World Open

The World Open is a professional ranking tournament, most recently held in Yushan, China.

It has previously been known as the Professional Players Tournament, the LG Cup and the Grand Prix. During 2006 and 2007, it was played in a unique round-robin format, more similar to football and rugby tournaments than the knock-out systems usually played in snooker. The knock-out format returned in 2008 with an FA Cup-style draw.

The tournament was created in 1982 as the Professional Players Tournament by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, in order to provide another ranking event. Ray Reardon beat Jimmy White by 10 frames to 5 in the final to win the first prize of £5,000.

The event has been staged at numerous venues in the UK since it began in 1982 but, following a two-season absence, has regained its status as a firm fixture on the ranking calendar as one of many events in China.

Under the growing snooker revolution by Barry Hearn, the event was re-formatted to a nowadays traditional 64-man event along with hand-picked local wildcard players.

The tournament has provided maiden ranking title glory for a total of 10 players with the likes of Stephen Hendry, Peter Ebdon, John Higgins and Neil Robertson using it as a springboard to further success, while Dominic Dale, Chris Small and Marco Fu have also enjoyed their moment in the spotlight.

World Open Snooker Roll of Honour