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

Grand Prix 1998

Guild Hall, Preston, England (Tel: +44 (0) 1772 58858)
Oct 14-25, 1998 (BBC Oct 17-25)
WPBSA ranking tournament (#1 of 9)
�370,000 purse

[ Results | Janie's Report | Breaks | Preview | Qualifying | Prizes | Points | Related Pages ]

Results

(Players are English unless stated; Matches are sorted according to draw)

Final

Stephen Lee 9-2 Marco Fu (Hong Kong)

115-8 (50) 128-0 (128) 75-17 (75) 130-0 (66,64) 4-82 (82)
99-33 (66) 77-0 (70) 12-85 (85) 107-0 (90) 93-1 (57) 106-5 (106)

Englishman Stephen Lee won his first ever major title by beating surprise package Marco Fu from Hong Kong 9-2 in the final. He played very well in the final and finished in style with a 106. Lee, ranked No 9 in the world rankings, picks up the first prize of �60,000 and Fu (ranked 377th!) gets �32,000.

After this maiden victory Lee will move to No 4 in the provisional ranking list. Fu will be at 51st.

Kelly Fisher won the Ladies title with a 4-0 win over Lisa Quick in the final.

Semi-finals

Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 6-1 Chris Small (Scotland)

83-42 (63) 65-32 103-25 (58) 25-107 (107) 82-1 (77) 71-15 (51) 60-32

Stephen Lee 6-4 Dave Harold

29-90 (76) 49-62 77-0 (60) 34-77 42-75
66-32 72-0 84-24 (84) 76-31 (69) 77-27 (53)

Quarter-finals

Chris Small (Scotland) 5-3 Jamie Burnett (Scotland)

70-46 5-96 (96) 4-97 (97) 79-4 59-38 87-0 (65) 18-71 67-19

Marco Fu (Hong Kong) 5-3 Peter Ebdon

70-67 113-23 (57) 71-39 12-77 (69) 49-75 58-62 (Fu 53) 70-49 64-51

Dave Harold 5-4 Stephen Hendry (Scotland)

78-20 41-58 72-7 (72) 36-66 0-91 (91) 91-0 (91) 45-73 66-18 64-8 (63)

Stephen Lee 5-0 Quinten Hann (Australia)

79-34 (79) 69-47 87-8 64-22 57-1

Third round

Jamie Burnett (Scotland)         5-0 Gary Wilkinson
Chris Small (Scotland)           5-2 Anthony Hamilton
Peter Ebdon                      5-0 Alan McManus (Scotland)
Marco Fu (Hong Kong)             5-2 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Stephen Hendry (Scotland)        5-3 Brian Morgan
Dave Harold                      5-0 Shokat Ali (Pakistan)
Stephen Lee                      5-2 Darren Morgan (Wales)
Quinten Hann (Australia)         5-3 Jason Ferguson

Second round

Gary Wilkinson                   5-3 Robin Hull (Finland)
Jamie Burnett (Scotland)         5-2 Nigel Bond
Anthony Hamilton                 5-1 Paul Hunter
Chris Small (Scotland)           5-4 John Parrott
Peter Ebdon                      5-1 Billy Snaddon (Scotland)
Alan McManus (Scotland)          5-3 Joe Johnson
Marco Fu (Hong Kong)             5-3 Drew Henry (Scotland)
Ronnie O'Sullivan                5-2 Mark King
Stephen Hendry (Scotland)        5-0 David Roe
Brian Morgan                     5-2 Rod Lawler
Dave Harold                      5-2 Euan Henderson (Scotland)
Shokat Ali (Pakistan)            5-3 Ken Doherty (Ireland)
Darren Morgan (Wales)            5-4 Mark J Williams (Wales)
Stephen Lee                      5-1 Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)
Jason Ferguson                   5-4 Dene O'Kane (New Zealand)
Quinten Hann (Australia)         5-4 Alan Burnett (Scotland)

