Report
Final
The victory streak is over! Stephen Hendry
has lost and
Ken Doherty has won!
Ken Doherty managed to withstand Hendry's
high break attack to claim the
World Championship trophy for the very first time with a 18-12 victory in the final. It is also
the first time a
player from the Republic of Ireland has prevailed.
Hendry made five centuries in the match and won five frames in a row from 15-7
down. One had to wonder if he could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
once more. Do you remember how he once won the last 10 frames in to beat Jimmy White
18-14? Doherty was unstoppable on the night though and won the last
three frames to end the Scot's dominance at The Crucible. Stephen had won
five championships in a row and 29 consecutive matches coming into this final.
Had he won again he would have had seven world titles, one more than Ray Reardon and Steve Davis.
This victory will take Doherty to No.3 in the
1997/98 world rankings.
Hendry
will still have a commanding lead in first place despite the loss today, John Higgins will be second,
and Mark Williams
fourth.
Go to the World Championship Page for more background info.
#2
By Patrick McWilliams
([email protected])
Ken Doherty became the first player to lift
both the World Amateur and Professional titles, having won the amateur crown in 1989 (and U21
title the year before), going one better than Doug Mountjoy and
Jimmy White, who were runners-up in the pro.
event, the former to Steve Davis in 1981 and
the latter on an incredible six occasions (84, 90-94).
Hendry seemed a little jaded after a very
long season and was not quite his awesome best. However, once Doherty, from Ranelagh a few miles
from the centre of Dublin, pulled ahead 11-5 at the end of the first day, the Irishman managed to
keep his advantager and "drawing" the second day 7-7 was enough to guarantee a cheque for 210,000
pounds sterling and the famous Joe Davis trophy.
Hendry won 126,000 pounds for his efforts while
Ronnie O'Sullivan's superb maximum break
earned him 147,000 pounds + 18,000 for the highest break, not bad for 5 minutes' work.
Hendry, while clearly shattered by the loss of his crown, generously conceded that Ken was a
"deserved winner", and Doherty, who showed enormous composure to hold himself together as the
Hendry charge gained momentum, admitted he was mightily relieved to have held on. "My mother must
have burnt a number of churches as she's been lighting so many candles for me" said the popular 27
year old.
This was a match that saw the champion make numerous errors, especially with his long potting and
safety. Doherty was usually able to punish him for them but on occasions stuttered as the winning
post appeared. However, the new champion played better over the marathon distance and, crucially,
made fewer mistakes, to defy the odds of 2/7 quoted on Hendry to surpass the modern era record of
6 titles, shared by Ray Reardon and Steve Davis.
Extra notes
I think my first report was a little unfair on Ken as it might have suggested that Hendry wasn't
at the races. However, he was clearly a deserved winner, having to defeat a resurgent Steve Davis
plus the world's no. 1 and 2 players on the way.
Note also that Hendry has been behind before and always come through, but on this occasion Doherty
kept up such a relentless stream of steady scoring and decent safety that the champion was simply
unable to claw his way back.
Forgot to say earlier that Ken is only the second "overseas" (i.e. non-UK) player to win the title.
Patrick McWilliams
([email protected])
Semi-finals
Ken Doherty from Ireland reaches his first ever World Championship final.
This Sunday and Monday he'll try to end Stephen Hendry's reign at The Crucible.
Quarter-finals
Thanks to Patrick McWilliams
([email protected])
for some assistance here
Morgan complained that the presence of a high
profile Hendry fan, world boxing champ Nazeem
Hamed, in the press area last night had "a massive bearing on the match". Morgan lost 3 of the 4
frames when Hamed was present and asked for him to be moved.
This will be James Wattana's first semifinal appearance since 1993. Now he'll "just" have to defeat
Stephen Hendry to be the first Thai in a World final!
Alain Robidoux continues a great season by
beating giant-killer Lee Walker. This is the first time Robidoux' advances beyond round two at The
Crucible Theatre. He is the first Canadian semifinalist since former world champion Cliff Thorburn
reached the same stage in 1989. His next opponent will be
Ken Doherty from Ireland.
Ken Doherty advanced to his first ever WC semifinal and we are now assured a non-UK player
in the final. That's the first time since 1983 when Cliff Thorburn lost 18-6 to
Steve Davis.
My records date back to 1980 and not in one of these years have we seen three non-UK players in
the semi-finals. This time it's truly a "World" snooker Championship.
It's not a very good tournament for England though. Not since 1981 has there been just one
Englishman in the World Championship quarter-finals, and 1980 was the last time England lacked
representation at the semi-final stage.
Second round
By Patrick McWilliams
([email protected])
Steve Davis admitted afterwards that he had been "annihilated";
it was the first time that he had ever failed to score at least 9
frames in any match beyond the first round and must rank with his
10-1 hiding by Tony Knowles in 1982 when he was defending champ.
Here are Ken Doherty's best breaks in this
match: 104, 101, 96 (missed 13th red on a maximum), 71, 66, 65, 62, 58, 56, 54, 51).
First round
Ronnie O'Sullivan made a 147 maximum
against Mick Price. That break earns him a �147,000 maximum bonus plus �18,000 for the high break
of the tournament. He used only 5 minutes and 20 seconds on the 36 pots.
