# 2005–06 snooker season

The 2005–06 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 17 May 2005 and 10 May 2006. There were six ranking tournaments, and the British Open and Irish Masters tournaments were removed from calendar. The Northern Ireland Trophy was held for the first time as non-ranking tournament, and the Pot Black was held again after a 12-year hiatus.

## New professional players

Countries
* Bahrain
* China
* England
* Malaysia
* Malta
* Northern Ireland
* Scotland
Note: new in this case means that these players were not on the 2004/2005 professional Main Tour.

## Calendar

The following table outlines the results and dates for the ranking and major invitational events that took place.

### World Snooker Tour

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 17 Aug | 21 Aug | NIR | Northern Ireland Trophy | Waterfront Hall | Belfast | Matthew Stevens | Stephen Hendry | 9–7 |
| 8 Oct | 16 Oct | ENG | Grand Prix | Guild Hall | Preston | John Higgins | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 9–2 |
| 29 Oct | 29 Oct | ENG | Pot Black | Royal Automobile Club | London | Matthew Stevens | Shaun Murphy | 1–0 |
| 20 Nov | 23 Nov | WAL | Masters Qualifying Event | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Stuart Bingham | Ali Carter | 6–3 |
| 15 Sep | 4 Dec | ENG | Premier League | G-Mex Centre | Manchester | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Stephen Hendry | 6–0 |
| 5 Dec | 18 Dec | ENG | UK Championship | Barbican Centre | York | Ding Junhui | Steve Davis | 10–6 |
| 15 Jan | 22 Jan | ENG | Masters | Wembley Conference Centre | London | John Higgins | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 10–9 |
| 30 Jan | 5 Feb | MLT | Malta Cup | Hilton Conference Center | Portomaso | Ken Doherty | John Higgins | 9–8 |
| 27 Feb | 5 Mar | WAL | Welsh Open | Newport Centre | Newport | Stephen Lee | Shaun Murphy | 9–4 |
| 20 Mar | 26 Mar | CHN | China Open | Beijing University Students' Gymnasium | Beijing | Mark Williams | John Higgins | 9–8 |
| 15 Apr | 1 May | ENG | World Championship | Crucible Theatre | Sheffield | Graeme Dott | Peter Ebdon | 18–14 |
* Ranking event
* Non-ranking event

### World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 24 Sep | 25 Sep | ENG | British Open | Savoy Snooker Centre | Snodland | June Banks | Reanne Evans | 4–0 |
| 29 Oct | 29 Oct | ENG | UK Ladies Championship | Landywood Snooker Hall | Walsall | Reanne Evans | Maria Catalano | 4–0 |
| 26 Nov | 26 Nov | ENG | East Anglian Championship | Cambridge Snooker Centre | Cambridge | June Banks | Reanne Evans | 4–3 |
| 4 Feb | 4 Feb | ENG | Northern Championship | Regal Snooker Centre | Preston | Maria Catalano | June Banks | 4–1 |
| 25 Feb | 25 Feb | ENG | Connie Gough Memorial | Rileys Snooker Club | Luton | Maria Catalano | Reanne Evans | 4–3 |
| 1 Apr | 6 Apr | ENG | World Women's Championship | Cambridge Snooker Centre | Cambridge | Reanne Evans | Emma Bonney | 5–3 |

### Pontin's International Open Series

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 17 May | 21 May | WAL | PIOS I | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Tian Pengfei | Martin Gould | 6–3 |
| 17 Jun | 21 Jun | WAL | PIOS II | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Mark Joyce | James Leadbetter | 6–3 |
| 2 Sep | 7 Sep | WAL | PIOS III | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Liu Song | Stephen Rowlings | 6–1 |
| 14 Oct | 19 Oct | WAL | PIOS IV | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Colm Gilcreest | Mark Joyce | 6–3 |
| 28 Nov | 1 Dec | WAL | PIOS V | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Chris Melling | Paul Davison | 6–5 |
| 17 Feb | 20 Feb | WAL | PIOS VI | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Liu Song | Paul Davison | 6–3 |
| 6 Mar | 9 Mar | WAL | PIOS VII | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Tian Pengfei | Liu Song | 6–3 |
| 8 May | 10 May | WAL | PIOS VIII | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Andrew Higginson | Jamie O'Neill | 6–3 |

