English Professional Championship
| Tournament status | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ranking tournament: | - | |
| Minor ranking tournament: | - | |
| Invitation tournament: | 1981, 1985-1989 |
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| Tournament dates of the last edition | ||
| Venue: | Redwood Lodge Hotel and Country Club , Bristol | |
| Prize money (total): | £ 66,000 | |
| Prize money (winner): | £ 15,500 | |
| Frames in the final: | Best of 17 | |
| Records | ||
| Most wins: |
 Steve Davis , Tony Meo (2 × each)
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| Highest Break: | 139 Tony Knowles (1985) John Virgo (1987)
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| Venue (s) on the map | ||
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The English Professional Championship was a professional snooker tournament with no impact on the world rankings and for the purpose of determining the English professional champions, which was held a total of six times in the 1980s. Therefore it should not be confused with the amateur equivalent English Amateur Championship . While the first edition was still held in Birmingham in 1981, the tournament was sponsored for three editions from 1985 by Tolly Cobbold and took place in Ipswich until 1988 . In 1989 the tournament moved to Bristol . Record winners of the tournament are Steve Davis and Tony Meo , who each won the tournament twice. The biggest break in tournament history was a 139 break, played by both Tony Knowles in 1985 and John Virgo two years later.
history
The first edition of the English Professional Championship took place in March 1981, so it was part of the 1980/81 season . The tournament had no impact on the world rankings and was sponsored by John Courage and held at the Haden Hill Leisure Center in Birmingham . A total of 21 English players took part, of which Steve Davis and Tony Meo were able to prevail and reached the final, which Davis won 9: 3. At the same time he played the highest break of the tournament with a 138 break. However, the tournament was canceled again after the first edition.
It was not until 1985 that the tournament was finally revived when the WPBSA sponsored each national professional championship with 1000 pounds sterling per participant, which in addition to the English Professional Championship, also revived other national professional championships. The tournament took place at the beginning of February, as part of the 1984/85 season , in the Corn Exchange in the English city of Ipswich and was sponsored by the Ipswich brewery Tolly Cobbold . The number of participants rose to 46 players. Again Steve Davis reached the final, in which he defeated Tony Knowles 9-2. However, Knowles had previously played a 139 break, playing both the highest break of the edition and the highest break in tournament history.
The next year the tournament had the same sponsor and venue, but there were four more players than last year. At the same time, the prize money increased to £ 80,000 after a total of £ 75,000 to be won the year before. Steve Davis only reached the semi-finals in his last participation in this tournament, in which he had to admit defeat to Tony Meo . In the final, Meo defeated Neal Foulds and thus became the tournament winner. The highest break of the edition was played by John Virgo with his 137 break.
With the next edition in 1987, the number of entries rose to 56 and the prize money rose to £ 86,000. As in the previous year, the additional number of participants was offset by an increased number of first round matches, the winners of which then advanced to the round of the last 48. Again Tony Meo reached the final, in which he met the surprise of the tournament, Les Dodd , who had fought his way through the field from the second round and had beaten the reigning world champion Joe Johnson . Nevertheless, Meo retained the upper hand in the final, which Meo won 9: 5. John Virgo again played the highest break of the tournament and with his 139 break also equaled Tony Knowles' record from 1985.
From the 1988 edition onwards, the tournament came without a sponsor after Tolly Cobbold's sponsorship ended. Nevertheless, the tournament remained in Ipswich, with 64 players taking part at the same time, but the prize money was reduced by more than 25% of the previous year's prize money. Tony Meo lost in the quarterfinals to Dean Reynolds , who later reached the final of a tournament for the first time in his professional career. In this he met Neal Foulds . Reynolds won the final when he defeated Foulds 9-5. The semi-finalist Barry West played the highest break of the tournament with a 134 break.
The next year the tournament moved to the Redwood Lodge Hotel and Country Club in Bristol , the tournament being again without a sponsor. Nevertheless, both the number of participants and the total prize money increased. Dean Reynolds lost to Brian Rowswell in the round of 16 this year . The final was played by Mike Hallett and John Parrott , with the former winning 9: 7. In return, Parrott played the highest break of the edition with a 130 break. As a result, the WPBSA ended its national professional championship grant program. In contrast to many other national professional championships, this meant the end of the English Professional Championship, which thus received no further expenses.
winner
| year | venue | winner | Result | finalist | Main sponsor | season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Professional Championship | ||||||
| 1981 | Birmingham - Haden Hill Leisure Club |
Steve Davis
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9: 3 |
Tony Meo
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John Courage | 1980/81 |
| English Professional Championship (WPBSA funded) | ||||||
| 1985 | Ipswich - Corn Exchange |
Steve Davis
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9: 2 |
Tony Knowles
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Tolly Cobbold | 1984/85 |
| 1986 |
Tony Meo
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9: 7 |
Neal Foulds
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1985/86 | ||
| 1987 |
Tony Meo
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9: 5 |
Les Dodd
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1986/87 | ||
| 1988 |
Dean Reynolds
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9: 5 |
Neal Foulds
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- | 1987/88 | |
| 1989 | Bristol - Redwood Lodge Hotel and Country Club |
Mike Hallett
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9: 7 |
John Parrott
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1988/89 | |
See also
- Scottish Professional Championship
- Welsh Professional Championship
- Irish Professional Championship
- Canadian Professional Championship
- Australian Professional Championship
- South African Professional Championship
Web links
- Overview of the tournament editions on CueTracker.net
Individual evidence
- ^ Ron Florax: 1981 English Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed April 6, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Chris Turner: English Professional Championship - Non Ranking Event. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2008, archived from the original on April 23, 2016 ; accessed on April 6, 2020 (English).
- ^ Ron Florax: 1985 English Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed April 6, 2020 .
- ^ A b Ron Florax: 1986 English Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed April 6, 2020 .
- ^ Ron Florax: 1987 English Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed April 6, 2020 .
- ^ Ron Florax: 1988 English Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed April 6, 2020 .
- ^ Ron Florax: 1989 English Professional Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed April 6, 2020 .
