2019 Paul Hunter Classic

The 2019 Paul Hunter Classic was a professional non-ranking invitational snooker tournament. The event took place between 24 and 25 August 2019 at the Stadthalle in Fürth, Germany. The tournament was the 2019 edition of the Paul Hunter Classic first held in 2004 as the Grand Prix Fürth. The tournament is named in honour of snooker professional, Paul Hunter who won the 2004 event and died in 2006. The event featured a 16-player bracket with a qualification tournament that was held in Nuremberg, Germany. As the tournament was dropped as a ranking event, independent promoters Snookerstars.de promoted the event providing prize money for the tournament.

2019 Paul Hunter Classic
Tournament information
Dates24–25 August 2019
VenueStadthalle
CityFürth
CountryGermany
Organisation(s)Snookerstars.de , WPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund€13,500
Winner's share€5,000
Highest break Barry Hawkins (ENG) (120)
Final
Champion Barry Hawkins (ENG)
Runner-up Kyren Wilson (ENG)
Score4–3
← 2018
Fürth
Location in Germany

Kyren Wilson was the defending champion, having defeated Peter Ebdon 4–2 in the 2018 final. Barry Hawkins won the title 4–3 defeating Wilson in the final. Wison lead 3–2 and required one frame to win the title, he was one ball from winning but lost the frame 64–65 and incredibly Hawkins won the decider to win the title. The event also featured an exhibition Speed Cup tournament which ran concurrently with the main event, which was won by Gary Wilson. Barry Hawkins scored the highest break of the event, a 120 in the third round of the final.

Tournament format

The 2019 Paul Hunter Classic was a professional snooker tournament held on 24 and 25 August 2019 at the Stadthalle in Fürth, Germany.[1] Having been a ranking event since 2010,[2] the event was changed to an invitational basis, with no ranking points allocated.[3] This was because the WPBSA did not want to finance a ranking event with 128 players with a small prize fund. Independent promoter Snookerstars.de promoted the event providing the prize money, then the WPBSA added their sanction to the event. The Paul Hunter Classic was named after deceased snooker professional, Paul Hunter, who won the event in 2004, before passing in 2006.[4] A total of 15 players were invited to compete in the event, with one qualifier,[5] who had won a qualifying event featuring 36 participants.[6] 13-year-old Iulian Boiko won the qualifying event, defeating Barry Pinches in the final 3–2. Pinches also had the highest break of qualifying, a 109.[6]

The defending champion of the event was Kyren Wilson, having defeated Peter Ebdon 4–2 in the previous year's final.[7] Wilson was invited to compete in the event.[7] Both Shaun Murphy and Matthew Stevens were invited to play but pulled out of the event.[8] They were replaced by Ricky Walden and Gary Wilson respectively. Murphy later revealed that he pulled out of the event due to tearing his Achilles tendon, dancing to Disney's Greatest Hits.[9] All matches held in the event were played as best-of-7-frames.[10]

An exhibition "Speed cup" event featuring the same players was played concurrently with the main event, with matches played as best-of-5-frames. The players were also against the clock. Gary Wilson won this event, defeating David Gilbert in the final 3–0.[11] The event was broadcast online-only on the Eurosport Player.[12]

Prize fund

The event features a total prize fund of €13,500 and €5,000 awarded to the winner.[13][14][15][16] This was a significant reduction from the previous year's total prize fund of £100,000 total prize pool, due to the event no longer being a ranking event.[16][17] The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[18][17]

  • Winner: €5,000
  • Runner up: €2,500
  • Semi-finals: €1,000
  • Quarter-finals: €500
  • Last-16: €250
  • Total: €13,500

Tournament summary

The 2019 Paul Hunter Classic was held over two days, with the first round held on 24 August and the quarter-finals through to the final on 25 August.[10] Three amateur players were invited to play, in Ryan Davies, Florian Nüßle and Ben Mertens.[5] One additional place was awarded via a qualifying event that was held in Nuremberg, Germany.[5][6] Iulian Boiko won the qualifying event, defeating Barry Pinches 3–2 in the final.[5][6]

Barry Hawkins won the event, where he won the final 4–3 over defending champion Kyren Wilson

All four amateur players failed to win a single frame, with Boiko losing to Ricky Walden, Mertens to Joe Perry, Davies to Mark King and Nüßle to defending champion Kyren Wilson with all matches finishing 4–0.[10] In the other four first-round matches, Dominic Dale defeated Matthew Selt, Luca Brecel defeated Ken Doherty, David Gilbert defeated Michael Holt and Barry Hawkins defeated Gary Wilson (all 4–1).[10][19] The quarter-finals featured Luca Brecel and Barry Hawkins both win 4–1 over Ricky Walden and Mark King respectively.[10] Both of the other two matches finished on a deciding frame. Kyren Wilson defeated Dominic Dale and Joe Perry defeated David Gilbert 4–3.[10][19] The final four players were all part of the world top-16.[20] Kyren Wilson defeated Luca Brecel 4–1,[21] whilst Barry Hawkins defeated Joe Perry 4–3.[22]

