FinalHendry won his sixth world title and fifthin a row by beatingPeter Ebdon 18-12 in the final. This means he has equalledSteve Davis' Crucible record for number of wins. He has now won 25 Crucible matches in a row. Steve James was the last man to beat him, in the quarter-finals of the 1991 tournament. The first prize was 200,000 pounds.Ebdon got 120,000 for his runner-up position plus 8,500 for the highest break of 144.Tony Drago also made a 144 and received the same amount. This win assures Stephen a pretty big lead in next season's world rankings.John Higgins will be in second andPeter Ebdon, today's loser, takes third. Hendry almost made a maximum in the 10th frame. At 125 with only the four last colors remaining, he missed a difficult brown along the cushion. A 147 was worth 147,000 pounds in these championships, but I guess Stephen can manage without that bonus ... This final was still probably the least memorable in recent years, even worse thanParrott vWhite in 1991, as neither player reached any great heights.Ebdon had his chances, particularly in the first session, where he should have been 5-2 up, not 4-3, but missed crucial shots. As he admitted himself, his previous three, tough matches probably took more out ofhim than he imagined, and the occasion seemed to get to him a bit, as he failed to register a breakhigher than 79, achieved in the very first frame. Hendry wasn't much hotter, with only one century, thereby failing to equal the record of twelve he set last year.
Semi-finalsHendry: "I'm still not completely happy with my safety game and I'm stillmaking a few unforced errors. But I gave myself a comfortable overnightlead going into Saturday's morning session. I'm looking forward to the final,it's going to be a great battle." Hendry will be hoping to land his sixth world title at the Crucible. This would equalSteve Davis' record and certainly put him up amongst the biggest names in snooker history. Ebdon: "At the end of the match I told Ronnie he had extraordinary talentand was an absolute genius. The snooker he played last night was some of thebest I have ever seen - it was a joy to watch! I'm pleased with the way Iheld myself together at the end, I'm on cloud nine. I'm going to enjoy thewin because it was hard-fought."
O'Sullivan: "It was never meant to be. I was never worried and was never under pressure. I came back at Peter but I was never ahead in the game.It's just one of those things. My long potting is out of sorts at the moment.I feel I have to improve my game as I've had a bad season. However, playingat the Crucible with one table was good experience for me. It's a great placeto play snooker." Peter Ebdon will be hoping to revenge his 10-3 defeat in theUK final. That was one of the two ranking finals he has reached this season. He also finished runner-up toJohn Parrott in theEuropean Open. This isEbdon's first world final. He has previously reached two quarter-finals (1992 and1995). In 1992 he was beaten by Terry Griffiths and last year Andy Hicks was the man to send him out.
Quarter-finalsThis was probablyO'Sullivan's most significant victory since his defeat ofHendry in the UK final a couple of years ago. Higgins, who missed a chance to clinch the match in frame 24, was philosophical in defeat but must be devastated, having led 10-6 overnight. This defeat also means thatHendry will hold on to his No.1 ranking. This match was a ding-dong struggle, asDavis rallied from his overnight deficit to win 6 frames in a row at one stage.Ebdon enjoyed some very good running in the later stages, especially in frame 20 where he lived dangerously before fluking a hard pot on one of the last reds and winning the frame.Davis had a chance in frame 23 but missed agreen of its spot when looking favourite to prolong the battle. The match was halted two frames early in the first session when the cloth, which had earlier been repaired, ripped again, forcing the organisers to call in the contractors to recover the table. The Championships have now seen 39 centuries, an improvement of previous record. Heading the list is world champStephen Hendry, with 8 tons, followed byO'Sullivan with 6.
Second RoundEbdon had a 123 break in the decider. What a way to clinch the match! O'Sullivan's Escape Ronnie O'Sullivan escaped being thrown out of the WC, and givingJohn Higgins a walk-over in their quarter-final, when a WPBSA disciplinary hearing, convened to investigate a charge of throwing a punch at an official, threw him a two-year tournament ban, suspended for two years, plus a 20K fine and another 10K to be given to charity. O'Sullivan's "exemplary record" as a professional, plus, no doubt, a profuse apology for what happened, saved his bacon. Following this incident, the second controversy he has been involved in this week, many people will now be hoping that Higgins will ensure that justice, in the form ofO'Sullivan's swift dismissal from the championships, is done. Drago equalledPeter Ebdon's c'ship highest break with a lifetime best of 144, but still lost 13-4 toO'Sullivan, who had consecutive tons in building up a useful early lead.O'Sullivan faces a possible ban for an assault on a tournament official onSunday night. This was a marathon match, lasting almost 11 hours. At one stage Griffiths quipped to a somnolent audience, "And you paid to come in here!"
First RoundGriffiths won this match on the final black, to set up a meeting with old foeSteve Davis, who has won all six of their matches at the Crucible, though Terry has won their last three meetings.This was a match Thorne will be kicking himself for letting slip away. Even at 8-8 he was 47 up and missed a black off the spot, while in the last frame he led 44-2 beforeDavis came back at him. Still, Willie missed a dodgy double on the last red andDavis, only ashadow of the dominant player of the 1980s, held his nerve to clear to the black to win.Hendry had 4 century breaks but was 6-3 down at one stageThis match was marred by controversy when Robidoux accusedO'Sullivan of not showing him due respect by playing left handed towards the end of the 12th frame. The Canadian did not offer to shake hands at the end of the match, prompting an outburst from O'Sullivan in which he called Robidoux ababy and saying that he was better left handed than Robidoux was right handed. The WPBSA look sureto haul the Londoner over the coals, both for his behaviour and his words.
Centuries144Ebdon,Drago139O'Sullivan138 Ebdon137 Ebdon,Higgins135Hendry130 Higgins129 Ferguson126 O'Sullivan125 Hendry,McManus123 Ebdon,Harold121 Hendry120 O'Sullivan, Harold118 Hendry116Davis115 Drago, Hamilton113 Hendry110 Hendry,Morgan109Doherty. Ebdon108 Hendry106 Hendry, O'Sullivan105 Davis, Hendry104 Hendry (2), Higgins, Davis103 O'Sullivan, Davis, Henderson102 O'Sullivan (2)101 Harold, Higgins100 Ebdon (2), O'Sullivan,White
Prize Money| Winner | £ | 200,000 | | Runner-Up | £ | 120,000 | | Semi-finalists | £ | 60,000 | | Quarter-finalists | £ | 30,000 | | Round Two | £ | 16,000 | | Round One | £ | 9,000 | | Highest TV Break | £ | 17,000 | | Total | £ | 1,200,000 |
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| | Maximum TV Break | £ | 147,000 |
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