snooker.org: Grand Prix 1997 (original) (raw)

Bournemouth Int. Conference Centre, England (Oct 14-26, 1997)
WPBSA ranking tournament #1 (�350,000 purse)

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Report

John Higgins from Scotland 9-6 in the final of the 1997 Grand Prix. Dale, who is only ranked No.54 in the world, lead all the way through the match, although Higgins clawed back from a 4-0 deficit to get within one frame at 7-6. Dale then snatched victory with deciding breaks of 120 and 71.

This is a major boost to Dominic's career as he has never progressed beyond the last 16 in previous ranking tournament. He'll be No. 14 in the new rankings. The cash isn't too bad either - he pockets 60,000 for the victory. Bookmakers quoted Dale at 100-1 for first prize two weeks ago ...

Quinten Hann won the prize of �5,000 for the highest televised break with an excellent 143 total clearance in an earlier round. Alfie Burden won the high break prize of �1,000 for an equally impressive 143.

In one way one could say Dale's breakthrough was bound to come this season. Why, do you ask? I'll explain:

When the WPBSA opened the circuit for everyone in 1992, a lot of excellent rookies appeared on the scene. If I remember correctly,Ronnie O'Sullivan was the leader among these freshmen in the 1993/94 ranking list. Then followedJohn Higgins,Mark J Williams, Stephen Lee ... and Dominic Dale. O'Sullivan continued his progress and entered the top 16 in1994. Higgins did it in1995, Williams in1996 and Stephen Lee in1997. See the pattern? Will this be Dominic's big year?

Pictures

Results

(Players are English unless stated)

Final

Dominic Dale (Wales) 9-6 John Higgins (Scotland)

73-0 (50), 57-44, 69-59, 78-17, 59-70, 81-31, 1-77 (71), 0-98 (98), 0-104 (104), 89-0, 4-87, 67-53, 39-74, 120-6 (120), 71-9 (71)

Semi-finals

John Higgins (Scotland) 6-5 Matthew Stevens (Wales)

7-69, 77-0 (77), 113-4 (89), 56-7, 0-73 (72), 0-85 (84), 6-76, 64-25, 23-65, 71-1 (71), 53-20

Dominic Dale (Wales) 6-2 Jimmy White

49-31, 70-50, 67-66 (66 W), 63-52, 47-73, 29-68, 76-16, 113-0 (103)

Quarter-finals

Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-4 John Parrott 46-58, 124-1 (81), 1-64 (50), 55-28, 94-0 (73), 6-74, 40-81, 71-35 (67), 75-35 (62)

John Higgins (Scotland) 5-0 John Read 141-0 (137), 87-1, 73-28, 88-3, 74-16 (59)

Dominic Dale (Wales) 5-2 Chris Small (Scotland) 34-88 (58), 12-81 (59), 72-3, 56-41, 72-45, 67-19, 72-40 (72)

Jimmy White 5-0 Mick Price 106-0 (105), 68-23, 83-0 (83), 61-25, 94-0 (94)

Fourth round

Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-4 Billy Snaddon (Scotland) John Parrott 5-4 Paul Hunter John Read 5-3 Tony Drago (Malta) John Higgins (Scotland) 5-0 Mark King Dominic Dale (Wales) 5-4 Dave Harold Chris Small (Scotland) 5-2 Alfie Burden
Mick Price 5-2 Wayne Brown Jimmy White 5-1 Alan McManus (Scotland)

Third round

Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-4 Mark J Williams (Wales) Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-3 Darren Morgan (Wales) Paul Hunter 5-1 Stephen Lee John Parrott 5-0 Brian Morgan John Read 5-2 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Tony Drago (Malta) 5-3 Paul Wykes Mark King 5-1 James Wattana (Thailand) John Higgins (Scotland) 5-4 Quinten Hann (Australia)
Dave Harold 5-3 Jamie Burnett (Scotland)
Dominic Dale (Wales) 5-2 Steve Davis Chris Small (Scotland) 5-2 Paul Davies (Wales) Alfie Burden 5-3 Nigel Bond Mick Price 5-4 Jonathan Birch Wayne Brown 5-4 Terry Murphy (N.Ireland)
Alan McManus (Scotland) 5-1 David Roe Jimmy White 5-2 Willie Thorne

