WWW Snooker: China International 1999 (March) (original) (raw)

Tournaments:	1998/99:	Ranking:	Grand Prix \|UK	Irish	Welsh	Scottish	Thailand	China	British	World

Shanghai JC Mandarin Hotel, Shanghai, China(Tel: 8621-62791888)
Mar 8-14 (Shanghai Cable TV)
WPBSA ranking tournament (#7 of 9)
�255,000 purse

Results

(Players are English unless stated)

Final

John Higgins (Scotland) 9-3 Billy Snaddon (Scotland)

56-53 79-29 0-93 62-68 73-25 68-3 76-8 72-43 21-55 64-30 124-13 66-8

Semi-finals

John Higgins (Scotland) 6-4 Alan McManus (Scotland)

2-62 73-0 0-86 68-1 123-0 99-1 39-69 27-55 94-31 82-51

Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 6-2 Stephen Hendry (Scotland)

107-16 99-9 1-78 87-0 79-8 15-87 46-19 68-45

Quarter-finals

John Higgins (Scotland) 5-2 Paul Davies (Wales)

72-23 71-47 38-91 88-22 38-65 116-18 100-21

Alan McManus (Scotland) 5-4 Ken Doherty (Ireland)

72-28 68-50 51-61 33-67 74-0 48-79 26-89 81-62 81-0

Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-3 Stephen Lee

...

Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 5-2 John Parrott

75-0 79-0 0-84 87-51 35-73 107-0 77-0

Second round

John Higgins (Scotland) 5-0 Matthew Stevens (Wales) Paul Davies (Wales) 5-2 Mark J Williams (Wales) Alan McManus (Scotland) 5-4 Mark King Ken Doherty (Ireland) 5-3 Anthony Hamilton Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-3 Ronnie O'Sullivan Stephen Lee 5-3 Peter Ebdon John Parrott 5-1 Nigel Bond Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 5-4 Steve Davis

First round

John Higgins (Scotland) 5-4 Jamie Burnett (Scotland) Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-0 Alain Robidoux (Canada) Paul Davies (Wales) 5-0 Tony Drago (Malta) Mark J Williams (Wales) 5-0 Dominic Dale (Wales) Alan McManus (Scotland) 5-3 Chris Small (Scotland) Mark King 5-0 Paul Hunter Anthony Hamilton 5-2 Jonathan Birch Ken Doherty (Ireland) 5-0 Michael Holt Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-3 Bradley Jones Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-3 James Wattana (Thailand) Stephen Lee 5-1 Drew Henry (Scotland) Peter Ebdon 5-3 Pang Wei Guo (China) John Parrott 5-4 Dave Finbow Nigel Bond 5-0 Joe Swail (N.Ireland) Steve Davis 5-1 Quinten Hann (Australia) Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 5-2 Anthony Davies (Wales)

Wild card round

Michael Holt 5-1 Yang Jianyn (China) Pang Wei Guo (China) 5-1 Peter Lines Dave Finbow 5-2 Pao Shan (China) Anthony Davies (Wales) 5-4 Zhang Kai (China)

Back to the top

Report

Reports from Janie Watkins ([email protected]) as posted onalt.sport.snooker

Higgins secures No 1 spot

John Higgins won his 11th ranking title by beating fellow Scot Billy Snaddon9-3 in the final. The �42,000 first prize takes his season earnings to a staggering �399,925. Snaddon has his biggest payday ever with the �21,000 runner-up prize.

By winning the title Higgins is guaranteed to stay at the top of the rankings in next year's world rankings. Snaddon moves to No 22 in theEmbassy rankings.

10 March: Williams blitzes Dom * Small frightens McManus * Higgins Invincible * Snaddon saddens Ronnie * Steve v Stephen - Clash of the Titans

Mark Williams andJohn Higgins reinforced their dominance of this snooker season, as they both blazed through their match 5-0. Williams demolished his Nations Cup Team MateDominic Dale in just 58 minutes. He included a couple of 50+ breaks and a run of 113. He will now play another Welshman Paul Davies.

John Higgins, fully recovered from his 5-4 thriller yesterday, resumed business as normal as he brushed asideMatthew Stevens 5-0, in a surprisingly easy win. Stevens had taken Higgins to 9-6 inthe final of the UK earlier this season.

