1999 World Snooker Championship

The 1999 World Snooker Championship (officially the 1999 Embassy World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May 1999 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 22nd consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. Sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy, the tournament was the ninth and final ranking event of the 1998–99 season. The winner received £230,000 from a total prize fund of £1,400,000.

The top 16 players from the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the main stage at the Crucible. They were joined by the 16 successful players from the qualifying rounds, which took place from 3 January to 20 March at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales.

John Higgins was the defending champion, having defeated Ken Doherty 18‍–‍12 in the final of the 1998 World Championship to win his maiden world title. He was eliminated in the semi-finals by Mark Williams, becoming the ninth player to experience the so-called Crucible curse, referring to the fact that no first-time champion had retained the title since the tournament moved to the Crucible in 1977. Stephen Hendry defeated Williams 18‍–‍11 in the final to win a record-breaking seventh world title. Hendry became the most successful player in the modern era, superseding Ray Reardon and Steve Davis, who had won the tournament six times each. The main stage of the tournament produced 53 century breaks, of which the highest was a 142 compiled by Higgins.

The inaugural 1927 World Snooker Championship, then known as the Professional Championship of Snooker, took place at various venues in England between November 1926 and May 1927. Joe Davis won the final—held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham from 9 to 12 May 1927—and went on to win the tournament 15 consecutive times before retiring undefeated after the 1946 edition (no tournaments were held from 1941 to 1945 because of World War II).^[1][2][3] The tournament went into abeyance after only two players contested the 1952 edition. The six editions of the World Professional Match-play Championship held between 1952 and 1957 are retroactively regarded as legitimate continuations of the World Snooker Championship, but that tournament was discontinued due to waning public interest in snooker in the post-war era. The world title was uncontested between 1958 and 1963.^[1][2]

Then-professional player Rex Williams was instrumental in reviving the World Snooker Championship on a challenge basis in 1964. John Pulman, winner of the 1957 World Professional Match-play Championship, defended the world title across seven challenge matches between 1964 and 1968. The World Snooker Championship reverted to an annual knockout tournament for the 1969 edition, marking the beginning of the championship's "modern era".^[4][5] The 1977 edition was the first staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where it has remained since.^[6][7] The most successful players in the modern era were Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, each having won the title six times.^[8][9][10] Hendry was also the tournament's youngest winner, having captured his first title at the 1990 event, aged 21 years and 106 days.^[11] Reardon became the oldest winner when he secured his sixth title at the 1978 event, aged 45 years and 203 days.^[12]

The 1999 World Snooker Championship was the ninth and last ranking tournament of the 1998–99 snooker season, held after the British Open.^[13] It was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.^[14] The 1999 edition marked the 22nd consecutive year that the tournament was held at the Crucible and the 30th successive year that the World Championship was contested through the modern knockout format.^[7][15][16] The defending champion was John Higgins, who had defeated Ken Doherty 18‍–‍12 in the final of the 1998 World Championship to win his maiden world title.^[17]

The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the main stage at the Crucible Theatre. They faced 16 players who progressed through the qualifying rounds, which took place from 3 January to 20 March at the Newport Centre in Wales.^[18][19] First-round matches were played as the best of 19 frames, held over two sessions. Second-round and quarter-final matches were played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions. The semi-final matches were played as the best of 33 frames, held over four sessions. The final was the best of 35 frames, also held over four sessions.^[20][18]

