Grand Prix 1997

Bournemouth Int. Conference Centre, England (Oct 14-26, 1997)
WPBSA ranking tournament #1 (�350,000 purse)

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Report

John Higgins from Scotland 9-6 in the final of the 1997 Grand Prix. Dale, who is only ranked No.54 in the world, lead all the way through the match, although Higgins clawed back from a 4-0 deficit to get within one frame at 7-6. Dale then snatched victory with deciding breaks of 120 and 71.

This is a major boost to Dominic's career as he has never progressed beyond the last 16 in previous ranking tournament. He'll be No. 14 in the new rankings. The cash isn't too bad either - he pockets 60,000 for the victory. Bookmakers quoted Dale at 100-1 for first prize two weeks ago ...

Quinten Hann won the prize of �5,000 for the highest televised break with an excellent 143 total clearance in an earlier round. Alfie Burden won the high break prize of �1,000 for an equally impressive 143.

In one way one could say Dale's breakthrough was bound to come this season. Why, do you ask? I'll explain:

When the WPBSA opened the circuit for everyone in 1992, a lot of excellent rookies appeared on the scene. If I remember correctly, Ronnie O'Sullivan was the leader among these freshmen in the 1993/94 ranking list. Then followed John Higgins, Mark J Williams, Stephen Lee ... and Dominic Dale. O'Sullivan continued his progress and entered the top 16 in 1994. Higgins did it in 1995, Williams in 1996 and Stephen Lee in 1997. See the pattern? Will this be Dominic's big year?

Pictures

Results

(Players are English unless stated)

Final

Dominic Dale (Wales) 9-6 John Higgins (Scotland)

73-0 (50), 57-44, 69-59, 78-17, 59-70, 81-31, 1-77 (71), 0-98 (98),
0-104 (104), 89-0, 4-87, 67-53, 39-74, 120-6 (120), 71-9 (71)

Semi-finals

John Higgins (Scotland) 6-5 Matthew Stevens (Wales)

7-69, 77-0 (77), 113-4 (89), 56-7, 0-73 (72),
0-85 (84), 6-76, 64-25, 23-65, 71-1 (71), 53-20

Dominic Dale (Wales)    6-2 Jimmy White

49-31, 70-50, 67-66 (66 W), 63-52, 47-73, 29-68, 76-16, 113-0 (103)

Quarter-finals

Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-4 John Parrott
46-58, 124-1 (81), 1-64 (50), 55-28, 94-0 (73), 6-74, 40-81, 71-35 (67), 75-35 (62)

John Higgins (Scotland) 5-0 John Read
141-0 (137), 87-1, 73-28, 88-3, 74-16 (59)

Dominic Dale (Wales) 5-2 Chris Small (Scotland)
34-88 (58), 12-81 (59), 72-3, 56-41, 72-45, 67-19, 72-40 (72)

Jimmy White 5-0 Mick Price
106-0 (105), 68-23, 83-0 (83), 61-25, 94-0 (94)

Fourth round

Matthew Stevens (Wales) 5-4 Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 
John Parrott            5-4 Paul Hunter
John Read               5-3 Tony Drago (Malta)
John Higgins (Scotland) 5-0 Mark King
Dominic Dale (Wales)    5-4 Dave Harold
Chris Small (Scotland)  5-2 Alfie Burden     
Mick Price              5-2 Wayne Brown
Jimmy White             5-1 Alan McManus (Scotland)

Third round

Matthew Stevens (Wales)  5-4 Mark J Williams (Wales)
Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-3 Darren Morgan (Wales)
Paul Hunter              5-1 Stephen Lee
John Parrott             5-0 Brian Morgan
John Read                5-2 Ronnie O'Sullivan                           
Tony Drago (Malta)       5-3 Paul Wykes
Mark King                5-1 James Wattana (Thailand)
John Higgins (Scotland)  5-4 Quinten Hann (Australia)      
Dave Harold              5-3 Jamie Burnett (Scotland)     
Dominic Dale (Wales)     5-2 Steve Davis
Chris Small (Scotland)   5-2 Paul Davies (Wales)
Alfie Burden             5-3 Nigel Bond
Mick Price               5-4 Jonathan Birch
Wayne Brown              5-4 Terry Murphy (N.Ireland)      
Alan McManus (Scotland)  5-1 David Roe
Jimmy White              5-2 Willie Thorne

Second round

Mark J Williams (Wales)  5-2 Michael Judge (Ireland)       
Matthew Stevens (Wales)  5-1 Steve James
Darren Morgan (Wales)    5-4 Wayne Jones (Wales)
Billy Snaddon (Scotland) 5-4 Matthew Couch
Stephen Lee              5-4 Troy Shaw
Paul Hunter              5-1 Martin Clark
John Parrott             5-1 Drew Henry (Scotland)
Brian Morgan             5-0 Peter McCullagh               
Ronnie O'Sullivan        5-4 Bradley Jones
John Read                5-3 Rod Lawler
Tony Drago (Malta)       5-2 Euan Henderson (Scotland)     
Paul Wykes               5-2 Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)
James Wattana (Thailand) 5-4 Stephen O'Connor (Ireland)
Mark King                5-2 Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) 
John Higgins (Scotland)  5-1 Leigh Griffin                 
Quinten Hann (Australia) 5-2 Joe Swail (N.Ireland)
Jamie Burnett (Scotland) 5-3 Stephen Hendry (Scotland)
Dave Harold              5-3 Gerard Greene (N.Ireland)
Steve Davis              5-3 Peter Lines                   
Dominic Dale (Wales)     5-3 Andy Hicks
Paul Davies (Wales)      5-1 Alain Robidoux (Canada)
Chris Small (Scotland)   5-0 Dennis Taylor (N.Ireland)     
Nigel Bond               5-2 David Gray                    
Alfie Burden             5-3 Gary Wilkinson
Jonathan Birch           5-3 Peter Ebdon 
Mick Price               5-3 Anthony Davies (Wales)        
Wayne Brown              5-4 Anthony Hamilton 
Terry Murphy (N.Ireland) 5-0 Ian McCulloch                 
Alan McManus (Scotland)  5-2 Stuart Pettmann               
David Roe                5-1 Neal Foulds
Willie Thorne            5-4 Ken Doherty (Ireland)
Jimmy White              5-0 Jason Ferguson

First round

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


	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

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1997/98 Season

Last Modified: Friday April 20 2012