Stephen Lee continued quietly on his way, reinforcing his newly won position in the Top 8, as he overcame the tenaciousPeter Ebdon. Lee led 4-3 but was 44-0 behind in the next. Given a chance he stepped in with a classic 89 break, which was kept going by an amazingly thin cut on a black, having to use the spider to bridge over the pack. It earnt him a place in the quarter final line up, where he will now faceBilly Snaddon.

Scotland's Billy Snaddonproduced the shock of the day with a 5-3 win over the mercurial Ronnie O'Sullivan. Snaddon raced into a 4-1 lead with breaks of 55, 74, 118, 46 and 54. Ronnie praised his opponent after the game. "I was really surprised at how well Billy played", "I waited for him to make mistakes, but he didn't until it was too late".John Parrott recorded a routine 5-1 over the out of form Nigel Bond, while Ken Doherty was made to work hard before overcoming Anthony Hamilton 5-3.

Match of the day was the clash between the two six times World Champions Stephen Hendry andSteve Davis. Hendry started as odds on favourite, considering that the last time Davis beat him was in the 1993 European Open Final. Steve Davis had other ideas, he established a 4-2 lead, and had Hendry on the rocks in the next as he led by 28 points with only the colours on the table. Hendry wasn't finished yet. He laid a snooker on the yellow and extracted the required penalty from Davis, which gave him a chance of victory, and he eventually nicked the frame on the black for 4-3, and in the eighth frame he again pinched the frame with a colours clearance to level the match and set up a decider.

Hendry got away to an early lead with a break of 38, but with the pressure building up he missed the penultimate red to let Davis back to the table. Davis set about clearing up and took the last red and colours up to the blue, when unbelievably he missed a simple blue off its spot, the ball that would have taken him to the quarter finals. An amazed Hendry returned to the table and took blue, pink and a nerve-wracking black, with the cue ball tight under a cushion.

The post match interviews were nearly as dramatic as the match. Hendry reeled to the press room and announced "It's a miracle I'm still here." "The truth is, that Steve deserved to win".Steve Davis, meanwhile, took his full 15 minute time allowance before facing the massed press ranks. He still managed a joke "Sorry I'm late, I've been trying to commit suicide!".

Davis went on to say "I've got three thoughts at the moment. That is the best I've played in a very long time and I got so close to beating a great player again." "The trouble is that both of those thoughts are pushed aside by the knowledge that I blew it and blew it big time. It was a nightmare ending, but not quite as bad as when I missed the black against Dennis Taylor".

Observers commented that the blue Davis missed was as bad a blunder as the blue that Willie Thornemissed, against Davis himself, in the final of the 1985 UK Championship.

9 March: Higgins wins a Tartan Twister * Davis, Stevens, Doherty & Bond breeze through * Ebdon avoids a Chinese take-away * Snaddon blows out Thaiphoon

John Higgins came within one missed red of crashing out of The China International. Fellow ScotJamie Burnett led 4-3 and 36-19, when he missed a straightforward red. Higgins, inspired by his predecessors as World Champions - Hendry and Davis - dug deep into his reserves to claw his way back to level terms, with a break of 61. Burnett had nothing left to offer as Higgins resumed his normal role with a matchwinning break of 111 in the decider. A relieved Higgins now faces Welshman Matthew Stevens, who demolished Alain Robidoux 5-0.

Also in invincible mood was six times World ChampionSteve Davis. He brushed aside the mercurial Quientan Hann 5-1. Apart from a break of 62 from Hann, it was Davis all the way and Hann only managed to accumulate 42 in the last four frames. Davis, ever the master of understatement said "I think Quienten has lost a bit of direction within himself".

Nigel Bond notched and welcome and surprisingly easy 5-0 win over Belfast's Joe Swail and compiled runs of 49, 65, 40 and 89 along the way. The former British Open champion will be hoping that this is a sign of better times ahead. Ken Dohertybeat Michael Holt 5-0, and for good measure entertained the crowd with successive breaks of 115 and 129.

