1997 World Snooker Championship

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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 →

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.

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[edit]

  • The semi-final matches were best of 33 for the first time, having previously been best of 31.[2]
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan made the quickest maximum break in history with a time of 5 minutes and 20 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.[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[edit]

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[edit]

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
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)10
25 & 26 April
England Andy Hicks6
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)13
19 & 20 April
Wales Mark Williams (16)8
Wales Mark Williams (16)10
29 & 30 April
Wales Terry Griffiths9
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)13
20 & 21 April
Wales Darren Morgan (9)10
Wales Darren Morgan (9)10
24, 25 & 26
England Gary Wilkinson5
Wales Darren Morgan (9)13
20 & 21 April
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (8)12
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (8)10
1, 2 & 3 May
England Mick Price6
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)17
22 April
Thailand James Wattana (12)13
England Nigel Bond (5)8
27 & 28 April
England Stephen Lee10
England Stephen Lee7
23 & 24 April
Thailand James Wattana (12)13
Thailand James Wattana (12)10
29 & 30 April
Scotland Graeme Dott9
Thailand James Wattana (12)13
23 April
England John Parrott (4)10
England Jimmy White (13)9
26, 27 & 28 April
England Anthony Hamilton10
England Anthony Hamilton11
21 & 22 April
England John Parrott (4)13
England John Parrott (4)10
4 & 5 May
England Bradley Jones9
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)12
19 & 20 April
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (7)18
England Peter Ebdon (3)3
25 & 26 April
England Stefan Mazrocis10
England Stefan Mazrocis9
22 & 23 April
Canada Alain Robidoux (14)13
Canada Alain Robidoux (14)10
29 & 30 April
England Brian Morgan8
Canada Alain Robidoux (14)13
19 & 20 April
Wales Lee Walker8
England Dave Harold (11)7
24 & 25 April
Wales Lee Walker10
Wales Lee Walker13
21 & 22 April
Scotland Alan McManus (6)10
Scotland Alan McManus (6)10
1 & 2 May
Scotland Billy Snaddon9
Canada Alain Robidoux (14)7
19 & 20
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (7)17
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (7)10
26 & 27 April
England Mark Davis8
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (7)13
21 April
England Steve Davis (10)3
England Steve Davis (10)10
29 & 30 April
Scotland David McLellan2
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (7)13
23 & 24 April
Scotland John Higgins (2)9
Malta Tony Drago (15)9
27 & 28 April
Wales Dominic Dale10
Wales Dominic Dale5
22 & 23 April
Scotland John Higgins (2)13
Scotland John Higgins (2)10
Scotland 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
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty wins the 1997 Embassy World Snooker Championship

Century breaks[edit]

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

Qualifying[edit]

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[edit]

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

References[edit]

  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. ^ "Various Snooker Records". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Chris Turner. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  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.
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