It's the fourth maximum made in the history of the World Championship. Cliff Thorburn,
Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry are the other players to have managed this feat.
Ronnie said he was "shaking like a leaf near the end of his break" and
that he was so wrapped up in it that "he forgot to use his chalk"
(which he dropped when on the blue"). He said he knew the break
was on when he had scored 8, as there were 3 or 4 reds round the
black and he knew he had to go for it.
He attributes his improved form this year to his mother getting strict
with him and throwing him out of the house at one stage, after which
he went on a training regime and lost 3 stones. He says he runs 8
miles every morning and then goes to the gym.
Opponent Mick Price, who says he was brought up in the "bread
and butter of the Coventry leagues", described O'Sullivan as being "on a
different planet" when at his best.
Anthony Hamilton came back from an 8-4 deficit to beat
Jimmy White in the deciding frame. White will
now be out of the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time in 15 years.
Tony Drago missed the black off its spot in frame 18, for a clearance and a 10-8 victory.
Pictures
(© Eric Whitehead)
Results
(Players are English unless stated)
Final
Ken Doherty (Ireland) 18-12 Stephen Hendry (Scotland)
67-1, 5-117 (117), 0-106 (106), 77-13, 78-9 (69),
75-51, 69-11 (59), 0-122 (122). 12-76, 89-32, 62-55,
57-43, 65-13, 85-50 (85, 50), 47-74, 60-28 (52),
23-70 (58), 71-24 (70), 4-110 (92), 86-0 (46), 85-16,
59-45, 0-137 (137), 12-75, 30-61 (51), 0-114 (110),
57-61, 82-23, 69-19 (50), 71-49
Semi-finals
Ken Doherty (Ireland) 17-7 Alain Robidoux (Canada)
104-5, 8-79, 33-78, 99-0, 0-131, 62-26, 23-67,
77-1, 88-34, 60-2, 73-44, 87-14, 82-19, 36-92,
78-6, 74-31, 1-97, 60-25, 48-62, 59-18
Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 17-13 James Wattana (Thailand)
0-136, 10-92, 55-42, 73-8, 78-21, 114-6, 122-0,
38-74, 60-45, 101-0, 25-91, 60-63, 71-1, 18-61,
0-83, 42-74, 78-19, 66-53, 71-28, 79-33, 8-77,
16-75, 68-29, 69-39, 1-89, 85-9, 0-76, 17-71,
119-10, 74-61
Quarter-finals
Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 13-10 Darren Morgan (Wales)
James Wattana (Thailand) 13-10 John Parrott
Alain Robidoux (Canada) 13-8 Lee Walker (Wales)
Ken Doherty (Ireland) 13-9 John Higgins (Scotland)
Second round
Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 13-8 Mark J Williams (Wales)
Darren Morgan (Wales) 13-12 Ronnie O'Sullivan
James Wattana (Thailand) 13-7 Stephen Lee
John Parrott 13-11 Anthony Hamilton
Alain Robidoux (Canada) 13-9 Stefan Mazrocis
Lee Walker (Wales) 13-10 Alan McManus (Scotland)
Ken Doherty (Ireland) 13-3 Steve Davis
John Higgins (Scotland) 13-5 Dominic Dale (Wales)
First round
Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 10-6 Andy Hicks
Mark J Williams (Wales) 10-9 Terry Griffiths (Wales)
Darren Morgan (Wales) 10-5 Gary Wilkinson
Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-6 Mick Price
Stephen Lee 10-8 Nigel Bond
James Wattana (Thailand) 10-9 Graeme Dott (Scotland)
Anthony Hamilton 10-9 Jimmy White
John Parrott 10-9 Bradley Jones
Stefan Mazrocis 10-3 Peter Ebdon
Alain Robidoux (Canada) 10-8 Brian Morgan
Lee Walker (Wales) 10-7 Dave Harold
Alan McManus (Scotland) 10-9 Billy Snaddon (Scotland)
Ken Doherty (Ireland) 10-8 Mark Davis
Steve Davis 10-2 David McLellan (Scotland)
Dominic Dale (Wales) 10-9 Tony Drago (Malta)
John Higgins (Scotland) 10-6 Graham Horne (Scotland)
Final qualifying round
Telford International Centre, England (Mar 24-26, 1997)
Mark Davis 10-5 Jason Ferguson
Brian Morgan 10-6 Dene O'Kene (New Zealand)
Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 10-7 Rod Lawler
Stephen Lee 10-5 Drew Henry (Scotland)
Bradley Jones 10-4 Dave Finbow
Graham Horne (Scotland) 10-7 Steve James
Mick Price 10-9 Jimmy Michie
Gary Wilkinson 10-9 Michael Judge (Ireland)
Stefan Mazrocis 10-4 Chris Small (Scotland)
Dominic Dale (Wales) 10-6 Willie Thorne
David McLellan (Scotland) 10-9 Neal Foulds
Terry Griffiths (Wales) 10-4 Alfie Burden
Andy Hicks 10-7 Matthew Stevens (Wales)
Lee Walker (Wales) 10-7 Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland)
Anthony Hamilton 10-5 Karl Broughton
Graeme Dott (Scotland) 10-8 Joe Swail (N.Ireland)
Centuries
Here is the list of the 39 centuries made:
