This
week in years gone by. (click for this week's Birthdays)
7 - 13 February
7 February 1977 – MOUNTJOY WINS ON DEBUT
Doug Mountjoy made his first appearance as a professional. Having just won the World
Amateur title he received a last-minute invitation to play in the Benson &
Hedges Masters at the New London Theatre and he made a winning start with a 4-2
victory over former world champion, John Pulman, in the first round.
1996 – JIMMY HAS NO REPLY
In the quarter finals of the Benson & Hedges Masters at the Wembley
Conference Centre, Stephen Hendry set a new record by scoring 487 points
without reply against Jimmy White. Although John Higgins broke the record in
the 2005 Grand Prix, this figure remains the highest for any non-ranking event.
8 February 1998 – WILLIAMS TAKES MASTERS TITLE AFTER RE-SPOT
Having trailed 6-9 in the final of the Benson & Hedges Masters at Wembley, Mark
Williams clawed his way back against Stephen Hendry to force a decider.
Leading 56-34 Stephen missed a brown and Mark cleared up to force a re-spot and
clinched the match with the ninth shot on the black. This was the first time
the final of a professional tournament had been decided on a re-spotted black
since the inaugural Masters of 1975.
8 February 1998 – THREE MAXIMUMS IN ONE DAY
At the Matchroom Club in Llanelli, Mathew Stevens, Ryan Day and Tony
Chappel each made a 147 maximum during the Buckley’s Bitter Challenge.
8 February 2002 – RONNIE AND JIMMY PULL IN THE CROWDS
The largest daytime snooker audience for over 20 years, in excess of 2,500,
watched Jimmy White beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-5 in the quarter
finals of the Benson & Hedges Masters at Wembley.
8 February 2004 – HUNTER CLINCHES FINAL FRAME MASTERS WIN – AGAIN.
At Wembley, Paul Hunter recovered from 2-7 down to beat Ronnie
O’Sullivan 10-9 for his third Masters title, all having been won by the same
score.
8 February 2005 – WHITE BECOMES BROWN!
As part of a sponsorship deal with a sauce manufacturer, Jimmy White
stunned the snooker world by announcing that he had changed his name to “Jimmy
Brown”. However the change proved to be short-lived and he quickly reverted to
his more familiar name.
9 February 1980 – GRIFFITHS
WINS MASTERS AT FIRST ATTEMPT.
Terry Griffiths won the Benson & Hedges Masters title at, the Wembley Conference
Centre, with a 9-5 victory over former champion Alex Higgins who was appearing
in the final for the third year in a row. Terry was competing in his first Masters.
9 February 1992 – FOURTH SUCCESSIVE MASTERS FOR HENDRY
Stephen Hendry clinched his fourth successive Benson & Hedges Masters
title at Wembley and for the third time, his ‘victim’ in the final was John
Parrott who he defeated on this occasion 9-4.
9 February 1997 – DAVIS
REGAINS MASTERS TITLE AFTER 9 YEARS
At Wembley, Steve Davis reclaimed the Benson & Hedges Masters title
with a 10-8 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan, appearing in the final for the
third year in a row. It was Steve’s third Masters title and came nine years
after his second. The final was briefly interrupted by snooker’s first
streaker!
9 February 2003 – WILLIAMS VICTORY ENDS BENSON & HEDGES ERA
The final Benson & Hedges sponsored Masters was won by Mark Williams
who claimed the title for the second time with a 10-4 victory over Stephen
Hendry whom he had also beaten when he won the title for the first time.
10 February 1978 – FIRST MASTERS TITLE FOR ALEX
At the New London Theatre, Alex Higgins won his first Benson &
Hedges Masters title with a 7-5 victory over Terry Griffiths. This was the
first of four successive appearances in the final for Alex who won again in
1981.
10 February 1985 – STEVE DAVIS RETAINS ENGLISH PRO CHAMPIONSHIP
Steve Davis, who was the defending champion, again won the Tolly Cobbold
English Professional Championship which was being contested for the first time
since 1981. In the final, at the Ipswich Corn Exchange he beat Tony Knowles
9-2.
10 February 1985 – MACLEOD IS SCOTTISH PRO CHAMPION AGAIN
At Marco’s Leisure Centre in Edinburgh, the Scottish Professional Championship
final was a repeat of the previous one, in 1983, with Murdo MacLeod
again beating Eddie Sinclair, this time by the margin of 11-2.
