NEWS
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Special Report - Most players would give their right arm to reach the semi-finals of two major tournaments but when, like John Higgins, you're the world number one and a former world champion that is simply not good enough. "I suppose I haven't had such a bad start to the season but I want to be winning titles again," said Higgins on the eve of his first appearance in the 1999 Regal Masters at Motherwell. In order to rediscover the winning habit Higgins has subjected himself to overtime on the practice table. The 24-year-old Scot has been doing hard labour since his defeat by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last four of the British Open in Plymouth, and he said: "I just need a couple of good wins under my belt, especially against the top players." Higgins, defeated by Stephen Hendry in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup earlier this month, added: "They're been beating me far too easily and that's not happened for a couple of years." "I realised I hadn't been working hard enough but just recently I've been putting in the extra hours on the practice table." Higgins, a runner-up to O'Sullivan in the 1998 Regal Masters, meets Irishman Ken Doherty for a place in Saturday's semi-finals. Dubliner Doherty is a twice winner of the title but Higgins believes Champions Cup and British Open winner is the man the rest have to beat in order to win the first prize on Sunday. "I'd love to beat Ken and then get Stephen in the semi-finals," says local boy Higgins who lives just ten minutes drive from the venue in Wishaw. "All the pressure would be on him." "But I shouldn't really look so far in front. Ken is a great player, we've had some tough matched in the past and I know that he played well to beat Jimmy White in the last round." - 29/Sep - |
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Qualifying Rounds - Chris Small beat Graeme Dott by 5-3 in the pre-qualifying rounds to join the qualifying rouns, which includes pplayers like Paul Hunter, Macro Fu, Peter Ebdon, Anthony Hamilton, Matthew Stevens. In thee final of this qualifying rounds, Matthew Steven beat Macro Fu by 5 to 1. - 27/Sep - |
| Sunday : Final (3/Oct) *Highlight* | ||
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Welshman Matthew Stevens denied world No.1 John Higgins his first title on home soil. In doing so he also became the only player in the 10 year history of the event, to come through the qualifying rounds and scoop a jackpot first prize of £61,000, his biggest pay day. more... |
| Saturday : Semi Finals (2/Oct) *Highlight* | ||
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There were two surprise in the two semi-finals today with Matthew Stevens
beat Mark J Williams by 6-2, and John Higgins clinch the victory with 6-1 by
some uncharacteristic performs from Stephen Henry. Therefore, Matthew Stvens and John Higgins will now meet in the final for the jackpot of £61,000. |
| Friday : Quarter Finals (1/Oct) *Highlight* | ||
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Mathew Stevens completed a Welsh double when he knocked defending champion
Ronnie O'Sullivan. Stephen Hendry was in fine form with a 6-2 victory over John Parrott to set up a meeting with John Higgins. |
| Thursday : Quarter Finals (30/Sep) *Highlight* | ||
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John Higgins completed a 91 minutes demolition job over Doherty to storm into
the semi-finals. Mark J Williams reached the semi-final spot with a 6-3 win over Stephen Lee. |
| Wednesday : First Round (29/Sep) *Highlight* | ||
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In decider, Fergal O'Brien failed to pot in the winning pink and handed the
victory to Stephen Lee. John Parrott won the last three frames to beat Steve Davis 5-2 and set up a quarter final against Stephen Hendry. |
| Tuesday : First Round (28/Sep) *Highlight* | ||
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Matthew Stevens, the world No.9, celebrated his debut in the Regal Masters
with a 5-2 victory over Alan McManus in the first round at Motherwell Civic Centre. Jimmy White compiled a clearance of 138 to set a new high break target, but was beaten 5-4 by Ken Doherty, the same score when the two met in the same round last year. |
Results
(If you would like to see any individual reports, please touch
the score line. Or try see the whole reports)
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Final ( best of 17 frames )
Semi Finals
Quarter Finals
First Rounds
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| 1st-round (best of 9 frames) | Quarter-Finals (best of 11 frames) | Semi-Finals (best of 11 frames) | Final (best of 17 frames) | ||||||||
| Ronnie O'Sullivan vs ***** |
* * |
||||||||||
| Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Matthew Stevens |
4 6 |
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| Alan McManus vs Matthew Stevens |
2 5 |
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| Matthew Stevens vs Mark Williams |
6 2 |
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| Mark Williams vs ***** |
* * |
||||||||||
| Mark Williams vs Stephen Lee |
6 3 |
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| Stephen Lee vs Fergal O'Brien |
5 4 |
||||||||||
| Matthew Stevens vs John Higgins |
9 7 |
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| John Higgins vs ***** |
* * |
||||||||||
| John Higgins vs Ken Doherty |
6 1 |
||||||||||
| Ken Doherty vs Jimmy White |
5 4 |
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| John Higgins vs Stephen Hendry |
6 1 |
||||||||||
| Stephen Hendry vs ***** |
* * |
||||||||||
| Stephen Hednry vs John Parrott |
6 2 |
||||||||||
| John Parrott vs Steve Davis |
5 2 |
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138 Jimmy White 134 Stephen Hendry 128 John Higgins 126 Stephen Lee & John Higgins 111 John Higgins 103 Matthew Stevens * 3 |
PRIZE
| Place | Prize |
| Winner | 61,000 |
| Runner-up | 29,700 |
| Losing semi-finalists | ***** |
| Losing quater-finalists | ***** |
| Last 16 (losing third-round) | ***** |
| 1 English Pound = | 1.62 American Dollars |
| Highest break | 5,000 |
| Maximum break | BMW Z3 convertible |
POINT
| This is not a ranking tournament. |
FORMER WINNERS
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99/00 | Matthew Stevens (Wal) | 9-7 | John Higgins (Sco) |
| 98/99 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) | 9-7 | John Higgins (Sco) |
| 97/98 | Nigel Bond (Eng) | 9-8 | Alan McManus (Sco) |
| 96/97 | Peter Ebdon (Eng) | 9-6 | Alan McManus (Sco) |
| 95/96 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 9-5 | Peter Ebdon (Eng) |
| 94/95 | Ken Doherty (Ire) | 9-7 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) |
| 93/94 | Ken Doherty (Ire) | 10-9 | Alan McManus (Sco) |
| 92/93 | Neal Foulds (Eng) | 10-8 | Gary Wilkinson (Eng) |
| 91/92 | Mike Hallett (Eng) | 9-6 | Steve Davis (Eng) |
| 90/91 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 10-6 | Terry Griffiths (Wal) |
| 89/90 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 10-1 | Terry Griffiths (Wal) |
| Odds | Best 12 |
| 9/4 | Stephen Hendry |
| 11/4 | John Higgins |
| 9/2 | Mark J Williams |
| 5/1 | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 14/1 | Stephen Lee |
| 20/1 | Alan McManus |
| 20/1 | Ken Doherty |
| 20/1 | John Parrott |
| 22/1 | Matthew Stevens |
| 33/1 | Steve Davis |
| 50/1 | Jimmy White |
| 40/1 | Fergal O'Brien |
| Source: William Hill | |