Rankings revisit - a trip through history

To the end of the 95-96 season, 113 ranking events have been played. Here is the roll of honour:

Steve Davis 28
Stephen Hendry 25 ('95 Grand Prix | '95 UK Championship | '96 World Championship)
Jimmy White 9
John Parrott 9 ('95 Thailand Classic | '96 European Open)
Ray Reardon 5
John Higgins 5 ('95 German Open | '96 International Open)
James Wattana 3
Cliff Thorburn 2
Tony Knowles 2
Dennis Taylor 2
Doug Mountjoy 2
Ronnie O'Sullivan 2
Alan McManus 2 ('96 Thailand Open)
John Spencer, Terry Griffiths, Alex Higgins, Willie Thorne, Silvino Francisco, Joe Johnson, Neal Foulds, Tony Meo, Mike Hallett, Steve James, Bob Chaperon, Tony Jones, Ken Doherty, Dave Harold, Peter Ebdon, Mark Williams ('96 Welsh Open), Nigel Bond ('96 British Open): 1 each

The rankings have been revised following the conclusion of each ranking event and the following players have held the no.1 spot so far:

Ray Reardon 25/04/74-29/04/77 (3 yrs)
John Spencer 30/04/77-28/04/78 (1 yr)
Ray Reardon 29/04/78-27/04/79 (1 yr)
Terry Griffiths 28/04/79-04/05/80 (1 yr)
Alex Higgins 05/05/80-20/04/81 (1 yr)
Steve Davis 21/04/81-15/05/82 (1 yr)
Ray Reardon 16/05/82-01/05/83 (1 yr)
Tony Knowles 02/05/83-08/10/83 (5 mths)
Steve Davis 09/10/83-20/10/83 (11 days)
Tony Knowles 21/10/83-14/01/84 (3 mths)
Steve Davis 15/01/84-20/10/90 (6 yrs 9 mths)
Stephen Hendry 21/10/90-28/11/92 (2 yrs)
Jimmy White 29/11/92-09/10/93 (1 yr)
Stephen Hendry 10/10/93-06/05/96 (2.5 yrs)

Here are the end of season rankings at the conclusion of the 1996 World Championship. The rise/fall is in comparison to the ranking at the start of the season.

1 Stephen Hendry 29298 =
2 John Higgins 26102 +5
3 Peter Ebdon 23587 +5
4 Ronnie O'Sullivan 17731 -2
5 John Parrott 17068 +1
6 Nigel Bond 16771 +4
7 Ken Doherty 14031 +4
8 Alan McManus 12845 +1
9 Mark Williams 12723 +14
10 Dave Harold 12401 +3
11 Darren Morgan 11095 +1
12 Steve Davis 10584 -9
13 Andy Hicks 10483 +1
14 Rod Lawler 10471 +25
15 Jimmy White 10449 -10
16 James Wattana 10277 -12
17 Stephen Lee 9770 +12
18 Joe Swail 9543 -3
19 Chris Small 8990 +8
20 Gary Wilkinson 8307 -2
21 Alain Robidoux 8213 -2
22 Dave Finbow 8136 +29
23 Anthony Hamilton 7849 +2
24 Drew Henry 7244 =
25 Tony Drago 7153 -8
26 Billy Snaddon 6966 -4
27 Fergal O'Brien 6628 -1
28 Anthony Davies 6569 +4
29 Mark King 6513 -8
30 Terry Murphy 6392 +20
31 Mark Johnston-Allen 6168 +9
32 Jamie Burnett 6064 +29
33 Jason Ferguson 5790 +5
34 Willie Thorne 5769 -14
35 David Roe 5758 -7
36 Terry Griffiths 5735 -20
37 Neal Foulds 5678 -2
38 Tony Chappel 5674 +10
39 Steve James 5657 +13
40 Paul Davies 5646 +4
41 Mark Bennett 5583 +33
42 Graeme Dott 5497 +64
43 Karl Payne 5342 +25
44 Wayne Jones 5254 +18
45 Joe Johnson 5232 +15
46 Euan Henderson 5155 -4
47 Dene O'Kane 5129 -2
48 Dennis Taylor 5053 -5
49 Nick Terry 5004 +4
50 Paul Hunter 4947 NEW
51 Jimmy Michie 4885 +20
52 Karl Broughton 4824 +42
53 Mark Davis 4687 -22
54 Mark Flowerdew 4521 -17
55 Mick Price 4454 -19
56 Matthew Stevens 4278 +106
57 Martin Clark 4256 -27
58 Mike Hallett 4158 -2
59 Jamie Woodman 4125 +23
60 Gerard Greene 4010 +60
61 Dean Reynolds 3961 -28
62 Barry Pinches 3890 +54
63 Jason Prince 3766 +16
64 Chris Scanlon 3743 +32
65 Tony Knowles 3689 -19
66 Michael Judge 3301 +6
67 Yasin Merchant 3238 +54
68 Gary Ponting 3221 +46
69 John Read 3200 -5
70 Ian Brumby 3157 -12
71 Marcus Campbell 3070 +30
72 Nick Walker 3041 +11
73 Jonathan Birch 3034 +8
74 Stephen Murphy 3000 -15
75 Tony Jones 2969 -21
76 Tony Meo 2945 +14
77 Stuart Pettman 2789 +31
78 Nick Pearce 2787 +166
79 Stefan Mazrocis 2774 -22
80 Jason Wallace 2757 -5
81 Steve Newbury 2699 -3
82 Stephen O'Connor 2656 -12
83 Ian McCulloch 2622 +97
84 Surinder Gill 2607 +14
85 Matthew Couch 2580 -16
86 Antony Bolsover 2553 +2
87 Brian Morgan 2545 -47
88 Paul McPhillips 2544 -25
89 Nick Dyson 2537 +15
90 Nigel Gilbert 2523 -41
91 Dominic Dale 2514 -26
92 Mark Rowing 2468 +15
93 Shokat Ali 2427 =
94 David McLellan 2406 +41
95 Cliff Thorburn 2405 -61
96 Paul Cavney 2200 -20
97 Matt Wilson 2200 +16
98 Wayne Brown 2161 -12
99 Doug Mountjoy 2138 -33
100 (inactive) Peter Francisco 1952 -53
101 Darren Clarke 1896 -14
102 Andrew Cairns 1880 +15
103 Paul Wykes 1864 +54
104 Alex Higgins 1816 -49
105 Danny Fowler 1720 -3
106 Oliver King 1712 +37
107 Jeff Cundy 1699 -12
108 Peter Lines 1699 +8
109 Brian Rowswell 1668 -29
110 Steve Judd 1601 -26
111 Stuart Reardon 1589 +55
112 Lee Richardson 1588 -23
113 Craig MacGillivray 1525 +25
114 Martin Dziewialtowski 1423 +137
115 Les Dodd 1422 -48
116 Michael Duffy 1410 +67
117 Adrian Rosa 1407 -20
118 Darryn Walker 1367 -15
119 (inactive) Roger Garrett 1361 -42
120 Joe Grech 1342 -11
121 Graham Horne 1312 +32
122 Karl Burrows 1269 +46
123 Ian Graham 1201 -12
124 John Giles 1180 +22
125 Tai Pichit 1177 -52
126 Steve Meakin 1157 +29
127 Noppadon Noppachorn 1150 +2
128 Sean Storey 1148 +3