The breakdown of prize money is shown below:^{[21][22][23][18]}

The first round was played between 17 and 22 April as the best of 19 frames held over two sessions.^[20][24] The defending champion, John Higgins, had earned more than £400,000 in prize money during the season.^[24] Although his opponent, Gerard Greene, made a 95 break to go 1‍–‍2, Higgins then won six frames on the trot for an 8‍–‍1 lead.^[25] He went on to win 10‍–‍2.^[18] Nigel Bond, who had not made it to the quarter-finals of any ranking event during the season,^[24] faced Dominic Dale. Dale won the first frame, but Bond then took eight in a row. In the fifteenth frame, Dale scored 167 points: 44 penalty points plus a century break, which set a record for the highest number of total points scored in a single frame during professional competition.^[26] The record stood until 2021, when it was broken by Jimmy Robertson, who scored 178 points in a frame during the Scottish Open.^[27] Bond won the match 10‍–‍6.^[28] Facing Fergal O'Brien, Tony Drago had only reached the semi-finals of a ranking tournament, the 1998 Irish Open.^[24] Drago won the first four frames of the match and sealed victory with a 10‍–‍4 result.^[28] Anthony Hamilton, runner-up of the 1999 British Open during the season,^[24] lost a deciding frame against Chris Small.^[28]

John Parrott, champion in 1991,^[24] was tied at 8‍–‍8 with Terry Murphy, but took the last two frames of the match for victory.^[28] Ken Doherty, winner of the 1997 World Championship and runner-up in 1998, had lost the final of the 1999 Masters during the season. He attempted a maximum break in his match against Steve James, but missed the fourteenth red. "I thought the 147 was on when I reached 24. It was a great chance because the reds were nicely spread. You don't get many opportunities to make a maximum, especially here," Doherty said afterwards. In frame seven, James compiled the 500th century break in the history of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre^[29] and also made a 137 total clearance, but lost 3‍–‍10 to Doherty, who manufactured breaks of 81, 65, 57, 56 and 54 for the win.^[30] Nick Walker faced Alain Robidoux, a semi-finalist in the previous edition of the tournament.^[24] Robidoux took the first frame, but Walker replied by winning five on the trot and went on to win 10‍–‍6.^[31] Matthew Stevens made a 120 break as he took the first four frames of his encounter with Peter Ebdon, runner-up in 1996.^[24] Stevens also won the last three of the match for a 10‍–‍7 victory.^[30]

In the first all-Asian match at the Crucible, James Wattana, a semi-finalist in 1994 and 1997,^[24] built a 5‍–‍4 lead against Marco Fu.^[30] Fu then went 8‍–‍7 ahead, but Wattana won three consecutive frames, making a 136 break in the process, to progress to the second round.^[32] Mark King had lost three first-round matches throughout the season and faced the risk of losing his spot on the top 16. He defeated Darren Morgan 10‍–‍8 to secure it.^[33] Mark Williams, a semi-finalist in the previous edition of the World Championship,^[24] defeated Ian McCulloch 10‍–‍4.^[34] Six-time World Champion Stephen Hendry, who had won the 1999 Irish Masters and the 1999 Scottish Open during the season,^[24] led Paul Hunter 5‍–‍4.^[32] Hunter was in front at 8‍–‍7, but Hendry won three consecutive frames to claim victory. "There were two or three qualifiers most of us wanted to avoid and Paul [Hunter] was one of them. This was a tough match," Hendry said.^[35]

Joe Perry had a five-frame advantage at 7‍–‍2 over Steve Davis,^[32] winner of the event in 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988 and 1989.^[24] Davis recovered, took the match to a decider and built a 52-point lead. However, he missed a blue ball and Perry replied with a clearance of 55 points to progress to the second round. "This won't sink in for a day or two but I thought Steve [Davis] would win as he moved nearer and nearer the finishing line. There were only four reds left when I went back to the table and I knew it was my last chance," Perry said.^[35] Having reached the Crucible through the qualifiers, Jimmy White faced Alan McManus, runner-up of the 1999 Irish Open and the 1999 Thailand Masters during the season.^[24] Although White had an early lead at 3‍–‍1, McManus won the match 10‍–‍7.^[35] Stephen Lee, winner of the 1998 Grand Prix, ended the first day of play with a 7‍–‍2 lead against John Lardner. Lardner reduced the deficit and was 7‍–‍9 down, but Lee took the following frame on the colours to claim victory. "That was a real struggle and I'll have to play a lot better if I'm to stay in the championship. There's work to be done," Lee stated. Lardner, who was making his debut at the Crucible, admitted that his hands "were shaking badly" at the first stages of the match.^[36] Ronnie O'Sullivan had won the 1998 Scottish Masters during the season, but then did not compete in the 1998 UK Championship and the 1998 German Masters.^[24] He defeated Leo Fernandez 10‍–‍3. "That performance wasn't the best in the world though to be fair I wasn't under any real pleasure," O'Sullivan said afterward.^[36]

