Travis Perkins were unveiled as new sponsors of the UK Championship for three years and LG Electronics announced that they would sponsor the tour as a whole as well as the LG Cup. As the season started there were no other sponsors to take over from Regal who backed the Welsh and Scottish Opens as well as the Scottish Masters, or for the Masters itself following the enforced withdrawal of Benson & Hedges. Qualifying for all ranking events would take place at Pontins in Prestatyn but there would be separate qualifying for each event spread over the season.

Confusion surrounded the future of the Masters as the WSA announced that it would be a ranking event with qualifying rounds like the others. However the BBC were insisting that it retained its invitation format with the top 16 guaranteed to take part at Wembley. There was no news of the future of the Scottish Masters which had previously been promoted by the 110 Sport group.

August saw two new events in the Far East. The Euro-Asia Snooker Masters Challenge would involve eight players, four from Europe and four from Asia, playing in two events in Hong Kong and Bangkok. The format was to be two round robin groups with semi-finals and a final. In the first of these Ken Doherty, Mark Williams, Stephen Hendry and James Wattana progressed to the semi finals with Wattana, in a welcome return to form, beating Doherty in the final to take the £30,000 prize. In the second Williams, Hendry and Wattana were all eliminated at the group stage and Jimmy White, Marco Fu and the young Chinese star Ding Jun Hui, joined Doherty in the last four. Doherty met Fu in the final and, on this occasion, the Irishman went one better than in Hong Kong and took the title with a 5-2 victory.

Meanwhile the WSA announced that next season’s Main Tour would be reduced to 96 players. These would comprise the top 64 on the end of season rankings plus the best 16 on the one season rankings who have not already qualified and then the top 16 from the Pontins Holiday’s Challenge Tour Order of Merit with no concessionary places for the likes of the IBSF World Champion, or anyone else.

The first event on the Pontins Holidays Challenge Tour followed at Prestatyn with all the players anxious to get off to a good start. There was a promising return to some sort of form for former world number seven, Steve James who reached the quarter finals but the surprise of the event was Mohammed Shehab making his Challenge Tour debut. The 26 year-old from Abu Dhabi in the UAE. went all the way to the semis before losing to Stefan Mazrocis. Stefan himself had the ideal start to his season as he beat Paul S. Davison in the final to give him a great chance of a return to the Main Tour next season.

For the first time there was also a Ladies event incorporated into the IBSF championships with a field of 32. They all went to the knockout stage with the group matches only sorting out the seedings. Kelly Fisher reigned supreme, winning her group and reaching the final without losing a frame. Belgium’s Wendy Jans managed to take two frames off her in the final but Kelly won comfortably, 5-2.

Hugh Abernethy won the second Pontins Holidays Challenge Tour event with a 6-0 win in the final over tour rookie, Gary Wilson. Former world number seven, Steve James, followed his quarter final in the first event with a run to the last 16 in this and put himself in a good position to finish in one of the top 16 places on the Order of Merit to earn a return to the Main Tour. Paul Davison was leading the table after two events.

The Main Tour players returned to Prestatyn for the Welsh Open qualifiers where rookie Liu Song booked a place in the last 48 and Darren Morgan finally got his first wins of the season to join him. Gerard Greene’s hopes of a possible top 16 slot were dealt a blow by Mike Dunn, in a remarkable match in which Dunn needed three snookers in the decider and got them and doubled the final re-spotted black for victory. Fergal O’Brien and Nigel Bond were other notable casualties.

As the year drew to a close the final event, also at Prestatyn was the Masters Qualifying Event were the players amassed some 46 centuries. Australia’s world under-21 champion, Neil Robertson won eight matches to beat off all challengers and earn a place in the Masters itself at Wembley in February, just edging out Dominic Dale in the deciding frame of the final.

