Grand Prix 1999

Grand Prix 1999
Tournament type:	World ranking tournament
Venue:	Guild Hall, Preston , England
Opening:	October 16, 1999
Endgame:	October 24, 1999
Winner:	John Higgins
Finalist:	Mark Williams
Highest Break:	147 ( Ronnie O'Sullivan )
← 1998   2000 →

The Grand Prix 1999 was a snooker tournament of the 1999-2000 season , which from 11 to 24 October 1999 in the Guildhall of Preston was held. The city in the north-west of England hosted the tournament for the second time.

Stephen Lee had won the tournament last year, this time he was eliminated in round 2. John Higgins and Mark Williams met in the finals. Both had already won the tournament once. Higgins secured his second Grand Prix title with a narrow 9-8 win.

The 16th edition of the Grand Prix saw a maximum break for the first time : Ronnie O'Sullivan managed the “perfect break” of 147 points in round 2. For the Englishman it was the third maximum of his career and the second in one Year.

Prize money / world ranking points

There was £ 27,000 more in prize money that year than in 1998. The money was distributed slightly differently, in particular due to the changed qualification mode there were fewer participants, which increased the entry bonus from £ 200 to £ 800. There were also changes in the qualification for the points for the world rankings due to the reduced field of participants. Nothing changed in the main tournament.

	Prize money	World ranking points a
winner	£ 62,000	4,560
finalist	£ 33,000	3,040
Semi-finalist	£ 16,500	2,025
Quarter finalist	£ 9,400	1,520
Round of 16	£ 4,800	1,140
Last 32	£ 2,775	855
Last 64	£ 2,400	640
Last 96	£ 1,250	480
Last 128	£ 800	100
Highest TV break	£ 5,000
All in all	£ 392,150

^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	Stephen Lee	5
	103	Ian Brumby	0
						1	Stephen Lee	4th
						20th	Tony Drago	5
	20th	Tony Drago	5
	41	Gerard Greene	1
											20th	Tony Drago	3
											10	Anthony Hamilton	5
	21st	Nigel Bond	5
	45	Drew Henry	1
						21st	Nigel Bond	3
						10	Anthony Hamilton	5
	10	Anthony Hamilton	5
	98	Mario Geudens	4th
																10	Anthony Hamilton	2
																17th	Dave Harold	5
	13	Peter Ebdon	3
	113	Barry Pinches	5
						113	Barry Pinches	5
						30th	Terry Murphy	4th
	30th	Terry Murphy	5
	50	Jason Ferguson	2
											113	Barry Pinches	1
											17th	Dave Harold	5
	17th	Dave Harold	5
		Mark Selby	4th
						17th	Dave Harold	5
						8th	Alan McManus	2
	8th	Alan McManus	5
	78	Mark Davis	2
																					17th	Dave Harold	5
																					4th	Mark Williams	6th
	7th	Ken Doherty	5
	56	Paul Wykes	2
						7th	Ken Doherty	5
						52	Dave Finbow	1
	23	Darren Morgan	2
	52	Dave Finbow	5
											7th	Ken Doherty	5
											12	Paul Hunter	3
	28	Joe Swail	5
	91	Karl Burrows	3
						28	Joe Swail	1
						12	Paul Hunter	5
	12	Paul Hunter	5
	67	Michael Judge	4th
																7th	Ken Doherty	3
																4th	Mark Williams	5
	9	Matthew Stevens	5
	40	Neal Foulds	0
						9	Matthew Stevens	2
						18th	Chris Small	5
	18th	Chris Small	5
	44	Steve James	3
											18th	Chris Small	1
											4th	Mark Williams	5
	29	Gary Wilkinson	5
	70	Chris Scanlon	2
						29	Gary Wilkinson	0
						4th	Mark Williams	5
	4th	Mark Williams	5
	90	Darren Clarke	1
																									4th	Mark Williams	8th
																										3	John Higgins	9
	3	John Higgins	5
	63	Jimmy Michie	4th
						3	John Higgins	5
						19th	Dominic Dale	0
	19th	Dominic Dale	5
	138	David McLellan	0
											3	John Higgins	5
											22nd	James Wattana	3
	22nd	James Wattana	5
	112	Mark Fenton	3
						22nd	James Wattana	5
						16	Jimmy White	3
	16	Jimmy White	5
	105	Kristjan Helgason	4th
																3	John Higgins	5
																5	Ronnie O'Sullivan	3
	11	Fergal O'Brien	5
	34	Joe Perry	2
						11	Fergal O'Brien	2
						32	Andy Hicks	5
	32	Andy Hicks	5
	57	Mick Price	2
											32	Andy Hicks	4th
											5	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	25th	Graeme Dott	5
	104	Wayne Jones	3
						25th	Graeme Dott	1
						5	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	5	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	75	Willie Thorne	3
																				3	John Higgins	6th
																					142	Ali Carter	3
	6th	John Parrott	5
	43	Euan Henderson	1
						6th	John Parrott	4th
						48	Marcus Campbell	5
	24	Billy Snaddon	1
	48	Marcus Campbell	5
											48	Marcus Campbell	2
											35	Marco Fu	5
	26th	Quinten Hann	-
	35	Marco Fu	kl.
						35	Marco Fu	5
						14th	Mark King	3
	14th	Mark King	5
	81	Leo Fernandez	2
																35	Marco Fu	3
																142	Ali Carter	5
	15th	Steve Davis	2
	53	Jonathan Birch	5
						53	Jonathan Birch	2
						142	Ali Carter	5
	31	Brian Morgan	2
	142	Ali Carter	5
											142	Ali Carter	5
											2	Stephen Hendry	3
	27	Jamie Burnett	1
		Noppadon Noppachorn	5
							Noppadon Noppachorn	0
						2	Stephen Hendry	5
	2	Stephen Hendry	5
	49	Gary Ponting	2

