Thailand Classic

Thailand Classic Singha Thailand Classic
Tournament type:	World ranking tournament
Attendees:	430
Venue:	Novotel, Bangkok , Thailand
Opening:	September 30, 1995
Endgame:	October 7, 1995
Winner:	John Parrott
Finalist:	Nigel Bond
Highest Break:	140 ( Peter Ebdon )
← Dubai Classic 1994   Asian Classic 1996 →

The Singha Thailand Classic was a snooker tournament of the 1995/96 season , which was held from September 30th to October 7th, 1995 at the Novotel in Bangkok . After the Dubai Classic was discontinued, it was introduced as the new first ranked tournament of the season. For the first time there were two tournaments in Thailand in addition to the Thailand Open in the second half of the season. Both tournaments were sponsored this year by the Boon Rawd brewery with the Singha beer brand .

World number four John Parrott and vice world champion Nigel Bond contested the final . Parrott won 9: 6. The Englishman had already won the Dubai Classic twice.

The follow-up tournament in the 1996/97 season was renamed Asian Classic , but also took place in Bangkok.

Prize money / world ranking points

Although the tournament no longer took place in the wealthy emirate of Dubai, the prize money remained unchanged compared to the previous year. In fact, a little more money was handed out as the TV break award increased by £ 1,000 . There was also no change in the points for the world rankings .

placement	Prize money	Points a
winner	£ 40,000	3,600
finalist	£ 22,500	2,700
Semi-finalist	£ 11,250	2,025
Quarter finalist	£ 6,250	1,520
Round of 16	£ 3,125	1,330
Last 32	£ 2,075	1,140 (/ 380)
Last 48	£ 1,130	855 (/ 570)
Last 64	£ 980	640
Last 96	595 pounds	480 (/ 320)
Last 128	-	360
Round 1-5	-	57-270
Highest Break (Final Round)	£ 3,000
Highest Break (Qualification)	£ 1,000
All in all	£ 225,405

^a Seeded players who lost their first game received a reduced number of points (in brackets).

Main tournament

As in the previous two years at the Thailand Open, there were four wildcard matches before the first round of the new Classic : Four Asian players, three Thais and one Malaysian were given the opportunity to qualify for the main tournament.

Wildcard round

The games of the wildcard round took place at the start of the tournament on September 30th. The four lowest placed qualifiers in the world rankings had to face four selected amateurs. While the pros always had the upper hand at the Thailand Open, this time two amateurs prevailed. Game mode for the four games was Best of 9 .

