Welsh Open 1995

Welsh Open 1995
Tournament type:	World ranking tournament
Attendees:	480
Venue:	Newport Center, Newport , Wales
Opening:	January 22, 1995
Endgame:	January 29, 1995
Winner:	Steve Davis
Finalist:	John Higgins
Highest Break:	135 ( Peter Ebdon )
← 1994   1996 →

The 1995 Welsh Open was a snooker tournament of the 1994/95 season that was held from January 22 to 29, 1995 in Newport . The Newport Center in the South Welsh port city hosted the tournament for the fourth time.

Steve Davis , winner last year, was able to successfully defend his title. After Alan McManus in 1994 , a Scot was again his final opponent: John Higgins had made it to the final as a qualifier. Davis won 9-3.

Prize money / world ranking points

Almost £ 60,000 more was given out to players this year. The winner got £ 5,500 more than in 1995, £ 3,000 from the defeated opponent, etc. The losers in the round of the last 16 were given an extra £ 2,450. The relative increase in the number of participants in the first main round, for whom the bonus almost tripled to over £ 1,000, was also particularly large. However, after that there was only money for the last qualifying round, places 97–128 went empty this time.

There were also changes in the points for the world rankings , but in the other direction. Only the winner's number of points remained untouched, there were 500 points less for second place, from the round of 16 it was almost a third, with the qualifiers up to half less.

	Prize money	World ranking points a
winner	£ 32,500	3,600
finalist	£ 18,000	2,700
Semi-finalist	£ 9,000	2,025
Quarter finalist	£ 5,000	1,520
Round of 16	£ 4,550	1,140
Last 32	£ 1,425	855
Last 64	£ 1,060	640
Last 96	400 pounds	480
Last 128	-	360
Qualification round 1–4	-	77 to 270
Highest break	TV phase: £ 1,350 before: £ 630
All in all	£ 196,400

^a Seeded players who lost their opening game in qualification or the first main round received only two thirds of the points.

Final round

The top 32 of the world rankings were set for the main tournament. The 32 players who had prevailed in the qualification were drawn to them.

	First round best of 9 frames					Second round best of 9 frames					Round of 16 best of 9 frames					Quarterfinals Best of 9 Frames					Semi-final best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
	1	Steve Davis	5
	163	Paul Cavney	0
						1	Steve Davis	5
						19th	Dave Harold	3
	19th	Dave Harold	5
	53	Tony Chappel	4th
											1	Steve Davis	5
											58	Mark Williams	3
	30th	Brian Morgan	2
	58	Mark Williams	5
						58	Mark Williams	5
						37	Joe Johnson	3
	13	David Roe	3
	37	Joe Johnson	5
																1	Steve Davis	5
																84	Mark Flowerdew	3
	32	Alain Robidoux	2
	84	Mark Flowerdew	5
						84	Mark Flowerdew	5
						171	Michael Judge	4th
	7th	Ken Doherty	4th
	171	Michael Judge	5
											84	Mark Flowerdew	5
											128	Antony Bolsover	3
	16	Tony Drago	0
	128	Antony Bolsover	5
						128	Antony Bolsover	5
						138	Jeff Cundy	3
	21st	Tony Knowles	1
	138	Jeff Cundy	5
																					1	Steve Davis	6th
																					10	Peter Ebdon	3
	10	Peter Ebdon	5
	74	Troy Shaw	2
						10	Peter Ebdon	5
						24	Dennis Taylor	4th
	24	Dennis Taylor	5
		Graeme Dott	1
											10	Peter Ebdon	5
											87	John Read	4th
	18th	Martin Clark	0
	87	John Read	5
						87	John Read	5
						8th	Darren Morgan	3
	8th	Darren Morgan	5
	33	Andy Hicks	2
																10	Peter Ebdon	5
																12	Joe Swail	4th
	12	Joe Swail	5
	56	Jim Wych	2
						12	Joe Swail	5
						63	Stephen Murphy	3
	29	Dean Reynolds	2
	63	Stephen Murphy	5
											12	Joe Swail	5
											27	Mick Price	2
	27	Mick Price	5
	135	Matthew Couch	1
						27	Mick Price	5
						4th	Jimmy White	4th
	4th	Jimmy White	5
	102	Jason Weston	4th
																									1	Steve Davis	9
																										51	John Higgins	3
	3	James Wattana	3
	40	Stephen Lee	5
						40	Stephen Lee	4th
						51	John Higgins	5
	20th	Dene O'Kane	4th
	51	John Higgins	5
											51	John Higgins	5
											55	Paul Davies	2
	22nd	Gary Wilkinson	4th
	55	Paul Davies	5
						55	Paul Davies	5
						15th	Willie Thorne	4th
	15th	Willie Thorne	5
	59	Paul McPhillips	2
																51	John Higgins	5
																9	Ronnie O'Sullivan	4th
	9	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	39	Drew Henry	4th
						9	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
						23	Mike Hallett	0
	23	Mike Hallett	5
	201	Graham McDonald	2
											9	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
											35	Anthony Hamilton	4th
	31	Mark Bennett	3
	35	Anthony Hamilton	5
						35	Anthony Hamilton	5
						6th	Alan McManus	3
	6th	Alan McManus	5
	44	Mark Johnston-Allen	1
																				51	John Higgins	6th
																					86	Chris Small	1
	11	Nigel Bond	0
	86	Chris Small	5
						86	Chris Small	5
						61	Peter Francisco	2
	17th	Steve James	3
	61	Peter Francisco	5
											86	Chris Small	5
											42	Fergal O'Brien	1
	5	John Parrott	3
	42	Fergal O'Brien	5
						42	Fergal O'Brien	5
						25th	Neal Foulds	1
	25th	Neal Foulds	5
	91	Terry Murphy	2
																86	Chris Small	5
																2	Stephen Hendry	1
	14th	Terry Griffiths	0
	111	Chris Scanlon	5
						111	Chris Scanlon	5
						28	Jason Ferguson	2
	28	Jason Ferguson	5
	46	Danny Fowler	0
											111	Chris Scanlon	0
											2	Stephen Hendry	5
	26th	Doug Mountjoy	2
	78	Karl Payne	5
						78	Karl Payne	2
						2	Stephen Hendry	5
	2	Stephen Hendry	5
	57	Silvino Francisco	0

