Beer Chang Thailand Masters 1998

Imperial Queens Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand (Mar 7-15, 1998)
WPBSA ranking tournament #6
�280,000 purse, �50,000 first prize

[ Report | Results | Related Pages ]

Report

Stephen Hendry finally broke the recent spell to win his first event of the season by beating John Parrott 9-6 in the final. He also became the first man to win 29 ranking events - one more than Steve Davis.

The final was a high-quality match with three centuries from the Scot and one from the Liverpudlian. Parrott's 138 total clearance was the highest of the televised stages and helped him come back from a 5-0 deficit to trail by just one frame at 7-6. Hendry then experienced a piece of luck in the next frame when he fluked a red. The century that followed was no fluke though, and he went on to claim the title.

He will certainly feel a great burden has been removed from his shoulders as this season hasn't been as successful as normal. At this stage of the season he's usually won a at least a couple of tournaments already. This time around it's been a struggle though. He's not been his usual indestructable self, crashing out in early rounds and not managing to win the few finals he's reached.

This win has also pretty much secured a record ninth season on top of the world rankings. He enjoys a demanding lead on both John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan. Their only chance is to do exceptionally well in the British Open and the World Championship. In addition they'll have to rely on early exits by Hendry.

Results

(Players are English unless stated)

Final

Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 9-6 John Parrott

133-0 (133), 66-2, 69-12, 73-32, 137-0 (137), 
33-68, 0-138 (138), 68-36, 1-88 (53), 26-90, 
67-63 (51), 9-122 (113), 30-83, 103-4 (103), 75-39

John Parrott 5-4 Anthony Hamilton

0-134 (134), 52-66, 66-56 (62-56), 68-51, 
12-89 (56), 0-107 (107), 69-50, 65-64, 65-26 (54)

Stephen Hendry (Scotland) 5-4 Ken Doherty (Ireland)

37-83 (53), 81-21 (72), 74-15 (69), 14-76 (64), 
7-88 (84), 0-75, 66-37, 79-48, 136-0 (136)

John Parrott                 5-0 Peter Ebdon
Anthony Hamilton             5-2 Nigel Bond
Stephen Hendry (Scotland)    5-4 Mark J Williams (Wales)
Ken Doherty (Irelandd)       5-3 Alan McManus (Scotland)

Peter Ebdon                  5-4 Graeme Dott (Scotland)
John Parrott                 5-3 Stephen Lee
Nigel Bond                   5-3 Steve Davis
Anthony Hamilton             5-0 Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)
Stephen Hendry (Scotland)    5-1 Tony Drago (Malta)
Mark J Williams (Wales)      5-3 Martin Clark
Alan McManus (Scotland)      5-1 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ken Doherty (Ireland)        5-4 James Wattana (Thailand)

Peter Ebdon                  5-3 Gary Wilkinson
Graeme Dott (Scotland)       5-2 Darren Morgan (Wales)
Stephen Lee                  5-3 Andy Hicks
John Parrott                 5-3 Marco Ka Chun Fu (Hong Kong)
Nigel Bond                   5-4 Neal Foulds
Steve Davis                  5-1 Steve James
Anthony Hamilton             5-3 Chris Small (Scotland)
Fergal O'Brien (Ireland)     5-3 John Higgins (Scotland)
Stephen Hendry (Scotland)    5-2 Jimmy White 
Tony Drago (Malta)           5-1 Stuart Pettman
Martin Clark                 5-4 Alain Robidoux (Canada)
Mark J Williams (Wales)      5-2 Dave Harold 
Ronnie O'Sullivan            5-1 David Gray
Alan McManus (Scotland)      5-4 Jonathan Birch
James Wattana (Thailand)     5-1 Joe Swail (N.Ireland)
Ken Doherty (Ireland)        5-0 Mark King

Marco Ka Chun Fu (Hong Kong) 5-2 Jason Ferguson 
Stuart Pettman               5-1 Kwan Poom Jang (Thailand)
David Gray                   5-3 Guo Hua (China)
Jonathan Birch               5-1 Rom Saraburi (Thailand)

• TV5 Online
  (Live coverage of the tournament was provided on their Internet site)
• Eric Whitehead Photography & Snooker Images
  (Reports, results and pictures)
• Riley Leisure
  (Results)
• Jimmy White Snooker Site
  (Reports and results)
• The Times
  (Reports and results in the archives)
• The Electronic Telegraph
  (Reports and results in the archives)

Internal

1995 Kloster Thailand Open
1996 Singha Thailand Open
1997 Singha and Eagle Cement Thailand Open
Embassy rankings after this tournament
Very provisional rankings after this tournament

Scottish

Last Modified: Friday April 20 2012

British