International Open Series
Introduction The '''International Open Series''' (often referred to as '''Pontins International Open Series''' or '''PIOS''' for sponsorship purposes), was a series of snooker tournaments that ran from the 2001/02 season until the 2009/10 season. It was originally called the '''Open Tour''' but was renamed in 2005/2006.
History The tour was established to provide players not on the WPBSA Main Tour or Challenge Tour with professional competition, and the best performers were promoted to the ''Challenge Tour''. It was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) during its first season, but the English Association of Snooker and Billiards (EASB), an amateur body, took it over from 2002/03.The event was open to professionals, amateurs and international players for the first couple of seasons, but following the EASB's split from the WPBSA for 2003/04 the entry criteria were revised barring professional and non-English players from entering. After the ''Challenge Tour'' was discontinued, the entry criteria were revised again to allow international amateur players to compete, and from 2005/06 the competition promoted players directly to the ''Main Tour''. The series was abandoned after the 2009/10 season and replaced by the Q School in the 2010/11 season.
Event finals  Season Event Winner Runner-up Final score '''WPBSA Open Tour''' (professional non-ranking) 2001/02  Event 1   Mark Gray   Shaun Murphy  5–2  Event 2   Brian Morgan   Leo Fernandez  5–2  Event 3   Robin Hull   Colm Gilcreest  5–4  Event 4   Matthew Couch   Munraj Pal  5–3 Event 5   Lee Spick   Mark Gray   5–3 Event 6   Stuart Bingham   Matthew Selt   5–4 '''EASB Open Tour''' (pro-am) 2002/03  Event 1   Ryan Day   James Reynolds  5–4  Event 2   Ryan Day   Mark Gray   5–3 Event 3   Rory McLeod   Mark Gray  5–2  Event 4   Ricky Walden   Jamie Cope  5–1 '''EASB Open Tour''' (amateur) 2003/04  Event 1   David KL Taylor   Darren McVicar  4–3 Event 2   James Tatton   Lee Richardson  4–2  Event 3   Lee Richardson   Jamie Barratt  4–0  Event 4   Sean Bullock   Andy Radford  4–0 Event 5   Andy Radford   Mark Sutton   4–0 Event 6   Eddie Cooper   Nick Spelman   4–2 Event 7   Alan Trigg   Wayne Cooper   4–1 Event 8   Paul Davison   Wayne Cooper  4–2  Final play-off  Wayne Cooper   Nick Spelman  5–1 '''PIOS''' (amateur) 2005/06   Event 1   Tian Pengfei   Martin Gould  6–3   Event 2   Mark Joyce   James Leadbetter   6–3   Event 3   Liu Song   Stephen Rowlings  6–1   Event 4   Colm Gilcreest   Mark Joyce   6–3  Event 5   Chris Melling   Paul Davison   6–5    Event 6   Liu Song    Paul Davison  6–3   Event 7   Tian Pengfei    Liu Song   6–3   Event 8   Andrew Higginson   Jamie O'Neill  6–3 2006/07   Event 1   Munraj Pal   Kurt Maflin  6–3   Event 2   Julian Logue   Alex Davies  6–5   Event 3   Leo Fernandez   Lee Walker  6–5   Event 4   Kuldesh Johal   Lee Walker  6–4  Event 5   Kurt Maflin   Ashley Wright  6–3    Event 6   Jamie O'Neill   Ashley Wright   6–2  Event 7   Bjorn Haneveer   Craig Steadman  6–2   Event 8   James McBain    Kurt Maflin   6–4 2007/08   Event 1   Simon Bedford   Gary Wilkinson  6–3   Event 2   Kuldesh Johal    Andrew Pagett  6–4   Event 3   Paul Davison   Michael King  6–2   Event 4   Matthew Couch   Michael Wild  6–3  Event 5   Peter Lines   Daniel Wells  6–5    Event 6   Kuldesh Johal    Simon Bedford  6–5    Event 7   Jamie Jones   Peter Lines  6–2   Event 8   Liam Highfield   Justin Astley  6–2 2008/09   Event 1   Bjorn Haneveer   Andrew Atkinson  6–2   Event 2   Xiao Guodong   Noppadol Sangnil  6–5   Event 3   Shokat Ali   Michael White  6–3   Event 4   Craig Steadman   Mike Hallett  6–1  Event 5   Chris Norbury   Alfie Burden   6–2    Event 6   Xiao Guodong    Jack Lisowski  6–0   Event 7   Thepchaiya Un-Nooh   Lee Page  6–3   Event 8   Joe Jogia   Ben Woollaston  6–5 2009/10   Event 1   Jack Lisowski   Liam Highfield  6–5   Event 2   Liam Highfield    Neal Jones  6–2   Event 3   Paul Davison   Kyren Wilson  6–4   Event 4   Jamie Jones   Jak Jones  6–0  Event 5   Anthony McGill   Farakh Ajaib  6–0    Event 6   Kyren Wilson    Liam Highfield   6–4   Event 7   Paul Davison    Justin Astley   6–2   Event 8   Jack Lisowski    Justin Astley   6–1
Order of Merit winners  Season Winner  2005/06   Liu Song  2006/07   Kurt Maflin  2007/08   Kuldesh Johal   2008/09   Joe Jogia  2009/10   Jack Lisowski
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