|
2008 Masters (snooker)
The 2008 Masters (officially the 2008 SAGA Insurance Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 13 and 20 January 2008 at the Wembley Arena in London, England. Mark Selby won the tournament on his first attempt by defeating Stephen Lee 10–3 in the final. In the final frame, he tied Ken Doherty for the highest break of the tournament, recording a total clearance of 141. This was the first time since 2003 that Ronnie O'Sullivan had failed to reach the final; the defending champion lost 5–6 to Stephen Maguire in the first round. Facts and figures * Ryan Day potted 15 reds and 14 blacks in his wild-card match against Barry Hawkins before attempting a long black in an attempt to achieve a 147, instead of potting a straightforward brown and getting an almost assured 144. * Peter Ebdon also was on for a 147, but missed the last-but-one red in his quarter-final match against Stephen Lee. * Ding Junhui won his match against John Higgins 6– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SAGA Plc
Saga is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company operates sites on the Kent and Sussex coast: Enbrook Park and Priory Square. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The business was founded by Sidney De Haan in 1951 and was passed to his son Roger De Haan who took over in 1984 after his father's retirement. Saga was acquired by staff (20%) backed by the private equity firm Charterhouse in October 2004. Saga merged with The AA (owned by CVC and Permira) to form Acromas Holdings. In July 2011, Saga acquired Allied Healthcare. On 31 January 2015, it wrote it down to zero, and then sold it, at a small net profit, to Aurelius Group in December 2015. In May 2014, Saga Group Ltd was successfully listed on the London Stock Exchange as Saga PLC. Also in 2014, Saga acquired Bolton based luxury holiday company, Destinology. In January 2020, Saga appointed Euan Sutherland as CEO of the Saga Group. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ding Junhui
Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005, 2009, 2019). He has twice reached the final of the Masters, winning once in 2011. In 2016, he became the first Asian player to reach the final of the World Championship. Ding began playing snooker at age nine and rose to international prominence in 2002 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championship and the Asian Championship. At age 15, he became the youngest winner of the IBSF World Under-21 Championship. In 2003, Ding turned professional at the age of 16. His first major professional successes came in 2005 when he won the China Open and the UK Championship, becoming the first player from outside Great Britain and Ireland to win the title. During his career, he has compiled more than 600 century breaks, including six maximum breaks, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2007 World Snooker Championship
The 2007 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2007 888.com World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It started on 21 April 2007 and was scheduled to finish on 7 May 2007, but continued into the early hours of 8 May, ending at 12:54 a.m. BST. The final broke the record for the latest finish time in a World Snooker Championship final, narrowly beating the 2006 final by two minutes. Graeme Dott was the defending champion, but lost in the first round 7–10 to Ian McCulloch and became another World Champion who fell to the Crucible curse and could not defend his first World title. John Higgins won his second World title by defeating qualifier Mark Selby 18–13 in the final. The tournament was sponsored by online casino 888.com. Tournament summary * There were five debutants in this year's tournament: future Masters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a modern-era record he holds jointly with Stephen Hendry. He has won a record seven Masters and a record seven UK Championship titles for a record total of 21 Triple Crown titles, the most achieved by any player. He holds the record for the most ranking titles, with 39, and has been world number one on seven season ending occasions. After an impressive amateur career, O'Sullivan turned professional in 1992, aged 16. He won his first professional ranking event at the 1993 UK Championship aged 17 years and 358 days, making him the youngest player to win a ranking title, a record he still holds. He is also the youngest player to win the Masters, which he first achieved in 1995, aged ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2007 Welsh Open (snooker)
The 2007 Welsh Open was the 2007 edition of the Welsh Open professional snooker tournament and was held from 12 to 18 February 2007 at the Newport Centre in Newport, South East Wales. It was the 16th staging of the competition since 1992 and the tenth time it took place at the Newport Centre. The tournament was the fifth of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season. The host broadcasters were BBC Cymru Wales and Eurosport. Grand Prix winner Neil Robertson won the tournament, defeating 500–1 outsider Andrew Higginson, who was in only his third appearance in the main stages of a professional competition, nine frames to eight (9–8) in the final. It was Roberston's second ranking tournament victory, becoming the fourth non-British and Irish player to win more than one ranking title. Robertson won against Michael Holt and world champions Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Steve Davis en route to the fina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh Open (snooker)
