snooker.org: Embassy World Championship 1998 (original) (raw)

Crucible Theatre,Sheffield, England
Apr 18 - May 4, 1998
WPBSA ranking tournament #8
�1,323,000 purse, �220,000 first prize

[ Report |Pictures |Results |Breaks |Qualifying |Prize Money |Odds |Related Pages ]

Report

John Higgins has won his first world title by beating Ken Doherty. He finished off in style with a break of 118. The win takes him to the top of the rankings!

Along the way he broke the record for most centuries in a tournament, with 14. He made four in the final alone. He shares the �19,000 high break prize withJimmy White. They both made a total clearance of 143.

Higgins played brilliantly throughout, winning many frames in one visit. After the first session he lead 6-1, but Doherty refused to lie down and fought back to 6-5. Higgins once again took a commanding lead though, ending the second session 10-6 up. The defending champion struck back again, and it was pretty tight at 13-11, going into the final session. Aided by two centuries the Scot reigned supreme in the final frames though, and won the match 18-12.

The crucial point in the evening session came in frame 27 when Doherty, 15-11 down, went in off after potting a frame-winning brown and allowed Higgins to clear up. Doherty also had the misfortune to go in-off in frame 29.

However, Higgins was a deserved winner, even if 18-15 would have been a fairer score.

Higgins, just 13 days short of his 23rd birthday, became the third youngest champion, behind Stephen Hendry and Alex Higgins.

Some quotes from the players:

JH, asked on what he was going to do over the next few days, "Get drunk!"
JH: "Thrilled to have beaten a great champion like Ken."
JH: "I know Ken put the trophy on top of his mum's television and I will do the same."
KD: "He's had a fantastic season and I hope he enjoys his year as champion as much as I did."
JH: "It was very hard and when Ken came back to 13-11 I thought I had lost the advantage. I just could not shake him off. But I got there in the end."
JH: "I think I have played my best ever snooker over these two weeks and it is a dream come true to also get the no.1 spot."
KD: "John played fantastic snooker and is a worthy champion."

The Glasgow Celtic fanatic has a chance for a double celebration this weekend when his favourite team should lift their first domestic championship in 10 years.

The first prize was �220,000 and Doherty received �132,000 as runner-up.

See The World Championship Page for news and articles

Thanks to Patrick McWilliams ([email protected]) for quotes and comments.

Pictures

No.1!

John and Ken

© Eric Whitehead([email protected]) (Official photographer for the WPBSA)

Results

(Seedings in brackets, players are English unless stated)

Final

John Higgins (Scotland) [3] 18-12 Ken Doherty (Ireland) [1]

34-73 (59) 80-20 (53) 86-7 71-1 (71) 113-0 (66) 73-52 (52-55) 130-0 (130) 0-89 (89) 0-112 (112) 7-66 18-97 (58) 66-2 (51) 103-4 (103) 86-5 138-0 (64,74) 70-82 39-90 (69) 89-0 (89) 6-61 (55) 130-0 (130) 0-90 (86) 1-99 (59) 58-48 44-82 60-14 128-0 (128) 71-58 41-78 66-16 119-8 (118)

Semi-finals

Ken Doherty (Ireland) [1] 17-14 Mark J Williams (Wales) [4]

89-2 67-47 92-52 38-85 (71) 54-47 10-52 71-54 73-69 54-55 115-2 (50,50) 0-110 (63) 49-53 90-1 (59) 40-79 53-57 35-66 (53) 31-81 1-79 (53) 39-84 (78) 33-74 (50) 74-51 79-4 (70) 63-60 41-65 (65) 62-39 64-50 10-66 71-30 62-7 73-5 79-0 (79)

John Higgins (Scotland) [3] 17-9 Ronnie O'Sullivan [7]

0-95 (52) 50-65 72-49 104-0 106-21 (74) 0-141 (141) 109-32 (78) 44-67 (62) 68-54 (50H) 70-51 (70) 75-12 79-38 (79) 84-0 (84) 132-0 (53,79) 122-1 (97) 96-1 (52) 64-66 20-69(69) 85-8 39-64 59-64 79-55 66-64 46-75 69-0 (69) 119-0 (119)

Quarter-finals

Ken Doherty (Ireland) [1] 13-10 Matthew Stevens (Wales)

83-34 53-75 (53-52) 59-19 93-59 (51S) 1-70 9-68 (68) 32-69 (62) 125-0 (83) 60-56 33-78 (72) 92-40 68-22 (68) 38-67 4-127 (127) 113-8 (85) 69-47 53-67 58-13 1-66 66-27 (53) 70-1 (70) 17-61 78-0 (78)

Mark J Williams (Wales) [4] 13-11 Peter Ebdon [5]

59-62 71-16 (57) 109-23 (56) 0-98 (82) 52-50 83-0 1-68 (68) 61-60 (57W) 44-54 75-0 59-75 (50E) 85-8 (67) 60-15 8-85 (54) 59-68 (58) 50-39 36-65 17-77 58-30 72-37 23-70 (65) 6-113 (69) 76-53 73-30

John Higgins (Scotland) [3] 13-11 John Parrott [6]

