|
1997 Masters (snooker)
The 1997 Masters (officially the 1997 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 2 and 9 February 1997 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. Steve Davis won his third Masters title, nine years after his last win in 1988, by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final. O'Sullivan, who was playing in his third consecutive Masters final, took an 8–4 lead before Davis came back to win six successive frames and clinch the title with a 10–8 victory. The final was notable for featuring snooker's first ever streaker, 22-year-old secretary Lianne Crofts, who invaded the playing area at the beginning of the third frame. After stewards removed her from the arena, O'Sullivan amused the crowd by comically wiping the brow of veteran referee John Street, who was refereeing his final match of his career. The wild-card players included Paul Hunter, who would later go on to win 3 Masters titles in 4 years between 2001 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benson & Hedges
Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by American conglomerate Altria. Cigarettes under the ''Benson & Hedges'' name are manufactured worldwide by different companies such as Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris USA, British American Tobacco, or Japan Tobacco, depending on the region. In the UK, they are registered in Bond Street, Old Bond Street in London, and were manufactured in Lisnafillan, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, before production was moved to Eastern Europe in 2017. They are predominantly made from Virginia tobacco. History Benson & Hedges was founded in London in 1873 by Richard Benson and William Hedges as Benson and Hedges Ltd. Alfred Paget Hedges succeeded his father in the business in 1885, the same year which Richard Benson left the business. The 1900s saw branches of Benson & Hedges Ltd. opening in the United States and Canada. In 1928, the American branch became independent, and was bought by Philip Morris in 1958. Benson & Hedges Ltd in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and a current Sports commentator, commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, aged 16, and rose rapidly through the snooker world rankings, reaching number four in the world by the end of his third professional season. He won his first World Snooker Championship in 1990 World Snooker Championship, 1990, aged 21 years and 106 days, making him the sport's youngest world champion, a record he still holds. He won seven world titles between 1990 and 1999, setting a new modern-era record that stood outright until Ronnie O'Sullivan equalled it in 2022 World Snooker Championship, 2022. He also won the Masters (snooker), Masters six times and the UK Championship five times for a career total of 18 Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown tournament wins, a total exceeded only by O'Sullivan's 23. His total of 36 List of snooker play ... [...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 and is considered amongst the best in the world. Morgan won the World Amateur Championship in 1987 and played on the professional main tour from 1988 until 2006. He 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'Sullivan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Ebdon
Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English retired professional snooker player who is a former world champion and current coach. Ebdon won nine ranking titles during his career, placing him in joint 14th position (with John Parrott) on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. He won two Triple Crown titles, the 2002 World Snooker Championship and the 2006 UK Championship. After winning the 1990 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, Ebdon turned professional in the 1991–92 season. He made his first Crucible appearance at the 1992 World Snooker Championship, reaching the quarter-finals on his debut. Winning his first professional ranking title at the 1993 Grand Prix helped him enter the top 16 in the world rankings for the 1994–95 season; he remained consistently in the top 16 until the end of the 2009–10 season, reaching a career high of third. He made 24 Crucible appearances during his career and reached three World Championship finals, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy White
James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals during his career but finished runner-up on each occasion. He has won two of snooker's Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown events, the 1984 Masters (snooker), 1984 Masters and the 1992 UK Championship. White is a record four-time World Seniors Championship, World Seniors Champion, winning in 2010 World Seniors Championship, 2010, 2019 World Seniors Championship, 2019, 2020 World Seniors Championship, 2020 and 2023 World Seniors Championship, 2023. White won the English Amateur Championship in 1979 and he turned professional in 1980. He reached his first World Championship final in 1984 World Snooker Championship, 1984 and won his first ranking event at 1986 Classic (snooker), The Classic in 1986. White reached five consecutive world fina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Parrott
John Stephen Parrott (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player who won the 1991 World Snooker Championship. He came to prominence in the mid to late 1980s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for 14 consecutive seasons. Following his playing career, he became a snooker commentator and pundit. He twice reached the final of the World Snooker Championship. At the 1989 World Snooker Championship, he lost 3–18 to Steve Davis, the heaviest defeat in a world championship final in modern times. Two years later, however, he defeated Jimmy White in the final of the 1991 event. He also won against White later the same year, to win the 1991 UK Championship title. This made him only the third player to win both championships in the same calendar year (after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry); he is one of only six players to have achieved this feat. The following year, Parrott lost in the final of the 1992 UK Championship, again to White. Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Wattana