10 February 1988
– REYNOLDS WINS ENGLISH PRO TITLE.
At the Corn Exchange in Ipswich,
Dean Reynolds claimed the English
Professional Championship beating Neal Foulds 9-5 in the final.
10 February 1991 – HALLETT LETS IT SLIP AS HENDRY CLAIMS MASTERS HAT-TRICK
Mike Hallett led Stephen Hendry
7-0 and 8-2 in the final of the Benson & Hedges Masters at Wembley but the
Scot staged a remarkable comeback to win 9-8 and claim the title for the third
year in a row.
10 February 2002 – HUNTER DOES IT AGAIN!
In another amazing recovery, Paul Hunter won the Benson & Hedges
Masters for the second year running. Mark Williams had led 5-0 but Paul came
back to win 10-9 and become only the third player to successfully defend this
title.
10 February 2008 – MURPHY RETAINS MALTA
CUP.
In Portomaso, Shaun Murphy
successfully defended the Malta Cup with a 9-3 victory over Ken Doherty
although the event was not a ranking event this season.
11 February 1870 – COOK WINS FIRST WORLD BILLIARDS CROWN
William Cook defeated John Roberts Sr. 1200 – 1083 at London’s Guildhall to become
the first World Billiards champion.
11 February 1977 – DEBUTANT DOUG TAKES MASTERS TITLE
Playing in his first ever tournament as a professional, Doug Mountjoy
walked away with the Benson & Hedges Masters title at the New London
Theatre. In the final he defeated the defending champion and reigning world champion,
Ray Reardon, 7-6.
11 February 1989 – PARROTT WINS FIRST EUROPEAN OPEN
The first ever ICI European Open, held in Deauville, France, also provided John
Parrott with his first ranking title. In the final he defeated Terry
Griffiths 9-8.
11 February 1990 – BACK-TO-BACK MASTERS FOR HENDRY
Stephen Hendry became only the second player to retain the Benson &
Hedges Masters title. In the final, for the second year running, he beat John
Parrott, this time 9-4.
11 February 1996 – HENDRY CLAIMS SIXTH MASTERS
At the Wembley Conference Centre, Stephen Hendry, regained the Benson
& Hedges Masters title after missing out for the previous two seasons. He
claimed the title for the sixth time by defeating the defending champion,
Ronnie O’Sullivan, 10-5 in the final.
11 February 2001 – ‘PLAN B’ TAKES HUNTER TO MASTERS TITLE!
Finding himself 2-6 down to Fergal O’Brien after the first session of the
Benson & Hedges Masters final, Paul Hunter retired to his hotel room
with his girl friend for what he called ‘Plan B’. Revitalised, he returned to
record four centuries and clinched a 10-9 victory.
12 February 1980 – VIRGO WINS IN BOMBAY
In Bombay, John Virgo, followed his
UK Championship triumph by taking the Gaware Paints Bombay International title.
He beat Cliff Thorburn 13-7 in the final of this eight man invitation event.
12 February 1988 – GRIFFITHS
WINS THIRD WELSH PRO
At the Newport Centre, Terry Griffiths won
the Senator Windows Welsh Professional
Championship for the third time in four years beating Wayne Jones 9-3 in
the Final.
12 February 1988 – McLAUGHLIN CLAIMS IRISH PRO TITLE.
Jack McLaughlin was the surprise
winner of the Irish Professional Championship at Antrim Forum. In the final he
overcame the defending and six times former champion, Dennis Taylor, 9-4.
12 February 1995
– RONNIE BECOMES YOUNGEST MASTERS CHAMPION
At the age of just 19 years and 69 days, Ronnie O’Sullivan became the
youngest ever winner of the Benson & hedges Masters beating John Higgins
9-3 in the final at the Wembley Conference Centre.
13 February 1994 – McMANUS’ FIRST MAJOR TITLE ENDS HENDRY’S MASTERS RUN
Stephen Hendry’s 23 match unbeaten run in the Benson & Hedges Masters was
finally ended by Alan McManus. After losing in six previous finals and
eleven semi-finals, Alan prevented Stephen winning his sixth successive title
with a clearance of 76 in the seventeenth and final frame to give him his first
major title since turning professional.