Peter Ebdon, still struggling to recapture the form of previous seasons, found life far tougher as he took on yesterday's hero Pang Wei Guo. Guo matched Ebdon frame for frame at the interval and nearly snatched a 3-2 lead, but rattled a black in the jaws. Ebdon nicked that one and went 4-2 up, but the local favourite wasn't overawed, as he compiled a run of 51 to cut the deficit. Ebdon eventually established his authority with a break of 78 in frame eight to take the match 5-3. He praised in Chinese opponent after the match "He is a very good potter, but he showed signs of inexperience. But that will get sorted out the more chance he has to compete against the top players".

James Wattana's miserable season, both on and off the table, continued, this time at the hands of ScotBilly Snaddon. He was 4-0 down in double quick time, but showly his characteristic fighting qualities he fought back to 4-3, before Snaddon closed out the match. This defeat will put his top 16 place in serious jeopardy.

The first round matches of Alan McManusand Mark Williams have been held over until Wednesday, giving them time to travel on from Thailand following last weekend's final.Mark Williams, who faces Nations Cup Teammate Dominic Dale, will be further boosted by the news that his efforts this season have taken him up to Number Three on the World Ranking List.

8 March: Holt notches 140 * Hard Lines as Peter goes out * Drago loses quicker than he usually wins * King reigns over Hunter * Ronnie wins but stays miserable

There is the enthusiasm for snooker in China, that the first day's matches were sold out and ticket touts were doing brisk business outside the venue. The four invited local Chinese wildcards showed that the standard of snooker in this relatively new Snooker nation is rising rapidly. Pang Wei Guo was the hero for China as he ousted Leeds'Peter Lines 5-1 with a string of impressive breaks - 63, 104, 50 and 79.

Zhang Xai from China led WelshmanAnthony Davies 4-1, before Davies made the most of his superior experience to claw back to take a 5-4 victory. Davies included a 139 total clearance in his recovery.

Pau Shan lost out 5-2 to Worcester'sDave Finbow and Yang Ji Ann found himself on the receiving end of a 140 total clearance asMichael Holt won 5-1, but he did manage a break of 121 in the frame he won.

As the first round got under way, Tony Dragobecame the first top name to tumble out of the event. He was beaten very rapidly by Wales'Paul Davies5-0, in just 76 minutes. Even Drago at his best, normally takes longer than that to WIN a match.

Mark King inflicted a 5-0 whitewash onPaul Hunter, to end a miserable pair of Eastern Events for him.

Stephen Lee, The Grand Prix Champion emerged unscatched froma brush with Drew Henry, recording a straightforward 5-1 win, while Nottingham's Anthony Hamilton also got the job done in efficient manner as he saw off Jonathan Birch. At least Birch made it all the way to China, having failed to get to Aberdeen in time for his scheduled match againstRonnie O'Sullivan in The Scottish Open. Ronnie, meanwhile came through his match withBradley Jones a 5-3 winner, but still expressed dissatisfaction with him game and life in general. "I'm not into it at all. I'm going through the motions, I've been like it all season. I don't really care what happens, to be honest with you". Despite all this Ronnie clocked up breaks of 94, 73, 60 and 81 to thrill the Chinese crowd.

High Breaks

Holt 140
A. Davies 139
Yang Ji Ann 121
Hamilton 114
Pang Weiguo 104
Finbow 103

Back to the top

Qualifying Rounds

Plymouth Pavillions,Plymouth, England(Jul-Sep, 1998)
Results provided by Janie Watkins ([email protected])

(Players are English unless stated)

Round 7

(Thursday 3rd September)

Jamie Burnett (Scotland) 5-1 Mark Davis Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-0 Marco Fu (Hong Kong) Paul Davies (Wales) 5-4 Fergal O'Brien (Ireland) Dominic Dale (Wales) 5-4 Joe Perry Chris Small (Scotland) 5-2 Phaitoon Phonbun (Thailand) Paul Hunter 5-3 Mark Gray Jonathan Birch 5-2 Jimmy White Michael Holt 5-1 Gary Wilkinson Bradley Jones 5-1 Dave Harold Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-4 Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) Drew Henry (Scotland) 5-0 Martin Clark Peter Lines 5-2 Graeme Dott (Scotland) Dave Finbow 5-2 Darren Morgan (Wales) Joe Swail (N.Ireland) w/o Terry Murphy (N.Ireland) Quinten Hann (Australia) 5-4 Andy Hicks Anthony Davies (Wales) 5-3 Brian Morgan

Good day for the Welsh boys - Stevens whitewashes Marco Fu to gain two wins out of three in the overseas events.Dominic Dale completes his hattrick with his second 5-4 in two days.Paul Davies does it again and namesake Anthony Davies joins him in China.