First round

Robin Hull (Finland)             5-0 Dominic Dale (Wales)
Gary Wilkinson                   5-0 Matthew Couch           
Nigel Bond                       5-2 Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland) 
Jamie Burnett (Scotland)         5-1 Steve James 
Anthony Hamilton                 5-4 Leigh Griffin
Paul Hunter                      5-2 Jimmy Michie
John Parrott                     5-4 Colm Gilcreest (Ireland)
Chris Small (Scotland)           5-3 Stuart Pettman
Peter Ebdon                      5-3 Joe Swail (N.Ireland)
Billy Snaddon (Scotland)         5-1 Nick Pearce 
Alan McManus (Scotland)          5-2 Dean Reynolds
Joe Johnson                      5-3 Terry Murphy (N.Ireland)
Drew Henry (Scotland)            5-2 Tony Drago (Malta)
Marco Fu (Hong Kong)             5-4 Andy Hicks
Ronnie O'Sullivan                5-3 Sam Chong (Malaysia)
Mark King                        5-2 Gerard Greene (N.Ireland)
Stephen Hendry (Scotland)        5-1 Ian McCulloch
David Roe                        5-1 Matthew Stevens (Wales)
Rod Lawler                       5-1 Alain Robidoux (Canada)
Brian Morgan                     5-3 David Gray
Euan Henderson (Scotland)        5-1 James Wattana (Thailand)
Dave Harold                      5-0 Alex Borg (Malta)
Ken Doherty (Ireland)            5-0 David McDonnell 
Shokat Ali (Pakistan)            5-4 Jimmy White
Mark J Williams (Wales)          5-3 Michael Judge (Ireland)
Darren Morgan (Wales)            5-4 Robert Milkins
Stephen Lee                      5-3 Tony Jones
Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)         5-1 Mark Johnston-Allen
Dene O'Kane (New Zealand)        5-4 Steve Davis
Jason Ferguson                   5-3 Martin Clark
Quinten Hann (Australia)         5-1 John Higgins (Scotland)
Alan Burnett (Scotland)          5-3 Graeme Dott (Scotland)

Big wins for a number of "foreigners" in the first round. The controversial Australian Quinten Hann thrashes World No 1, John Higgins 5-1. They also met in last year's tournament. That time Hann was leading 4-1 before Higgins won the last 4 frames to score a 5-4 win. Sweet revenge for the man from "down under!" Hann now meets Alan Burnett from Scotland, another promising young player.

The defending champion, Dominic Dale of Wales, is thrown out 5-0 by Finnish hope, Robin Hull. Hull had an extremely successful run in the qualifying school but this must surely be one of his greatest scalps ever! Gary Wilkinson will be his opponent in the second round.

Marco Fu from Hong Kong is another very talented player based outside Britain. He beats unfortunate Andy Hicks 5-4 to advance to the next round. Hicks has lost all his four ranking matches 5-4 this season. Fu next plays Drew Henry of Scotland.

Veteran Kiwi Dene O'Kane also has a great start to the tournament by edging out legendary Steve Davis 5-4. He'll play either Jason Ferguson.

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Janie's Report

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

[ Oct 26 | Oct 15 #2 | Oct 15 #1 | Oct 14 ]


Oct 26

Congratulations to the new Grand Prix Champion. For those of us lucky enough to see the BBC coverage in the UK - it was a display of awesome potting power and break building.

In a near flawless performance, the World No 9 from Trowbridge kept fu pinned in his chair for frame after frame.

Fu did not play badly, but you can't play when sat in your chair! In the two frames he won he compiled breaks of 82 and 85, meanwhile Lee compiled a 50+ break in every frame he won - with two centuries. A very high class final. Lee's performance takes his up to Provisional No 4 on the World Rankings, behind Higgins, Hendry and O'Sullivan. Should be a very interesting season!


Oct 15 #2 - Day Two - Round One

The remainder of Round One will be resolved today... how many more big names will joins yesterday's sad victims?

First to the test this morning was Nigel Bond, facing Belfast's Patrick Wallace, making his venue debut. Wallace achieved a phenomenal record at Plymouth, qualifying for the Grand Prix, UK and Welsh Open... A 35 minute opener gave both players plenty of time to settle down and it was the experienced Bond who edged the frame on the pink. Wallace bounced back to take the next two. Bond, once he levelled at the interval never looked back and ran out a 5-2 winner. Wallace admitted afterwards "that he had a bit of a nightmare" he said "I was very nervous at the beginning and found it hard to settle". But I shall be going home to practice twice as hard for the UK.

Paul Hunter breezed past his Leeds neighbour Jimmy Michie. Runs of 88, 67 and 52 giving him a 5-2 win. Scotland's Chris Small, who endured a torrid time at Plymouth returned to the fray and knocked in only the second "ton" of the event with 115, as he defeated Stuart Pettman 5-3.

First of the day's seeds to crash was Canada's Alain Robidoux. After enduring a nightmare season last year, Robidoux fared no better on his return, crashing 1-5 to Liverpool's Rod Lawler. Robidoux managed a run of 73 in the only frame he won.

Wheels In Motion Team man Brian Morgan scored solidly to defeat Morden's young hopeful David Gray 5-3. Benfleet's Morgan tapped in breaks of 50, 50, 61, while Gray responded with a run of 62. As the afternoon got underway, Thailand's James Wattana plummeted to a 1-5 defeat at the hands of Scotland's Euan Henderson. At 4-0 down, Wattana saved a little face with a run of 88, but it only postponed the inevitable.

No such problems for Dave Harold and Ken Doherty, who both ran out 5-0 winners Harold ran in breaks of 103 and 104 to swell the ton tally; Doherty however didn't stretch himself to even compile a 50 break!