13 February 2000 – MATTHEW TAKES MASTERS AS KEN MISSES MAXIMUM
Matthew Stevens added the Benson & Hedges Masters title to the Regal
Masters he had won earlier in the season with a 10-8 victory over Ken Doherty
at Wembley. There was double disappointment for Ken who looked certain to
record the event’s second ever maximum when he missed the final black off its
spot.
If you know of any events that could feature in these columns, particularly
those occurring in the summer months when little happens in the snooker world,
then please let me know.
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This Week’s Birthdays
7 February
LAURIE ANNANDALE is
60.
Laurie was one of the top referees for many years and took charge of the 1988
Embassy World final between John Higgins and Ken Doherty. He was also a bit of
a ‘cue doctor’ and players usually went to him for any minor repairs, new tips
and so forth.
JIMMY CHAMBERS is 53.
Jim joined the tour in 1987/8 and remained for ten seasons reaching a best
ranking of 59. He reached the last 32 seven times in ranking events but never
got any further.
8 February
DYLAN LEARY is 41.
Dylan, from Northern Ireland,
had an initial run of six seasons on the tour after he first joined the
professionals in 1991/2. After losing his place he returned for one further
season in 1998/9.His best ranking was 110.
KARL PAYNE is 40.
Karl also joined the tour in 1991/2 and remained for eight seasons before
dropping out of the professional game. He reached the Crucible stage of the
Embassy World Championship in 1993 and on three occasions made it through to
the last 32 in ranking events. Away from the table he once appeared on TV’s Stars
In Their Eyes.
SIMON BEDFORD is 34.
Simon has been on and off the tour several times
since he first turned professional in 1995. This is his tenth season at the top
level and his fifth spell on the tour. His best performance was to reach
the Crucible in the 1998 Embassy World Championship.
9 February
GARY LEES is 40.
Gary had a
total of seven seasons on the world ranking tour, in two spells, between 1991/2
and 1998/9 with a top ranking if 136.
DAVID GRAY is 31
David has been a professional since 1996. He won the Regal Scottish Open in
2003 and was runner up in the 2004 UK Championship having made a 147 on the way
to the final. His ranking has slipped in recent seasons and should have lost
his place on the tour after the 2008/9 season but was reprieved with a World
Snooker special invitation to return for 2009/10.
10 February
BRUCE DUNCAN is 67.
Former referee, Bruce, was a regular official at the Scottish Masters but also
at many other major tournaments.
XIAO
GUODONG is 21.
Having won the 2007 Asian Under-21 Championship, Xiao qualified for the main
tour for the 2007/8 season. Despite some good results he just failed to do
enough to retain his place for a second season but regained his place in
2009/10 by topping the PIOS merit table.
11 February
LES DODD is 56.
Les turned pro in 1982 and, apart from the 1997/8 season, remained on the tour
until 1998/9. Once ranked 31, he was a quarter finalist in the 1990 British
Open, runner up in the 1987 English Professional Championship and reached the
Crucible stage of the world championship three times. He still plays in senior
events and has again entered the world championship this season.
PETER GILCHRIST is 42.
Originally from Middlesbrough, Peter won the World
Professional Billiards Championship in 1994 and 2001 and has been runner up on
four occasions. In snooker, he had six seasons on the main tour in the early
1990s without success. He now plays and coaches in Singapore and represented that
country in the most recent IBSF World Amateur Championship. In October 1977 he
set a new world record billiards break, under modern rules of 1346.
LEE WALKER is 34.
Lee lost his place at the end of the 2005/6 season after a run of 12 seasons on
the main tour during which he rose to a best ranking of 42. He managed to
regain it for the 2007/8 season but failed to keep his place.
NEIL ROBERTSON is 28.
Having twice failed to consolidate a place on the main tour, Neil won the 2003
IBSF World Under-21 Championship qualifying his for a third crack at the pro
circuit. This time success came and he rose rapidly up the rankings. He has now
won four ranking titles and is in with a chance of a top four ranking by the
end of this season.
12 February
TONY WILSON is 46.
One of the few professionals to have come from the Isle of
Man, Tony joined the circuit in 1988/9 and remained on the tour
for the next six seasons with a best ranking of 71.
Best wishes to them all!
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