| Former Winners; | News; | Timetable & Details; | Results; | Centuries; | Prize |
|---|
|
Monday (1/Mar):
World Champion John Higgins flies out to Thailand today to launch a a bid for
a rare overseas victory.
Play continued amidst unrest from the players, who were very upset at the Opening speeches, to hear from Tournament Promoter, Sindhu Pulsirivong, that this would be the last Thailand Masters, due to continued discord with the governing body - the WPBSA. Sindhu resigned from the Board of the WPBSA in June 1998, in protest at some of the policies and attitudes adopted by the Chairman and Senior Executives. As he has seen no improvement in the situation he has now told the players that he is withdrawing the event. The players, understandably are deeply concerned and were rumoured to be composing a joint letter to their own Governing Body to see if the situation could be rectified. (Source from WWW Snooker) |
| Former Winners; | News; | Timetable & Details; | Results; | Centuries; | Prize |
|---|
| Tuesday : First Rounds (2/Mar) | ||
| S Lee (Eng) | 5-3 | B Snaddon (Sco) |
|---|---|---|
|
Grand Prix winner Stephen Lee lost the first two frames against Billy Snaddon
before claiming a 5-3 win. Snaddon opened up with breaks of 70 and 100 before Lee took control. | ||
| M King (Eng) | 5-1 | J Burnett (Sco) |
| E Henderson (Sco) | 5-4 | T Drago (Mal) |
| J Swail (NI) | 5-3 | A Hamilton (Eng) |
|
Tony Drago and Anthony Hamilton became the first members of the elite top 16
to bow out of the tournament. World number 10 Drago was surprisingly edged out 5-4 by Euan Henderson while Hamilton lost 5-3 to Joe Swail after leading 3-1 at the mid-session break. Drago has now lost his opening match in four of seven world ranking events this season and is in serious danger of relinquishing his spot in the top 16. Hamilton reached the semi-finals last year and was ranked 11th. | ||
| J Wattana (Thai) | 5-3 | B Jones (Eng) |
|
James Wattana delighted the home crowed as he hit back from 3-1 down to beat
England's Bradley Jones 5-3. The Croydon professional jawwed a simple brown to miss the chance of taking a 4-1 lead and Wattana cleared blue to black to stay in touch. He draw level at 3-3 with a clearance of 132 before sealing victory. "I was quite impressed that so many people came to watch me and I can't remember the last time I felt this good about win." said Wattana. | ||
| S Davis (Eng) | 5-2 | D Dale (Wal) |
|
Steve Davis boosted his chances of retaining his place in the top 16 for a
20th consecutive season with 5-2 win over Dominic Dale. | ||
| P Ebdon (Eng) | 5-4 | P Hunter (Eng) |
|
The 1997 Thailand champion Peter Ebdon, who recovered from 64-0 down in the
final frame to beat Paul Hunter 5-4. | ||
| A Robidoux (Can) | 5-1 | Q Hann (Aus) |
| Wednesday : First Rounds (3/Mar) | ||
| N Bond (Eng) | 5-0 | D Finbow (Eng) |
|---|---|---|
| J Parrott (Eng) | 5-4 | D Harold (Eng) |
|
John Parrott claimed the deciding frame on the black for a 5-4 win over Dave
Harold after needing three snookers. Harold was completely "gutted". He said afterwards that it would be really sad to lose a match like that on home soil, especially travel 6,000 miles. Even worse, he was not qualified in the next week's China International, so he has a long lonely journey back to Stoke. Parrott showed his sympathy and said in the interview that the match like this "absolutely kill a player". "Even as the winner, I felt totally numb". | ||
| S Hendry (Sco) | 5-4 | P Davies (Wal) |
|
Stephen Hendry battled back from the brink of defeat to reach the last 16 of