final

Although John Higgins was not even in the top 50 in the world, he had already reached two finals this season and won both. He had also beaten Steve Davis once at the Dubai Classic a few months earlier . The world number two, on the other hand, not only had much greater experience, he had already won the final once in the previous year. With a mixed start, Higgins took the lead 2-1 before Davis turned the score 4-2. By the end of the session it was 5-3 and both players kept their chances open for the evening. The first frame of the second session was competitive and narrowly went to Davis. With a 63-point break he also got the next frame and the Scot was now under pressure. He held against it in the next few frames, but Steve Davis also got frames three and four of the evening and ultimately won clearly 9: 3. For the Englishman, at the age of 37, it was the 28th and last victory of his career in a world ranking tournament.

Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: John Williams Newport Leisure Center,  Newport , Wales , January 29, 1995
Steve Davis	9 : 3	John Higgins
Afternoon : 67 : 10, 0: 89 (89), 36: 70 , 79 : 28, 71 : 8, 95 : 0 (95) 32: 85 (65) 85 : 17 (85); Evening : 66 : 58, 68 : 7 (63), 62 : 30, 65 : 40
95	Highest break	89
-	Century breaks	-
3	50+ breaks	2

qualification

On July 8, 1994 the first qualifying round began and on September 19, after the 6th round, it was clear which 32 players would compete against the top 32 of the world rankings in the main tournament in Newport at the beginning of 1995 . 480 players including the world's best had registered for the Welsh Open this year.

Century breaks

12 players achieved 20 breaks of at least 100 points in the main tournament. With five Century's was Anthony Hamilton most successful. He was still without a bonus, as Peter Ebdon played his 135-point break in front of cameras and the Northern Irishman Gerard Greene managed a break of 140 points in qualifying without cameras .

Willie Thorne 136 Anthony Hamilton 136, 134, 127, 122, 111 Peter Ebdon 135 Antony Bolsover 129 Mark Williams 123 John Higgins 120, 107, 100

Karl Payne 115 Joe Johnson 112 Ronnie O'Sullivan 108, 105 Steve Davis 105, 102 Dene O'Kane 104 Darren Morgan 102

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} 1995 Welsh Open - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed December 13, 2017 . 
2. ↑ 1995 Welsh Open. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 13, 2017 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} 1995 Regal Welsh. snooker.org, accessed December 13, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Rankings - 1994-1995. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 13, 2017 .