Paul Hunter Classic
Paul Hunter Classic
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| Tournament status | ||
| Ranking tournament: | 2016-2018 | |
| Minor ranking tournament: | 2010-2015 | |
| Invitation tournament: | 2004–2009, 2019 | |
| Current tournament dates | ||
| Defending champion: |
 Barry Hawkins
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| Attendees: | 16 | |
| Venue: | City Hall, Fürth | |
| Prize money (total): | ||
| Prize money (winner): | £ 20,000 | |
| Frames in the final: | Best of 7 | |
| Records | ||
| Most wins: |
Mark Selby (3 ×)
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| Highest Break: | 147 ( Maximum Break ) Ronnie O'Sullivan (2011), Ken Doherty (2012), Aditya Mehta (2014), Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (2016), Michael Georgiou (2018), Jamie Jones (2018)     
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| Venue (s) on the map | ||
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The Paul Hunter Classic (formerly Fürth German Open ) is a snooker tournament that has been held in Germany since 2004 . The tournament has been hosted by Snooker Sportclub Fürth e. V. The tournament was given its new name in 2007 in memory of the snooker player Paul Hunter who died in October 2006 and who was also the first winner in 2004.
The tournament is not to be confused with the German Open , which was part of the Snooker Main Tour between 1995 and 1997 and has been part of it again since 2011 under the name German Masters .
history
Beginnings
In 2004 the SSC Fürth organized an event called the Snooker Grand Prix Fürth to mark its five-year club anniversary . All top German players as well as players from Switzerland , Austria , Belgium and the Netherlands were represented in the field of 104 participants . The two professionals Paul Hunter and Matthew Stevens could be signed as top stars . Both were managed by Brandon Parker , who agreed to have the two players perform and later became one of the organizers of the tournament. Hunter was able to live up to his role as a favorite and win the tournament.
In the following year the event was renamed the Fürth German Open , analogous to the years 1995 to 1997. The field of participants, which had been increased to 162 starters, could again boast several world-class players such as Jimmy White or Ian McCulloch . The first winner of the new edition was then another representative of professional sport with the Englishman Mark King . After the death of the first winner, Paul Hunter, and with the consent of his widow, the name was changed to Paul Hunter Classic in 2007 .
PTC series
In the first few years the tournament was not part of the Main Tour , so that no world ranking points were awarded. With the appointment of Barry Hearn as the new chairman of the WPBSA , the Paul Hunter Classic became an event of the newly introduced Players Tour Championship . From the 2010/11 season to the 2015/16 season, the tournament was a minor ranking tournament, with a reduced number of points or lower prize money, but which was included in the world ranking.
The mode of the event has also been changed for this. If the tournament had previously been held with a group phase and elimination tournament, in which, apart from the final, three winning frames were played, that changed with the introduction of the PTC series. There was no group stage, there was a main tournament with 128 players and before that there was a qualification for amateur players. The Best of 7 mode applied to all games including the finals .
The result in Fürth was also included in the PTC ratings. On the one hand, they qualified for the PTC final tournament, which was a fully-fledged world ranking tournament. On the other hand, the best non-professionals in the PTC Order of Merit received start authorizations for the Main Tour. In 2012 and 2013, parallel to the Paul Hunter Classic for amateurs, one of the four preliminary rounds of the EBSA Qualifying Tour was held, in which starting positions on the professional tour were also played out.
Simple world ranking tournament
However, since Fürth was the only PTC tournament that was more or less self-supporting, it became increasingly difficult to find other venues. After the 2015/16 season, the Players Tour Championship was abandoned. Only the Paul Hunter Classic and one other tournament for which long-term contracts existed remained. The status as a world ranking tournament was retained, as was a restricted version of the Order of Merit for the two tournaments. Nevertheless, it was associated with a loss of status, many top professionals stayed away from the Paul Hunter Classic from 2016 and the television broadcast of the channel Eurosport with live broadcasts from table 1, which began in 2011 , was discontinued.
Invitation tournament
As early as 2018, the continued existence in the form at that time was questioned and a survey of the audience on the future of the Paul Hunter Classic was carried out. The tournament kept the traditional date in the tour calendar at the end of August, but lost its status as a world ranking tournament.
The field of participants was reduced to 16 players and, as in the early years, invitations to professional players were issued. However, places have also been reserved for non-professionals to qualify for.
