Grand Prix 1998

Grand Prix 1998
Tournament type:	World ranking tournament
Attendees:	197
Venue:	Guild Hall, Preston , England
Opening:	October 14, 1998
Endgame:	October 25, 1998
Winner:	Stephen Lee
Finalist:	Marco Fu
Highest Break:	134 ( Ronnie O'Sullivan )
← 1997   1999 →

The Grand Prix 1998 was a snooker tournament of the 1998-99 season , which from 14 to 25 October 1998 in the Guildhall of Preston was held. After three moves in the past four years, the tournament had found a new home in the north-west English city.

Defending champion Dominic Dale already lost his opening match this time. With Stephen Lee and Marco Fu there were two new faces in a ranking final, for the player from Hong Kong it was even the very first tournament as a professional. However, Stephen Lee's routine prevailed in the final, with 9: 2 he won his first professional title.

Prize money / world ranking points

The prize money increased by approximately £ 17,000 compared to the previous year . From the round of 16 down there were minor changes. Due to the change in qualification, bonuses were awarded to 134 instead of 128 players. In terms of the points for the world rankings , there were no changes in the large field, here too there was only one adjustment in the qualification.

	Prize money	World ranking points a
winner	£ 60,000	4,560
finalist	£ 32,000	3,040
Semi-finalist	£ 16,000	2,025
Quarter finalist	£ 9,100	1,520
Round of 16	£ 4,600	1,140
Last 32	£ 2,600	855
Last 64	£ 2,225	640
Last 96	£ 1,250	480
Last 134	£ 200	360
Qualification round 1 and 2	-	270 150
Highest break	TV phase: £ 5,000 before: £ 1,100
All in all	£ 365,000

^a Seeded players who lost their opening game in qualification or in round 1 received only 300 (instead of 480) or 480 (instead of 640) points.

Final round

64 players competed in the main tournament in Preston . The top 32 of the world rankings were set. The 32 players who had prevailed in the qualification were drawn to them.

	First round best of 9 frames					Second round best of 9 frames					Round of 16 best of 9 frames					Quarterfinals Best of 9 Frames					Semi-final best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
	1	Dominic Dale	0
		Robin Hull	5
							Robin Hull	3
						18th	Gary Wilkinson	5
	18th	Gary Wilkinson	5
	78	Matthew Couch	0
											18th	Gary Wilkinson	0
											31	Jamie Burnett	5
	31	Jamie Burnett	5
	37	Steve James	1
						31	Jamie Burnett	5
						14th	Nigel Bond	2
	14th	Nigel Bond	5
		Patrick Wallace	2
																31	Jamie Burnett	3
																25th	Chris Small	5
	12	Anthony Hamilton	5
	93	Leigh Griffin	4th
						12	Anthony Hamilton	5
						24	Paul Hunter	1
	24	Paul Hunter	5
	81	Jimmy Michie	2
											12	Anthony Hamilton	2
											25th	Chris Small	5
	25th	Chris Small	5
	76	Stuart Pettman	3
						25th	Chris Small	5
						7th	John Parrott	4th
	7th	John Parrott	5
		Colm Gilcreest	4th
																					25th	Chris Small	1
																						Marco Fu	6th
	8th	Peter Ebdon	5
	36	Joe Swail	3
						8th	Peter Ebdon	5
						32	Billy Snaddon	1
	32	Billy Snaddon	5
	64	Nick Pearce	1
											8th	Peter Ebdon	5
											9	Alan McManus	0
	29	Terry Murphy	3
	55	Joe Johnson	5
						55	Joe Johnson	3
						9	Alan McManus	5
	9	Alan McManus	5
	54	Dean Reynolds	2
																8th	Peter Ebdon	3
																	Marco Fu	5
	11	Tony Drago	2
	43	Drew Henry	5
						43	Drew Henry	3
							Marco Fu	5
	22nd	Andy Hicks	4th
		Marco Fu	5
												Marco Fu	5
											4th	Ronnie O'Sullivan	2
	17th	Mark King	5
	59	Gerard Greene	2
						17th	Mark King	2
						4th	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	4th	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
		Sam Chong	3
																										Marco Fu	2
																										10	Stephen Lee	9
	3	Stephen Hendry	5
	60	Ian McCulloch	1
						3	Stephen Hendry	5
						48	David Roe	0
	26th	Matthew Stevens	1
	48	David Roe	5
											3	Stephen Hendry	5
											27	Brian Morgan	3
	27	Brian Morgan	5
	61	David Gray	3
						27	Brian Morgan	5
						40	Rod Lawler	2
	13	Alain Robidoux	1
	40	Rod Lawler	5
																3	Stephen Hendry	4th
																20th	Dave Harold	5
	16	James Wattana	1
	38	Euan Henderson	5
						38	Euan Henderson	2
						20th	Dave Harold	5
	20th	Dave Harold	5
		Alex Borg	0
											20th	Dave Harold	5
											49	Shokat Ali	0
	19th	Jimmy White	4th
	49	Shokat Ali	5
						49	Shokat Ali	5
						5	Ken Doherty	3
	5	Ken Doherty	5
		David McDonnell	0
																				20th	Dave Harold	4th
																					10	Stephen Lee	6th
	6th	Mark Williams	5
	58	Michael Judge	3
						6th	Mark Williams	4th
						23	Darren Morgan	5
	23	Darren Morgan	5
	99	Robert Milkins	4th
											23	Darren Morgan	2
											10	Stephen Lee	5
	21st	Fergal O'Brien	5
		Mark Johnston-Allen	1
						21st	Fergal O'Brien	1
						10	Stephen Lee	5
	10	Stephen Lee	5
	63	Tony Jones	3
																10	Stephen Lee	5
																45	Quinten Hann	0
	15th	Steve Davis	4th
	57	Dene O'Kane	5
						57	Dene O'Kane	4th
						35	Jason Ferguson	5
	28	Martin Clark	3
	35	Jason Ferguson	5
											35	Jason Ferguson	3
											45	Quinten Hann	5
	30th	Graeme Dott	3
		Alan Burnett	5
							Alan Burnett	4th
						45	Quinten Hann	5
	2	John Higgins	1
	45	Quinten Hann	5