The second round was played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions, between 22 and 26 April.^[20][24] In the match between Small and Parrott, there were frames that lasted an hour, 47 minutes and two of 43 minutes. Small tied the scores at 12‍–‍12 with a 131 break to force the decider, which Parrott won with a break of 68. "I just couldn't get rid of him. I should have won 13‍–‍10 but he dug in and made a fantastic century after looking a bit shaky. I know Chris [Small] is slow but he is still a very good player and difficult to play against," Parrot said. "This is the third time I've played John [Parrott] and I've lost in the decider all three. I can't play fast if I did I would miss all the time. I can't change my game," Small replied. After this defeat, Small lost his place in the top 16, which went to White.^[33]

Higgins made consecutive century breaks of 104 and 108 to build an 8‍–‍0 advantage over King at the end of the first day of play. King replied with two successive century breaks of his own, but went on to lose 4‍–‍13.^[33][34] In the process, Higgins made further breaks of 84, 77, 75, 62 and 51.^[36] Stevens manufactured breaks of 79, 73, 72, 62, 60 and 53 as he went 6‍–‍2 in front of Drago.^[33] Drago won four of the next six frames. Later on, Stevens took three consecutive frames to win 13‍–‍8.^[37] Doherty trailed Bond 6‍–‍10 at the conclusion of the second session.^[33] Bond also led 11‍–‍10, but Doherty won three frames on the spin for victory.^[37]

Wattana led Hendry 2‍–‍1, but Hendry made breaks of 74, 65 and 64 and recovered for a 4‍–‍2 advantage. Wattana won the seventh frame. Hendry was in the lead in the following frame. Wattana replied with a 63 break, but then missed the final blue. Hendry potted blue and pink, but then missed the black, which Wattana potted. This meant that the eight frames of the first session were shared.^[38] In frame 19, Hendry attempted a maximum break, but the break ended at 80. He went on to win 13‍–‍7. "Every time I win here [at the Crucible] I think that's enough, but when I return I want to win it again and it's no different this year," Hendry said.^[39] O'Sullivan was 5‍–‍3 ahead of Perry, who recovered to tie the scores at 6‍–‍6. O'Sullivan enjoyed a 9‍–‍7 lead at the end of the second session. He also took the first frame of the following day with a 66-point clearance, but Perry then compiled a 109 break. O'Sullivan went on to win 13‍–‍8, with a 74 break in the last frame.^[38][34] "I felt more confident in this match than I have done for maybe six years and I'm much happier with any form," O'Sullivan said.^[39]

Aided by breaks of 49, 89 and 128, Lee manufactured a 3‍–‍0 lead against McManus. McManus won the fourth frame. In the fifth, when the frame was already in the snookers required stage, Lee went in-off and McManus took advantage of a free ball and won the frame. Further breaks of 87 and 104 provided Lee with a four-frame advantage at the end of the first session.^[38] Lee extended his lead to seven frames at 9‍–‍2 and made a 90 break for a 13‍–‍7 win. "I feel I can win this championship, no problem," Lee said.^[39] Walker was tied with Williams at 6‍–‍6, but Williams ended the first day of play 9‍–‍7 ahead.^[38] Williams, who manufactured breaks of 123, 88, 83, 62, 55 and 52 during the match, took all four frames played after the resumption to win 13‍–‍7. "I have as good a chance as anyone here. My form can hardly improve all that much on what I have so far achieved this season," he claimed.^[39]

The quarter-finals were played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions, between 27 and 28 April.^[20][24] Higgins faced Lee. For a second consecutive match, Higgins won all eight frames of the first session.^[40] At the resumption on the following day, the first six frames were shared and Lee then won the remaining two of the session to reduce the deficit to six at 5‍–‍11.^[41] Lee then made a 110 break in the following frame, but Higgins replied by winning back-to-back frames, clinching victory with a century break of his own.^[42]