the event. Paul Davies missed the easy blue in the seciding frame and let Hendry had the chanced to clean up from blue to black for victory. The defending champion is hunting back-to-back ranking titles after taking the Scottish Open crown but trailed Paul Davies 4-2 before winning 5-4. | ||
| A McManus (Sco) | 5-4 | M Stevens (Wal) |
|
Alan McManus fought back from two down to beat Matthew Steven 5-4. | ||
| J Higgins (Sco) | 5-2 | I McCulloch (Eng) |
| R O'Sullivan (Eng) | 4-5 | D Morgan (Wal) |
|
Ronnie O'Sullivan became the only top 10 player not to make the second round
when he lost 5-4 to Darren Morgan. O'Sullivan's hand was still bandaged after he broke a finger last week but he still managed to fight back from 4-1 down to level at 4-4. Morgan snatched a scrappy 30-minutes decider by potting a tricky blue. "When you haven't won that many big matches for quite some time it's difficult to cross the line." said Morgan afterwards. | ||
| K Doherty (Ire) | 5-3 | C Wai Tat (HK) |
| M Williams (Wal) | 5-3 | H Abernethy (Sco) |
| Thursday : Second Rounds (4/Mar) | ||
| J Parrott (Eng) | 5-3 | S Lee (Eng) |
|---|---|---|
| S Davis (Eng) | 5-1 | P Ebdon (Eng) |
|
Steve Davis, winner of the event in 1992, produced a superb performance
to beat Peter Ebdon. The 41-year-old former world champion signalled his outstanding form with a 136 clearance in the second frame - the highest break of the tournament so far. Although seventh seed Ebdon snatched the third frame on the pink, Davis completed the 5-1 victory with contributions of 91 and 98. Davis said: "I have to say it is the best performance I have put in for quite some time." | ||
| M King (Eng) | 3-5 | J Higgins (Sco) |
| E Henderson (Sco) | 2-5 | M Williams (Wal) |
| J Wattana (Thai) | 2-5 | K Doherty (Ire) |
|
James Wattana's eagerly awaited clash with Ken Doherty was marred by a death
threat to the local hero. Wattana was told in a call to his mobile phone less than three hours before the match to "be prepared to die". The call, which is under investigation and may have been linked to an illegal betting ring, was taken seriously and wattana was given police protection. Wattana seemingly unperturbeb to take the first frame of the match and reached 2-2. However, Doherty grabbed the next three to reach the quater-finals. | ||
| S Hendry (Sco) | 5-1 | A Robidoux (Can) |
| D Morgan (Wal) | 5-1 | N Bond (Eng) |
| A McManus (Sco) | 5-4 | J Swail (NI) |
| Friday : Quarter-Finals (5/Mar) | ||
| A McManus (Sco) | 5-4 | J Higgins (Sco) |
|---|---|---|
|
John Higgins criticised the decision of Thai TV to relegate his quarter-final
to an outside table. After losing 5-4 to Alan McManus, with whom he has shared a room this week, Higgins said: "This isn't sour grapes but it just makes you very andry." "They're put Steve Davis and Darren Morgan, who are both well down the rankings, in the main auditorium." "There's no point coming all this way if that's how they're going to promote the game." McManus produced a fine display to fight back from 3-2 down to defeat. | ||
| D Morgan (Wal) | 5-3 | S Davis (Eng) |
|
Steve Davis' fine run of form in the Thailand Masters in Bangkok came to an
abrupt and when he was beaten 5-3 in the quarter-finals by Darren Morgan. Breaks of 90 and 86 were the highlights as the welshman reached the semi-finals of a ranking tournament for the first time since the 1994 world championship. | ||
| S Hendry (Sco) | 2-5 | M Williams (Wal) |
|
Welshman Mark Williams has beaten Stephen Hendry 5-2 to take his place in the
