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1996 International Open
The 1996 Sweater Shop International Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 and 24 February 1996 at the Link Centre in Swindon, England. John Higgins defended his title by defeating Rod Lawler 9–3 in the final. This was the first time that Lawler reached the final of a ranking event. Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: * Winner: £60,000 * Runner-up: £32,000 * Semi-final: £16,000 * Quarter-final: £9,050 * Last 16: £4,550 * Last 32: £2,600 * Last 64: £1,900 * Last 96: £700 * Stage one highest break: £1,200 * Stage two highest break: £2,400 * Total: £321,400 Main draw Final Century breaks * 144, 129, 104, 100 John Higgins * 127, 106 Dave Harold * 124 John Parrott * 123 Willie Thorne * 119 Ken Doherty * 111 Jim Chambers * 108, 103 Stephen Lee * 107 Wayne Jones * 102 David Finbow * 102 Terry Murphy * 101 Fergal O'Brien * 100 Peter Ebdon References {{Snooker ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweater Shop
The Sweater Shop was a Leicestershire, England, based clothing company with many national outlets. History The Sweater Shop Ltd was established by Margaret Wood on 20 March 1973 in Barwell, Leicestershire. The company was sold on 28 April 1995 to a management buyout for £150m. Closure In May 1998 the company went into receivership. At the time of closure it had 78 retail outlets. As of 2020, Sweater Shop (no 'The') is a separate company trading under the same brand name. Structure It was headquartered in Syston in the Borough of Charnwood. It made its own products in factories in Leicester and Shepshed. It had a factory in Scotland in Cumnock, East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headq ... that opened in 1992. On 24 November 1992 Diana, Princess of Wales off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neal Foulds
Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Black in 1992. He was the runner up for the UK Championships in 1986, the British Open in 1987 and reached the semi finals of the Masters on three occasions, as well as the World Championship. After his retirement, Foulds became a commentator for the BBC and is currently part of the presenting team for ITV and Eurosport. Career The son of snooker professional Geoff Foulds, he began playing the game at the age of 11 and by the early 1980s was already one of the strongest players in his area. Following victory in the national under-19's Championship beating John Parrott in the final, Foulds then turned professional in 1983. At the end of the season he qualified for the final stages of the World Championship at his first attempt. Even more imp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Lee (snooker Player)
Stephen Lee (born 12 October 1974) is an English former professional snooker player who is currently serving a 12-year ban from the sport. He turned professional in 1992, reached a career-high of fifth in the snooker world rankings for the 2000–01 season, and won five ranking titles. His best performances in Triple Crown events were reaching the semi-finals of the 2003 World Championship, where he lost to eventual champion Mark Williams, and reaching the final of the 2008 Masters, where he was runner-up to Mark Selby. He compiled 184 century breaks in professional competition and was noted for his smooth cue action. West Midlands police arrested Lee in February 2010, following an investigation into suspicious betting patterns at the 2009 UK Championship, but no further action was taken against him at that time. Following reports of irregular betting patterns on a 2012 Premier League match between Lee and John Higgins on 11 October 2012, the World Professional Billiards a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Parrott
John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for fourteen consecutive seasons. He reached the final of the 1989 World Championship, where he lost 3–18 to Steve Davis, the heaviest defeat in a world championship final in modern times. He won the title two years later, defeating Jimmy White in the final of the 1991 World Championship. He repeated his win against White later the same year, to take the 1991 UK Championship title, becoming only the third player to win both championships in the same calendar year (after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry); he is still one of only six players to have achieved this feat. He spent three seasons at number 2 in the world rankings ( 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94), and he is one of several players to have a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Small
Christopher Small (born 26 September 1973) is a retired Scottish professional snooker player and now a qualified snooker coach. His playing career was ended by the spinal condition ankylosing spondylitis. Career At age 15, Small was the number 1 under-19 player in Scotland. He turned professional the following year. In 1992, he won the Benson & Hedges Championship, defeating Alan McManus in the final, and in 1995 he reached the Semi-finals of the Welsh Open, and was again a semi-finalist at the 1998 Grand Prix event. His greatest achievement was winning the 2002 LG Cup, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, before a 9–5 win over Alan McManus in the final. This followed a season in which he won only three matches, owing to the severity of his medical condition. He reached the quarter-finals of the LG Cup in the following season. The 2003/2004 season ended with him having to pull out of a World Championship match against Alan McManus while trailing 1–7, as the regula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan McManus
Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and current commentator who works for Eurosport. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Dubai Classic and the 1996 Thailand Open, and competed in the World Championship semi-finals in 1992, 1993 and 2016. He also won the 1994 Masters, ending Stephen Hendry's five-year, 23-match unbeaten streak at the tournament with a 9–8 victory in the final. McManus announced his retirement on 9 April 2021 after losing 6–3 to Bai Langning in the second qualifying round of the 2021 World Snooker Championship. Career Top 16 career and Masters winner McManus has long been considered a consistently good player, having a record of fourteen consecutive seasons in the Top 16, but never managed to achieve the success of his contemporaries Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams. He was ranked in the Top 16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David McLellan (snooker Player)