O'Sullivan faced Parrott, who was making his 11th appearance in the quarter-finals of the World Championship.^[33] O'Sullivan won the first two frames and also made a 53 break in the third, but Parrott took it. O'Sullivan went 3‍–‍1 in front, before Parrot replied with a 133 break. From then on, O'Sullivan made consecutive breaks of 88, 52, 85, 70 and 120 to win five frames on the trot. Parrott won the next with a break of 79, but O'Sullivan produced a 105 to go 9‍–‍3. Despite breaks of 55, 54 and 72 by Parrott, O'Sullivan went on to win 13‍–‍9.^[41] "This was as good a result as I've ever had considering the stage we were on and the fact that John has been my bogey man for such a long time. He even gave me a 13‍–‍3 wupping here five years ago," O'Sullivan said, referring to the 1994 World Championship.^[43] Parrott praised O'Sullivan, stating: "People say it's a travesty that Jimmy White has never won the world title. But it would be an even bigger one if Ronnie [O'Sullivan] never wins it. For pure natural talent and ability he is the best that ever wielded the cue. He just floats around the table pinging balls in from everywhere."^[41]

In a repeat of one of the previous year's semi-finals, Williams won seven of the eight frames of the first session of his match against Doherty, featuring breaks of 71, 76, 78 and 82. On the following day, Doherty edged closer at 8‍–‍12, but Williams clinched victory with a break of 97.^[41] "The damage was done during the first eight frames when Mark [Williams] hit a purple patch. He is a tough player who is difficult to stop and has a good chance of winning," Doherty said.^[43] Hendry compiled a break of 109 in the fifth frame of his duel with Stevens to go 5‍–‍0 in front. Stevens then won two consecutive frames, making a century break of his own. Hendry led 8‍–‍2 and 10‍–‍3, made another century break and ended up advancing to the semi-finals with a 13‍–‍5 result.^[42] "I have proved I am far from being a spent force and some of my clearances were vintage Hendry. I just have to score a little heavier, otherwise every aspect of my game is good," Hendry claimed.^[43]

The semi-finals were played as the best of 31 frames, held over four sessions, between 29 April and 1 May.^[20][24] Higgins faced Williams. "It will be a massive battle and I'm sure Mark [Williams] will bring the best out of me. I will have to be on top form to win, though I reckon I'm a better player now than I was this time last year. I also believe I'm the one to beat, but I suppose the other three [semi-finalists] are saying the same," Higgins said in the build-up to the semi-final.^[43] Higgins made a 72 break to win the first frame. After breaks of 104 and 101 by Williams and 126 by Higgins, the scores were tied at 3‍–‍3. Two consecutive half-centuries gave Williams the lead, but Higgins replied to equal the scores once again, making a century break in the process.^[18] While he was on this break, Higgins realised that there was a drip, with droplets falling to the table, and alerted the referee, Alan Chamberlain, who stopped play. The issue, which required that the table be covered to avoid any damage, was solved after twenty minutes.^[44] The scores were also level at 6‍–‍6, 7‍–‍7 and 8‍–‍8. Williams then compiled three half-centuries as he opened a four-frame cushion. Higgins only managed to win two more frames and Williams sealed a 17‍–‍10 victory.^[18] This made Higgins the ninth first-time champion who failed to defend his title since the tournament moved to the Crucible Theatre in 1977, succumbing to what has been called the 'Crucible curse'.^[45] "That's the best anyone has ever played against me. I did feel intimidated because I was missing some long pots and I knew if I missed, Mark [Williams] wouldn't. It made me get uptight as well. It's not the worst moment of my career but I won't watch the final. It's too hurtful," Higgins said.^[46]

