Welsh Professional Championship

The Welsh Professional Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament which was open only for Welsh players. It was the first of the four home countries to revive its national professional championship on a regular basis. The championship was first played in the 1920s but it was more than 50 years before Ray Reardon and Doug Mountjoy met, in 1977, for an 'unofficial' Welsh Professional title. Reardon won that encounter 12-8.

The Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre staged the first official revived championship in 1980 and would host the championship until 1984. In 1985 and 1986, It was held at Abertillery Leisure Centre and from 1987 until its end in 1991, It was played at the Newport Centre.

Sponsors since 1980 originally was by cider producers HP Bulmer and Co., using their Woodpecker name until 1983. Others have included Strongbow, BCE, Zetters, Matchroom, Senator and for the last year, Regal.

The tournament became a ranking tournament in 1992 and brought in overseas players and it became known as the "Welsh Open". Regal carried on sponsoring the Welsh Championship's successor until the tobacco ban on sponsorship in 2003 and was still held in Newport as of 2007 apart from a few year break when Cardiff hosted it.

Winners