Another Cuemasters v Wheels in Motion battle saw Jason Ferguson take the honours for the WIM team as he scored steadily to oust Martin Clark 5-3. Ferguson notched up runs of 79, 65, 76, and celebrated with 106 in the final frame. Clark had the consolation of a run of 129, currently the highest break.

The drama of the day came on John Parrott's table. No indication early on as Parrott strolled to a 2-0 lead against unknown Irishman Colm Gilcreest. Gilcreest pulled one frame back before Parrott compiled a 121. Still he had not broken Colm's resistance as the Irishman toughed it out to win the next three frames to take an unlikely 4-3 lead. Parrott, the seasoned campiagner has seen all this drama before and he levelled again and calmly knocked in 66 to take the decider.

An early evening win for Stephen Hendry as he strolls through 5-1 against McCulloch.

Latest scores... Jimmy White is 3-1 down to Manchester's Shokat Ali and Peter Ebdon is just one frame from victory at 4-1 against Joe Swail.

BREAK BOARD:
Martin Clark        129
John Parrott        121
Tony Drago          120
Chris Small         115
Jason Ferguson      106
Dave Harold         104
Dave Harold         103

Janie Watkins
Global Snooker Centre

Back to start of Janie's Report


Oct 15 # 1 - Seeds fall like Autumn leaves...

Well it might have been a quiet morning session in The Grand Prix, but the afternoon and evening saw big names crashing from a great height...

Down and out went... champion Dominic Dale, World Champion John Higgins, Maltese Falcon Tony Drago, Ireland's Terry Murphy, Andy Hicks, and six times world champion Steve Davis.... who took somewhat longer than all the other matches..

Finland's Star Robin Hull reached the last 32 stages for the first time, toppling Grand Prix Champion Dominic Dale 5-0... Gary Wilkinson made short work of the challenge of Matthew Couch, winning 5-0 to line up against Hull.

Hong Kong's bright young hope 20 year old Marco fu, ousted Tavistock's Andy hicks, but not without a tremendous struggle. Fu raced into a 3-0 lead, but the experienced Hicks fought back and gained a 4-3 advange, but Fu was not to be denied.. Two runs of 54 in the eight frame set up a tense decider. Fu took an early lead, and when Hicks mis hit a safety shot, Fu calmly took his chance to compile 77 to take the match.

Fu's reward is a Last 32 match against Scotland's Drew Henry, who performed his own heroics to put paid to the hope of Malta's Tony Drago 5-2.

1986 World Champion Joe Johnson became the oldest player to make the last 32 as he beat Northern Ireland's Terry Murphy. Murphy missed the three tournaments at Plymouth because of a broken ankle, so this defeat will prove another major setback. Along with Hicks he has yet to win a match, with four tournaments gone. Johnson goes through to play Scotland's Alan McManus.

Mark Williams came safely through 5-3 in his match against Dublin's Michael Judge, despite runs of 64, 81 and 94 from Judge. His countryman Darren Morgan, still recovering from the injuries sustained in a car crash, battled through to overcome Robert Milkins 5-4 and will now face Williams. There will be little love lost between the two on the table, with a lot of local rivalry at stake, so this should prove a "juicy" encounter.

The unpredictable Australian Quientan Hann made a major dent in the season of World Champion John Higgins as he breezed through 5-1, doing a great favour to the hopes of Stephen Hendry's as he battles to regain his Number One spot.

Steve Davis and Dene O'Kane ground to a total halt at one stage. Their match was pulled off with the scores locked at 4-4, to make way for the evening matches. At the resumption O'Kane won the one frame shoot out to progress. Davis will be left rueing the fact that he squandered leads of 3-0 and 4-1 .

FRAME SCORES
JOE JOHNSON 5-3 Terry Murphy: 39-62, 68-36, 82(55)-16, 0-70,
100(92)-0, 65-49, 57-47
MARCO FU 5-4 Andy Hicks: 79-2, 82-7, 97(65)-48, 12-73(51),
29-87(69), 23-71, 66-74(65), 108-10(54,54), 108(77)-4
MARK WILLIAMS 5-3 Michael Judge: 22-100(64), 65(50)-52, 85-34,
22-81(81), 10-94(94), 72(67)-23, 62-46, 63-29
DARREN MORGAN 5-4 Rob Milkins: 55(54)-60, 97(88)-12, 64-4, 17-61,
36-79(52), 91-27, 41-49, 61-23, 75(67)-37
BILLY SNADDON 5-1 Nick Pearce: 71-9, 62-30, 28-65(62), 74(55)-16,
85(76)-0, 81(52)-2
ALAN McMANUS 5-2 Dean Reynolds: 85(51)-39, 29-82(520, 117(88)-7,
30-72(68), 67(58)-23, 87(73)-1, 75-43
MARK KING 5-2 Gerard Greene: 79-44, 65(50)-0, 16-70(50), 43-50,
78-55, 67-38, 73-11
STEPHEN LEE 5-3 Tony Jones: 84-26, 73-9, 68(54)-30, 8-58, 48-53,
74(68)-35, 31-88(59), 56-40
FERGAL O'BRIEN 5-1 Mark Johnston-Allen: 64-54, 57-30, 46-86, 61-30,
70(50)-25, 63-53

DAVIS/O'KANE to 4-4: 95(67)-27, 57-47, 75-20, 49-57, 55-43, 1-83,
31-76, 35-60...