Paul Hunter Women's Classic
For the first time in 2016, a women's tournament called the Paul Hunter Ladies Classic (2017: Paul Hunter Women's Classic ) was held at the same time , also with the status of a ranking tournament of the women's tour. The two dominant players, Ng On Yee from Hong Kong and Reanne Evans from England, fought for the title among themselves in the first two years. There was no more women's tournament in 2018.
winner
Men
The record winner since 2016 is Mark Selby , who won the tournament three times. A special winner in 2015 was Ali Carter . It was his first win after returning from cancer, the disease that namesake Paul Hunter died of. Record finalists are Selby and Shaun Murphy with four finals each.
| year | venue | winner | Result | finalist | Main sponsor | season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Fürth (no ranking tournament) | ||||||
| 2004 | Fürth - Green Hall |
Paul Hunter
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4: 2 |
Matthew Stevens
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- | 2004/05 |
| Fürth German Open (no ranking tournament) | ||||||
| 2005 | Fürth - Green Hall |
Mark King
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4: 2 |
Michael Holt
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Betandwin .de | 2005/06 |
| 2006 | Fürth - City Hall |
Michael Holt
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4: 2 |
Barry Hawkins
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2006/07 | |
| Paul Hunter Classic (not a ranked tournament) | ||||||
| 2007 | Fürth City Hall |
Barry Pinches
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4-0 |
Ken Doherty
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Betandwin.de | 2007/08 |
| 2008 |
Shaun Murphy
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4-0 |
Mark Selby
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Snookerstars | 2008/09 | |
| 2009 |
Shaun Murphy
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4-0 |
Jimmy White
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2009/10 | ||
| Paul Hunter Classic (minor ranking tournament) | ||||||
| 2010 | Fürth City Hall |
Judd Trump
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4: 3 |
Anthony Hamilton
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- | 2010/11 |
| 2011 |
Mark Selby
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4-0 |
Mark Davis
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2011/12 | ||
| 2012 |
Mark Selby
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4: 1 |
 Joe Swail
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Arcades | 2012/13 | |
| 2013 |
Ronnie O'Sullivan
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4-0 |
Gerard Greene
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2013/14 | ||
| 2014 |
Mark Allen
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4: 2 |
Judd Trump
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2014/15 | ||
| 2015 |
Allister Carter
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4: 3 |
Shaun Murphy
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Creative dental | 2015/16 | |
| Paul Hunter Classic (Pro / Am Ranking Tournament) | ||||||
| 2016 | Fürth City Hall |
Mark Selby
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4: 2 |
Tom Ford
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- | 2016/17 |
| 2017 |
Michael White
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4: 2 |
Shaun Murphy
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2017/18 | ||
| 2018 |
Kyren Wilson
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4: 2 |
Peter Ebdon
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2018/19 | ||
| Paul Hunter Classic (Invitational Tournament) | ||||||
| 2019 | Fürth - City Hall |
Barry Hawkins
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4: 3 |
Kyren Wilson
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- | 2019/20 |
Ladies
| year | venue | winner | Result | finalist | Main sponsor | season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hunter Ladies Classic | ||||||
| 2016 | Fürth City Hall |
 Ng On Yee
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4: 1 |
Reanne Evans
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- | 2016/17 |
| Paul Hunter Women's Classic | ||||||
| 2017 | Fürth City Hall |
Reanne Evans
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4: 1 |
Ng On Yee
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- | 2017/18 |
photos
The finalists 2017
Winner's Cup of the PHC
Award ceremony 2013
Trophy until 2013
Interior view of the town hall
Women's finals 2017
Web links
- Official website of the Paul Hunter Classics
- Official website of SSC Fürth e. V.
- Paul Hunter Women's Classic (WWS)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eric Eggert: “German Open” becomes “Paul Hunter Classics” ; snookerblog.de, January 4th 2007.
- ↑ Snooker stars continue to come to Fürth , Andreas Goldmann, Fürther Nachrichten, December 18, 2018
- ↑ PHC-News: PHC 2019 "Back to the roots" , Thomas Cesal, Snookerstars.de, November 6, 2018
- ↑ Paul Hunter Ladies Classic 2016 results. On: Snooker.org. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
- ↑ On Yee Claims Ladies Classic ( January 1, 2019 memento in the Internet Archive ) Matt Huart, World Women's Snooker (formerly World Ladies Billiard and Snooker), accessed January 1, 2019