Nightmare for Andy Hicks and Martin Clark as they fail to win a match.

Bradley Jones continues - invincible.

Darren Morgan limps away with one win out of three, when he shouldn't have been playing at all.

Paul Hunter completed his third win, but had to come back from 3-1 down to Peterborough's Mark Gray to win 5-3.

Michael Holt notches a memorable victory with his 5-1 win over the experienced Gary Wilkinson.

For further info on the matches today try visitingwww.sporting-life.com andwww.snookerimages.co.uk - both sites will carry reports and results.

Well we can have a breather for a day or so and collect our thoughts and analyse the points, money etc.

Next week see the Qualifiers for The Regal Masters - Paul Hunterpaired against Matthew Stevens is onematch to savour.

The qualifiers for the UK tour also start with two venues - one north, one south and we will try and keep up to date with all that, plus news and results from the first World Ladies Ranking Event of the season as the girls plays in Scotland this weekend.

Later in September comes the multi cue event in celebration of the centenary of Walter Lindrum's birth - in australia - with favourite names such as Jimmy White, Willie Thorne and Karen Corr participating - we will bring you all the info.

Round 6

(Sunday 30th August)

Mark Davis 5-3 Tony Jones Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 5-0 Wayne Brown Paul Davies (Wales) 5-3 Karl Broughton Joe Perry 5-2 Neal Foulds Phaitoon Phonbun (Thailand) 5-4 Darryn Walker Mark Gray 5-2 Mick Price Jonathan Birch 5-2 Lee Walker (Wales) Michael Holt 5-2 Robert Milkins Bradley Jones 5-2 John Read Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) 5-4 Paul Wykes Drew Henry (Scotland) 5-4 Ian McCulloch Peter Lines 5-0 Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland) Dave Finbow 5-1 John Giles Joe Swail (N.Ireland) 5-4 Dean Reynolds Quinten Hann (Australia) 5-2 Euan Henderson (Scotland) Anthony Davies (Wales) 5-3 Mark Fenton (Wales)

Holt knocks them in again - Michael Holt continued his scoring form from yesterday as he compiled breaks of 57, 96, 71, and 97 to win 5-2 to earn a match against Gary Wilkinson.

Phonbun - one step away - Phaitoon Phonbun progressed again, this time with a vital 64 in the decider to set up a clash with Scotland's Chris Small.

Marco Fu demolished Wayne Brown 5-0 and will now play WelshmanMatthew Stevens. The winner will play Alain Robidoux in China.

Brdley Jones fired in 124 in his opening frame to set up a 5-2 win over John Read, a further 53 and 77 sealed the last two frame and he now meets Stoke's Dave Harold.

Peter Lines inflicted a whitewash on Dennis Taylor, who has now failed to progress in all 6 tournaments played to date. Lines will play Scotsman Graeme Dott.

Anthony Davies won The Cardiff/Swansea clash, breaks of 51, 69 and 50 helped his cause. Fellow Cardiff player Paul Davies also got through, holding on in a see saw battle against Louth's Karl Broughton. Davies plays Irishman Fergal O'Brien.

Joe Swail, enjoying a solid run so far, will benefit from the misfortune of his fellow Irishman Terry Murphy. Murphy has broken his ankle and is set for a six week recovery period. This will prevent him playing at Plymouth, but he hopes to be fit by The Grand Prix, where he is already seeded through to the Venue.

Swail will get a walkover and is thus the first player through to China, where he will play Nigel Bond. Murphy's opponents in the European Open and Thai Masters will also go straight through.

It is still very doubtful whether Darren Morgan will be able to play at Plymouth. Morgan is still recovering from a car smash, that left him with a dislocated hip. Dave Finbow would be the lucky beneficiary in this event if Darren can't compete.

So illness and accidents are taking their toll - Murphy, Morgan both out with injuries, Ferguson struggling following Flu and the most bizarre so far, Micky Roughan, who had to withdraw from an earlier match through illness - he was rushed to hospital with "peanut" poisoning - Roughan is allergic to peanuts. Luckily he recovered quite quickly, as this condition can be fatal.

