The International Open Series (often referred to as
Pontins International Open Series or PIOS
for sponsorship purposes), was a series of
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
tournaments that ran from the
2001/02 season until the
2009/10 season. It was originally called the Open Tour but was renamed in
2005/2006.
History
The tour was established to provide players not on the
WPBSA Main Tour or
Challenge Tour with professional competition, and the best performers were promoted to the ''Challenge Tour''.
It was organised by the
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) during its first season, but the
English Association of Snooker and Billiards
The English Association of Snooker and Billiards (EASB), based in Surrey, England, was launched by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) in 1993 with the aim of the EASB becoming the governing body for amateur snooker ...
(EASB), an amateur body, took it over from
2002/03.
The event was
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999
* ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001
* ''Open'' (YF ...
to professionals, amateurs and international players for the first couple of seasons, but following the EASB's split from the WPBSA for
2003/04 the entry criteria were revised barring professional and non-English players from entering.
After the ''Challenge Tour'' was discontinued, the entry criteria were revised again to allow international amateur players to compete, and from
2005/06 the competition promoted players directly to the ''Main Tour''.
The series was abandoned after the
2009/10 season and replaced by the
Q School in the
2010/11 season.
Event finals
Order of Merit winners
References
{{Snooker tournaments
Recurring sporting events established in 2001
Recurring events disestablished in 2010
Snooker competitions in the United Kingdom
Snooker amateur competitions
Defunct snooker competitions
Defunct sports competitions in the United Kingdom
Snooker tours and series