The 1996 German Open was a professional

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

tournament that took place between 9 and 15 December 1996 at the Roberts Barracks in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

, Germany. It was the second edition of the event, with 16 players competing in the final stage.

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in snooker history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a m ...

won the event, beating

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 reached the final of the 1996 German Open, which he lost 7–9 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Career R ...

9–7 in the final. It was Robidoux's only appearance in a ranking event final.

Summary

16 players competed in the final stage at the British military base at

. Play was delayed for two hours on the opening day, after the heating system failed.

beat

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, ag ...

5–2 in the quarter-finals and then beat

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 ...

6–1 in the semi-finals, including three century breaks. O'Sullivan met

in the final, winning 9–7. O'Sullivan was 4–2 ahead before Robidoux made a break of 145 in frame 7, the highest-ever in a ranking event outside the United Kingdom. O'Sullivan led 5–3 after the first session and later extended his lead to 7–3 before Robidoux won the next four frames to level the match at 7–7. O'Sullivan then won the next two frames to win the match, finishing with a break of 108. O'Sullivan won £40,000 while Robidoux took the runners-up prize of £22,500 and the high break prize of £5,000.

Main draw

Qualifying

The final qualifying round was held in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

in November 1996.

Final qualifying round

References

{{Snooker season 1996/1997 German Masters German Open (snooker) German Open (snooker) German Open (snooker) Sport in Osnabrück