final

Marco Fu was the big surprise of the tournament. In 1997 he was first the U21 world champion and then became the amateur world champion for men . The Grand Prix was his first tournament as a professional and he had played through the Overseas Qualifiers to the final. Stephen Lee, on the other hand, had been a pro since 1992 and although he had already made it to number 9 in the world rankings, the semi-finals at the 1997 UK Championship was his best result so far. He started the finals confidently and with five breaks of 50 points or more he got the first 4 frames of the afternoon. Marco Fu also showed that he can play high breaks, but the second half of the session ended in a draw, so Lee started the evening with a comfortable 6-2 lead. There the Englishman seamlessly continued his performance from Session 1 and with two high breaks and a century at the end he clearly won 9: 2. In each frame of the final there was a break of at least 50 points, in one frame even two.

Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: John Newton Guild Hall,  Preston , England , October 25, 1998
Marco Fu	2: 9	Stephen Lee
Afternoon : 8: 115 (50), 0: 128 (128), 17: 75 (75), 0: 130 (66, 64), 82 : 4 (82), 33: 99 (66), 0: 77 ( 70), 85:12 (85); Evening : 0: 107 (90), 1: 93 (57), 5: 106 (106)
85	Highest break	128
-	Century breaks	2
2	50+ breaks	10

qualification

197 players had registered for the tournament. Four qualifying rounds plus overseas qualifiers were played from July 29th and September 3rd, 1998 in the Plymouth Pavilions in south-west England to determine the participants for the main tournament from the players from 33rd place in the world rankings . The 32 winners then met the top 32 in the world in Preston .

Century breaks

15 players scored 23 breaks of at least 100 points in the main tournament. Stephen Lee reached four Centurys, two of them in the final. Ronnie O'Sullivan received the award for the highest break in front of television cameras. Peter Ebdon had to share his award for the highest break without cameras with Robin Hull , who scored his 139-point break in the penultimate qualifying round.

Peter Ebdon 139 Ronnie O'Sullivan 134 Martin Clark 129 Stephen Lee 128, 126, 106, 104 Marco Fu 123 Quinten Hann 121, 111, 110 John Parrott 121 Tony Drago 120

Chris Small 115, 107 Dene O'Kane 110 Stephen Hendry 108 Jason Ferguson 106 Mark Williams 104, 102 Dave Harold 104, 103 Anthony Hamilton 103

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} 1998 Grand Prix - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed December 19, 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} 1998 Grand Prix. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 19, 2017 . 
3. ^ Grand Prix 1998. snooker.org, accessed December 19, 2017 (English). 
4. ↑ Rankings - 1998-1999. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 19, 2017 .