Regal Welsh Open 1998

Newport Leisure Centre, Newport, Wales (Jan 16-25, 1998)
WPBSA ranking tournament #4 (�350,000 purse, �60,000 first prize)

[ Report | Results | Related Pages ]

Report

19-year-old Paul Hunter from Leeds in England topped a giant-killing week by beating world No.2 John Higgins 9-5 in the final to win his first professional title. He began the tournament an 80-1 outsider, but in the end he went away with the �60,000 winner's cheque. Hunter is only No. 43 in the world rankings, but he'll move to the 18th spot in the updated Embassy rankings.

Earlier in the week the youngster had ousted Steve Davis, Nigel Bond , Alan McManus, and Peter Ebdon. Adding the scalp of Higgins as well, he beat five(!) top-16 players during the week.

Hunter fired in three century breaks in the match; 108, 116 and 127. He was 4-2 down at one time, but won seven of the last eight frames to clinch the title.

Graeme Dott from Scotland won the �5,000 on offer for the highest televised break, with a 142 total clearance against Steve James.

Results

(Players are English unless stated)

Final

Paul Hunter 9-5 John Higgins (Scotland)

40-87 (87), 131-1 (127), 44-81 (63), 116-0 (116), 0-88 (55), 26-62, 
76-21, 61-8, 10-69 (52), 64-20, 73-34, 68-41, 74-8 (74), 108-0 (108)

Paul Hunter 6-1 Peter Ebdon

80-42 (75), 76-30, 85-11, 34-76 (76), 84-19, 72-28, 76-20 (71)

John Higgins (Scotland) 6-5 Mark King

53-37, 30-94 (66), 46-66, 51-64, 60-70 (56H), 
76-44, 99-0 (99), 44-79, 75-28 (67), 74-27 (58), 69-0

Peter Ebdon                      5-2 Jamie Burnett (Scotland)
Paul Hunter                      5-3 Alan McManus (Scotland)
John Higgins (Scotland)          5-4 John Parrott
Mark King                        5-3 Anthony Hamilton

Jamie Burnett (Scotland)         5-3 Stephen Lee
Peter Ebdon                      5-3 Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)
Paul Hunter                      5-4 Nigel Bond
Alan McManus (Scotland)          5-0 Chris Small (Scotland)
John Higgins (Scotland)          5-3 Andy Hicks
John Parrott                     5-1 Graeme Dott (Scotland)
Anthony Hamilton                 5-4 Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Mark King                        5-1 Dominic Dale (Wales)

Jamie Burnett (Scotland)         5-3 Joe Perry                        
Stephen Lee                      5-1 Peter Lines
Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)         5-3 Steve Judd
Peter Ebdon                      5-0 Gary Wilkinson                   
Nigel Bond                       5-0 Jason Ferguson                   
Paul Hunter                      5-3 Steve Davis
Alan McManus (Scotland)          5-1 Martin Dziewialtowski (Scotland) 
Chris Small (Scotland)           5-1 Nick Walker
John Higgins (Scotland)          5-1 Terry Murphy (N.Ireland)         
Andy Hicks                       5-1 Stefan Mazrocis
Graeme Dott (Scotland)           5-2 Steve James                      
John Parrott                     5-1 Ian McCulloch                    
Ronnie O'Sullivan                5-4 Jimmy White                      
Anthony Hamilton                 5-2 Dave Harold                      
Dominic Dale (Wales)             5-3 Sean Storey
Mark King                        5-2 Tony Chappel (Wales)

Jamie Burnett (Scotland)         5-4 Stephen Hendry (Scotland)
Joe Perry                        5-4 Brian Morgan
Stephen Lee                      5-4 Marcus Campbell (Scotland)       
Peter Lines                      5-0 Rod Lawler
Steve Judd                       5-3 Tony Drago (Malta)
Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)         5-4 Wayne Jones (Wales)              
Peter Ebdon                      5-4 Stuart Pettmann                  
Gary Wilkinson                   5-2 John Read                        
Nigel Bond                       5-0 Ian Brumby                       
Jason Ferguson                   5-3 Billy Snaddon (Scotland)
Steve Davis                      5-3 Dave Finbow
Paul Hunter                      5-2 Neal Foulds
Alan McManus (Scotland)          5-0 Joe Johnson                      
Martin Dziewialtowski (Scotland) 5-3 Mick Price
Nick Walker                      5-3 Mark J Williams (Wales)
Chris Small (Scotland)           5-3 David Roe
John Higgins (Scotland)          5-2 Euan Henderson (Scotland)        
Terry Murphy (N.Ireland)         5-4 Bradley Jones
Stefan Mazrocis                  5-3 Alain Robidoux (Canada)
Andy Hicks                       5-3 Tony Jones                       
Graeme Dott (Scotland)           5-4 James Wattana (Thailand)
Steve James                      5-1 Gerard Greene (N.Ireland)                    
John Parrott                     5-3 Paul Davies (Wales)              
Ian McCulloch                    5-1 Martin Clark
Ronnie O'Sullivan                5-1 Stephen O'Connor (Ireland)       
Jimmy White                      5-2 Mark Davis                       
Anthony Hamilton                 5-1 Matthew Stevens (Wales)          
Dave Harold                      5-1 Wayne Brown                      
Sean Storey                      5-4 Darren Morgan (Wales)
Dominic Dale (Wales)             5-4 Joe Swail (N.Ireland)
Tony Chappel (Wales)             5-3 Ken Doherty (Ireland)
Mark King                        5-1 Gary Ponting                     

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

1995 Regal Welsh Open
1996 Regal Welsh Open
1997 Regal Welsh Open
Welsh Open Finals

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Last Modified: Friday April 20 2012

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