Thorburn Jimmy White 12–10 Stoke-on-Trent 1985/86
International Open (ranking)[3][10]
1986 Neal Foulds Cliff Thorburn 12–9 Stoke-on-Trent 1986/87
1987 Steve Davis Cliff Thorburn 12–5 Stoke-on-Trent 1987/88
1988 Steve Davis Jimmy White 12–6 Stoke-on-Trent 1988/89
1989 Steve Davis Stephen Hendry 9–4 Stoke-on-Trent 1989/90
1993 Stephen Hendry Steve Davis 10–6 Plymouth 1992/93
1994 John Parrott James Wattana 9–5 Bournemouth 1993/94
1995 John Higgins Steve Davis 9–5 Bournemouth 1994/95
1996 John Higgins Rod Lawler 9–3 Swindon 1995/96
1997 Stephen Hendry Tony Drago 9–1 Aberdeen 1996/97
Scottish Open (ranking)[4][10]
1998 Ronnie O'Sullivan John Higgins 9–5 Aberdeen 1997/98
1999 Stephen Hendry Graeme Dott 9–1 Aberdeen 1998/99
2000 Ronnie O'Sullivan Mark Williams 9–1 Aberdeen 1999/00
2001 Peter Ebdon Ken Doherty 9–7 Aberdeen 2000/01
2002 Stephen Lee David Gray 9–2 Aberdeen 2001/02
2003 David Gray Mark Selby 9–7 Edinburgh 2002/03
Players Championship (ranking)[5]
2004 Jimmy White Paul Hunter 9–7 Glasgow 2003/04
Scottish Open (minor-ranking)
2012[11] Ding Junhui Anthony McGill 4–2 Ravenscraig 2012/13
Scottish Open (ranking)
2016[12] Marco Fu John Higgins 9–4 Glasgow 2016/17
2017[13] Neil Robertson Cao Yupeng 9–8 Glasgow 2017/18
2018[14] Mark Allen Shaun Murphy 9–7 Glasgow 2018/19
2019 Mark Selby Jack Lisowski 9–6 Glasgow 2019/20
2020 Mark Selby Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–3 Milton Keynes 2020/21

References
  1. "World Championship: Snooker tour to be revamped in 2016". BBC. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  2. "Hearn Announces New Five-Year Plan – World Snooker". worldsnooker.com. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. Turner, Chris. "International Open, Goya Matchroom Trophy". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  4. Turner, Chris. "Scottish Open". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  5. Turner, Chris. "Players Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  6. "Betfair Sponsor New European Tour". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  7. "Barry Hearn announces big changes to snooker schedule and prizes". skysports.com. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  8. Turner, Chris. "Maximum breaks". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  9. "Maflin Scores Maximum in Ravenscraig". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  10. "Scottish Open Finals". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  11. "European Tour Event Five (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  12. "Coral Scottish Open (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  13. "Dafabet Scottish Open (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  14. "BetVictor Scottish Open (2018)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
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