semi-finals. Breaks of 62 and 120 allowed Hendry, the defending champion, to share the first four frames, but Williams took the fifth on the black before powering to victory boosted by a 130 total clearance in the sixth frame. Williams has had something of a hold over Hendry in recent big clashes, prevailing three times over him in major finals since 1997. Hendry said before the Bangkok clash that he was determined to take revenge for those losses, but Williams once again proved to be the stronger player. Stephen Hendry accepted his 5-2 defeat by Mark Williams, saying "It's never anything to worry about when you lose to someone of Mark's calibre." "Myown game's in good order and I'm looking forward to the China International in Shanghai next week. | ||
| K Doherty (Ire) | 3-5 | J Parrott (Eng) |
|
John Parrott took the last two frames to clinch a 5-3 victory over Ken
Doherty and was pleased with his win. "I'm delighted to get through because Ken is always tough to beat and the conditions were very sticky," he said. | ||
| Saturday : Semi-Finals (6/Mar) | ||
| M Williams (Wal) | 6-2 | J Parrott (Eng) |
|---|---|---|
|
87-10, 0-69 (66), 86-1, 10-68, 68-23 (60), 74=38, 63-10, 118-0 (102)
In-form Mark Williams is within one victory of securing his third world
ranking event triumph this season after beating John Parrott 6-2. Parrott had beaten the Welshman in the final of the German Masters but Williams raced to victory after being level at 2-2 at the interval. He said: "There is nobody I fear in the game. I never have. If you are potting balls there is nothing anyone can do about it, whoever they are. That's how I look at it." | ||
| A McManus (Sco) | 6-1 | D Morgan (Wal) |
| 59-51, 66-55 (59, 55), 66-56 (56 Morgan), 73-1 (69), 74-5, 26-95, 74-18 (74) | ||
| Sunday : Final (7/Mar) | ||
| M Williams (Wal) | 9-7 | A McManus (Sco) |
|---|---|---|
|
87-0 (87), 114-2 (106), 0-94 (59), 64-10 (64), 53-62 (52 Williams),
77-63 (70) (respotted black), 72-17 (72), 68-24, 57-69 (57 Williams),
70-43 (65), 60-12, 12-65, 22-62, 53-73, 2-62, 78-46
Mark Williams took his third world ranking title of the season, beating Alan
McManus 9-7 after the Scotsman staged a fightback. Williams opened explosively with break of 87, 106, 64 to go 3-1 ahead, and he led 6-2 at the interval. However, once he moved within one frame of victory at 8-3, he had to wait nearly two hours to claim the crown. At 8-7 down, McManus led by 46 in the sixteenth frame, but he let Williams back in and the Welshman edged home. | ||
| Former Winners; | News; | Timetable & Details; | Results; | Centuries; | Prize |
|---|
| Second Rround (best of 9 frames) | Quarter Finals (best of 9 frames) | Semi-Finals (best of 11 frames) | Final (best of 17 frames) | ||||||||
| S Hendry (Sco) A Robidoux (Can) |
5 1 |
||||||||||
| S Hendry (Sco) M Williams (Wal) |
2 5 |
||||||||||
| E Henderson (Sco) M Williams (Wal) |
2 5 |
||||||||||
| M Williams (Wal) J Parrott (Eng) |
6 2 |
||||||||||
| J Parrott (Eng) S Lee (Eng) |
5 3 |
||||||||||
| J Parrott (Eng) K Doherty (Ire) |
5 3 |
||||||||||
| J Wattana (Thai) K Doherty (Ire) |
2 5 |
||||||||||
| M Williams (Wal) A McManus (Sco) |
9 7 |
||||||||||
| D Morgan (Wal) N Bond (Eng) |
5 1 |
||||||||||
| D Morgan (Wal) S Davis (Eng) |
5 3 |
||||||||||
| S Davis (Eng) P Ebdon (Eng) |
5 1 |
||||||||||
| D Morgan (Wal) A McManus (Sco) |
1 6 |
||||||||||
| A McManus (Sco) J Swail (NI) |
5 4 |
||||||||||
| A McManus (Sco) J Higgins (Sco) |
5 4 |
||||||||||
| M King (Eng) J Higgins (Sco) |
3 5 |
| Former Winners; | News; | Timetable & Details; | Results; | Centuries; | Prize |
|---|
| Former Winners; | News; | Timetable & Details; | Results; | Centuries; | Prize |
|---|
| Place | Prize (pounds) |
| Winner | 50,000 |
| Runner-up | 26,000 |
| Losing semi-finalists | 13,000 |
| Losing quater-finalists | 7,650 |
| Second round losers | 3,700 |
| First round losers | 3,000 |
| 1 English pound = | 1.61 American Dollars |
| Highest break | 3,000 |