The 17-32 seeds are all making their way to Plymouth ready to join in the fray - all have to play one match in each of the three overseas tournaments - now the giant killing begins!

Round 5

(Saturday 29th August)

Tony Jones Mark Davis Marco Fu (Hong Kong) Wayne Brown Paul Davies (Wales) Karl Broughton Neal Foulds Joe Perry Darryn Walker Phaitoon Mick Price Mark Gray Jonathan Birch Lee Walker (Wales) Robert Milkins Michael Holt John Read Bradley Jones Craig Paul Wykes Ian McCulloch Drew Henry (Scotland) Peter Lines Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland) John Giles Dave Finbow Dean Reynolds Joe Swail (N.Ireland) Euan Henderson Quinten Hann (Australia) Anthony Davies (Wales) Mark Fenton (Wales) 5-3 Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 5-2 Darren Clarke 5-3 Jason Ferguson 5-3 David Roe 5-2 Paul Sweeny 5-1 Nick Terry 5-3 Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland) 5-2 David Gray 5-0�Nick Pearce Phonbun (Thailand) 5-2 Jason Prince (N.Ireland) 5-1 Leigh Griffin 5-1 Willie Thorne 5-0 Simon Bedford 5-4 Jimmy Michie 5-4 Michael Judge (Ireland) 5-2 Dene O'Kane (New Zealand) 5-3 Rod Lawler 5-1 Marcus Campbell (Scotland) MacGillivray (Scotland) 5-1 Gerard Greene (N.Ireland) 5-4 Richard Somauroo (Mauritius) 5-4 Alan Burnett (Scotland) 5-4 Joe Grech (Malta) 5-2 John Whitty 5-2 David Coles 5-4 Shokat Ali (Pakistan) 5-3 Joe Johnson 5-4 Stuart Pettman 5-2 Jason Weston (Scotland) 5-3 Chris Shade (Scotland) 5-4 Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 5-3 Steve James 5-2 Tony Chappel (Wales)

Disappointment again for Willie Thorne as he falls to East Anglian hopeMark Gray - Mark Gray's greatest victory to date came last season when he defeated Jimmy White - Gray remarked that even he wanted Jimmy to win!

Somauroo narrowly fails to progress - 99 from Bournemouth's Paul Wykesin the decider.

Fu takes a step nearer getting "home", as the Hong Kong player now stands two matches away from a trip to China.

Neal Foulds revival continues. After several miserable seasons, Foulds showed glimpses of the form that took him to World No 3,when he reached the quarters of The British Open. A solid performance today put paid to Northern Ireland's latest high flyer - Patrick Wallace. Wallace, who remained undefeated in his first 15 matches has succeeded in qualifying for all the UK based venues, but strangely has failed to qualify in all the overseas tournaments. However Wallace's performances to date have been excellent.

Fenton of Morriston, will line up tomorrow against Barry's Anthony Davies - amazingly taking on a fellow Welshman for the third successive round. Feonton defeated Newport's Mark Bennett in Round 3, chapel in Round 5. The winner will, however face English opposition, as Essex's Brian Morgan awaits.

Quienten Hann scraped home by the skin of his teeth 65-55 in the decider and tomorrow plays Scotland's Euan Henderson.

Two former Top 16 players meet in Round 6 as Dean Reynolds takes on Norther Ireland's Joe Swail, who is so far enjoying a solid run of results, after a couple of miserable seasons.

Dennis Taylor progresses for the first time and earns a match against Leeds' Peter lines. Graeme Dott awaits the winner.

Jonathan Birch and Darryn Walker will view for the chance to playJimmy White.

The winner of Marco Fu and Wayne Brown will take on Wales' hot property - Matthew Stevens. A note for all Stevens fans out there - Matthew will celebrate his 21st Birthday on 11th September - he will be aiming to give himself a present in the Regal Scottish Masters, where he plays in the prelims against Paul hunter. The �61,000 winners cheque would make a nice present!

Neal Foulds will aim to continue his good form against Joe Perry.Dominic Dale will play the winner.

The August Bank Holiday Sunshine in Plymouth puts the players in scoring mood today as the breaks were rattled in from all directions in Round 5 of the China International.