The New Year began with the qualifiers for the Irish Masters. Two players, Lee Walker and Colm Gilcreest won through all five rounds to take their places in the last 32, putting out Ali Carter and Joe Swail in the final round. Gary Wilkinson and Jamie Burnett both got their first ranking wins of the season and then took out Robin Hull and Dave Harold to book their places in Cardiff. Rob Milkins and Anthony Davies remain without a win all season, going down to Michael Holt and Nigel Bond, but Mark Selby finally broke his duck. The other qualifiers were Brian Morgan, Ian McCulloch, Stephen Maguire (who ousted John Parrott), Patrick Wallace, Marco Fu, Tony Drago, Mark King, Stuart Bingham and Anthony Hamilton.

The first two stages of qualifying for the world championship followed immediately. Two former top 16 stars, Steve James and Mike Hallett were among the eight who qualified for the next stage to join the Main Tour players. Hallett, who had to recover from 1-4 down in an earlier match, overturned a 0-4 deficit in his final match against Pete Roscoe to progress. The other qualifiers were David Hall, Brian Salmon, Justin Astley, Rodney Goggins, Adam Davies and Craig MacGillivray.

When the Welsh Open began its final stages at it’s new home, the Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff, Steve Davis was still looking for his first win of the season. When it ended he had narrowly failed to win a 29th ranking title. In the last 48 round, Robert Milkins at last got a win, and then went all the way to the quarter finals. Dave Harold pulled out win a broken wrist and Robin Hull had to retire after a couple of frames with a thyroid problem. Liu Song of China put up a great show on his debut in the final stages of a ranking event but was unable to get past Marco Fu.

Anthony Davies’ poor run continued as he still remains with out a win. The only other upsets at this stage were the defeats of Tony Drago and Allister Carter by Barry Pinches and Stuart Pettman. Four seeds fell in the last 32 round including Graeme Dott, who is another still without a win and in danger of slipping right out of the top 32. He fell to Dominic Dale. UK champion, Matthew Stevens went out to Marco Fu and Milkins ended the hopes of David Gray. Fu’s form continued as put out Doherty and Hendry to reach the semis. Steve Davis gained his first win over John Higgins and then got past Milkins. Dominic Dale saw of Mark Williams and Alan McManus and It was only Ronnie O’Sullivan of the top four who reached his allotted place. He duly dealt with Dale and Davis was never in trouble against Fu. When Davis, in his 99th major final, led 4-1 and then 8-5 he looked to have the title in his grasp but Ronnie claimed the last four frames for a thrilling victory.

A new look, unsponsored, Masters was next up and the opening match saw the surprise wild card, 16 year-old Ding Jun Hui, give an impressive performance as he disposed of Joe Perry and ran Stephen Lee very close in round two. The only one of the top eight seeds to fall in his opening match was Stephen Hendry who, to the delight of a partisan crowd, lost 6-4 to Jimmy White. White then disposed of Peter Ebdon before going down to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semis. Twice champion, Paul Hunter, beat Mark Williams and John Higgins to set up a final against Ronnie. For the third time in a Wembley final, Hunter found himself well behind after the afternoon session. This time he was 2-7 down but again came back to win 10-9.It was his third Masters title and each one by the same score.

The next round of World Championship qualifiers followed and again it was Ding Jun Hui who made all the headlines. He made six centuries in his four victories just losing out to Barry Pinches for a place in the last 48. Lee Walker, Rory McLeod, Ryan Day and Leo Fernandez all won all four of their matches to go through. Gary Wilkinson lost ten frames in a row to lose 3-10 to Nick Dyson. Fergal O’Brien was another high profile casualty as was Gerard Greene who had been challenging for a place in the top 16. Joe Johnson made his first appearance of the season but at 9-0 down to Ian Preece he conceded the final frame and that may well be the last we see of the popular 1986 champion who will retire at the end of the season.

Brian Salmon and Steve James, who already headed the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, fought out the final of the third event in the series with Salmon prevailing 6-1, leaving both players way out in front of the rest and guaranteed a return to the Main Tour next season. Despite losing in the opening round, Paul S. Davison remains third with Sean O’Neill, who was a semi finalist, and Mike Hallett also strongly placed to stay in the leading 16 who will be promoted.

