Unusual rule leads to eliminated Snooker 900 star finishing last with most wins

Former world 6-reds and seniors champion Mark Davis is the latest winner of a Snooker 900 weekly title, but the tournament will also be remembered for a bizarre finish to the group stage that saw all five cueists finish on exactly the same number of points.

Held at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading and shown live on the various Pluto TV platforms, Davis, Lee Walker, Andrew Norman, Aaron Canavan, and Wayne Townsend were the selected cueists for this week’s action. Allan Taylor was also in the original line-up, but withdrew after the opening day.

The contestants were initially placed into a round robin where they faced each other once in best of five frames matches under ‘Snooker 900’ rules. After all these group fixtures were complete, the top two players qualified for a best of nine frames final to determine the overall champion.

However, for its competitions, Snooker 900 organisers use a unique scoring system to rank within a group, with players receiving points for the frames they win instead matches (for example, in football or the recent Championship League Snooker, players get three points for winning a match).

Competitors collect a point for every frame they win, and they can also earn an addition point for each and every century break they make.

With little to choose between this week’s roster, pundits expected a close finish to the group stage, and it ended up being the tightest qualification race in Snooker 900 history.

Going into the final session on Wednesday afternoon, recently relegated World Snooker Tour professional Davis sat on top of the group with nine points, but he had completed all his matches whilst the other four players each had one game left.

In those final ties, Norman defeated Canavan (who made a century) 3-1, and Townsend ousted Walker 3-2, results meaning that all five players finished on exactly nine points each.

When players are tied on points, instead of using most wins or head-to-head results to differentiate, Snooker 900 organisers’ primary method to separate players is the highest break rule - the largest run made by players throughout their matches in the round robin.

On this basis, Canavan won the group as he fashioned a break of 130 during his loss to Norman. Former world number 12 Davis clung on to a spot in the final, finishing second by virtue of a 112 he had made earlier in the week.

Towsnend, Walker, and Norman - who all won more frames than the top two - ended third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

Due to the bizarre format in place, ex-professional Norman - who twice reached the last 16 of a ranking event - came bottom of the group despite winning three of his four matches. Walker (one win) and Canavan, Davis, Townsend (two wins each) all finished above him in the final standings, despite having fewer match victories.

In the final held on late Wednesday afternoon, Davis racked up two tons in a 5-3 win over Canavan to claim the title.

Snooker 900 on Pluto TV returns from Monday 20th July with Patsy Fagan, Tony Knowles, Tony Drago, Les Dodd, Rebecca Kenna, and Tessa Davidson all set for action.