There was an amazing 59 breaks over 50 in the 21 matches morning matches. There were actually a total of 151 frames played to complete the matches.

Michael Holt started his blitz of breaks with 61 in the first, which he lost! 62 & 53 in the third, 94 in the fourth, 115 in the fifth, 126 in the sixth and 91 to take the match in the seventh.

Marco Fu who has already established a rapidly growing reputation as both a match winner and high scorer, joined in the fun - he kicked off with 59 & 67 in the third, then 50 &66 in the fifth, and with the score at 3-3 he sealed the match with 52 in the sixth and 79 to win in the seventh.

Wales' Lee Walker hit 105 in the second on his way to a narrow 5-4 win over Leed's Jimmy Michie.

Jonathan Birch joined the ton up boys with 119 on his way to an emphatic 5-0 win over Simon Bedford.

Round 4

(Thursday 27th August)

Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 5-3 Johl Younger (Australia) Phaitoon Phonbun (Thailand) 5-4 Joe Delaney (Ireland) Richard Somauroo (Mauritius) 5-1 Mike Hallett David Coles 5-1 Tom Finstad (Canada)
John Giles 5-2 Shawn Budd (Australia)
Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 5-4 Mario Geudens (Belgium)

Round 3

Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 5-3 Graham Horne (Scotland) Darren Clarke 5-4 Mike Dunn Johl Younger (Australia) 5-2 Karl Burrows Wayne Brown 5-1 Sam Chong (Malaysia) Paul Sweeny 5-3 Troy Shaw Nick Terry 5-3 John Lardner (Scotland) Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland) 5-2 Matthew Couch
Joe Perry 5-4 Craig Harrison Darryn Walker 5-2 Alfie Burden Joe Delaney (Ireland) 5-4 Nick Walker Leigh Griffin 5-2 Adrian Gunnell Mark Gray 5-4 Antony Bolsover Simon Bedford 5-1 Sean Storey Jimmy Michie 5-3 Paul Cavney
Robert Milkins 5-0 Stephen O'Connor (Ireland) Michael Holt 5-0 Stefan Mazrocis John Read 5-1 Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus) Marcus Campbell (Scotland) 5-1 Philip Williams (Wales) Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) 5-4 Kristjan Helgason (Iceland) Mike Hallett 5-4 Gary Ponting Alan Burnett (Scotland) 5-3 Karl Payne Joe Grech (Malta) 5-2 Wayne Jones (Wales) John Whitty 5-1 Steve Judd David Coles 5-2 Peter McCullagh John Giles 5-3 Martin Dziewialtowski (Scotland) Dave Finbow 5-2 Stephen Murphy (Ireland) Stuart Pettman 5-2 Surinder Gill Jason Weston 5-2 Chris Scanlon Chris Shade (Scotland) 5-4 Lee Richardson Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 5-4 Ian Brumby Anthony Davies (Wales) 5-1 Tony Knowles Mark Fenton (Wales) 5-2 Mark Bennett (Wales)

Knowles falls at the final hurdle - a 1-5 defeat by WelshmanAnthony Davies. Breaks of 80, 106 and 51 from Davies counteract 60 and 50 from Knowles.

Fenton makes its a hat-trick of qualifications. Swansea beats Newport, as Mark Fenton defeats his fellow "Dragon" 5-2 to qualify for the third time. Fenton finished the match in style with a run of 116, this was added to earlier breaks of 56 and 63.

No such luck for the third Welshman Wayne Jones as he perishes 2-5 at the hands of Joe Grech.

Liverpudlian John Whitty bangs in 101 on his way to a 5-1 win over Nottingham's Steve Judd.

Belgium's Patrick Delsemme joins countryman Haneveer in the next round, as he sneaks past Ian Brumby 5-4. the highest break of a very even contest was 58 from Brumby.

