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2008 Malta Cup
The 2008 Malta Cup was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 4 and 10 February 2008 at the Hilton Conference Center in Portomaso, Malta. The Gambling Commission looked at allegations of match-fixing during the round-robin stage of the tournament. Shaun Murphy won the title by defeating Ken Doherty 9–3 in the final. __TOC__ Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: *Winner: £20,000 *Runner-Up: £9,000 *Semi-final: £4,500 *2nd place in group: £2,750 *3rd place in group: £2,500 *4th place in group: £2,250 *5th place in group: £2,000 *Maximum break: £10,000 *Total: £76,000 Group stage Group matches were played over 6 frames. A win was worth 2 points and a tie 1 point. The top player from each group qualified to the semi-finals. Group 1 *John Higgins 6–0 Alex Borg *''Joe Perry 3–3 Ryan Day'' *John Higgins 4–2 Ryan Day *Ali Carter 5–1 Alex Borg *Joe Perry 4–2 Alex Borg *''John Higgins 3–3 Ali Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Masters (snooker)
The European Masters is a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament that has been staged periodically since 1989 as the European Open. Between 2005 and 2008 it was known as the Malta Cup and was the sole Snooker world rankings, ranking tournament in Europe outside the British Isles, before being discontinued. In 2016, the event was resurrected and rebranded the European Masters. History Before the Snooker season 1988/1989, 1988/89 season, there were no ranking events outside the United Kingdom. There were, however, many successful invitation events, so the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association decided to extend the tour with some overseas events. The first two were held in Canada and mainland Europe. The first European event was the European Open in 1988 in Deauville, France, with the sponsorship of Imperial Chemical Industries, ICI. The event then was held at the Palais des Sports de Gerland, Palais des Sports in Lyon, France, for 1992 and at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Carter
Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been a World Championship finalist, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won six ranking titles and briefly reached number two in the world rankings in 2010. His nickname, "The Captain", comes from his hobby of piloting aeroplanes. Career Carter turned professional in 1996. He first emerged in 1999, winning the WPBSA Young Player of the Year award after winning the Benson and Hedges Championship in 1999 – this earned him a wild card place in the Masters. He also reached the semi-finals of the 1999 Grand Prix. It was eight years before he reached another ranking semi-final, the 2007 Malta Cup. He was close to the elite top 16 for three successive seasons, ranking as 17, 19, and 19 through 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06, respectively, before reaching it in the 2006–07 season and remaining there in 2008. He reached the last 16 (second round) of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Williams (snooker Player)
Mark James Williams (born 21March 1975) is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time World Champion, winning the title in 2000, 2003 and 2018. He has been ranked the world number one player three times (May 2000 May 2002, May 2003 May 2004 and May 2011 September 2011). His most successful season to date was 200203, when he won snooker's Triple Crown—the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship—making him only the third player, after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, to have won all three events in the same season. He is the first, and to date, the only player to win all three versions of the professional world championship: the World Snooker Championship, the Six-red World Championship and the World Seniors Championship. Williams became a professional player in 1992. He has won 26 ranking tournaments, including two UK Championships (1999 and 2002), placing him sixth on the all-time list of ranking titles. He has also won the Masters tourn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Ebdon
Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English retired professional snooker player who is a former world champion and current coach. Ebdon won nine ranking titles during his career, placing him in joint 14th position (with John Parrott) on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. He won two Triple Crown titles, the 2002 World Snooker Championship and the 2006 UK Championship. After winning the 1990 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, Ebdon turned professional in the 1991–92 season. He made his first Crucible appearance at the 1992 World Snooker Championship, reaching the quarter-finals on his debut. Winning his first professional ranking title at the 1993 Grand Prix helped him enter the top 16 in the world rankings for the 1994–95 season; he remained consistently in the top 16 until the end of the 2009–10 season, reaching a career high of third. He made 24 Crucible appearances during his career and reached three World Championship finals, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dominic Dale
