Hong Kong Challenge 1990

Hong Kong Challenge 1990 555 Hong Kong Challenge 1990
Tournament type:	Non-ranking
Attendees:	12
Venue:	Hilton Hotel , Hong Kong
Opening:	23rd August 1990
Endgame:	August 25, 1990
Winner:	James Wattana
Finalist:	Jimmy White
Highest Break:	127 ( James Wattana )
1991 →

The 555 Hong Kong Challenge 1990 was a non-professional site ranking snooker tournament , which as part of the 1990 World Series as part of the snooker season 1990/91 was. It was held from August 23 to 25, 1990 at the Hilton Hotel in Hong Kong . The winner was the Thai James Wattana , who defeated the Englishman Jimmy White 9: 3 in the final. Wattana also played the highest break of the tournament with a 127 break.

Prize money

The newly introduced tournament's prize pool was £ 71,000 , with the winner accounting for around a quarter of £ 20,000.

	Prize money
winner	£ 20,000
finalist	£ 10,000
Semi-finalist	£ 7,500
Quarter finalist	£ 5,000
Round 1	£ 1,500
All in all	£ 71,000

Tournament course

In the first round each met an amateur from Thailand and China to six professional, and among the latter group with the Thais James Wattana and Franky Chan were represented two other locally known players from Hong Kong. The four winners of the first round met in the quarter-finals against the remaining field of four other top players. In addition to the start of the tournament , the game was played for victory in the best of 9 frames mode until the final , and the final was then played in the best of 17 frames mode.

	Round of 16				Quarter finals				Semifinals				final
					Steve Davis	5
	Dean Reynolds	5
					Dean Reynolds	2
	Kenny Kwok	0							Steve Davis	2
									James Wattana	5
					Doug Mountjoy	1
	James Wattana	5
					James Wattana	5
	Terry Griffiths	0											James Wattana	9
													Jimmy White	3
					Jimmy White	5
	Mike Hallett	5
					Mike Hallett	3
	Franky Chan	1							Jimmy White	5
									Stephen Hendry	2
					Stephen Hendry	5
	Steve James	5
					Steve James	4th
	Udon Khaimuk	2

final

The Thai James Wattana had literally stormed into the final: The 20-year-old snooker player had to submit only three frames in three games in the previous tournament, where he had knocked out an ex-world champion with Terry Griffiths and a six -time world champion with Steve Davis . His opponent, England's Jimmy White , failed in the final of the last World Cup to Stephen Hendry , on whom he retaliated in the semifinals with a 5-2 victory.

Wattana continued his winning streak and was 3-1 in the lead after White equalized 1-1 before White was able to reduce to 3-2. But Wattana - who would later be considered the player who made snooker popular in Asia - continued his winning streak with two more frames, so that when the score was 5-2, Jimmy White could win another frame. But from this point White had no chance: Wattana also won by four more breaks of over 50 points of the last four frames and thus the final with 9: 3.

Final: Best of 17 Frames Hilton Hotel ,  Hong Kong , Hong Kong SAR , August 25, 1990
James Wattana	9 : 3	Jimmy White
64 : 53; 21: 94 (59); 128 :10 (70, 58); 98:25 (97); 39: 77 (55); 78 : 0 (61); 79 : 1 (60); 2: 58 ; 87 : 5; 140 : 0 (62,61); 75 : 47 (50); 107 : 0 (78)
97	Highest break	59
-	Century breaks	-
9	50+ breaks	2

Century Breaks

During the tournament, two Centuries were played by two different players:

• James Wattana : 127
• Stephen Hendry : 124

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Ron Florax: 1990 Hong Kong Challenge. CueTracker.net, accessed February 21, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Florax: 1990 Hong Kong Challenge - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed February 21, 2019 .