Hong Kong Challenge 1991

Hong Kong Challenge 1991 555 Hong Kong Challenge 1991
Tournament type:	Non-ranking tournament
Attendees:	16
Venue:	Hilton Hotel , Hong Kong
Opening:	August 28, 1991
Endgame:	August 31, 1991
Defending champion:	James Wattana
Winner:	Stephen Hendry
Finalist:	James Wattana
Highest Break:	125 ( Gary Wilkinson )
← 1990

The 555 Hong Kong Challenge 1991 was a professional snooker tournament with no impact on the world rankings in the 1991/92 season and the 1991 World Series . The tournament was held from August 28 to 31, 1991 at the Hilton Hotel in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong . The winner was Stephen Hendry from Scotland , who defeated defending champion James Wattana 9-1 in the final . The highest break of the tournament was played by Englishman Gary Wilkinson with a 125 break .

Prize money

Again, 555 sponsored the tournament, although the prize pool still fell by £ 12,000 from last year to £ 59,000, of which about a third went to the winner.

	Prize money
winner	£ 20,000
finalist	£ 10,000
Semi-finalist	£ 5,000
Quarter finalist	£ 2,500
Round of 16	£ 1,125
All in all	£ 59,000

Tournament course

Like the previous first edition of the tournament, the tournament was part of the World Series hosted by Barry Hearns Matchroom Sport and was also the last edition before the tournament was closed. A total of sixteen players took part, of which eleven were professional players and five were amateur players from Hong Kong and Thailand . In the knockout system , the game was played in the best of 9 frames mode from the round of 16 up to and including the semi-finals , with only the final in the best of 17 frames mode deviating from it.

	Round of 16 best of 9 frames				Quarterfinals Best of 9 Frames				Semi-final Best of 9 frames				Final Best of 17 frames
	Stephen Hendry	5
	Kong Wah On	0
					Stephen Hendry	5
					Dennis Taylor	3
	Dennis Taylor	5
	Neal Foulds	2
									Stephen Hendry	5
									Steve Davis	3
	Steve Davis	5
	Stanley Leung	0
					Steve Davis	5
					Gary Wilkinson	4th
	Gary Wilkinson	5
	Terry Griffiths	4th
													Stephen Hendry	9
													James Wattana	1
	James Wattana	5
	David Yao	4th
					James Wattana	5
					Steve James	0
	Steve James	5
	Mike Hallett	2
									James Wattana	5
									Jimmy White	2
	Jimmy White	5
	Kenny Kwok	0
					Jimmy White	5
					John Parrott	2
	John Parrott	5
	Tai Pichit	2

final

The Scot Stephen Hendry started the tournament with a white wash over one of the amateur players and had 5-3 wins over Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis , both of which, in contrast to Hendry with his dominance phase in the 1990s, especially the 1980s -Years had shaped, reached the finals. In this he met James Wattana , who as defending champion had only won his opening game in the decider , but had later defeated Steve James via White-wash and finally also made it into the final with a 5-2 victory over Jimmy White .

The final itself was a straightforward affair. After Hendry took the lead by two frames, Wattana won a frame for the only time in the game. With the help of two century breaks, Hendry then won all subsequent frames and thus the game with 9: 1.

Final: Best of 17 Frames Hilton Hotel ,  Hong Kong , British Crown Colony Hong Kong , August 31, 1991
Stephen Hendry	9 : 1	James Wattana
62 : 52, 95 : 35, 8: 91 , 66 : 13, 132 : 0 (115), 76 : 8, 63 : 53, 101 : 4, 102 : 32 (102), 76 : 5
115	Highest break	-
2	Century breaks	-
2	50+ breaks	-

Century Breaks

During the tournament there were six century breaks from three players .

• Gary Wilkinson : 125
• Stephen Hendry : 115, 107 (2 ×), 102
• Steve James : 108

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Ron Florax: 1991 Hong Kong Challenge. CueTracker.net, accessed December 4, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Chris Turner: Other Non-Ranking and Invition Events - First held 1990-1999. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2008, archived from the original on February 16, 2012 ; accessed on December 4, 2019 .  
3. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Florax: 1991 Hong Kong Challenge - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed December 4, 2019 .