David McLellan (born 10 January 1970) is a Scottish former professional snooker player. Career Born in 1970, McLellan turned professional alongside around three hundred other players in 1991. His first few seasons hailed no significant progress, although he enjoyed victories over Bob Chaperon in the 1991 Benson & Hedges Championship, and the veteran Rex Williams in qualifying for the 1994 World Championship. McLellan reached his first quarter-final at Event 2 of the 1994 Minor Tour, where he defeated nineteen-year-old John Higgins 3–1, Drew Henry 3–0, Scott MacFarlane 3–1 and Robin Hull 5–2, before losing 3–5 to Jason Weston. The following season at the 1996 International Open, he beat Jason Smith, Yasin Merchant, Steve Judd, Mark Johnston-Allen and Steve James, before losing 4–5 to compatriot Chris Small in the last 32. McLellan repeated this feat at the next year's edition of the tournament, defeated this time 5–0 by Peter Ebdon. At the 1997 World Champio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve James (snooker Player)
Stephen James (born 2 May 1961)White, Jason (2002) "Steve James: Crucible or bust for James; Last act beckons in great entertainer's compelling snooker tale", ''Sports Argus'', 26 January 2002, (confirms May 1961) is an English retired professional snooker player. Career A former postman, the high point of his career was his sole ranking title – the Classic in 1990, beating Australian Warren King 10–6 in the final. His world ranking peaked at number seven the following season, the best of his five seasons in the top sixteen."Booze nightmare for snooker star who blew fortune", '' Sunday Mercury'', 28 June 1998 On 14 April 1990, in his match against Alex Higgins at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, James became the first player to produce a 16-red total clearance in competitive play. In other words, he potted 16 reds and 16 colours consecutively, followed by all the coloured balls in order: a situation that was only possible because he was awarded a free bal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wayne Jones (snooker Player)
Wayne Jones (born 24 December 1959) is a former Welsh professional snooker player. He won the Welsh Amateur snooker championship in 1983 by defeating Terry Parsons in the final, and turned professional in 1984. Despite never breaking into the top 16, he reached the last 16 and quarter-finals of many ranking events. His most notable run was to the final of the 1989 Classic with victories over the likes of Jimmy White, where he lost to Doug Mountjoy 11–13, despite at one stage leading 11–9. He qualified for the World Championship on four occasions, but only ever progressed beyond the first round once, in 1989, with a 10–9 victory over Neal Foulds, but was beaten 13–3 by Dean Reynolds Dean Reynolds (born 11 January 1963 in Grimsby) is an English former professional snooker player whose career spanned twenty years from 1981 to 2001. Career Before turning professional, Reynolds won the first-ever Junior Pot Black in 1981, b ... in the last 16. References 1959 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Thorne
William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8. He was noted for his break-building, and was among the first players to compile 100 century breaks. He earned the nickname "Mr Maximum". After retiring as a player, Thorne became a snooker commentator, primarily for the BBC. Career Thorne was born on 4 March 1954 at the family home in Anstey, a village located near Leicester, to Bill Thorne, a Desford Colliery miner, and his wife Nancy. He had two brothers. Thorne was educated at the Thomas Rawlins School in Quorn, and played multiple sports but excelled the most in snooker. He began playing snooker while holidaying in Eastbourne at the age of 14. He left school at age 15 and became an estimator for a glass factory while practising snooker in Loughborough and then Leicester's snooke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Broughton
Karl Broughton (born 26 June 1971) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Broughton was born in 1971, turning professional in 1991. He entered the top 64 in the world rankings at the end of the 1995/1996 season, finishing it at 57th having enjoyed the best performance of his career at the 1996 International Open. There, Broughton defeated Mark O'Sullivan, Oliver King, Anthony Davies, Darren Morgan, Wayne Jones and Chris Small before losing his quarter-final match, 2–5 to John Higgins. The following season, Broughton reached the last 16 of the 1996 UK Championship, where he met Alain Robidoux Alain Robidoux (born July 25, 1960) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Robidoux played on the sport's main tour from 1987 to 2004 and continues to play in events in Canada. Career He was born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec and joined ... and lost 8–9. Little success followed after Broughton reached his highest ranking of 41st for the 1997/1998 seaso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darren Morgan
Darren Morgan (born 3 May 1966) is a Welsh former professional snooker player who now competes as an amateur. Morgan won the World Amateur Championship in 1987 and played on the professional main tour from 1988 until 2006. He earned just over £1 million in prize money, reached a high ranking of eight, and was ranked within the top 16 for six years despite never winning a ranking event. He compiled 111 in his career. Career Morgan was born in Newport, South Wales. His best achievements as a professional were to win the Irish Masters in 1996, beating Steve Davis 9–8 in the final, and he captained Wales to victory in the 1999 Nations Cup. He was also a semi-finalist in the 1994 World Championship, beating Mark King 10–5, Willie Thorne 13–12 and John Parrott 13–11 before losing to Jimmy White 9–16. He was also a quarter-finalist on three occasions, beating Ken Doherty and Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1996 and 1997 respectively at the Crucible. When he beat O'Sulliv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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