kl. = without a fight

final

John Higgins had won the Grand Prix in 1994 and Mark Williams in 1996 and although both players had been among the best in the world for several years, it was the first time that they met in a final. Williams came as the reigning runner-up and had last defeated Higgins in the semi-finals at the World Cup . Higgins, the current number 1 was the world rankings . A tough match developed, which started out evenly. Halfway through the afternoon session, the score was 2-2. After that, Williams came into play better and won 4 frames in a row. With 6: 2 he actually had a comfortable lead for the evening, but Higgins started determined and managed to equalize 6: 6 at the break. He added a 5th frame, but his Welsh opponent struggled, equalized again and took the lead 8: 7 himself. But Higgins was able to enforce the decision frame. The Scot then dominated and he won the game 9: 8. The Grand Prix victory was already the 12th ranking title for Higgins.

Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: Alan Chamberlain Guild Hall,  Preston , England , October 24, 1999
Mark Williams	8: 9	John Higgins
Afternoon : 1: 89 (64), 69 : 5, 46: 77 (55), 83 : 0 (82), 77 : 2 (73), 62 : 30, 53 : 33, 49 : 2; Evening : 42: 50 , 12: 68 (68), 0: 86 (53), 0: 78 (78) 37: 59 , 88 : 24 (65), 65 : 1, 23: 107 (66) 0 : 75
82	Highest break	78
-	Century breaks	-
3	50+ breaks	6th

qualification

From the field of 128 professional players, the 32 players who entered the main tournament were determined in 2 rounds. The two rounds were also played in Preston just before the main tournament from October 11th to 13th . In round 1, places 65 to 128 in the world rankings played against each other. The players from places 33 to 64 were seeded for round 2 and then played against the winners of round 1.

Century breaks

17 players scored 30 breaks of at least 100 points in the entire tournament. The highest break and the most breaks was achieved by Ronnie O'Sullivan from England . He managed a break of 147 points, the 32nd official maximum break in professional snooker. It was the first maximum at the Grand Prix.

Ronnie O'Sullivan 147 , 137, 105, 103, 100 Mark Williams 139, 108 Paul Hunter 137, 103 Jonathan Birch 136 Dave Harold 136 Anthony Hamilton 135 John Higgins 132, 107, 103 (2 ×) Mark Selby 128, 102 Marcus Campbell 126

Nigel Bond 119, 105 Darren Clarke 118 Andy Hicks 113, 101 Stephen Hendry 106, 100 Michael Judge 105 Willie Thorne 104 a Marco Fu 104 Stephen Lee 102

^a achieved in qualification

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} 1999 Grand Prix - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed December 19, 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} 1999 Grand Prix. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 19, 2017 . 
3. ^ Grand Prix 1999. snooker.org, accessed December 19, 2017 (English). 
4. ↑ Rankings - 1999-2000. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 19, 2017 .