Paul Hunter Classic 2008
Paul Hunter Classic 2008
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| Tournament type: | Pro-Am |
| Venue: | Stadthalle , Fürth , Germany |
| Opening: | August 28, 2008 |
| Endgame: | August 31, 2008
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| Winner: |
 Shaun Murphy
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| Finalist: |
Mark Selby
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| Highest Break: | 146 ( Shaun Murphy )
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The Paul Hunter Classic 2008 (or the Paul Hunter Classics 2008) took place from August 28 to 31, 2008 in Fürth . It is considered to be the largest Pro-Am snooker tournament in the world that is not about world ranking points . The tournament took place for the third time in a row in the town hall in Fürth. The winner was the British snooker player Shaun Murphy . Last year's winner Barry Pinches was eliminated in the round of 32 against the eventual tournament winner.
Problems in advance
In the run-up to the tournament, the organizers of the tournament were concerned about the cancellations of some professionals who could not travel to Fürth due to the Northern Ireland Trophy taking place at the same time . After the Northern Ireland Trophy has only ever taken place in late autumn of the year, the WSA deliberately moved the tournament to the last days of August this year in order to damage the tournament in Fürth. The WSA sees it as a disadvantage that the Paul-Hunter Classic is not a world ranking tournament. Another reason for the postponement is that the tournament in Fürth is in no way dependent on the WSA. As a result, only those players who did not reach the semi-finals in Belfast could travel to Fürth.
General
The tournament took place for the third time in a row in the town hall in Fürth . Since the rooms are very large there, it was possible to play on a total of 6 tables, 2 of which were in a separate hall and served as "maintainables". Both semi-finals and the final took place there. Spectators with cheaper tickets initially had no access to the two maintain tables, but the partition wall was opened before the semi-finals to allow all spectators to see the two tables. In addition, the final was broadcast on a screen in the hall.
Photography was allowed during the games, but without flash or rangefinder.
Tournament course
Group stage
"Best of 3" frames was played in the group phase.
Almost all professional players could confidently become group winners in their group. Only the eventual tournament winner Shaun Murphy suffered his only defeat in the group stage and was the only professional to finish second in the group after the 1: 2 against Wolfgang Brandmeier.
Finals
In the final round, “Best of 5” frames were played up to the final.
1 round
The fact that Shaun Murphy only finished second in his group meant that he met another professional player in the round of the last 64 players. However, he defeated Tony Drago , who had previously impressed in his group, just 3-2. All other professional players were also able to win their games, mostly 3-0, against amateur players. The German snooker player Lasse Münstermann clearly defeated his opponent Andy Kusan 3-0.
2nd round
As expected, all professional players were able to assert themselves confidently in the second round. The title contender Mark Selby defeated his German opponent Sascha Lippe 3-1. Shaun Murphy was also able to prevail against his opponent and should meet Barry Pinches in the next round .
3rd round
With the duel between Shaun Murphy and Barry Pinches, there was an exciting encounter in the third round. The game was even and was only decided on the last black ball. Ultimately, Shaun Murphy prevailed 3-2 and Barry Pinches was eliminated from the tournament. Ricky Walden defeated the multiple world champion Steve Davis 3-1 and made himself the title favorite with a strong performance. The performance of the amateur Lasse Münstermann , who beat Matthew Stevens , the vice-world champion in 2000 and 2005, 3-0 was also surprising .
Round of 16
In the round of 16, Lasse Münstermann was the last remaining amateur player in the tournament. Again he showed a strong performance and was able to eliminate the two-time world champion Mark Williams 3-0 from the tournament. Ricky Walden also celebrated yet another success by clearly defeating Joe Perry 3-0. In a balanced duel, Michael Judge prevailed against the Australian Neil Robertson and was the last remaining Irishman in the tournament alongside the German Lasse Münstermann and 6 English players.
Quarter finals
In the quarter-finals, Lasse Münstermann had to say goodbye to the tournament after Jimmy White gave him no chance at 3-0. His opponent in the semifinals should be Mark Selby , who was able to prevail in the duel with Nigel Bond just 3-2. Ricky Walden continued his strong performances and beat Michael Judge 3-1. In the last quarter-finals, Stuart Bingham was beaten 3-1 by Shaun Murphy.
Semifinals
The first semi-final was: Shaun Murphy versus Ricky Walden. The game was marked by many high breaks. First Ricky Walden took the lead 1-0, in frame 2 Murphy equalized to 1-1. With two breaks of 84 and 50 points, Walden took the third frame and took the lead again with a 2-1 lead. But again Murphy was able to catch up, secured the last two frames and thus moved into the final.
The second semi-final was far more one-sided as Mark Selby gave his opponent Jimmy White little chance. With two high breaks, Selby took a 2-0 lead and made the final with a century break in the third frame.
final
"Best of 7" frames was played in the final.
In the final, two players met who were already favorites before the tournament. The 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy against the 2007 runner-up Mark Selby. Accordingly, a gripping duel between two professionals was expected by the spectators. However, the game was one-sided in Shaun Murphy's favor. In the end, Mark Selby had to admit defeat 0: 4 after Shaun Murphy secured all 4 frames partly with high breaks and partly with good safeties.
After the final, Shaun Murphy received the trophy as well as the award for the highest break of 146 points.
Statistics from the round of 16
| Round of 16
29/30. August 2008 |
Quarter finals
August 31, 2008 |
Semifinals
August 31, 2008 |
final
August 31, 2008 |
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Shaun Murphy
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
 Gerard Greene
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
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Shaun Murphy
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Stuart Bingham
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1 | |||||||||||||||||
 Paul Davies
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
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Stuart Bingham
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Shaun Murphy
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Ricky Walden
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2 | |||||||||||||||||
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Joe Perry
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
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Ricky Walden
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Ricky Walden
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
 Michael Judge
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1 | |||||||||||||||||
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Michael Judge
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
 Neil Robertson
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1 | |||||||||||||||||
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Shaun Murphy
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4th | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark Selby
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
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Ryan Day
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1 | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark Selby
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark Selby
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Nigel Bond
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2 | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark King
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1 | |||||||||||||||||
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Nigel Bond
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark Selby
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Jimmy White
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
 Let Münstermann
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Mark J. Williams
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
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Let Münstermann
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0 | |||||||||||||||||
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Jimmy White
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Jimmy White
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3 | |||||||||||||||||
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Munraj Pal
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1 | |||||||||||||||||
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Final: Best of 7 Frames Stadthalle , Fürth , Germany , August 31, 2008 |
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Shaun Murphy
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4 : 0 |
Mark Selby
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| ?? : ?? (65), ?? : ?? (56), 80: 1, 85:17 | ||
| 65 | Highest break | - |
| - | Century breaks | - |
| 2 | 50+ breaks | - |
Picture gallery
The winner Shaun Murphy at the award ceremony
Interior view of the town hall Here: table 6
The finalist Mark Selby
Ricky Walden signing autographs
Web links
- Report on the Eurosport homepage ( Memento from September 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Tournament website ( Memento from September 17th, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
