Welsh Open 1997
Welsh Open 1997
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| Tournament type: | World ranking tournament |
| Attendees: | 408 |
| Venue: | Newport Leisure Center, Newport , Wales |
| Opening: | January 24, 1997 |
| Endgame: | February 1, 1997
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| Winner: |
 Stephen Hendry
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| Finalist: |
 Mark King
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| Highest Break: | 140 ( Stephen Hendry )
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← 1996
1998 →
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The 1997 Welsh Open was a snooker tournament of the 1997/98 season that was held from January 24 to February 1, 1997 in the Leisure Center of the South Welsh port city of Newport .
Mark Williams , winner last year, made it to the semi-finals again. He lost to Mark King , who met world champion and world number one Stephen Hendry in the final . The Scot lived up to his role as a favorite and clearly won 9: 2. Already in 1992 Hendry won the first Welsh Open.
Prize money / world ranking points
The prize money increased by approximately £ 10,000 compared to the previous year . The winner got £ 1,500 more, while the losers in the final qualifying round were up by £ 40.
In terms of points, however, there was a significant upgrade among the finalists. For the world ranking , the winner got almost 1,000 points more this time, the second 340. Otherwise nothing changed.
| Prize money | World ranking points a |
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|---|---|---|
| winner | £ 37,500 | 4,560 |
| finalist | £ 21,000 | 3,040 |
| Semi-finalist | £ 10,500 | 2,025 |
| Quarter finalist | £ 5,775 | 1,520 |
| Round of 16 | £ 2,940 | 1,140 |
| Last 32 | £ 1,655 | 855 |
| Last 64 | £ 1,275 | 640 |
| Last 96 | £ 490 | 480 |
| Last 128 | - | 360 |
| Qualification rounds 1-5 |
- | 57 to 270 |
| Highest break | TV phase: £ 5,000 before: £ 1,000 |
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| All in all | £ 215,080 |
Final round
The top 32 of the world rankings were set for the main tournament. They were drawn to the 32 players who had prevailed in the qualification in Plymouth last year.
final
Mark King had never made it past the round of 16 before this Welsh Open and it was not only his first final, but also his first encounter with Stephen Hendry . The Scot was at the height of his career, had recently won the world championship title five times in a row, including the Team World Cup, three titles this season and won the inaugural tournament of the Welsh Open in 1992 .
Hendry set the direction with the first break: his 140 points were the highest tournament break. Two more Centurys and a 95 break contributed to a 6: 1 lead, before King was able to shorten it to 2: 6 with his first major break and draw some hope for the evening session. But although the higher breaks did not take place in the evening, the world champion also got the more competitive frames and won with a sovereign 9: 2.
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Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: Colin Brinded Newport Center, Newport , Wales , 1st February 1997 |
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Mark King
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2: 9 |
Stephen Hendry
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Afternoon : 0: 140 (140), 5: 101 (101), 75 : 29, 0: 113 (95), 50: 72 , 1: 110 (106), 2: 67 , 96 : 16 (58); Evening : 26: 91 , 20: 71 , 1:90 (52) |
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| 58 | Highest break | 140 |
| - | Century breaks | 3 |
| 1 | 50+ breaks | 5 |
qualification
The qualifying matches took place between June 29 and August 31, 1996. 411 players registered for the tournament and a total of 7 qualifying rounds decided on the 32 free places in the main tournament.
Century breaks
12 players scored 16 breaks of at least 100 points in the main tournament, half of them during the TV phase from round 2. Winner Stephen Hendry scored three of his four Centuries in the final, including the highest TV break. However, Billy Snaddon in the first main round and Garoid O'Connor in qualifying had also scored 140-point breaks in the absence of television cameras.
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swell
- ↑ a b 1997 Welsh Open - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed December 1, 2017 .
- ↑ 1997 Welsh Open. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 1, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Regal Welsh 1997. snooker.org, accessed on December 1, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Rankings - 1997-1998. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 1, 2017 .
