Second round
HENDRY (1) bt DRAGO (16) 13-6 (Drago: 117)
O'SULLIVAN (9) bt D MORGAN (8) 13-8
PARROTT (5) bt SWAIL NIR (12) 13-11 (Parrott: 115, 110)
WHITE (4) bt ROE (13) 13-7
Wilkinson (22) bt GRIFFITHS (14) 13-9
BOND (11) bt MCMANUS (6) 13-10 (Bond: 115, McManus: 100)
EBDON (10) bt M Davis (65) 13-7
Hicks (33) bt THORNE (15) 13-7 (Hicks: 117, 100)
Tony Drago still managed a smile after his championship
tilt ended at
the hands of Stephen Hendry. "I enjoyed it really... I
played some
brilliant frames but that isn't enough to win matches."
"I don't think Stephen played that well but he didn't really have
to. Sure, he can win it again but now that I am out of it, I hope
Jimmy White wins the title."
Darren Morgan seemed a bitter man efter watching a
healthy lead crumble to a hefty defeat against
Ronnie O'Sullivan.
"I outplayed him yesterday. At 8-4 down he couldn't pot a ball but I
let him get away with it," he said.
Ronnie O'Sullivan won nine frames in a row to win 13-8. He's now
looking forward to a quarter-final clash with
Stephen Hendry.
"I cant't wait... I'm in the quarter-finals and I haven't even
played well yet." "I donb't know what it says about the standard of
snooker these days but I played better when I was 12."
Jimmy White has been eliminated from the WPBSA inquiry
into alleged
match-fixing but there will be a further probe inte Peter Fransisco.
The WPBSA have announced that they will continue their inquiry into
the South African on May 8th.
Jimmy White looked relaxed after the meeting. "I've been
eliminated... that's the biggest odds-on bet of all time", he joked,
after six hours of talks in a Sheffield hotel on Wednesday.
Peter Fransisco made no comment but his solicitor, Baldir Singh, said
the player denied any allegations.
WHITE (4) bt PARROTT (5) 13-11
Frame scores: 22-58 (53), 69-6 (51), 9-81, 61-14, 92-44 (58), 69-58
(69,58), 74-24 (63), 83-73 (51), 53-67, 78-9, 43-81 (67), 79-21 (54),
40-54, 31-64, 6-123 (123), 32-58, 90-0 (53), 1-67, 73-61, 39-72, 67-8,
60-36, 60-15
After the first session,
Hicks (33) bt EBDON (10) 13-8 (Ebdon: 108)
Frame scores: 38-67, 0-95 (50), 0-89 (85), 57-45, 100-0 (92), 66-65 (Ebdon 58),
1-80, 76-3 (54), 79-17 (58), 72-9 (60), 23-80, 82-47 (64),
74-24 (65), 68-4, 75-50, 87-9 (59), 50-77 (69), 40-59, 89-23, 0-108(108),
75-4 (55)
Giantkiller Andy Hicks continued his amazing run at the home of
snooker as he powered into the semi-finals. He's actually the first
debutant to reach the semis since Terry Griffiths in 1979.
BOND (11) bt Wilkinson (22) 13-7
Frame scores: 9-65 (63), 82-33 (50), 64-0, 4-79 (78), 75-52 (55),
0-76, 70-50, 103-5 (61), 93-16 (65), 0-85 (85), 53-64, 23-62, 75-49,
60-22, 41-72, 82-0 (56), 83-1, 53-47, 82-41, 99-16
After an extremely boring and rather lousy match,
Semi-finals
HENDRY (1) bt WHITE (4) 16-12 (Hendry: 147, 121, 119, 105, 100)
Frame scores: 28-77 (71), 67-2 (63), 69-24, 1-73, 84-0 (54), 73-1 (62),
8-74 (73), 105-27 (105), 86-20 (86), 0-93 (89), 119-11 (119),
147-0 (147), 39-87 (67), 9-81 (80), 17-82 (82), 63-52, 121-16 (121),
63-62 (61 White), 78-5, 59-61 (58 Hendry), 11-83 (52), 73-0 (69),
75-14, 1-74 (74), 27-74 (68), 60-74, 72-0 (72), 107-0 (100)
STEPHEN HENDRY MAKES A 147 !!!
