1998 World Snooker Championship
Tournament information | |
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Dates | 18 April – 4 May 1998 (1998-04-18 – 1998-05-04) |
Venue | Crucible Theatre |
City | Sheffield |
Country | England |
Organisation | WPBSA |
Format | Ranking event |
Total prize fund | £1,323,000 |
Winner's share | £220,000 |
Highest break | ![]() ![]() |
Final | |
Champion | ![]() |
Runner-up | ![]() |
Score | 18–12 |
← 1997 1999 → |
The 1998 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1998 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 18 April and 4 May 1998 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
John Higgins won his first World title by defeating defending champion Ken Doherty 18–12 in the final. Doherty became another World Champion who fell to the Crucible curse and could not defend his first World title. However, Doherty has come closer than any other first-time champion bar Joe Johnson to retaining his championship. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
Tournament summary
- Stephen Hendry lost in the first round 4–10 to Jimmy White. It was the first time since his debut in 1986 that he lost in the last 32 and it was also the first quarter-final stage not to feature Hendry since 1988.[1]
- Simon Bedford, David Gray, Quinten Hann, Matthew Stevens, Terry Murphy, Alfie Burden, Peter Lines and Jason Prince made their Crucible debuts this year.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Only Stevens could advance to the second round by defeating Alain Robidoux 10–8.[10][11]
- Stephen Hendry's eight-year run as the world number one ended and he was replaced by John Higgins.[12]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[10][11][13]
- Winner: £220,000
- Runner-up: £132,000
- Semi-final: £66,000
- Quarter-final: £33,000
- Last 16: £17,750
- Last 32: £12,000
- Highest break £19,000
- Maximum break £147,000
- Total £1,323,000
Main draw
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][11][14][15]
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 | |||||||||||||||||||
18 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
24 & 25 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
22 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
28 & 29 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
22 & 23 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
26 & 27 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
20 & 21 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
30 April 1 & 2 May | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
21 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
25, 26 & 27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
18 & 19 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
28 & 29 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
19 & 20 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
23, 24 & 25 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
19 & 20 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
3 & 4 May | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
18 & 19 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
23 & 24 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
18 & 19 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
28 & 29 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
18 & 19 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
24 & 25 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
20 & 21 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
30 April 1 & 2 May | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
21 & 22 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
26 & 27 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
20 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
28 & 29 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
21 & 22 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
25 & 26 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
22 & 23 April | |||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 3 & 4 May 1998. Referee: Lawrie Annandale[16] | ||
Ken Doherty (1)![]() | 12–18 | John Higgins (3)![]() |
73–34, 20–80, 7–86, 1–71, 0–113, 52–73, 0–130, 89–0, 112–0, 66–7, 97–18, 2–66, 4–103, 5–86, 0–138, 82–70, 90–39, 0–89, 61–6, 0–130, 90–0, 99–1, 48–58, 82–44, 14–60, 0–128, 58–71, 78–41, 16–66, 8–119 | Century breaks: 6 (Doherty 1, Higgins 5) Highest break by Doherty: 112 | 73–34, 20–80, 7–86, 1–71, 0–113, 52–73, 0–130, 89–0, 112–0, 66–7, 97–18, 2–66, 4–103, 5–86, 0–138, 82–70, 90–39, 0–89, 61–6, 0–130, 90–0, 99–1, 48–58, 82–44, 14–60, 0–128, 58–71, 78–41, 16–66, 8–119 |
![]() |
Century breaks
There were 59 century breaks in the championship, a new record which would last until 2002.[10][17][18] John Higgins' 14 centuries in the tournament was a new record, beating the 12 made by Stephen Hendry in 1995.[19]
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Qualifying
The qualifying matches were held between 2 January and March 1998 at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales.
Round 1–2
Round 1 (Best of 19 frames) | Round 1 (Best of 19 frames) | Round 2 (Best of 19 frames) |
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Round 1 (Best of 19 frames) |
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Round 2–3
[11]
Round 2 (Best of 19 frames) | Round 3 (Best of 19 frames) |
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Round 1
Round 1 (Best of 19 frames) |
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Round 2–3
[11]
Round 2 (Best of 19 frames) | Round 3 (Best of 19 frames) |
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References
- ^ "Stephen Hendry profile". Betfred. Archived from the original on 16 April 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ "Simon Bedford at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
- ^ "David Gray at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ "Quinten Hann at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ "Matthew Stevens at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ "Terry Murphy at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Alfie Burden at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Peter Lines at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Jason Prince at the World Championship". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Embassy World Championship 1998". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "World Championship 1998". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
- ^ "Ranking History". snooker.org. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
- ^ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 46–47.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
- ^ "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 149.
- ^ Eric, Hayton (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. London: Rose Villa Publications. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.