Malta Cup

Not to be confused with Malta Grand Prix.

Malta Cup

Tournament information
Venue	Hilton Conference Centre
Location	Portomaso
Country	Malta
Established	1989
Organisation(s)	World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£76,000
Final Year	2008
Final champion(s)	Shaun Murphy

The Malta Cup was a professional snooker tournament that has been on the World Snooker calendar since the 1988/89 season. It was previously known as the European Open (which had been held several times in Malta) as the sole ranking tournament in Europe, outside the British Isles.

History

Prior to the 1988/89 season, there were no ranking events outside the United Kingdom. There where, however many successful invitation events, so the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association decided to extend the tour to some oversee territories. The first two were Canada and Europe. The first European event was the European Open in 1991 in Deauville, France with the sponsorship of ICI. The event than was held at the Palais des Sports in Lyon, France for 1992 and at the Imax Centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands sponsored by Tulip.^[1]

The event was than moved in Belgium. It was held in Tongeren in 1992 and Antwerpen between 1993–1994 with sponsorship from Humo. The event was moved to the first half of the season in 1993/1994, thus there were two events in 1993, in February and December. The event than was held in Valletta, Malta between 1996–1997 and was moved back to its original place in the calendar in 1995/1996. The event wasn't held in the following season.^[1] In 1998/99 it was briefly revived for just one season as the Irish Open. The following season the Malta Grand Prix was the only continental European ranking event and in 2000/01 there weren't any at all for the first time since 13 seasons.^[1]

The European Open was revived in 2001/2002 and was held in Valletta, Malta. In 2003 the event was first time held in Britain (Torquay). The following year in returned to Malta, this time held in Portomaso. The following season the event was renamed the Malta Cup.^[1] The 2006 event made history, as it became the first ranking tournament, where no English player reached the quarter-finals. It became an invitation event in 2007/2008, but it was discontinued after.^[2]

There was only one maximum during the history of the tournament. At the 1989 event Alain Robidoux compiled it in the first qualifying round against Jim Meadowcroft.^[1][3]

Winners

^[1][2]

Year	Winner	Opponent	Final score	Season
European Open (ranking)
1989	John Parrott	Terry Griffiths	9–8	1988/89
1990	John Parrott	Stephen Hendry	10–6	1989/90
1991	Tony Jones	Mark Johnston-Allen	9–7	1990/91
1992	Jimmy White	Mark Johnston-Allen	9–3	1991/92
1993	Steve Davis	Stephen Hendry	10–4	1992/93
1993	Stephen Hendry	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9–5	1993/94
1994	Stephen Hendry	John Parrott	9–3	1994/95
1996	John Parrott	Peter Ebdon	9–7	1995/96
1997	John Higgins	John Parrott	9–5	1996/97
Irish Open (ranking)
1998	Mark Williams	Alan McManus	9–4	1998/99
European Open (ranking)
2001	Stephen Hendry	Joe Perry	9–2	2001/02
2003	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Stephen Hendry	9–6	2002/03
2004	Stephen Maguire	Jimmy White	9–3	2003/04
Malta Cup (ranking)
2005	Stephen Hendry	Graeme Dott	9–7	2004/05
2006	Ken Doherty	John Higgins	9–8	2005/06
2007	Shaun Murphy	Ryan Day	9–4	2006/07
Malta Cup (non-ranking)
2008	Shaun Murphy	Ken Doherty	9–3	2007/08

See also

Other European ranking tournaments outside of the British Isles

• Malta Grand Prix
• German Masters

Other European non-ranking tournaments outside of the British Isles

• Paul Hunter Classic

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Turner, Chris. "Major European Tournaments". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Euro.html. Retrieved 4 November 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Turner, Chris. "Malta Grand Prix, Malta Cup". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Malta.html. Retrieved 4 November 2011. 
3. ^ Turner, Chris. "Maximum breaks". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Max.html. Retrieved 4 November 2011.