... and goes on to win the match.
Stephen Hendry steamed into his fifth world final by
shattering Jimmy
White's dreams with a 16-12 victory. Simple statistics do not tell the
whole story but White failed to make a century at the Crucible; Hendry
has a record nine.
Stephen Hendry paid tribute to Jimmy White after the match: "With
what he's been through in the last few months it's a tremendous
judgement of his character that he's playing at all." (What Stephen
has in mind is White's testicle cancer, for which he had to undergo
surgery in March.)
The Whirlwind himself said: "The way I've played all year I was just
pleased to be playing better. I still feel I've got a lot to give." "I
love this game and I'll keep coming back here as long as I feel I'm
playing good snooker."
Stephen Hendry has become only the third player to make a maximum 147
at the world championships.
Cliff Thorburn was the first man to record a 147 maximum at the world
championships in 1983 against Terry Griffiths. White himself
also joined the exclusive club when hit a 147 three years ago against
Tony Drago.
Stephen Hendry really is in a record-breaking mood this
season!
Stephen needed just 11 minutes and 48 seconds to secure his 147
maximum - and collect a cheque for 147 000 Pounds. He started his
break with a superb long red. He picked the rest with apparent ease,
including an awkward final red and blue - and sealed it despite being
out of position on the black.
It was the Scot's first maximum in a ranking tournament - his only
other in competition came in the European League. It was his 289th
century break, his 47th at the world championships and his 44th ton of
the season.
BOND (11) bt Hicks (33) 16-11 (Bond: 101, Hicks: 136)
Frame scores: 66-73, 63-39, 74-18 (61), 127-0 (64), 59-38, 61-47 (54),
70-45, 102-14 (101), 8-62, 88-41 (68), 0-87 (50), 78-0 (57), 72-58,
74-0, 63-59 (58), 72-35, 56-65, 66-3, 47-55, 54-66, 24-89 (80), 84-16,
0-136 (136), 0-80 (79), 20-103 (67), 42-79 (79), 65-21 (54)
After the match, Nigel Bond said: "Whoever I play in the
final I am
the underdog so I have nothing to lose. It would be a dream come true
to win it." "Andy came out all guns blazing at 15-7 and I was glad to
get to the interval so I could get my concentration back."
Andy Hicks won the first frame on a re-spotted black but after that
Nigel Bond played brilliantly and won six frames in a row.
Final
HENDRY (1) bt BOND (11) 18-9 (Hendry: 124, 121, 103, 101 Bond: 111)
Frame scores:
20-68, 87-42, 74-29, 81-0, 8-72,
76-4, 0-105, 7-77, 85-1, 32-65, 1-90, 31-70, 13-74, 1-124, 25-70, 0-84,
9-75, 9-115, 41-74, 63-14, 73-59,
67-44, 19-76, 0-83, 36-92, 135-0, 28-103.
Stephen Hendry won his fifth world title and his fourth
in a row by defeating Nigel Bond 18-9. This means he has won
20 consecutive matches in the World Championship - two more than
Davis' earlier record. He was never threatened in the final
and made three more century breaks. His total of 12 tons for the tournament equals the record for
a ranking tournament. He has now made 52 World Championship centuries, 49 in this season and a
record 294 in his career.
The scot earned a bit of pocket money in Sheffield. He got the first prize of �190.000, plus
the �147.00 bonus for a maximum. The �16.000 for the highest break in the tournament gives him a
total of �353.000. In addition he received the keys to a new Ferrari (�200.000) from his sponsors.
That's what I call a good payday! The money took his career earnings to �4,156,975 - �16,000 more
than Davis and a new record. He has won more than �700,000
this season, which is also a record.
Hendry became the first man in the modern era to win
four consecutive world titles. Steve Davis won three in
1987-89. Now his target must be to overcome Davis in number of titles won. He's just one behind
Davis' total of six victories. Hendry has now won 22 ranking events and 52 major titles.
Century Breaks