In the second semi-final, Hendry faced O'Sullivan. "Ronnie [O'Sullivan] is a match for anyone if his head and attitude are right. He is probably the most talented player in the world, but he does make mistakes and at this stage it is how you punish those mistakes that counts," Hendry said ahead of the match.^[43] Hendry made breaks of 126, 82 and 86 to lead 3‍–‍0, with O'Sullivan still to make a pot.^[47] O'Sullivan won the fourth frame with a break of 78 and also made a half-century in the next, but Hendry took it. Hendry won two more to extend the lead to 6‍–‍1. O'Sullivan then secured five frames on the trot to tie the scores, featuring breaks of 67, 122 and 135. The match was also level at 7‍–‍7 and 10‍–‍10. Four consecutive century breaks, two by each player, followed. One of them was a maximum attempt by O'Sullivan, who missed the last pink ball to the middle pocket. O'Sullivan made a 70 break in the 25th frame to take the lead at 13‍–‍12 for the first time in the semi-final, but Hendry then won five consecutive frames, with four half-centuries, to book a place in the final.^[18] Clive Everton praised the match as "one of the best" ever in the World Championship.^[48]

The final was played as the best of 35 frames, held over four sessions, on 2 and 3 May, between Williams and Hendry.^[20][24] Williams had won the three major finals the two had contested before, including the 1998 Masters on a re-spotted black on the deciding frame. "Mark [Williams] has become something of an annoyance to me as I have such a poor record against him. I have also been watching him here and he has been awesome," Hendry said ahead of the match. In their way to the final of the World Championship, both players had had to win 53 frames, with Hendry losing 33 and Williams conceding 30.^[49] Referee Colin Brinded officiated the match.^[50]

Hendry took the first four frames of the final, with breaks of 62, 98 and 77. Williams won the fifth, but another half-century gave Hendry a 5‍–‍1 lead. Williams halved the deficit by securing the last two frames of the first session, with a break of 86 in the last. At the resumption, breaks of 77 and 76 allowed Hendry to restore a four-frame lead at 7‍–‍3. The following two frames were shared, with Hendry compiling a 132 break. Williams then won frames 13 and 14, but the first day of play concluded with Hendry winning two on the trot, with a final break of 92.^[18]

Going into the third session, Williams trailed Hendry 6‍–‍10. He produced breaks of 85 and 72 to take the first two frames of the second day of the final and halve the deficit. The following two frames were shared, but Hendry then made breaks of 106, 55 and 53 to win the remaining four of the session and end it 15‍–‍9 ahead, only three away from winning the title. Breaks of 66 and 62 also gave him the first two frames of the fourth and final session. Williams then manufactured an 89 break and also won the fourth frame of the session. In the following frame, Williams constructed a 40-point lead, but then missed a pot on a red and allowed Hendry in. Hendry claimed victory and a record-breaking seventh title with a break of 88.^[18][51]

Hendry became the most successful player in the World Championship during the modern era, superseding the six titles won by both Ray Reardon and Davis. "This is worth more to me than other six championships put together. This is my finest hour in snooker without a doubt. I've been in the doldrums for a couple of years and wondered if I would ever win another title," Hendry said. He explained he did not think he would have been able to win the World Championship again if it had not been for Frank Callan's coaching. It was Hendry's 31st ranking event win. He earned £230,000, while £135,000 went to Williams as a runner-up.^[52] "There was nothing left in the tank in the last session. I was done for. But it's still an achievement to get this far. Stephen [Hendry] played too strongly for me all through the match," Williams admitted.^[51]

The draw for the main tournament is shown below. The numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the seedings for the 16 seeded players (1‍–‍16). The match winners are shown in bold.^[18]

There were five pre-qualifying rounds and nine qualifying rounds.^[53] All the matches were played as the best of 19 frames.^[53] Qualifying matches were held between 3 January and 20 March at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales.^[19] The final three qualifying rounds were held at Telford International Centre from 29 March to 2 April.^[54][55]

A total of 53 century breaks were made during the main stage of the tournament.^[20] The highest break was a 142 compiled by John Higgins.^[23]

• Downer, Chris (2019). Crucible Almanac.