### Other events

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 20 Jul | 24 Jul | GER | World Games | Saalbau Bottrop | Duisburg | Gerard Greene | Ding Junhui | 4–3 |
| 1 Oct | 3 Oct | GER | Fürth German Open | Stadthalle | Fürth | Mark King | Michael Holt | 4–2 |
| 22 Oct | 26 Oct | IRL | Irish Professional Championship | Spawell Sport & Leisure Complex | Templeogue | Joe Swail | Ken Doherty | 9–7 |
| 25 Nov | 27 Nov | SUI | Swiss Open | Billard Center Im Funken | Zofingen | Ricky Walden | Ken Doherty | 5–3 |
| 17 Dec | 18 Dec | NED | Dutch Open | De Dieze | 's-Hertogenbosch | Bjorn Haneveer | Michael Holt | 6–1 |

## Official rankings

The top 16 of the world rankings, these players automatically played in the final rounds of the world ranking events and were invited for the Masters.
| No. | Player | Points 2003/04 | Points 2004/05 | Total |
| 1 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 26650 | 23162 | 49812 |
| 2 | Stephen Hendry | 20800 | 21337 | 42137 |
| 3 | Stephen Maguire | 14025 | 19725 | 33750 |
| 4 | Matthew Stevens | 18450 | 19725 | 33712 |
| 5 | Paul Hunter | 18925 | 13200 | 32125 |
| 6 | John Higgins | 16212 | 15812 | 32024 |
| 7 | Peter Ebdon | 15525 | 15650 | 31175 |
| 8 | Jimmy White | 18175 | 12787 | 30962 |
| 9 | Mark Williams | 16912 | 12837 | 29749 |
| 10 | Stephen Lee | 14025 | 15625 | 29650 |
| 11 | Ken Doherty | 13237 | 15887 | 29124 |
| 12 | Alan McManus | 12825 | 15975 | 28800 |
| 13 | Graeme Dott | 14812 | 13500 | 28312 |
| 14 | Joe Perry | 15900 | 11250 | 27150 |
| 15 | Steve Davis | 11212 | 15775 | 26987 |
| 16 | Ian McCulloch | 12075 | 14537 | 26612 |

## World ranking points

The rankings for the 2006–07 season were based on the total points from the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. There were 6 ranking events during the 2005–06 season.

## Points distribution

2005/2006 Points distribution for world ranking events:
| Tournament | Round → | L96 | L80 | L64 | L48 | L32 | L16 | QF | SF | F | W |
| Grand Prix | Unseeded loser | 400 | – | 900 | – | 1400 | 1900 | 2500 | 3200 | 4000 | 5000 |
| Grand Prix | Seeded loser | 250 | – | 450 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| UK Championship | Unseeded loser | 600 | 975 | 1350 | 1725 | 2100 | 2850 | 3750 | 4800 | 6000 | 7500 |
| UK Championship | Seeded loser | 300 | 488 | 675 | 863 | 1050 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Malta Cup | Unseeded loser | 400 | 650 | 900 | 1150 | 1400 | 1900 | 2500 | 3200 | 4000 | 5000 |
| Malta Cup | Seeded loser | 200 | 325 | 450 | 575 | 700 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Welsh Open | Unseeded loser | 400 | 650 | 900 | 1150 | 1400 | 1900 | 2500 | 3200 | 4000 | 5000 |
| Welsh Open | Seeded loser | 200 | 325 | 450 | 575 | 700 | – | – | – | – | – |
| China Open | Unseeded loser | 400 | 650 | 900 | 1150 | 1400 | 1900 | 2500 | 3200 | 4000 | 5000 |
| China Open | Seeded loser | 200 | 325 | 450 | 575 | 700 | – | – | – | – | – |
| World Championship | Unseeded loser | 800 | 1300 | 1800 | 2300 | 2800 | 3800 | 5000 | 6400 | 8000 | 10000 |
| World Championship | Seeded loser | 400 | 650 | 900 | 1150 | 1400 | – | – | – | – | – |