More scores asap.

Back to start of Janie's Report


Oct 14 - United Nations

The Grand Prix kicked off today in its new home of the Preston Guild Hall. Sponsorless but not homeless!

Since the Grand Prix was first staged in 1984 at Reading, the event has always been won by players based in the UK. 6 English Winners, 5 Scottish, 2 Welsh and 1 from Northern Ireland. But this time there are 14 different nations represented, so what are the odds of an overseas victory? Not too good!

Leading the overseas players will be James Wattana of Thailand, who is perfectly capable of winning a ranking tournament, but hasn't proved the point too often! Aussie Quientan Hann can beat anyone, but would need to beat everyone to win and consistency hasn't been his middle name so far. His opening match could be easier - John Higgins - not to easy an opener for Higgins.

Everybody will be watching with great interest as 20 year old Marco Fu of Hong Kong makes his debut, having reached a venue at his first attempt since turning pro this summer. If you fancy a bet his odds are 801 to win the title, but first he has to overcome former World Semi finalist Andy Hicks, of Tavistock.

In addition the overseas challenge is swelled by Robin Hull of Finland, who takes on defending champion Dominic Dale. Sam Chong of Malaysia returns to play Ronnie O'Sullivan... Belgium's Alex Borg encounters the obdurate Dave Harold... Seasoned New Zealander Dene O'Kane lines up in an intriguing (or should I say interesting!) battle against Steve Davis. Ireland (North and South) are well represented... Plymouth's high flyer, Northern Ireland's Patrick Wallace makes his venue debut against Nigel Bond, while his Eire counterpart Michael Judge will provide stiff opposition for Mark Williams.

Early results have provided a 5-1 for Scotland's Billy Snaddon over Nick Pearce of Gloucester, Londoner Mark King beat Gerard Greene 5-2. Another Scot Alan McManus is safely through, winning 5-2 against Dean Reynolds.Irishman Fergal O'Brien beat Mark Johnston-Allen 5-1 and Stephen Lee strikes the first blow for the CueMasters stable with a 5-3 win over Tony Jones. No major fireworks there, the highest break so far is a contribution of 88 by McManus...

more later.

Results and stories of the tournament will be regularly updated on www.snooker.images.co.uk and www.sporting-life.co.uk

Global Snooker Centre

Back to start of Janie's Report

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Century Breaks

(Excluding qualifying rounds; Possibly incomplete)

P Ebdon       139
R O'Sullivan  134
M Clark       129
S Lee         128
S Lee         126
M Fu          123
Q Hann        121
J Parrott     121
T Drago       120
C Small       115
Q Hann        111
Q Hann        110
D O'Kane      110
S Hendry      108
C Small       107
S Lee         106
D Harold      103
J Ferguson    106
A Hamilton    103
M Williams    104
S Lee         104
M Williams    102

Thanks to Ronald Cheung ([email protected]) for helping out.

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Preview

Especially interesting first round matches:

  • Reigning champion Dominic Dale from Wales meets Finland's Robin Hull who's had a brilliant run in the qualifiers.
  • Nigel Bond takes on Patrick Wallace of Northern Ireland who's had an even better qualifying run. He's won his first 14(!) matches.
  • Andy Hicks will try to master the brilliant new Hong Kong star, Marco Fu. Watch out for this guy!
  • Mark Johnston-Allen returns to the big time with a match against Irishman Fergal O'Brien who had a fine season last year.
  • ... and possibly the most mouthwatering match in the first round; world No. 1 John Higgins against Quinten Hann of Australia. They met in last year's Grand Prix too. Hann was leading 4-1 before Higgins won the last 4 frames to score a 5-4 win. Quinten along with Marco Fu are probably the two biggest "international" hopes in snooker.
  • Seven returning champions: Dominic Dale ( 97), Mark J Williams (96), Stephen Hendry (87, 90, 91, 95), John Higgins (94), Peter Ebdon (93), Jimmy White (86, 92) and Steve Davis (85, 88, 89).

    Three rookies (first time in the last stage of a ranking tournament): Marco Fu, Colm Gilcreest and Patrick Wallace.

    Players from 14 countries: England (31), Scotland (12), Ireland (4), Wales (4), Northern Ireland (3), Malta (2), Australia (1), Canada (1), Finland (1), Hong Kong (1), Malaysia (1), New Zealand (1), Pakistan (1) and Thailand (1).