There were upsets galore in the final stages of the European Open at the Hilton Conference Centre, Portomaso in Malta. Firstly Tony Drago had to play his match left over from the qualifying and he duly moved into the last 32. When that round got under way five of the top 16 seeds were casualties including, UK champions, Matthew Stevens, and three world champions, Mark Williams, Peter Ebdon & Ken Doherty. Ken fell victim to the promising young Australian, Neil Robertson, who then put out David Gray to move into the last eight. Quinten Hann joined him and we had two Australians in the quarter finals of a ranking event for the first time ever. Elsewhere, Jimmy White beat Stephen Hendry for the third time this season and Drago thrilled the locals as he put out Paul Hunter. Graeme Dott managed his first win of the season but then when down to John Higgins and Stephen Maguire, who ended Peter Ebdon’s hopes in the first round, beat Joe Perry. Reigning champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan looked to be cruising but Stephen Lee pulled off a great quarter final win. Maguire added to the woes of John Higgins and Jimmy White moved into the semi finals with victory over Robertson where he met Tony Drago. Maguire kept up his form, as Lee was his next victim and set up his first ranking final where he met Jimmy White who ended Drago’s challenge. In the final, White was 5-0 down before he knew what was happening and Maguire had a comfortable 9-3 victory, which sets him up for a top 32 place, at least, next season.

The final series of qualifiers got under way for the Players Championship, for which Scottish newspaper, the Daily Record had been named as title sponsor. This was the last opportunity for the majority of the players to add to their points haul with qualification for next season’s tour very much in mind. Four players went all the way through from the first round. Ding Jun Hui and Scott MacKenzie qualified for the final stages of a ranking event for the first time while fast improving Neil Robertson followed his success in Malta with another last 48 place. The fourth was Ryan Day, who at last seems to be fulfilling his promise. Newly crowned European Open winner, Stephen Maguire was brought back to earth with a bump going down to Shaun Murphy. Other notable casualties were Fergal O’Brien, James Wattana, beaten by MacKenzie, and Michael Judge but Gary Wilkinson, one of those in danger of losing his tour place, recorded a welcome win.

At Colwyn Bay, the Betfair Premier League play-offs resulted in a record sixth win for Stephen Hendry who beat John Higgins 9-6 in the final with Marco Fu and Mark Williams as the losing semi finalists.

The final qualifying round of the world championship provided some thrilling matches. John Parrott who has never failed to reach the Crucible throughout his career looked in real trouble at 5-0 down but he won six of the last seven frames to guarantee a 21st appearance at snooker’s premier venue. Mark King came from 4-8 down to win 10-8, Anthony Hamilton had to win the last five for a final frame victory and Chris Small took five in a row to win 10-7 from 5-7 down.

Seeded casualties included Marco Fu, Tony Drago, Mark Selby and Anthony Davies, still without a win this season. James Wattana came from behind to beat Dave Harold and keep alive hopes of a return to the top 32. Two players will be making their Crucible debuts – Ryan Day who put out Drew Henry, and Stephen Maguire who had a walkover due to Robin Hull’s continued health problems.

The players then gathered just outside Dublin for the Citywest Hotel Irish Masters and first round casualties included Matthew Stevens, Steve Davis, Alan McManus and Stephen Hendry who fell to Mark King who seemed to be finding some form at last and went on to beat Jimmy White in the next round. At the same stage, Anthony Hamilton disposed of Mark Williams for the second event in a row and Graeme Dott revived his season with a victory over Paul Hunter. Stephen Lee went down to Quinten Hann but there were still four of the top eight in the quarter finals. Ronnie O’Sullivan conceded one frame with 11 reds still on the table against Peter Ebdon and duly lost the match 6-2. Hann achieved possibly his best win so far putting out Higgins while Mark King’s run continued at the expense of Dott. Doherty won a tense battle with Hamilton but then he too fell to King who thus reached his first final for seven years. Peter Ebdon ended Hann’s hopes, and in the final, put paid to King’s dreams of a first title, running out a 10-7 winner.

The final event before the world championship, the Daily Record Players Championship, which had replaced the Scottish Open, was held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. It was also the final event to count towards the LG Electronics Tour Order of Merit with double points at stake. In the last 48 round 17 year-old Ding Jun Hui beat Mark Selby to reach the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time, where he was joined by Neil Robertson and Ryan Day who had also both come right through from the first qualifying round.

