2008 Premier League Snooker Explained

Tournament Name:	PartyPoker.com Premier League
Country:	United Kingdom
Organisation:	Matchroom Sport
Format:	Non-ranking event
Total Prize Fund:	£250,000
Winners Share:	£50,000
Highest Break:	(139)
Winner:	Ronnie O'Sullivan
Runner Up:	Mark Selby
Score:	7–2
Previous:	2007
Next:	2009

The 2008 PartyPoker.com Premier League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 11 September to 7 December 2008.

Ronnie O'Sullivan won in the final 7–2 against Mark Selby.__TOC__

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[1]

• Winner: £50,000
• Runner-up: £25,000
• Semi-final: £12,500
• Frame-win: £1,000
• Century break: £1,000
• Total: £250,000

League phase

width=60	Ranking		width=60	SEL !	width=60	PER !	width=60	OSU !	width=60	HEN !	width=60	DIN !	width=60	HIG !	width=60	DAV !	width=60	Frame W–L !	width=60	Match W–D–L !	width=60	Pld–Pts
1	Mark Selby	x	3	3	5	4	4	6	25–11	4–2–0	6–10
2	Joe Perry	3	x	4	5	2	4	4	22–14	4–1–1	6–9
3	Ronnie O'Sullivan	3	2	x	3	6	3	6	23–13	2–3–1	6–7
4	Stephen Hendry	1	1	3	x	3	4	5	17–19	2–2–2	6–6
5	Ding Junhui	2	4	0	3	x	3	4	16–20	2–2–2	6–6
6	John Higgins	2	2	3	2	3	x	3	15–21	0–3–3	6–3
7	Steve Davis	0	2	0	1	2	3	x	8–28	0–1–5	6–1

Top four qualified for the play–offs. If points were level then most frames won determined their positions. If two players had an identical record then the result in their match determined their positions. If that ended 3–3 then the player who got to four first was higher.^[2] (Breaks above 50 shown between (parentheses); century breaks are indicated with bold.)^{[3] [4]}

• 11 September – Grimsby Auditorium, Grimsby, England
  • Mark Selby 4–2 Ding Junhui → 51–64, 15–105 (100), (86)–0, (80)–0, (73)–0, (104)–0
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–3 John Higgins → (62) 63–70, 1–91 (83), (72) 98–0, (85)–0, 67–42, 0–(74)
• 18 September – The Anvil, Basingstoke, England
  • John Higgins 3–3 Ding Junhui → 43–64, 47–68, 46–82 (76), (57) 59–15, (50) 68–58 (50), (78)–4
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan 2–4 Joe Perry → 44–59, 6–105 (50,55), 0–(103), 63–47, (58) 90–0, 31–57
• 25 September – Assembly Rooms, Derby, England
  • Joe Perry 4–2 Steve Davis → 45–77, (80) 85–8, (67) 75–27, (55) 61–0, 63–45, 30–94 (65)
  • Mark Selby 5–1 Stephen Hendry → 82–4, 77–9, 76–66, (50) 79–8, 1–75 (52), 67–64
• 9 October – Malvern Theatres, Great Malvern, England
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–0 Ding Junhui → 63–56, (134) 134–0, (65) 66–1, (53) 70–31, (71)–30, (126)–0
  • Mark Selby 6–0 Steve Davis → 68–36, (95)–3, 66–43, (80) 113–7, 73–49, (101)–0
• 23 October – Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth, England
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–0 Steve Davis → 103–7, (60) 97–25, (52) 71–38, (62) 113–0, 63–22, 93–0
  • Stephen Hendry 1–5 Joe Perry → 31–(75), 12–62, 72–9, 1–(108), 53–71(65), 10–75(66)
• 30 October – English Institute of Sport, Sheffield, England
  • Stephen Hendry 4–2 John Higgins → (76)–7, (65) 72–40, 24–61 (56), 65–12, 68–61 (56), 25–60 (52)
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–3 Mark Selby → (75) 121–10, 60–56, 41–64, (64) 71–28, 5–98, 19–94 (94)
• 6 November – Newport Centre, Newport, Wales
  • Joe Perry 2–4 Ding Junhui → (50)–85 (70), 4–97, 0–82, (85)–5, 0–80, (90)–0
  • Steve Davis 1–5 Stephen Hendry → 37–54, 0–84 (78), 75–54, 48–75, 32–78 (72), 37–86 (86)
• 13 November – Dolphin Leisure Centre, Haywards Heath, England
  • Ding Junhui 4–2 Steve Davis → (139)–0, (72) 103–32, (78) 104–0, (56) 92–4, 1–74 (70), 18–69
  • Mark Selby 4–2 John Higgins → (102)–0, 37–82, (55) 72–46, (93) 94–32, 28–62 (60), (113) 126–0
• 20 November – Sands Centre, Carlisle, England
  • John Higgins 2–4 Joe Perry → 0–(72), 10–75, 36–81, 1–68, (120)–0, (76)–21
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan 3–3 Stephen Hendry → 53–60, 1–109 (108), (67) 77–17, 37–73 (72), (68) 94–36, 66–42
• 27 November – Glades Arena, Kidderminster, England
  • Mark Selby 3–3 Joe Perry → (63) 91–3, 59–49, 80–22, 6–(115), 2–57, 22–66 (51)
  • Stephen Hendry 3–3 Ding Junhui → 36–(85), (88)–1, 0–(113), (50) 69–12, 8–72, 69–13
  • John Higgins 3–3 Steve Davis → 18–68, 8–57, 66–8, (73)–16, (69) 70–29, 37–67

Play-offs

6–7 December – Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton-on-Sea, England^{[3] [4]}

Semi-Final 1 – Mark Selby 5–0 Stephen Hendry 83–34, 110(110)–4, 133(128)–0, 115(115)–4, 77(77)–0
Semi-Final 2 – Joe Perry 4–5 Ronnie O'Sullivan 55–68, 93(85)–0, 20–93(79), 76(72)–8, 24–93, 95(95)–0, 6–69(52), 100(100)–4, 4–104(104)
Final – Mark Selby 2–7 Ronnie O'Sullivan 11–121(93), 8–82(62), 18–74, 14–84(84), 48–83(62), 61–58, 13–105(105), 84(84)–0, 20–74(74)

Qualifiers

See main article: 2008 Championship League.

The qualification for this tournament, the Championship League was played in eight groups from 25 February to 15 May 2008.

Century breaks

^{[3] [4]}

• 139, 113, 100 Ding Junhui
• 134, 126, 105, 104 Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 128, 120, 115, 110, 104, 102, 101 Mark Selby
• 120 John Higgins
• 115, 103, 101, 100 Joe Perry
• 108 Stephen Hendry

Notes and References

1. Web site: Snooker stars cueing up. 17 May 2024. Kidderminster Shuttle. 18 November 2008. https://archive.today/20240517153747/https://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/3857850.snooker-stars-cueing-up/. 17 May 2024.
2. Web site: Premier League 2008 – Table . Global Snooker . 5 January 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110705055432/http://www.global-snooker.com/premier-league-snooker-2008-league-table.asp . 5 July 2011 .
3. Web site: 2008 PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker. premierleaguesnooker.matchroomcms.com. Matchroom Sport. 5 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20091223013549/http://premierleaguesnooker.matchroomcms.com/results/2008_partypokercom_premier_league_snooker.htm. 23 December 2009.
4. Web site: Premier League Snooker 2008 – Results . Global Snooker . 5 January 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110705055425/http://www.global-snooker.com/Premier-League-Snooker-2008-Results-from-Global-Snooker.asp . 5 July 2011 .