Top century breaks so far:

147 Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus) 125 Alan Burnett (Scotland) 124 Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland) 120 Wayne Brown 116 Mark Fenton (Wales) 111 Craig Harrison 107 Mark Johnston-Allen 107 Johl Younger (Australia) 106 Anthony Davies (Wales) 106 Mike Hallett 104 Ben Reicker (Canada) 102 Ian Sargeant (Wales) 101 Joe Delaney (Ireland) 101 Stuart Reardon 101 Adrian Rosa 101 John Whitty

Round 2

Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 5-2 Paul S Davison Mike Dunn 5-2 Hugh Abernethy (Scotland) Johl Younger (Australia) 5-3 Steve Newbury (Wales) Sam Chong (Malaysia) 5-1 Nigel Gilbert Paul Sweeny 5-3 Barry Pinches Nick Terry 5-1 Dylan Leary (N.Ireland) Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland) 5-1 Simon Parker Craig Harrison 5-3 David McDonnell Darryn Walker 5-3 Mario Wehrmann (Netherlands) Joe Delaney (Ireland) 5-3 Oliver King Adrian Gunnell 5-4 Leo Fernandez (Ireland) Antony Bolsover 5-1 Matt Wilson Simon Bedford 5-3 Matthew Bray Paul Cavney w/o Micky Roughan Robert Milkins 5-2 Robin Hull (Finland) Michael Holt 5-3 Ian Sargeant (Wales) Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus) 5-4 Jason Wallace Philip Williams (Wales) 5-0 Sean Lanigan Kristjan Helgason (Iceland) 5-1 Munraj Pal Mike Hallett 5-1 David McLellan (Scotland) Alan Burnett (Scotland) 5-1 Brian Rowswell Joe Grech (Malta) 5-0 Alex Borg (Malta) John Whitty 5-3 Barry Mapstone David Coles 5-2 Paul McPhillips (Scotland) John Giles 5-1 Eddie Manning Stephen Murphy (Ireland) 5-1 Kirk Stevens (Canada) Surinder Gill 5-2 James Reynolds (Wales) Jason Weston 5-1 Stuart Bingham Chris Shade (Scotland) 5-1 Stuart Reardon Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 5-3 Adrian Rosa Tony Knowles 5-0 Mark Miller Mark Fenton (Wales) 5-3 Mark Johnston-Allen

PATRICK WALLACE does it again, but now someone will have to give way. On Saturday he will play fellow WPBSA Coach Matthew Couch. Couch is also undefeated, but of course has only had to win one match each time to qualify, whereas Wallace has had to win TWO.

Belgium, Malaysia and Australia give themselves a chance: Bjorn Hanevver carries Belgium's hopes forward to round three, where he will play Graham Horne.

Aussie youngster Johl Younger beat veteran Welshman Steve Newbury, who has failed to win a single match at Plymouth, but it will release him to concentrate on his Coaching commitments as a WPBSA Coach. Newbury is scheduled to undertake a Coaching trip to China. China have a very well structured set up which includes Snooker Coaching on the School Curriculum! Several WPBSA Coaches have already undertaken month long trips to Beijing and other areas to Coach the young players.

Adrian Gunnell does it again - just one defeat in 17 matches, he progresses to play Leigh Griffin, who although English, is based in Belgium.

One century break so far today to add to the Break Board: 101 from England's Ollie King, who stil ended up a loser.

England's Paul Cavney received an unexpected afternoon off after his opponent Mick Roughan has to withdraw through illness, when the score stood at 1-0 to Roughan.

Scotland's Alan Burnett notched up a 5-1 win over Brian Rowswell and added to the Break tally with a 125.

Iceland's invincible - Kristian Helgason was at it again - a resounding 5-1 win over Munraj Pal, helped along by breaks of 95, 53, 87.

Finland's Robin Hull eventually lost today, bringing a highly successful run to an end - he perished at the hands of Robert Milkins5-2.

Mehmet Husnu, London based Turkish Cypriot, followed up his explits yesterday with another narrow queak today. Today he went 4-0 down toJason Wallace, who clocked up a run of 82, before Husnu, who only seems to join in the match after the interval, set to work. No 147 today, but runs of 96, 50 and 56 gave him another amazing 5-4 win.

Llanelli's Phil Williams, breezed through 5-0 against Sean Laniganto earn himself a chance of qualifying for the third time. Having won a torried first frame, which took 48 minutes(!), by 59-58 he had knocked the stuffing out of Lanigan, who offered little further resistance. Williams was cheered on today by his fellow Matchroom stablemate, Matthew Stevens, who breezed into Plymouth to sample the atmosphere before he embarks on his overseas qualifiers in a couple of weeks.