Robertson put out Anthony Davies who thus completed a whole season without a win. Joe Swail and Dave Harold were among the seeded players who missed out. In last 32 Matthew Stevens fell to the in-form Mark King which left the Welshman without a single match win since his UK Championship victory.

An out-of-sorts John Higgins went out to Drew Henry and other seeds to fall were Stephen Lee, to John Parrott, David Gray and Quinten Hann. Jimmy White won an intriguing battle with John Parrott and Ian McCulloch, who had had a terrible start to the season, dismissed Drew Henry to join him in the last eight. Five world champions plus the Masters champion completed the quarter final line-up. Ebdon beat Williams to set up semi final against Jimmy White who ended McCulloch’s hopes.

Paul Hunter looked to be the man to beat as he dispatched Ronnie O’Sullivan to keep alive his chances of scooping the Order of Merit jackpot. Doherty came back to beat Hendry but went down to Hunter in the semis. Ebdon seemed to have White beaten at 5-3 but Jimmy somehow took the last three to set up a final against Hunter. Neither player was on form but Jimmy won 9-7 to pick up his first ranking title for since December 1992 when he won his only UK Championship. Ronnie O’Sullivan topped the LG Electronics Tour Order of Merit and pocketed another £50,000 to take his to the top of the season’s money earners.

Eight former world champions were among the 32 hopefuls at the Crucible for the Embassy World Championship but four of them went out in the first round. Parrott’s defeat by Hunter was perhaps expected but Doherty fell to Joe Swail, Ebdon to Ian McCulloch and Steve Davis to Anthony Hamilton.

Among the other seeds, Stephen Lee went down to Lee Walker, Barry Pinches put out Jimmy White and Andy Hicks defeated Quinten Hann. John Higgins was almost another casualty but he recovered from 7-9 down to beat Ryan Day 10-9.

In round two defending champion Mark Williams went down to Joe Perry and Matthew Stevens put one over his pal Paul Hunter. Hamilton won a close battle with Swail and Ronnie O’Sullivan got past Andy Hicks. Barry Pinches took Stephen Hendry to the deciding frame but the seven-times champion squeezed through.

McCulloch had a comfortable win over McManus, as did David Gray over Lee Walker. Graeme Dott survived another attempted comeback by John Higgins which left Hendry and O’Sullivan as the only two from the top eight seeds remaining - and the only surviving former champions. In the quarter finals, O’Sullivan was in devastating form and four centuries helped him beat Hamilton with a session to spare.

Hendry also came through in two sessions against McCulloch. Despite a brave comeback in the final session, Joe Perry lost to Stevens and David Gray just could not get into his match with Graeme Dott.

In the semis, Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his good form opening up a 6-2 lead over Hendry in the first session which increased to 13-3 after the second. It was all over mid way through the third session with Hendry losing 4-17.

The other was much closer but Dott opened up a two frame lead in the first session which he maintained to the end to edge out Stevens 17-15.

So Graeme Dott who had not won a match in the first half of the season and smashed his cue as a result, now found himself in the world final. In the final, despite winning the opening five frames, Dott could not maintain his form and Ronnie only allowed him another three to run out a winner by 18-8 and take his second world title and regain the number one slot.

Only the final Challenge Tour event now remained which resulted in a victory for Gary Wilson who, as a result, would be one of six players making their Main Tour debuts next season. The others are Adam Davies, David Hall, Sean O’Neill, Ben Woollaston and Rodney Goggins. Former top 16 players, Mike Hallett and Steve James ensured a return to the top flight and the other eight qualifiers were Mark Gray, Paul S. Davison, Stefan Mazrocis, Jin Long, Hugh Abernethy, David McDonnell, Joe Jogia and Brian Salmon.

Among those losing their places on the Main Tour were several former top 32 players including Joe Johnson, Alain Robidoux, Tony Jones, Jason Ferguson, Terry Murphy and Billy Snaddon. Of those Johnson, Robidoux, Ferguson and Snaddon all retired from professional snooker.