7-82 (50) 70-4 (70) 71-29 (70) 24-70 78-1 (78) 17-56 50-59 65-21 (59) 76-1 0-83 (59) 36-55 78-12 0-76 60-37 44-56 106-0 (102) 143-0 (143) 139-0 (139) 0-84 0-66 (60) 25-82 69-19 (59) 108-3 (78) 59-39

Ronnie O'Sullivan [7] 13-7 Jimmy White

110-1 (104) 0-72 85-0 (85) 60-36 65-26 (51) 66-50 (50W) 92-0 (92) 83-48 56-62 50-81 (63) 84-33 (75) 31-70 (58) 70-58 (54W) 16-88 (80) 43-70 (62) 56-22 (55) 72-30 (64) 64-47 0-84 (72) 118-21 (118)

Second round

Ken Doherty (Ireland) [1] 13-8 Stephen Lee [16] Matthew Stevens (Wales) 13-9 Mark King Peter Ebdon [5] 13-5 Fergal O'Brien (Ireland) Mark J Williams (Wales) [4] 13-6 Steve Davis [13] John Higgins (Scotland) [3] 13-9 Anthony Hamilton [14] John Parrott [6] 13-7 Tony Drago (Malta) [11] Ronnie O'Sullivan [7] 13-4 Alan McManus (Scotland) [10] Jimmy White 13-3 Darren Morgan (Wales) [15]

First round

Ken Doherty (Ireland) [1] 10-8 Lee Walker (Wales) Stephen Lee [16] 10-4 Andy Hicks Matthew Stevens (Wales) 10-8 Alain Robidoux (Canada) [9] Mark King 10-5 Nigel Bond [8] Peter Ebdon [5] 10-3 Terry Murphy (N.Ireland) Fergal O'Brien (Ireland) 10-9 James Wattana (Thailand) [12] Steve Davis [13] 10-6 Simon Bedford Mark J Williams (Wales) [4] 10-9 Quinten Hann (Australia) John Higgins (Scotland) [3] 10-8 Jason Ferguson Anthony Hamilton [14] 10-8 Dave Harold Tony Drago (Malta) [11] 10-8 Alfie Burden John Parrott [6] 10-4 Peter Lines Ronnie O'Sullivan [7] 10-5 Joe Swail (N.Ireland) Alan McManus (Scotland) [10] 10-8 David Gray Darren Morgan (Wales) [15] 10-8 Jason Prince (N.Ireland) Jimmy White 10-4 Stephen Hendry (Scotland) [2]

Breaks

The total of 59 is a new record for the World Championship.

| 143 | | | ------- | |

John Higgins,Jimmy White

141

Peter Lines,Ronnie O'Sullivan

140

David Gray

139

John Higgins

138

Jimmy White

137

Ken Doherty,Dave Harold,James Wattana

134

Ken Doherty,Ronnie O'Sullivan

133

Stephen Lee

131

Ken Doherty,John Higgins

130

John Higgins (2)

128

John Higgins

127

Matthew Stevens

124

Peter Ebdon

120

John Parrott

119

John Higgins

118

John Higgins,Ronnie O'Sullivan,Jimmy White

117

Peter Ebdon

115

Alfie Burden,Anthony Hamilton

114

John Higgins

112

Ken Doherty,Darren Morgan

111

John Higgins,Alan McManus

109

Peter Ebdon,John Higgins,Stephen Lee

108

Peter Ebdon (2),Anthony Hamilton,John Parrott

107

David Gray

106

Jimmy White

105

Alfie Burden, Fergal O'Brien

104

Peter Ebdon,Ronnie O'Sullivan,John Parrott,John Higgins

103

John Higgins,Mark King

102

Anthony Hamilton,John Higgins,John Parrott,Mark J Williams

100

Anthony Hamilton, Fergal O'Brien,Ronnie O'Sullivan,Mark King, Matthew Stevens

Final Qualifying Round

Telford International Centre, England (Mar 20-21, 1998)

Players are English unless stated

Matthew Stevens (Wales) 10-3 Neal Foulds Quinten Hann (Australia) 10-6 Brian Morgan Mark King 10-8 Paul Hunter
Fergal O'Brien (Ireland) 10-7 Joe Perry
Jason Prince (N.Ireland) 10-8 Martin Clark Terry Murphy (N.Ireland) 10-2 Nick Pearce
Jimmy White 10-5 Bradley Jones Lee Walker (Wales) 10-9 Billy Snaddon (Scotland) Alfie Burden 10-3 Rod Lawler Dave Harold 10-7 Joe Delaney (Ireland)
Andy Hicks 10-1 David Roe
Joe Swail (N.Ireland) 10-3 Matthew Couch
Simon Bedford 10-9 Gary Wilkinson David Gray 10-5 Chris Small (Scotland) Peter Lines 10-6 Steve James Jason Ferguson 10-7 Mick Price

Prize Money

* includes payments made to last 48/64/96/128 and highest pre-TV break

The Odds

From William Hill, March 1998.

Related Pages

The World Championship Page

[ Report |Pictures |Results |Breaks |Qualifying |Prize Money |Odds |Related Pages ]

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