    Six of the players started off in the first round of qualifying: Alex Borg, Sam Chong, Colm Gilcreest, Robin Hull, David McDonnell and Mark Johnston-Allen. Sam Chong has won five matches, the others have won four.

    Dale will try to be the first to successfully defend the title since Hendry managed it in 1991.

    Higgins will try to continue a 11-match winning streak in ranking tournaments.

    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 5

    (Monday 17th August)

    Robin Hull (Finland)             5-3 Jonathan Birch
    Matthew Couch                    5-3 Tony Chappel (Wales)
    Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland)      5-0 Lee Walker (Wales)
    Steve James                      5-2 Joe Delaney (Ireland)
    Leigh Griffin                    5-3 Paul Davies (Wales)
    Jimmy Michie                     5-3 Peter Lines
    Colm Gilcreest (Ireland)         5-0 Mark Davis
    Stuart Pettman                   5-3 Jason Prince (N.Ireland)
    Joe Swail (N.Ireland)            5-4 Anthony Davies (Wales)
    Nick Pearce                      5-2 Steve Judd
    Dean Reynolds                    5-2 Mark Gray
    Joe Johnson                      5-3 Gary Ponting
    Drew Henry (Scotland)            5-4 Darren Clarke
    Marco Fu (Hong Kong)             5-0 Mick Price
    Sam Chong (Malaysia)             5-2 Paul Wykes
    Gerard Greene (N.Ireland)        5-2 Eddie Barker
    Ian McCulloch                    5-4 Marcus Campbell (Scotland)
    David Roe                        5-4 Michael Holt
    Rod Lawler                       5-0 Mario Geudens (Belgium)
    David Gray                       5-3 Paul Cavney
    Euan Henderson (Scotland)        5-2 Barry Mapstone
    Alex Borg (Malta)                5-3 Neal Foulds
    David McDonnell                  5-3 Karl Broughton
    Shokat Ali (Pakistan)            5-3 Karl Payne
    Michael Judge (Ireland)          5-0 Barry Pinches
    Robert Milkins                   5-1 Bradley Jones
    Tony Jones                       5-2 Nick Terry
    Mark Johnston-Allen              5-4 Willie Thorne
    Dene O'Kane (New Zealand)        5-3 Mark Bennett (Wales)
    Jason Ferguson                   5-0 Nick Walker
    Quinten Hann (Australia)         5-0 Mark Fenton (Wales)
    Alan Burnett (Scotland)          5-2 Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland)
    

    The seeds from 32-64 join in the fray today, coming cold into matches against the players who have acclimatised for the past three weeks at Plymouth - so this first tournaments always throws up some upset - good value at the bookies if you can spot the upsets!

    Upset No 1: Finland's Robin Hull ousts Jonathan Birch 5-3 to book a match against defending Champion Dominic Dale at Preston in October.

    Upest No 2: In the battle of the WPBSA Coaches - England beat Wales as Scunthorpe's Matthew Couch defeated Swansea veteran Tony Chappel 5-3.

    Upest No 3: Patrick Wallace does it again. This time defeating Newbridge's Lee Walker 5-0 to book himself a place at the venue for the first time in his career. Wallace will meet Nigel Bond at Preston.

    Upest No 4: Leigh Griffin puts paid to Cardiff's Paul Davies 5-3.

    Upest No 5: Well not really an upset, but the lower ranked player prevails in the local Leeds Derby - as Jimmy Michie defeats Crucible debutant Peter Lines 5-3.

    Upest No 6: Colm Gilcreest breezes through 5-0 against Mark Davis of Sussex.

    So 6 out of 10 seeds perish this morning. One match wasn't played. The WPBSA double booked Jason Prince to appear at a "launch" in London and his match against Stuart Pettman will be played on Tuesday.

    Afternoon Matches:

    The seeds fared a lot better after lunch, with only two managing to reach their seeded position.

    Upest No 7: The great new hope of snooker Marco Fu, proves it has been no fluke so far as he hammer's Nuneaton's Mick Price 5-0 - the wheels falling off for The Wheels in Motion Player.

    Upest No 8: The greatest win of his career - and now the greatest match to come - as Malaysia's Sam Chong show his class again, defeating Paul Wykes 5-2 - and now he gets star prize - a match against Ronnie O'Sullivan at Preston. I wonder if Malaysia flies direct to Manchester airport - book the tickets boys!

    Enough of the upsets! - How did the rest of the seeds fare:

    Veteran campaigners - Steve James, Joe Swail, Dean Reynolds and Joe Johnson have seen all this before and they got through their awkward opening matches. James beat Delaney 5-2. Joe Swail sneaked over the line 5-4 against Barry's Anthony Davies - who must be thoroughly sick of losing matches 5-4. Dean Reynolds beat fellow East Anglian Mark Gray 5-2 and Joe Johnson beat Gary Ponting 5-3.