The Welsh Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been held annually since 1992. It replaced the Welsh Professional Championship, which ran annually from 1980 to 1991 and was open only to Welsh players. The Welsh Open is now the longest running ranking event after the World Championship and the UK Championship. Since the 2016–17 season, it has been one of four tournaments in the Home Nations Series, alongside the Northern Ireland Open, the Scottish Open, and the English Open. Since 2017, the winner of the event has received the Ray Reardon Trophy, named after the Welsh six-time world champion. Reardon himself presented the newly named trophy to 2017 winner Stuart Bingham. Mark Williams is the only Welsh winner, having captured the title in 1996 and 1999. John Higgins holds the record for the most Welsh Open wins, claiming the title five times. Joe Perry is the reigning champion. History The tournament began as a ranking tournament in 1992. It is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michaela Tabb
Michaela Tabb (born 11 December 1967, in Bath, Somerset, England) is a Scottish snooker and pool referee. She established significant milestones for female officials in professional cue sports, beginning in pool, where she officiated at top tournaments such as the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the Mosconi Cup. She qualified in 2001 to referee on the World Snooker Tour and went on to become the sport's highest profile female referee, officiating on tour for 14 years. She became the first woman to officiate at a professional ranking snooker tournament at the 2002 Welsh Open, and the first woman to referee a ranking tournament final at the 2007 Welsh Open. As of 2022, she is the only woman to have refereed the World Snooker Championship final, which she did in 2009 and 2012. Her professional snooker refereeing career came to an end when she left the tour in March 2015. She subsequently brought a court case against World Snooker Ltd, alleging sex discrimination, unfair di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in 1998 after winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship. He was in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings for 11 consecutive years, from 2005 to 2016, twice reaching world no. 2. He is a prolific break-builder, having compiled more than 450 century breaks, including three maximums. Career Early career Maguire turned professional as a snooker player in 1998. He qualified for the 1999 UK Championship, where he was defeated 2–9 by Mark King in the first round. He played in qualifying for the 2000 World Championship, defeating Wayne Brown, Nick Walker and Bradley Jones to reach the final qualifying round, where he lost 9–10 to Joe Swail. Maguire qualified again for the 2002 UK Championship, going on to defeat Fergal O'Brien 9–4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry rose rapidly through the snooker world rankings, reaching number four in the world by the end of his third professional season. He won his first World Snooker Championship in 1990 aged 21 years and 106 days, superseding Alex Higgins as the sport's youngest world champion, a record he still holds. From 1990 to 1999, he won seven world titles, setting a modern-era record that stood outright until Ronnie O'Sullivan equalled it in 2022. Hendry also won the Masters six times and the UK Championship five times for a career total of 18 Triple Crown tournament wins, a total exceeded only by O'Sullivan's 21. His total of 36 ranking titles is second only to O'Sullivan's 39, while his nine seasons as world number one were the most by any player ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United Kingdom to have completed snooker's Triple Crown, having won the World Championship in 2010, the Masters in 2012 and 2022, and the UK Championship in 2013, 2015 and 2020. He has claimed a career total of 23 ranking titles, having won at least one professional tournament every year since 2006. A prolific break-builder, Robertson has compiled more than 850 century breaks in professional competition, including five maximum breaks. He is the fourth player in professional snooker history to reach the 800-century mark, after Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Judd Trump. In the 2013–14 season, he became the first player to make 100 centuries in a single season, finishing with a record 103 centuries. Life and career Early career Robert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marco Fu
Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open. He has been a runner-up at two Triple Crown events, at the 2008 UK Championship and the 2011 Masters. In addition, Fu has reached the semi-finals of the World Championship twice—in 2006 and in 2016. Fu reached a career-high ranking of fifth in the world in 2017. He turned professional in 1998 and has remained on the World Snooker Tour to-date. Despite not competing in events during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fu was given an invitational place to remain on the tour during the 2021–22 snooker season. As a prolific break-builder, Fu has compiled over 500 century breaks in professional competition, including five maximum breaks. A cultural icon in Hong Kong, Fu presented a 10-episode chat show called ' on ViuTV. Career Early career Marco Fu wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graeme Dott
Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001. He has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship and the 2007 China Open, and was runner-up in the World Championships of 2004 and 2010. He reached number 2 in the world rankings in 2007, but a subsequent episode of clinical depression seriously affected his form, causing him to drop to number 28 for the 2009–10 season. He then recovered his form, regained his top-16 ranking, and reached a third World Championship final. In 2011, he published his autobiography, ''Frame of Mind: The Autobiography of the World Snooker Champion.'' Career Early career After winning the UK Under-19 Championship in 1992 and Scottish Amateur Championship in 1993, Dott turned professional in 1994. He slowly climbed the rankings, reaching the top sixteen in 2001, where he remained until 2009. Early success ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