Round 1

Björn Haneveer (Belgium) 5-2 Farhan Mirza (Pakistan) Mike Dunn 5-4 Les Dodd Johl Younger (Australia) 5-2 Colm Gilcreest (Ireland) Sam Chong (Malaysia) 5-2 Shaun Murphy Barry Pinches 5-1 Li Jian-Bing (China) Dylan Leary (N.Ireland) 5-0 Keith E (Singapore) Simon Parker 5-3 Guo Hua (China) David McDonnell 5-1 Alastair Fleming (Scotland) Mario Wehrmann (Netherlands) 5-2 Gary Lees Joe Delaney (Ireland) 5-3 Neil Robertson (New Zealand) Adrian Gunnell 5-2 Gary Natale (Canada) Matt Wilson 5-2 Darren Hackeson Matthew Bray 5-4 Wayne Saidler Paul Cavney 5-3 Chatchawan Rutphae (Thailand) Robin Hull (Finland) 5-0 Bob Chaperon (Canada) Ian Sargeant (Wales) 5-3 Jeff Cundy Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus) 5-4 Eddie Barker Sean Lanigan 5-3 Anan Terananon (Thailand) Kristjan Helgason (Iceland) 5-4 Darren Limburg Mike Hallett 5-1 Hitesh Naran (South Africa) Brian Rowswell 5-1 Mike Henson (Germany) Alex Borg (Malta) 5-3 Dermot McGlinchey (N.Ireland) John Whitty 5-4 Steve Mifsud (Australia) David Coles 5-1 Geoff Dunn (Scotland) John Giles 5-0 Tai Pichit (Thailand) Kirk Stevens (Canada) 5-2 Allister Carter Surinder Gill 5-2 Mario Cutajar (Malta) Stuart Bingham 5-1 Wael Talaat (Egypt) Stuart Reardon 5-2 Ben Reicker (Canada) Patrick Delsemme (Belgium) 5-0 Leigh Robinson Mark Miller 5-4 Hasimu Tuerxun (China) Mark Johnston-Allen 5-4 Saleh Muhammad (Pakistan)

Well here we go again - Mehmet Husnu compiled a maximum 147 break during his first round match today against Eddie Barker. Even more incredible was that the perfect break came when Husnu was 4-1 behind in the match ... and even more amazing!... he followed this with breaks of 67, 86 and 70 to run out a 5-4 winner!

And... at last... a win for Canada's hero - Kirk Stevens, he has left it till his last chance and goes through to play Steve Murphy on Friday.

Frame Scores: 27-64, 48-56, 0-99 (70 brk), 71-8, 38-62, 63-23, 1-56.

China's last hope of a qualifier failed tonight as Hasimu Tuerxun lost a deciding frame against Mark Miller

Keith E could count himself unlucky to be on the end of a 5-0 scoreline, as the frame scores read as follows: 65-42, 61-40, 70-67, 60-47, 50-49.

Two Aussie tons and experienced campaigners Hallett and Johnston-Allen find their form and both win.

Back to the top

Prize Money

� Not payable to overseas qualifiers who lose their first match

�
Winner	1	*	42,000		42,000
Runner Up	1	*	21,000		21,000
Losing Semi-finalist	2	*	11,000		22,000
Losing Quarter-finalist	4	*	6,200		24,800
Last 16	8	*	3,100		24,800
Last 32	16	*	2,555		40,880
Last 48	16	*	1,500		24,000
Last 64	16	*	1,100		17,600
Last 96	32	*	750		24,000
Overseas Play-off Round	6	*	750	�	4,500
Last 134	32	*	185		5,920
High TV Break	1	*	2,500		2,500
High Pre TV Break	1	*	1,000		1,000

Total	255,000

Back to the top

Points

Here is an overview of the points system used in the 1999 China International.

The points are awarded to the losing players in each round.

Round	Points
Last 198	200
Last 166	270
(seeds 97-128)	200
Last 134	360
(seeds 65-96)	270
Last 102	480
(overseas seeds)	360
Last 96	480
(seeds 33-64)	360
Last 64	640
Last 48	855
(seeds 17-32)	640
Last 32	1,140
(seeds 1-16)	855
Last 16	1,330
Q-F	1,520
S-F	2,025
R-up	3,040
Winner	4,560