    Also through today so far are Nick Pearce 5-2 v Judd; Drew Hendry 5-4 over Darren Clarke; Gerard Greene beat Eddie Barker 5-2, Ian McCullock nicked the battle 5-4 against Marcus Campbell. David Roe of Derby made a good start to what he hopes will be a revival after a couple of lean season, squeezed home 5-4 against Michael Holt, while Liverpool's Rod Lawler also made a better start than last year as he romped through 5-0 against Geudens. Baby faced David Gray, who made an impact at Sheffield this year came through his opener 5-3 against Paul Cavney and Scotsman Euan Henderson beat the young English hopeful Barry Mapstone 5-2.

    Highest break today so far a 132 to win the match from Henderson. Gary Ponting opened up his match with 120 as he opened up a 2-0 and 3-1 lead over Johnson, but 75 from Joe turned the game in his favour as he took 3 on the spin to win.

    Marco Fu stamped his authority with consecutives runs of 50, 81 and 77.

    Sad seeds tonight were Neal Foulds, Karl Broughton, Bradley Jones, Willie Thorne and Dennis Taylor, who all got baulked in their attempt to gain their rightful play at Preston.

    First up was a great result for Alex Borg, his first trip to a venue - delighted Belgians will be booking the trip to watch Alex play Stoke's Dave Harold. Borg put paid to Neal Foulds in a close game, where they both had their chances. David McDonnell's breaks of 74 and 73 helped him to victory over Karl Broughton - McDonnel plays 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty.

    Robert Milkins stormed past Bradley jones 5-1, helped along by a 60 and a 61.

    Thorne and Johnston-Allen toughed it out to a final frame decider. The highest break of the encounter - a 52 from Thorne. Johnston-Allen took the decided 71-8.

    Dennis Taylor looks destined to continue to slide down the rankings. Now the game's elder statesman Taylor was defeated by the promising Alan Burnett, who has overcome the bitter disappointment of failing to qualify for last season's main tour, when everyone expected him too. A break of 122 from Burnett was the highlight. Burnett will line up against fellow scot Graeme Dott.

    6 of the seeds made it: Shokat Ali hit 69 and 51 in defeating Karl Payne 5-3 Michael Judge made Irish eyes smile as he ran in consecutive breaks of 52, 77 and 95 to rip the heart out of his match as he went on to beat Barry Pinches 5-0.

    Tony Jones beat Nick Terry 5-2. An 80 from Terry the only break over 50.

    Dene O'Kane swelled the overseas army as he beat Welshman Mark Bennett 5-3, running in 78 in the final frame.

    Jason Ferguson cheered up his Wheels in Motion team, with a 5-0 win over Nick Walker. Ferguson hit 55,86,62 to show some good early season form.

    The irrepressible Quienten Hann breezed past Mark Fenton 5-0, with two breaks of 54 - and now book your tickets for Hann versus John Higgins. Not the easiest opener for the new World champion!

    Stuart Pettman beat Jason Prince 5-3. Prince compiled a 129 in Frame 3, but it was Pettman who knocked in a vital 50 to take the match in Frame 8.

    Round 4

    (Sunday 16th August)

    Marco Fu (Hong Kong)             5-3 Adrian Gunnell
    Sam Chong (Malaysia)             5-3 Richard Somauroo (Mauritius)
    Eddie Barker                     5-2 Tom Finstad (Canada)
    Mario Geudens (Belgium)          5-4 Jeff Cundy
    Paul Cavney                      5-1 Phaitoon Phonbun (Thailand)
    David McDonnell                  5-1 Shawn Budd (Australia)
    
    Eagerly anticipated was the entry of Marco Fu, World Under 21 and World Amateur Champion and tipped for greater glory - he did not disappoint.

    Fu defeated the (nearly unbeatable so far) Adrian Gunnell 5-3 and takes his place tomorrow against Mick Price. Frame Scores: 68-30, 0-76 (76), 83-0 (83), 7-62 (50), 54-62, 73-1, 67-16 97-8 (87).

    Malaysia's Sam Chong who had come right through from Round won beat his overseas seed - Richard Somauroo 5-3. Chong has booked himself a match against Paul Wykes of England. Frame Scores: 22-62, 91-1 (91), 10-82 86-4 (86), 19-107, 78-5, 27-78 (55), 41-62.

    Canada's Tom Finstad found his return to British soil too hard to handle as Eddie Barker eased through 5-2. From 4-0 down Finstad managed to make the score respectable helped by a run of 87. Barker will now play Gerard Greene. Frame Scores: 1-73, 31-81 (77), 31-76, 26-65, 96-5 (87), 62-23, 16-71 (61).

    Celebrations in Belgium as Mario Geudens won his first match, a hard fought win over the high experienced Jeff Cundy. Geudens reward is a shot at Liverpool's Rod Lawler. Frame Scores: 42-57, 82-32, 13-54, 71-49, 75-1 (75), 62-37, 35-65, 30-64, 67-13.

