1997 World Snooker Championship

The 1997 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1997 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1997. Staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

Embassy World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates19 April – 5 May 1997 (1997-04-19 – 1997-05-05)
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£1,260,000
Winner's share£210,000
Highest break Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (147)
Final
Champion Ken Doherty (IRL)
Runner-up Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Score18–12
1996
1998

Ken Doherty won the only world title of his professional career by defeating the defending champion Stephen Hendry 18–12 in the final. The first player to win world championships at junior, amateur, and professional level,[1] Doherty became the second player from outside the United Kingdom to win the title in the modern era, following Cliff Thorburn in 1980. Doherty remains the only world champion from the Republic of Ireland. Hendry's defeat in the final was his first loss in the World Championship since 1991, which ended his record 29 consecutive Crucible victories.

Tournament summary

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  • The semi-final matches were best of 33 for the first time, having previously been best of 31.[2]
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fastest maximum break in history with a time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds,[3] and the fourth in the history of the tournament.[4]
  • Terry Griffiths' first round encounter against Mark Williams was his last ever professional match and meant that he retired having played 999 frames at The Crucible.[5] This match was also three time World Champion Williams' Crucible debut.
  • Other debutants this year were Bradley Jones (England); Graham Horne; David McLellan and future World Champion and twice runner-up Graeme Dott (all Scotland); Lee Walker and Dominic Dale (Wales). All these players lost in the first round except Dale and Walker, who reached the last-16 and quarter finals respectively. This meant that all three Welsh debutants won their first round matches.
  • Alain Robidoux had his best run at the World Championship, reaching the semi-finals. The Canadian player lost 7–17 to Ken Doherty.
  • James Wattana reached the semi-finals for the second time (after 1993) but the Thai player lost 13–17 to defending champion Stephen Hendry.
  • Hendry's five-year run as World Champion came to an end after losing to Doherty 12–18. It was Hendry's first defeat at the World Championship since 1991,[6] spanning 29 matches, a Crucible record.[7]
  • Doherty became only the second player from outside the United Kingdom to win the world title in the modern era, following Cliff Thorburn in 1980.[4][8]
  • Alan Chamberlain refereed his first and only World Championship final. He was the first referee since Jim Thorpe in 1984 to officiate a debut final. All finals up to this year were officiated by either John Williams, Len Ganley or John Street. The next four years also had referees debuting the final: Lawrie Annandale in 1998, Colin Brinded in 1999, John Newton in 2000 and Eirian Williams in 2001, before John Williams did his 10th final in 2002.[9]

Prize fund

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The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[10][11]

  • Winner: £210,000
  • Runner-up: £126,000
  • Semi-finalist: £63,000
  • Quarter-finalist: £31,500
  • Last 16: £16,800
  • Last 32: £9,450
  • Highest break: £18,000
  • Maximum break: £147,000
  • Total £1,260,000

Main draw

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Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks (each championship has 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers).[10][12]

First round
Best of 19 frames
Second round
Best of 25 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 33 frames
Final
Best of 35 frames
19 April
  Stephen Hendry (1)10
25 & 26 April
  Andy Hicks6
  Stephen Hendry (1)13
19 & 20 April
  Mark Williams (16)8
  Mark Williams (16)10
29 & 30 April
  Terry Griffiths9
  Stephen Hendry (1)13
20 & 21 April
  Darren Morgan (9)10
  Darren Morgan (9)10
24, 25 & 26
  Gary Wilkinson5
  Darren Morgan (9)13
20 & 21 April
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (8)12
  Ronnie O'Sullivan (8)10
1, 2 & 3 May
  Mick Price6
  Stephen Hendry (1)17
22 April
  James Wattana (12)13
  Nigel Bond (5)8
27 & 28 April
  Stephen Lee10
  Stephen Lee7
23 & 24 April
  James Wattana (12)13
  James Wattana (12)10
29 & 30 April
  Graeme Dott9
  James Wattana (12)13
23 April
  John Parrott (4)10
  Jimmy White (13)9
26, 27 & 28 April
  Anthony Hamilton10
  Anthony Hamilton11
21 & 22 April
  John Parrott (4)13
  John Parrott (4)10
4 & 5 May
  Bradley Jones9
  Stephen Hendry (1)12
19 & 20 April
  Ken Doherty (7)18
  Peter Ebdon (3)3
25 & 26 April
  Stefan Mazrocis10
  Stefan Mazrocis9
22 & 23 April
  Alain Robidoux (14)13
  Alain Robidoux (14)10
29 & 30 April
  Brian Morgan8
  Alain Robidoux (14)13
19 & 20 April
  Lee Walker8
  Dave Harold (11)7
24 & 25 April
  Lee Walker10
  Lee Walker13
21 & 22 April
  Alan McManus (6)10
  Alan McManus (6)10
1 & 2 May
  Billy Snaddon9
  Alain Robidoux (14)7
19 & 20
  Ken Doherty (7)17
  Ken Doherty (7)10
26 & 27 April
  Mark Davis8
  Ken Doherty (7)13
21 April
  Steve Davis (10)3
  Steve Davis (10)10
29 & 30 April
  David McLellan2
  Ken Doherty (7)13
23 & 24 April
  John Higgins (2)9
  Tony Drago (15)9
27 & 28 April
  Dominic Dale10
  Dominic Dale5
22 & 23 April
  John Higgins (2)13
  John Higgins (2)10
  Graham Horne6
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 4 & 5 May 1997. Referee: Alan Chamberlain[9]
Stephen Hendry (1)
  Scotland
12–18 Ken Doherty (7)
  Ireland
7–67, 117–5, 106–0, 13–77, 9–78, 51–75, 11–69, 122–0, 76–12, 32–89, 55–62, 43–57, 13–65, 50–85, 74–47, 28–60, 70–23, 24–71, 110–4, 0–86, 16–85, 45–59, 137–0, 75–12, 61–30, 114–0, 61–57, 23–82, 19–69, 49–71 Century breaks: 5 (Hendry 5)

