Malta Grand Prix 2001

Malta Grand Prix 2001
Tournament type:	Invitation tournament
Attendees:	12
Venue:	MCC , Valletta , Malta
Opening:	February 21, 2001
Endgame:	February 25, 2001
Winner:	Stephen Hendry
Finalist:	Mark Williams
Highest Break:	147 ( Stephen Hendry )
← 2000

The 2001 Malta Grand Prix was a snooker tournament of the Main Tour - 2000/01 season . It was held from February 21st to 25th at the Mediterranean Conference Center in Valletta . For the second time in a row and for the third time in total, the tournament was held in the capital of Malta . After the tournament had the status of a world ranking tournament once in the previous year, this time it was an invitation tournament again. However, it was not played as a purely elimination tournament as in the 1990s, but got a group stage.

The world champion and world number one Mark Williams reached the final as in the previous year, but missed the victory again. Stephen Hendry won the title for the second time after 1998 . He won 7-1, the highest result in tournament history. The Scot also achieved the 42nd maximum break in snooker history in the final .

It was the last edition of the Malta Grand Prix . Then the tournament was discontinued. Later that year the European Open for the following season took place in the same location in Valletta . A Maltese tournament called the Malta Cup started again in 2005.

Prize money

The tournament could not keep up with the budget of the ranking tournament last year of £ 290,000 . After all, the £ 36,000 in the prize pot was significantly more than what there was to be won in Malta in the 1990s. However, it was also considerably less than other invitational tournaments, which were typically over £ 150,000.

placement	Prize money
winner	£ 10,000
final	£ 5,000
Semifinals	£ 3,000
Second in the group	£ 2,000
Group third	£ 1,500
Highest break	£ 1,000
All in all	£ 36,000

Group stage

The tournament was prominently occupied with the top 3 in the world rankings and a total of 9 players from the top 16. The other three starting places were awarded to the best local players Tony Drago , Joe Grech and Alex Borg , the only three players who took part in all editions of the Malta Grand Prix were there.

The 12 participants were divided into 4 groups, in which everyone played against everyone. The four group winners then progressed to the semi-finals of the elimination round. The group games were played on 5 winning frames ( Best of 9 mode ). In the semifinals and finals, it increased by one winning frame.

The favorites prevailed in three groups. That was also the first 3 in the world rankings. Only in group C did the world number nine Fergal O'Brien defeat the higher ranked Stephen Lee and progress in his place. The local players remained without a win, only Tony Drago , after all number 26 in the world, managed to win against Paul Hunter, who was 12 places higher .

Legend

Sp.	Number of games played
SG	Number of games won
FG	Number of frames won
FV	Number of frames lost
FD	Frame difference
	The four group winners advanced to the semifinals.

Group A

Table:

rank	player	Sp.	SG	FG	FV	FD
1	Stephen Hendry	2	2	10	4th	+6
2	Matthew Stevens	2	1	8th	8th	± 0
3	Joe Grech	2	0	4th	10	−6

Group games:

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	Stephen Hendry	15 : 15	Joe Grech
2	Matthew Stevens	35 : 35	Joe Grech
3	Stephen Hendry	35 : 35	Matthew Stevens

Group B

Table:

rank	player	Sp.	SG	FG	FV	FD
1	John Higgins	2	2	10	2	+8
2	Ken Doherty	2	1	7th	6th	+1
3	Alex Borg	2	0	1	10	−9

Group games:

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	John Higgins	05 : 05	Alex Borg
2	Ken Doherty	15 : 15	Alex Borg
3	John Higgins	25 : 25	Ken Doherty

Group C

Table:

rank	player	Sp.	SG	FG	FV	FD
1	Fergal O'Brien	2	2	10	7th	+3
2	Stephen Lee	2	1	9	8th	+1
3	Joe Swail	2	0	6th	10	−4

Group games:

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	Stephen Lee	35 : 35	Joe Swail
2	Fergal O'Brien	35 : 35	Joe Swail
3	Stephen Lee	54: 54th	Fergal O'Brien

Group D

Table:

rank	player	Sp.	SG	FG	FV	FD
1	Mark Williams	2	2	10	4th	+6
2	Tony Drago	2	1	7th	8th	−1
3	Paul Hunter	2	0	5	10	−5

Group games:

game	Player 1	Result	Player 2
1	Mark Williams	25 : 25	Tony Drago
2	Paul Hunter	53: 53	Tony Drago
3	Mark Williams	25 : 25	Paul Hunter

Finals

In the semifinals, two group winners played against each other. The winners of the two games then contested the final. With Mark Williams and Stephen Hendry , the number 1 and number 3 in the world prevailed.

	Semi-final best of 11 frames					Final Best of 13 frames
	A1	Stephen Hendry	6th
	B1	John Higgins	4th
						A1	Stephen Hendry	7th
						D1	Mark Williams	1
	C1	Fergal O'Brien	4th
	D1	Mark Williams	6th

final

Actually, Mark Williams was the reigning world champion and world number one clear favorite against Stephen Hendry . Since his final defeat at the Malta Grand Prix last year, he had won three tournaments and made it to the final four more times. Hendry had reached a final three times, but he hadn't won a tournament for almost a year and a half, the longest since his first tournament victory in 1986. Most recently, Williams had won the Thailand Masters 2000 against Hendry.

Williams also made the first point, but then only the Scot played. With high breaks he secured the next 3 frames up to the break, the climax was the third frame in which he managed a maximum break . It was only the third 147 break in a final of the professional tour; Hendry had scored all three. After the break, he won three more frames and was only one frame away from victory at 6-1. Williams was not without a chance, but Hendry could always win the contested frames in the end. This also applied to frame number 8, in which the Welshman could score 50 points, but Hendry had 59 points for himself in the end. With 7 frames won in a row, the game ended 7: 1 in his favor. He repeated his success from 1998. Before him, only Ken Doherty had won the tournament twice.

Final: Best of 13 Frames Referee: Paul Galea Mediterranean Conference Center ,  Valletta , Malta , February 25, 2001
Stephen Hendry	7 : 1	Mark Williams
20: 75 , 74 : 41 (57), 147 : 0 (147), 79 : 35 (70), 61 : 46 (56), 77 : 0, 87 : 7 (87), 59 : 50
147	Highest break	-
1	Century breaks	-
5	50+ breaks	-

Century breaks

7 breaks of 100 or more points were achieved in the 15 matches, Stephen Hendry alone managed 4 Centurys . In the final he even managed the “perfect break” of 147 points. It was the only maximum break in tournament history. For the Scot it was the eighth in his career and overall it was the 42nd official maximum in professional snooker. There wasn't a big bonus, but Hendry got another £ 1,000 extra for the success.

Stephen Hendry	147 , 118 (2 ×), 100
Ken Doherty	131, 115
Fergal O'Brien	112

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Malta Grand Prix / Malta cup. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, archived from the original on February 16, 2012 ; accessed on November 9, 2019 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} 2001 Malta Grand Prix - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed November 9, 2019 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} 2001 Malta Grand Prix. CueTracker, accessed November 9, 2019 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Rankings - 2000-2001. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed November 9, 2019 .