    Phaitoon Phonbun found his debut rather daunting as Paul Cavney strolled through 5-1. Cavney now plays Morden's David Gray. FRame Scores: 0-73, 46-71, 0-77 (77), 0-100 (96), 80-0 (58), 1-68.

    Australia's young hopeful Shawn Budd was also on the receiving end of a 5-1 reverse as David McDonnell knocked in three 50+ breaks to go through to meet Karl Broughton. Frame Scores: 16-78 (54), 72-46, 55-66 (53), 18-63, 45-53, 29-74 (55).

    Round 3

    Robin Hull (Finland)             5-1 Craig MacGillivray (Scotland)
    Matthew Couch                    5-0 Darryn Walker
    Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland)      5-4 Stefan Mazrocis
    Joe Delaney (Ireland)            5-2 Stephen O'Connor (Ireland)
    Leigh Griffin                    5-2 Simon Bedford
    Jimmy Michie                     5-4 James Reynolds (Wales)
    Colm Gilcreest (Ireland)         5-2 Karl Burrows
    Stuart Pettman                   5-4 Paul McPhillips (Scotland)
    Anthony Davies (Wales)           5-3 Paul Sweeny
    Steve Judd                       5-4 John Whitty
    Mark Gray                        5-3 Ian Sargeant (Wales)
    Gary Ponting                     5-4 Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus)
    Darren Clarke                    5-2 Stuart Reardon
    Adrian Gunnell                   5-1 Chris Scanlon
    Sam Chong (Malaysia)             5-2 Ian Brumby
    Eddie Barker                     5-0 Dave Finbow
    Marcus Campbell (Scotland)       5-0 Darren Limburg
    Michael Holt                     5-1 Lee Richardson
    Jeff Cundy                       5-3 Joe Perry
    Paul Cavney                      5-3 Sean Storey
    Barry Mapstone                   5-3 Wayne Brown
    Alex Borg (Malta)                5-3 Martin Dziewialtowski (Scotland)
    David McDonnell                  5-2 John Lardner (Scotland)
    Karl Payne                       5-4 Chris Shade (Scotland)
    Barry Pinches                    5-4 John Read
    Robert Milkins                   5-1 Graham Horne (Scotland)
    Nick Terry                       5-4 Alfie Burden
    Mark Johnston-Allen              5-2 Peter McCullagh
    Mark Bennett (Wales)             5-4 Tony Knowles
    Nick Walker                      5-2 Steve Newbury (Wales)
    Mark Fenton (Wales)              5-1 Wayne Jones (Wales)
    Alan Burnett (Scotland)          5-2 Troy Shaw
    

    A few surprises there!

    Unranked Sam Chong has made it through to Round 4, which means he will almost certainly be one of the six lowest ranked players who now play the six leading oversears qualifiers for a place in round 5. It's a bit of a complicated system! There will be six matches in round four - the lowest six qualifiers against the six overseas players, and everyone goes on through to round five. Round Four is to be played Saturday August 16th - so we should be able to sort out who's who by then!

    Adrian Gunnell has strolled through from Round One, a good win here over Chris Scanlon. Eddie Barker's 5-0 defeat of Dave Finbow, who has appeared in the televised stages of tournaments and Barry Mapstone's win over Wayne Brown are two further upsets.

    Michael Holt knocked in a break of 113 in his win over snooker's "rap" boy Lee Richardson - for music fans Lee Richardson composes and sings "rap" music and has released a cd.

    Mark Bennett beat Tony Knowles, both have been considerably higher in the rankings. Bennett reached one semi final last season and Knowles is vieing to return to the higher echelons of the game again. An all Welsh battle was Mark Fenton against Wayne Jones. Despite Jones being the higher ranked - the hot local money was on Fenton - and he won.

    Fenton suffered the misfortune of having his cue lost in the post a couple of months ago, when he sent it off to John Parris for repair. Fortunately John Parris was able to make a cue that suited Fenton and he even got compensation for the loss - so he ended up very lucky - when you consider the nightmares that some players suffer when they have to change cues - Alain Robidoux for instance.

    Robin Hull from Finland made a 139 in his match.

    Right now it gets a bit complicated! The six winners of the Overseas qualifiers are seeded into Round Four - no I don't know why that should jump over every player bar the Top 64! but they have. Now the bottom six off the ranking list that have got through - now play against those six - with me so far - good - then the winners of those six matches will slot back into round five in the places where the bottom six qualifiers were - No honest guys, I'm not trying to make it sound confusing - IT IS confusing! So the answer to this is to rush off and join our correspondent, who wrote from Mongolia and join in a qualifer and you too could be two matches from the venue (and loads of dosh) without picking a cue up! Neat idea huh!