James Wattana (; born January 17, 1970, as วัฒนา ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm'', then renamed รัชพล ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm'' in 2003) is a Thai former professional snooker player. A professional between 1989 and 2008, and from 2009 to 2020, Wattana reached his highest ranking position – world number 3 – for the 1994–95 season. He has won three ranking tournaments, the 1992 Strachan Open and the Thailand Open in 1994 and 1995, and has finished as the runner-up in a further five ranking events. He twice reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, in 1993 and 1997. When he was defeated in the semi-finals in 1993 by Jimmy White, it was only Wattana's second appearance in the final televised stages at the Crucible Theatre, his first being the previous year when he lost in the second round to the eventual winner Stephen Hendry. Having received two year invitational tour cards in 2014, 2016 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nigel Bond
Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English retired professional snooker player. Bond competed on the main tour from 1989 to 2022, and was ranked within the world's top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996–97 season. He reached the final of the World Championship in 1995, where he lost 9–18 to Stephen Hendry. He won the 1996 British Open, defeating John Higgins 9–8. Having reached three other ranking tournament finals, Bond won the 2011 Snooker Shoot-Out and, in 2012, defeated Tony Chappel to win the World Seniors Championship. He fell off the tour following his loss to Lukas Kleckers in the second qualifying round for the 2022 World Championship, and subsequently announced his retirement. Career After a strong amateur career, Bond turned professional for the 1989–90 season. He reached his first ranking semi-final in his first season, and his first final in his second season, but his career peaked in the mid-1990s. In the first rou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Harold
David William Harold (born 9 December 1966) is an English former professional snooker player from Stoke-on-Trent. He was known by the nicknames of "the Hard Man" and "the Stoke Potter" (conflating his home city's pottery industry and his profession of potting snooker balls). He was also the first player on the television circuit to sport a plaster on his chin as a guide for his cue, which is a practice now adopted by Graeme Dott. As an amateur he played as David Harold, but after turning professional in 1991 he was registered as Dave Harold. He won one ranking title, reached two further finals and several semi-finals, and spent four seasons ranked among the top 16. Harold was renowned for both his very strong defensive play and his unusual cue-action, with which he is able to unleash a great deal of power on a shot without using backswing on the cue. Despite safety play ultimately being considered his strong point, he compiled 143 century breaks. Steve Davis has commented th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Williams (snooker Player)
Mark James Williams (born 21March 1975) is a Welsh professional snooker player who is a three-time World Champion, winning the title in 2000, 2003 and 2018. He has been ranked the world number one player three times (May 2000 May 2002, May 2003 May 2004 and May 2011 September 2011). His most successful season to date was 200203, when he won snooker's Triple Crown—the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship—making him only the third player, after Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, to have won all three events in the same season. He is the first, and to date, the only player to win all three versions of the professional world championship: the World Snooker Championship, the Six-red World Championship and the World Seniors Championship. Williams became a professional player in 1992. He has won 26 ranking tournaments, including two UK Championships (1999 and 2002), placing him sixth on the all-time list of ranking titles. He has also won the Masters tourn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Drago
Tony Drago ( ; born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 Guangzhou Masters. He later switched his focus to pool and won the 2003 World Pool Masters beating Hsia Hui-kai 8–6 and the 2008 Predator International 10-ball Championship beating Francisco Bustamante 13–10. Snooker career Drago's highest snooker world rankings position was number ten (in 1998). He has reached two major finals — the 1991 World Masters (losing to Jimmy White), and the 1997 International Open (losing to Stephen Hendry — Drago's only ranking event final, and his first run past the quarter-finals of any ranking event). He reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 1988. He has appeared in the tournament 11 further times, most recently in 2004/2005, with five further last-sixteen runs. He lost to M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Morgan (snooker Player)
Brian Morgan (born 16 July 1968) is an English professional snooker player and coach. He is a former World Under-21 champion and was among the top 32 players in the professional world rankings for several years. Career He reached the last 16 of the 1994 World Championship. He also qualified for the tournament in 1993, 1995 and 1997. In 1996 he reached the final of the Asian Classic, beating Stephen Hendry before suffering a narrow 9–8 loss to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He made a 146 break in this tournament. In the same year, he won the Benson & Hedges Championship, which entitled its winner to a wild card place in the Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major golf championships, men's major championships in Professional golf tours, professional golf. Schedul .... He beat Hendry again in the 2000 Grand Prix, in which he reached the quarter-finals, and reached the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