Dominic Dale (born Christopher Dale; 29 December 1971) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player, as well as a current snooker commentator, pundit and presenter for BBC Cymru Wales and TNT Sports (United Kingdom), TNT Sports (formerly Eurosport) in the United Kingdom. Nicknamed "The Spaceman" and known for his flamboyant image, Dale won two ranking titles during his professional career, the 1997 Grand Prix (snooker), 1997 Grand Prix, where he defeated John Higgins 9–6 in the final, and the 2007 Shanghai Masters, where he beat Ryan Day (snooker player), Ryan Day 10–6 in the final. He made ten appearances at the main stage of the World Snooker Championship, World Championship at the Crucible Theatre, reaching the quarter-finals twice, in 2000 World Snooker Championship, 2000 and 2014 World Snooker Championship, 2014. He attained his highest Snooker world rankings, world ranking of 19th in the 1999–2000 snooker season, 1999–2000 season. Dale retired from the profess ... [...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 15 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005 UK Championship, 2005, 2009 UK Championship, 2009, 2019 UK Championship, 2019), and in 2014, became the first Asian world number one. He has twice reached the final of the Masters (snooker), Masters, winning once in 2011 Masters (snooker), 2011. In 2016, he became the first Asian player to reach the final of the 2016 World Snooker Championship, World Championship. Ding began playing snooker at age nine and rose to international prominence in 2002 after winning the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship, Asian Under-21 Championship and the ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, Asian Championship. At age 15, he became the youngest winner of the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, IBSF World Under-21 Championship. In 2003, Ding turned pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Drago
Tony Drago ( ; born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 Guangzhou Masters. He later switched his focus to pool and won the 2003 World Pool Masters beating Hsia Hui-kai 8–6 and the 2008 Predator International 10-ball Championship beating Francisco Bustamante 13–10. Snooker career Drago's highest snooker world rankings position was number ten (in 1998). He has reached two major finals — the 1991 World Masters (losing to Jimmy White), and the 1997 International Open (losing to Stephen Hendry — Drago's only ranking event final, and his first run past the quarter-finals of any ranking event). He reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 1988. He has appeared in the tournament 11 further times, most recently in 2004/2005, with five further last-sixteen runs. He lost to M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player. Ranked List of world number one snooker players, world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 24 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the all-time list of List of snooker players by number of ranking titles, ranking tournament winners. He is a four-time World Snooker Championship, World Snooker Champion, and has won the Masters (snooker), Masters three times and the UK Championship twice for a total of nine Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown titles, putting him on a par with John Higgins, and behind only Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ronnie O’Sullivan (23), Stephen Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15). After winning the England Under-15 Championship in 1998, Selby turned professional in 1999, aged 16. He made his Crucible debut in 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005, and reached his first World Championship final in 2007 World Snooker Championship, 2007, when he was runner-up to John Hi ... [...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 over 500 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 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and a current Sports commentator, commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, aged 16, and 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 World Snooker Championship, 1990, aged 21 years and 106 days, making him the sport's youngest world champion, a record he still holds. He won seven world titles between 1990 and 1999, setting a new modern-era record that stood outright until Ronnie O'Sullivan equalled it in 2022 World Snooker Championship, 2022. He also won the Masters (snooker), Masters six times and the UK Championship five times for a career total of 18 Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown tournament wins, a total exceeded only by O'Sullivan's 23. His total of 36 List of snooker play ... [...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] |
Stephen Lee (snooker Player)
Stephen Lee (born 12 October 1974) is an English former professional snooker player. He turned professional in 1992, reached a career-high of fifth in the snooker world rankings for the 2000–01 season, and won five ranking titles. His best performances in Triple Crown events were reaching the semi-finals of the 2003 World Championship, where he lost to eventual champion Mark Williams, and reaching the final of the 2008 Masters, where he was runner-up to Mark Selby. He compiled 184 century breaks in professional competition and was noted for his smooth cue action. West Midlands police arrested Lee in February 2010 as part of an investigation into suspicious betting patterns at the 2009 UK Championship, but no further action was taken against him at that time. Following further reports of irregular betting patterns on a 2012 Premier League match between Lee and John Higgins on 11 October 2012, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) suspended Lee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