    Round 2

    Robin Hull (Finland)             5-2 Antony Bolsover
    Darryn Walker                    5-3 Mike Hallett
    Patrick Wallace (N.Ireland)      5-0 Wael Talaat (Egypt)
    Joe Delaney (Ireland)            5-4 Eddie Manning
    Simon Bedford                    5-1 Johl Younger (Australia)
    James Reynolds (Wales)           5-3 Li Jian-Bing (China)
    Colm Gilcreest (Ireland)         5-2 Adrian Rosa 
    Paul McPhillips (Scotland)       5-2 Gary Lees 
    Paul Sweeny                      5-3 John Giles
    John Whitty                      5-3 David McLellan (Scotland)
    Ian Sargeant (Wales)             5-4 Nigel Gilbert
    Mehmet Husnu (Cyprus)            5-4 Munraj Pal
    Stuart Reardon                   5-1 Stephen Murphy (Ireland)
    Adrian Gunnell                   5-4 Oliver King
    Sam Chong (Malaysia)             5-2 Jason Wallace
    Eddie Barker                     5-1 Craig Harrison
    Darren Limburg                   5-1 Jason Weston
    Michael Holt                     5-3 Leigh Robinson
    Jeff Cundy                       5-4 Paul S Davison
    Paul Cavney                      5-2 Leo Fernandez (Ireland)
    Barry Mapstone                   5-2 Allister Carter
    Alex Borg (Malta)                5-2 Philip Williams (Wales)
    David McDonnell                  5-3 Joe Grech (Malta)
    Chris Shade (Scotland)           5-3 Wayne Saidler
    Barry Pinches                    5-2 Hugh Abernethy (Scotland)
    Robert Milkins                   5-2 Dermot McGlinchey (N.Ireland)
    Nick Terry                       5-2 Simon Parker
    Mark Johnston-Allen              5-1 Micky Roughan
    Tony Knowles                     5-3 David Coles
    Steve Newbury (Wales)            5-4 Patrick Delsemme (Belgium)
    Mark Fenton (Wales)              5-1 Björn Haneveer (Belgium)
    Alan Burnett (Scotland)          5-2 Matt Wilson
    

    Mehmet Husnu included breaks of 72, 80, 95 and 69 in the decider, while Munraj Pal clocked up an 85. Sounds like a good match.

    Sam Chong has now defeated two "seeded" players and goes through to face Ian Brumby in round three.

    Other survivors from Round One to beat "seeds": Robin Hull, Joe Delaney, Colm Gilcreest, John Whitty, Ian Sargeant, Mehmet Husnu, Stuart Reardon, Adrian Gunnell, Sam Chong, Eddie Barker, Darren Limbrug, Jeff Cundy, Paul Cavney.

    Looks like it's tough being seeded through!

    For those in the UK results are being posted on ITV's teletext on Page 139.

    For all of you "webbed" Sporting Life are carrying snooker pieces on their "extra" page and some of the UK press are carrying bits and pieces - The Times carried a piece about Kirk Stevens today.

    Round 1

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

    Kirk Stevens lost his opener on his return to the pro scene - his first match since 1993. Johl Younger the Aussie "star" had a good win over former Eng Am Champ Stuart Bingham.

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    Prize Money

    Winner 1 * 60,000   60,000
    Runner Up 1 * 32,000   32,000
    Losing Semi-finalist 2 * 16,000   32,000
    Losing Quarter-finalist 4 * 9,100   36,400
    Last 16 8 * 4,600   36,800
    Last 32 16 * 2,600   41,600
    Last 64 32 * 2,225   71,200
    Last 96 32 * 1,250   40,000
    Overseas Play-off Round 6 * 1,250 7,500
    � Not payable to overseas qualifiers who lose their first match
    Last 134 32 * 200   6,400
    High TV Break 1 * 5,000   5,000
    High Pre TV Break 1 * 1,100   1,100

    Total 370,000

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    Points

    Here is an overview of the points system used in the 1998 Grand Prix.

    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
    (seeds 1-32) 480
    Last 32 855
    Last 16 1,140
    Q-F 1,520
    S-F 2,025
    R-up 3,040
    Winner 4,560

    See the Points System page in the Rankings section for more on ranking points.

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    Related Pages

    External

    Internal

         
    1994 New Skoda Grand Prix
    1995 Skoda Grand Prix
    1996 Grand Prix
    1997 Grand Prix
    1998 Grand Prix
    1999 Grand Prix
    2000 Grand Prix
    2004 totesport Grand Prix
    2005 Grand Prix
    2006 Royal London Watches Grand Prix
    2007 Royal London Watches Grand Prix
    2008 Royal London Watches Grand Prix
    2009 Grand Prix
    2010 World Open

    Grand Prix Finals (... see also the old version)

    1998 Match stats
    1999 Match stats

    2004 Grand Prix Prediction Contest
    2005 Grand Prix Prediction Contest

    [ Results | Janie's Report | Breaks | Preview | Qualifying | Prizes | Points | Related Pages ]

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