game Player 1 Result Player 2 1 Michael Duffy  4th5 : 45  Phaitoon Phonbun  (toilet) 2 Paul Wykes  54: 54th  Rome Surin  (WC) 3 Matthew Stevens  54: 54th  Yong Kien Foot  (WC) 4th Chris Scanlon  15 : 15  Anurat Wongjan  (toilet) WC = wildcard Final round The top 16 of the world rankings were set for round one. Then there were the four winners of the wildcard games and the 12 remaining qualifiers. They were drawn to the top 16. The final was played in best-of-17 mode . Until then, all games were played as Best of 9.   Round 1 best of 9 frames Round of 16 best of 9 frames Quarterfinals Best of 9 Frames Semi-final Best of 9 frames Final Best of 17 frames                                                 1   Stephen Hendry 5                 31   Anthony Hamilton 4th   1   Stephen Hendry 5   10   Peter Ebdon 4th   10   Peter Ebdon 5 23   Gary Wilkinson 2   1   Stephen Hendry 5   15th   Terry Griffiths 0   15th   Terry Griffiths 5     WC   Rome Surin 3   15th   Terry Griffiths 5   8th   Darren Morgan 0   8th   Darren Morgan 5 27   Brian Morgan 1   1   Stephen Hendry 4th   4th   John Parrott 5   6th   Alan McManus 5 30th   Dean Reynolds 3   6th   Alan McManus 4th   11   John Higgins 5   11   John Higgins 5 17th   Andy Hicks 2   11   John Higgins 3   4th   John Parrott 5   14th   Tony Drago 5     WC   Yong Kien Foot 0   14th   Tony Drago 4th   4th   John Parrott 5   4th   John Parrott 5 32   Dennis Taylor 1   4th   John Parrott 9 12   Nigel Bond 6th 3   Ronnie O'Sullivan 4th 49   Mark Johnston-Allen 5   49   Mark Johnston-Allen 4th   18th   Dene O'Kane 5   16   David Roe 3 18th   Dene O'Kane 5   18th   Dene O'Kane 5   47   Dave Finbow 4th   5   James Wattana 5     45   Anthony Davies 4th   5   James Wattana 4th   47   Dave Finbow 5   13   David Harold 2 47   Dave Finbow 5   18th   Dene O'Kane 1   12   Nigel Bond 5   7th   Jimmy White 5 20th   Alain Robidoux 3   7th   Jimmy White 3   19th   Joe Swail 5   9   Ken Doherty 2 19th   Joe Swail 5   19th   Joe Swail 4th   12   Nigel Bond 5   12   Nigel Bond 5     169   Michael Duffy 1   12   Nigel Bond 5   2   Steve Davis 0   2   Steve Davis 5 38   Fergal O'Brien 3   WC = wildcard final At the beginning of the season, Nigel Bond had won the Red & White Challenge , an invitation tournament in Pakistan : by beating John Parrott 8-6 . It was his first professional title. In ranking tournaments, however, he failed twice in the finals, most recently at the World Cup . As the current vice world champion, the form curve spoke for him. In the last sixteen he had beaten Steve Davis 5-0. It was only the second to-zero defeat in his 17-year successful career. However, as a former world champion and long-standing second in the world rankings, John Parrott had much greater experience. For a long time the game was balanced. If one player took the lead, the other equaled immediately. So it went to 2: 2 in the first session until the break and ended at 4: 4 in the late afternoon. The evening session then started Parrott with a break of 116 points. He took advantage of the momentum and didn't let Bond come into play. He got four frames in a row and pulled it to 8: 4. With 9 winning frames required, this was already a preliminary decision. The break helped Bond and with two high breaks he shortened it to 6: 8. But in the 15th frame, a 52 break was enough for Parrott to get the missing point for a 9: 6 win. It was his 8th ranking title, three of which he won in Asia. Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: Colin Brinded Novotel,  Bangkok , Thailand , October 7, 1995 John Parrott 9 : 6 Nigel Bond Afternoon : 21: 55 , 64 : 24 (63), 71 : 20 (59), 22: 78 , 76 : 51 (53), 0: 100 (100), 53 : 50, 59: 62 ; Evening : 117 : 1 (116), 64 : 41, 70 : 57 (53), 72 : 65, 4: 91 (53), 4: 117 (74), 60 : 17 (52) 116 Highest break 100 1 Century breaks 1 5 50+ breaks 4th Century breaks 17 players scored 24 breaks of at least 100 points in the tournament. In the main tournament 9 players were successful 14 times. Peter Ebdon lost his round of 16 despite 2 century breaks , one of which brought him a special bonus of £ 3,000 as the highest tournament break of 140 points. Paul Hunter lined up one point less in the qualification. The highest qualibreak was worth £ 1,000. Main tournament Peter Ebdon 140, 138, 104 Anthony Hamilton 136 John Parrott 124, 116 Nigel Bond 123, 105, 100 Phaitoon Phonbun 136 a Dave Finbow 107 Gary Wilkinson 103 Mark Johnston-Allen 102 a Stephen Hendry 101 a scored in the wildcard round qualification Paul Hunter 139 Jeff Cundy 138 Matthew Stevens 132, 109 Stuart Bingham 118 Fergal O'Brien 110 Mark Davis 109, 100 Michael Duffy 106 Paul Wykes 100 swell ↑ Thailand Open / Thailand Classic / Thailand Masters. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, archived from the original on February 16, 2012 ; accessed on December 21, 2019 (English).  ↑ a b c 1995 Thailand Classic - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed December 21, 2019 .  ↑ a b 1995 Thailand Classic. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2019 .  ↑ a b Singha Thailand Classic. snooker.org, accessed December 21, 2019 .  ↑ a b Rankings - 1995-1996. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 21, 2019 .