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Embassy World Championship 1998

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 with Jimmy 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

Winner �220,000
Runner-up �132,000
Semi-finalists �66,000
Quarter-finalists �33,000
Second round �17,750
First round �12,000
Highest TV break �19,000

Total �1,323,000*

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

The Odds

From William Hill, March 1998.

7-4 Stephen Hendry
5-1 Ronnie O'Sullivan
6-1 John Higgins
9-1 Ken Doherty
9-1 Mark J Williams
16-1 Peter Ebdon
20-1 Nigel Bond
20-1 John Parrott
25-1 Alan McManus
33-1 Steve Davis
33-1 Stephen Lee
33-1 James Wattana
40-1 Anthony Hamilton
50-1 Alain Robidoux
66-1 Tony Drago
80-1 Darren Morgan

Related Pages

The World Championship Page

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

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