The final was played between Wilson and Hawkins. Wilson won the first frame, before Hawkins won the next two frames, including the highest break of the tournament – a 120 in frame 3.[10] Wilson won the next two frames with two 50+ breaks.[10] Leading 3–2 Wilson made a break of 57 points in frame 6, one pot from winning the event,[23][24] however, failed to pot the next shot with Hawkins winning the frame by a single point with a clearance of 41 to win the frame 65–64 to force a deciding frame. Hawkins won the frame and the event with a break of 69.[24]

Hawkins commented after the match "To win a title early in the season puts me in good stead."[25] He also commented that his sights were on winning the two following events to be held in China, the International Championship and the China Championship.[25] However, Hawkins would only reach the quarter-finals at the China Championship and lose in the first round of the International Championship.[26][27]

Main rounds

The competition was played with best-of-7-frames matches. Players in bold denote match winners.[10][19][28]

 
Last 16
Best of 7 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames		Final
Best of 7 frames
 
              
 
 
 
 
  Kyren Wilson (ENG) 4
 
 
 
 Florian Nüßle (AUT) 0
 
 Kyren Wilson4
 
 
 
 Dominic Dale3
 
  Matthew Selt (ENG) 1
 
 
 
 Dominic Dale (WAL) 4
 
 Kyren Wilson4
 
 
 
 Luca Brecel1
 
  Luca Brecel (BEL) 4
 
 
 
 Ken Doherty (IRL) 1
 
 Luca Brecel4
 
 
 
 Ricky Walden1
 
  Ricky Walden (ENG) 4
 
 
 
 Iulian Boiko (UKR)0
 
 Kyren Wilson3
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins4
 
  David Gilbert (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Michael Holt (ENG) 1
 
 David Gilbert 3
 
 
 
 Joe Perry 4
 
  Joe Perry (ENG) 4
 
 
 
 Ben Mertens (BEL) 0
 
 Joe Perry3
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins4
 
  Mark King (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Ryan Davies (ENG) 0
 
 Mark King1
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins 4
 
  Barry Hawkins (ENG) 4
 
 
 Gary Wilson (ENG) 1
 

Final
Final: Best of 7 frames.
Stadthalle, Fürth, Germany, 25 August 2019.
Kyren Wilson
 England		 3–4 Barry Hawkins
 England
70–40, 27–77 (63), 2–120 (120), 91–0 (59), 66–22 (52), 64–65 (Wilson 57), 7–73 (69)
59 Highest break 120
0 Century breaks 1
3 50+ breaks 3

Century breaks

A total of seven century breaks were made during the event. Barry Hawkins made the highest break of the tournament, a 120.[29]

References
  1. "Full Calendar". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  2. "PTC helps form Snooker's 'brave new world'". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 21 May 2010. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  3. "Paul Hunter Classic". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  4. "Geschichte der PHC". SnookerStars. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  5. "Paul Hunter Classic Draw and Preview". SnookerHQ. 22 August 2019. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  6. Jürgen, Kesseler. "Nuremberg 22. + 23.08.19 PHC Qualifier". german-snooker-tour.de (in German). Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  7. "Paul Hunter Classic: Kyren Wilson beats Peter Ebdon for second ranking title". BBC Sport. 26 August 2018. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  8. "Paul Hunter Classic in Fürth". snookerstars.de. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  9. "Shaun Murphy reveals bizarre injury dancing to Disney's Greatest Hits". BBC Sport. 10 September 2019. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019. Disney's Greatest Hits
  10. Årdalen, Hermund. "Results (Paul Hunter Classic 2019) - snooker.org". snooker.org (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  11. "Barry Hawkins entthront Kyren Wilson beim Paul Hunter Classic". Eurosport Deutschland. 25 August 2019. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  12. "Eurosport limit coverage of Paul Hunter Classic to online player". Official Website of Snooker Central. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 5 June 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  13. "2019 Paul Hunter Classic Set for Climax". SnookerHQ. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  14. "Paul Hunter Classic". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  15. "Paul Hunter Prize Money". Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  16. "2019–2020 Season Summary" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  17. "Indicative Prize Money Rankings Schedule 2018/2019 Season" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 18 July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  18. Everton, Clive (19 October 2019). "Barry Hawkins beats Kyren Wilson to win Paul Hunter Classic". Snooker Scene. Vol. October 2019. p. 4.
  19. "Paul Hunter Classic 2019 Draw, Live Scores and Tournament Schedule". livesnooker. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  20. "2019 Paul Hunter Classic Set for Climax". SnookerHQ. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  21. "LIVE Kyren Wilson – Luca Brecel – Paul Hunter Classic – 25 August 2019". Eurosport. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  22. "Match Result | World Snooker Live Scores". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  23. "LIVE Kyren Wilson – Barry Hawkins – Paul Hunter Classic – 25 August 2019". Eurosport. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  24. "Barry Hawkins Wins Paul Hunter Classic Title". SnookerHQ. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. "China Championship results: Mark Williams and Mark Selby through to semi-finals". Sporting Life. UK. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  27. "LIVE Daniel Wells – Barry Hawkins – International Championship – 4 August 2019". Eurosport. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  28. "Standings Paul Hunter Classic 2019–2020 – Snooker". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  29. World Snooker (24 August 2019). "Centuries". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
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