1998/99 snooker season

1998/99 snooker season
Season dates
Beginning of the season	September 29, 1998
End of season	May 3, 1999
Ranked tournaments	9
Invitation tournaments	8th
number of players	402
Triple Crown Winner
UK Championship	John Higgins
Masters	John Higgins
World Champion	Stephen Hendry
World ranking
Ranking first	John Higgins
← 1997/98 1999/2000 →

In the 1998/1999 snooker season , the snooker professionals held 17 main tournaments, nine of which were included in the ranking for the world .

The Riley Superstar International , which kicked off the season in China last year, remained a unique event. Instead, the season began on September 29, 1998 in Scotland. The Irish Open was added, but it only lasted this year. After all, they had the rank of a world ranking tournament, which the China Open got back after a year as an invitation tournament. The German Open, on the other hand, lost this status and was held for the last time this season after four years. With the Nations Cup , a team competition was introduced again in 1999.

The season ended with the World Cup final on May 3, 1999, in which Stephen Hendry won his seventh world title. Nevertheless, after eight years, he lost first place in the world rankings to his Scottish compatriot John Higgins , who had been more successful over the last two years.

Season results

The following table shows the seasonal results.

date	competition	venue	Art	winner	Final opponent	Result
September 29 to October 4, 1998	Scottish Masters 1998	Motherwell	Invitation tournament	Ronnie O'Sullivan	John Higgins	9: 7
October 14th to October 25th, 1998	Grand Prix 1998	Preston	World ranking tournament	Stephen Lee	Marco Fu	9: 2
November 1 to November 12, 1998	Benson & Hedges Championship 1998	Malvern	Invitation tournament	David Gray	Dave Harold	9: 6
November 1998	Merseyside Professional 1998	Liverpool	Non-ranking tournament	Peter Lines	Lee Walker	5: 4
November 16 to November 29, 1998	UK Championship 1998	Bournemouth	World ranking tournament	John Higgins	Matthew Stevens	10: 6
December 3 to December 6, 1998	Malta Grand Prix 1998	Bugibba	Invitation tournament	Stephen Hendry	Ken Doherty	7: 6
December 8th to December 13th, 1998	German Masters 1998	Bingen am Rhein	Invitation tournament	John Parrott	Mark Williams	6: 4
December 15 to December 20, 1998	Irish Open 1998	Tallaght / Dublin	World ranking tournament	Mark Williams	Alan McManus	9: 4
January 16 to January 24, 1999	Nations Cup 1999	Newcastle	Invitation tournament	Wales	Scotland	6: 4
January 25 to January 31, 1999	Welsh Open 1999	Cardiff	World ranking tournament	Mark Williams	Stephen Hendry	9: 8
February 7 to February 14, 1999	Masters 1999	Wembley	Invitation tournament	John Higgins	Ken Doherty	10: 8
February 14 to January 21, 1999	Scottish Open 1999	Aberdeen	World ranking tournament	Stephen Hendry	Graeme Dott	9: 1
February 25 to February 28, 1999	Charity Challenge 1999	Derby	Invitation tournament	John Higgins	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9: 4
March 1 to March 7, 1999	Thailand Masters 1999	Bangkok	World ranking tournament	Mark Williams	Alan McManus	9: 7
March 8 to March 14, 1999	China International 1999	Shanghai	World ranking tournament	John Higgins	Billy Snaddon	9: 3
March 21 to March 26, 1999	Irish Masters 1999	Dublin	Invitation tournament	Stephen Hendry	Stephen Lee	9: 8
April 4 to April 11, 1999	British Open 1999	Plymouth	World ranking tournament	Fergal O'Brien	Anthony Hamilton	9: 7
April 17 to May 3, 1999	World Snooker Championship 1999	Sheffield	World ranking tournament	Stephen Hendry	Mark Williams	18:11

World ranking

The snooker world ranking is only updated after each full season and takes into account the performance of the past two seasons. The following table shows the 32 best players in the world rankings for the 1998/99 season; is based on the results of the seasons 96/97 and 97/98 . The previous year's position is given in brackets.

Place 1 - 8		Place 9 - 16		17th - 24th place		Place 25 - 32
1	John Higgins (2)	9	Stephen Lee (16)	17th	Gary Wilkinson (17)	25th	Chris Small (25)
2	Stephen Hendry (1)	10	Tony Drago (11)	18th	Jimmy White (21)	26th	Matthew Stevens (53)
3	Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)	11	Anthony Hamilton (14)	19th	Dave Harold (18)	27	Brian morgan (28)
4th	Ken Doherty (3)	12	Alain Robidoux (9)	20th	Fergal O'Brien (23)	28	Martin Clark (27)
5	Mark Williams (4)	13	Nigel Bond (8)	21st	Andy Hicks (19)	29	Terry Murphy (29)
6th	John Parrott (6)	14th	Steve Davis (13)	22nd	Darren Morgan (15)	30th	Graeme Dott (33)
7th	Peter Ebdon (5)	15th	James Wattana (12)	23	Dominic Dale (54)	31	Jamie Burnett (38)
8th	Alan McManus (10)	16	Mark King (20)	24	Paul Hunter (43)	32	Billy Snaddon (32)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The 1998/99 Season. In: snooker.org. Retrieved March 20, 2016 . 
2. ↑ 1998/99 Embassy World Rankings. Professional. In: snooker.org. Retrieved March 20, 2016 (English, unofficial).