It's four from four as Robertson nicks 2009 Grand Prix

Australia's Neil Robertson won the 2009 Grand Prix for his fourth win in as many ranking finals

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John Higgins captures Grand Prix

Scotland's John Higgins won the 2008 Royal London Watches Grand Prix.

The final against Ryan Day (Wales) started very well for the two-time world champion. He built a 7-2 lead before Day came back to 8-7. Higgins managed to snatch the next frame though to win 9-7.

Englishmen Allister Carter and Judd Trump lost out in the semi-finals. Trump is only 19 years old and this was the best result so far of a very promising career.

Defending champion Marco Fu (Hong Kong) was beaten 5-1 by Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) in the second round.

Higgins received £75,000 for the victory. Day got £35,000 for his third ranking event runner-up spot. He's still waiting for that elusive first win.

Fu had the highest TV stage break of the tournament with the 139 he made against Jimmy Michie (England) in the first round.

This was the 19th ranking title for Higgins but first since the 2007 World Championship.

After unsuccessful attempts of introducing round robin system in recent years they this year returned to the normal cup format, but with a twist. After each round a new draw was made. This way the players didn't know who they would play in the next round until after they had won their match.

Higgins moves from ninth to sixth in the provisional rankings. Day advances two places, from fifth to third. O'Sullivan increases his lead atop the rankings and Stephen Maguire (Scotland) stays in second.

Higgins jumps from fifth to second in the ELO Ratings. Day also advances three places, from eighth to fifth. O'Sullivan still holds an overwhelming lead and Maguire drops one place to third.

The event took place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, Scoland 11-19 October, 2008. It was the third ranking tournament of eight on the 2008/2009 Main Tour. Next up on the snooker calendar is the Bahrain Snooker Championship which starts 8th November.

See also:

• Royal London Watches Grand Prix 2008 (World Snooker)
• Higgins resists Day to take title (BBC)
• Higgins holds off Day to win Grand Prix (Eurosport)
• Home Town Glory for Higgins (Sporting Life)
• 2008 Royal London Watches Grand Prix (Global Cue Sports Centre)
• John Higgins achieves lifelong goal (Times Online)
• Strange Final, Great Tournament (Snooker Scene blog)
• Not Ryan’s Day as Higgins takes Grand Prix title (Pro Snooker Blog)
• Higgins stoppt Days Aufholjagd (Snookerblog - German)
• SnookerManager: Shanghai Masters 2008
• Grand Prix 2008 (Wikipedia)
• John Higgins (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Neil Robertson wins Grand Prix (2006 Royal London Watches Grand Prix)
• Fu tops Grand Prix for first ranking win (2007 Royal London Watches Grand Prix)
• It's Ronnie again in the Northern Ireland Trophy (2008 Main Tour)
• Walden strikes gold in Shanghai Masters (2008 Main Tour)

Shameless plug:

• WWW Snooker: Royal London Watches Grand Prix 2008

Fu tops Grand Prix for first ranking win

Marco Fu from Hong Kong won the Royal London Watches Grand Prix for his first ranking title.

In the final Fu downed Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) 9-6. O'Sullivan has now not won a ranking title for more than 30 months.

Former world champion Shaun Murphy (England) and Gerard Greene (N.Ireland) both lost out 6-5 in the semi-finals.

Fu received £75,000 for the victory. O'Sullivan walked away with £35,000. Tom Ford (England) won £24,000 for his 147 tournament high break.

This was Fu's first ranking title and second final. He lost 9-2 to Stephen Lee (England) in the final of the 1998 Grand Prix.

The win took him from 35th to 15th in the provisional rankings. O'Sullivan's runner-up spot moved him from No.6 to No.2. World champion John Higgins from Scotland still leads the list. Shaun Murphy (England) sits in third.

The event took place at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, Aberdeen, Scotland Oct 13-21, 2007. It was the second tournament of seven on the 2007/2008 Main Tour. Next up is the Northern Ireland Trophy 4th November.

See also:

• Royal London Watches Grand Prix tournament page (World Snooker)
• Fu beats O'Sullivan in Aberdeen (BBC)
• Fu wins first ranking event at Grand Prix (Eurosport)
• Fu Stuns Rocket (Sporting Life)
• 2007 Royal London Watches Grand Prix (Global Cue Sports Centre)
• Dream recovery seals title for Dale (This is Swansea)
• Marco Fu Defeats Ronnie in Aberdeen (greenbaize)
• Fu mit seinem ersten Titel (Snookerblog - German)
• Marco Fu vence Royal London Watches Grand Prix (Snooker Planet - Portuguese)
• R.L.W. Grand Prix 2007 (fergalobrien.ie)
• Snooker Ranking - Grand Prix 2007 (Cuefactor)
• SnookerManager: Grand Prix 2007
• Marco Fu (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Neil Robertson wins Grand Prix (2006)
• Dominic Dale on top in Shanghai Masters

Shameless plugs:

• WWW Snooker: Royal London Watches Grand Prix 2007

Neil Robertson wins Grand Prix

Australia's Neil Robertson won the Royal London Watches Grand Prix and a cheque of £60,000.

In the final he beat England's up and coming player Jamie Cope 9-5. This was the first major final for both players.

Jamie Cope made a maximum break of 147 earlier in the tournament, earning him £24,000 in addition to the £30,000 runner-up prize.

This was the first time an Australian has won a ranking title. Eddie Charlton made it to three World finals but never managed to win a ranking title.

The win puts Robertson at No.7 in the provisional rankings. Cope moves to 14th position. He started the season at No.48 in the world rankings. The list is still headed by Ireland's Ken Doherty, followed by John Higgins and Graeme Dott from Scotland.

The event took place in Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, Scotland, Oct 21-29. It was the second of seven ranking tournaments on the WSA Main Tour.

See also:

• 2006 Grand Prix (Global Snooker Centre)
• Robertson Makes History with Victory (Sporting Life)
• Robertson clinches Aberdeen win (BBC)
• 2006 Royal London Watches Grand Prix (Wheels in Motion)
• Robertson makes snooker history (The Australian)
  
• Erster australischer Sieg in einem Weltranglistenturnier (Snookerblog - German)
• Snooker Ranking with Cuefacts from the Royal London Grand Prix 2006

Related posts:

• Ding Junhui wins Northern Ireland Trophy