Highest break by Hendry: 137
Highest break by Doherty: 85

7–67, 117–5, 106–0, 13–77, 9–78, 51–75, 11–69, 122–0, 76–12, 32–89, 55–62, 43–57, 13–65, 50–85, 74–47, 28–60, 70–23, 24–71, 110–4, 0–86, 16–85, 45–59, 137–0, 75–12, 61–30, 114–0, 61–57, 23–82, 19–69, 49–71
  Ken Doherty wins the 1997 Embassy World Snooker Championship

Century breaks

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There were 39 century breaks in this year's championship.[10][13][14]

Qualifying

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The qualifying matches were held between 2 January and March 1997 at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. The last round was played at Telford International Centre, Telford on 24 and 25 March 1997.

Round 2–3

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Round 2
(Best of 19 frames)
Round 3
(Best of 19 frames)
  Matthew Stevens 10–7   Jason Prince   Andy Hicks 10–7   Matthew Stevens
  Alfie Burden 10–6   Barry Pinches   Terry Griffiths 10–4   Alfie Burden
  Michael Judge 10–5   Anthony Davies   Gary Wilkinson 10–9   Michael Judge
  Jimmy Michie 10–9   Paul Davies   Mick Price 10–9   Jimmy Michie
  Drew Henry 10–3   Alan Burnett   Stephen Lee 10–5   Drew Henry
  Graeme Dott 10–7   Geoff Dunn   Graeme Dott 10–8   Joe Swail
  Karl Broughton 10–5   Fergal O'Brien   Anthony Hamilton 10–5   Karl Broughton
  Bradley Jones 10–9   Jamie Burnett   Bradley Jones 10–4   David Finbow
  Stefan Mazrocis 10–9   Jason Weston   Stefan Mazrocis 10–4   Chris Small
  Brian Morgan 10–7   Nick Pearce   Brian Morgan 10–6   Dene O'Kane
  Lee Walker 10–8   Euan Henderson   Lee Walker 10–7   Dennis Taylor
  Billy Snaddon 10–3   Paul Davison   Billy Snaddon 10–7   Rod Lawler
  Mark Davis 10–6   Terry Murphy   Mark Davis 10–5   Jason Ferguson
  David McLellan 10–6   Nick Dyson   David McLellan 10–9   Neal Foulds
  Dominic Dale 10–3   Jonathan Birch   Dominic Dale 10–6   Willie Thorne
  Graham Horne 10–6   Mark King   Graham Horne 10–7   Steve James

References

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  1. ^ "Ken Doherty". Riley England. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  2. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 76.
  3. ^ "Fastest 147 break in snooker". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "World Professional Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Chris Turner. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Terry Griffiths profile". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Stephen Hendry at the World Championships". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  7. ^ Everton, Clive. "Snooker: Doherty ready to fulfil rich promise". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012. (Partial story rendition from HighBeam Research archive.)
  8. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 125.
  9. ^ a b Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  10. ^ a b c "Embassy World Championship 1997". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  11. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  12. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 44–45.
  13. ^ "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  14. ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 149.