Second round

Mark J Williams (Wales) 5-2 Michael Judge (Ireland)
Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-1 Steve James Darren Morgan (Wales) 5-4 Wayne Jones (Wales) Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-4 Matthew Couch Stephen Lee 5-4 Troy Shaw Paul Hunter 5-1 Martin Clark John Parrott 5-1 Drew Henry (Scotland) Brian Morgan 5-0 Peter McCullagh
Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-4 Bradley Jones John Read 5-3 Rod Lawler Tony Drago (Malta) 5-2 Euan Henderson (Scotland)
Paul Wykes 5-2 Fergal O'Brien (Ireland) James Wattana (Thailand) 5-4 Stephen O'Connor (Ireland) Mark King 5-2 Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) John Higgins (Scotland) 5-1 Leigh Griffin
Quinten Hann (Australia) 5-2 Joe Swail (N.Ireland) Jamie Burnett (Scotland) 5-3 Stephen Hendry (Scotland) Dave Harold 5-3 Gerard Greene (N.Ireland) Steve Davis 5-3 Peter Lines
Dominic Dale (Wales) 5-3 Andy Hicks Paul Davies (Wales) 5-1 Alain Robidoux (Canada) Chris Small (Scotland) 5-0 Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland)
Nigel Bond 5-2 David Gray
Alfie Burden 5-3 Gary Wilkinson Jonathan Birch 5-3 Peter Ebdon Mick Price 5-3 Anthony Davies (Wales)
Wayne Brown 5-4 Anthony Hamilton Terry Murphy (N.Ireland) 5-0 Ian McCulloch
Alan McManus (Scotland) 5-2 Stuart Pettmann
David Roe 5-1 Neal Foulds Willie Thorne 5-4 Ken Doherty (Ireland) Jimmy White 5-0 Jason Ferguson

First round

Michael Judge (Ireland) 5-3 Darren Clarke Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-3 Mark Gray Wayne Jones (Wales) 5-2 Martin Dziewialtowski (Scotland) Matthew Couch 5-2 Joe Johnson Troy Shaw 5-3 Jimmy Michie Paul Hunter 5-2 Gary Ponting Drew Henry (Scotland) 5-3 Ian Brumby Peter McCullagh 5-4 Nick Pearce Bradley Jones 5-2 Shokat Ali (Pakistan) John Read 5-3 Dean Reynolds Euan Henderson (Scotland) 5-1 Sean Storey Paul Wykes 5-0 Karl Broughton Stephen O'Connor (Ireland) 5-3 Stefan Mazrocis Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) 5-4 Mark Davis Leigh Griffin 5-3 Tony Jones Quinten Hann (Australia) 5-3 Mark Bennett (Wales) Jamie Burnett (Scotland) 5-2 Lee Richardson Gerard Greene (N.Ireland) 5-4 Joe Perry Peter Lines 5-0 Tony Chappel (Wales) Dominic Dale (Wales) 5-1 Karl Burrows Paul Davies (Wales) 5-2 Marcus Campbell (Scotland) Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland) 5-2 Jamie Woodman David Gray 5-4 Dave Finbow Alfie Burden 5-2 Graeme Dott (Scotland) Jonathan Birch 5-1 Steve Judd Anthony Davies (Wales) w/o Karl Payne Wayne Brown 5-3 Jason Prince (N.Ireland) Ian McCulloch 5-3 Chris Scanlon Stuart Pettmann 5-3 Dene O'Kane (New Zealand) David Roe 5-2 John Lardner (Scotland) Willie Thorne 5-4 Nick Walker Jason Ferguson 5-3 Lee Walker (Wales)