The qualifying matches for 9 of the 1996-97 ranking events took place in the summer of 1996. Only the qualifiers for the World Championship remain, which are scheduled for January 97.

1996 Asian Classic - Riverside Montien Hotel, Bangkok
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Asian_Classic

There were a couple of early grudge matches in the first event since the 1996 World Championship.
Rod Lawler again beat John Parrott in the first round. And Ronnie O'Sullivan was paired with Alain Robidoux for a second round matchup. Just as in the WC, Ronnie came out on top, though the margin of victory was closer this time. He only won 5 frames to 4.

Ronnie showed his superiority at closing out matches in this event, winning five close ones:
5-3 v James; 5-4 v Robidoux; 5-4 v Ebdon; 5-4 v McManus; 9-8 v Brian Morgan.
In the final, he started slowly, trailing 0-3 and 3-6, with Morgan having compiled an impressive 3 centuries. Ronnie came back though, and knocked in a 71 in the final frame.
This was his third ranking title.

Brian Morgan, who had done nothing of note in the previous couple of years, was a huge outsider to reach the final. He did so beating White, Hendry, Drago and Doherty along the way.

QFs:
Ronnie O'Sullivan (4) 5-4 Peter Ebdon (3)
Alan McManus (8) 5-4 Steve Davis (12)
Brian Morgan (87) 5-4 Tony Drago (25)
Ken Doherty (7) 5-4 Stefan Mazrocis (79)

(Is this the only example of all the QFs in a ranking event going to a decider?)

SFs:
O'Sullivan (4) 5-4 McManus (8)
Morgan (87) 5-1 Doherty (7)

Final:
O'Sullivan (4) 9-8 Morgan (87)

Following the 96-97 Qualifiers and the 1996 Asian Classic...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 25771
2 = John Higgins 21693
3 = Peter Ebdon 21153
4 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 18287
5 +1 Nigel Bond 15778
6 -1 John Parrott 13891
7 +1 Alan McManus 12829
8 -1 Ken Doherty 12577
9 +1 Dave Harold 10710
10 -1 Mark Williams 10022
11 +3 Rod Lawler 9910
12 -1 Darren Morgan 9536
13 -1 Steve Davis 9422
14 -1 Andy Hicks 9288
15 = Jimmy White 9277
16 = James Wattana 8981

Top 32
In: Graeme Dott; David Roe; Brian Morgan
Out: Billy Snaddon; Mark Johnston-Allen; Anthony Davies

Top 64
In: Jonathan Birch; Shokat Ali; Stefan Mazrocis
Out: Dennis Taylor; Mick Price; Barry Pinches; Mike Hallett

Top 128
In: Robin Hull; Robert Milkins; Chris Shade; Jason Weston; Quinten Hann; Bradley Jones; David Gray; Joe Perry
Out: Tai Pichit; Peter Francisco (inactive); Steve Meakin; Joe Grech; Alex Higgins; Craig MacGillivray; Roger Garrett (inactive); Ian Graham (inactive)

1996 Grand Prix - Bournemouth International Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Grand_Prix_(snooker)

Mark Williams won his second ranking event, beating Euan Henderson in the final.

There were quite some surprises on the south coast, with none of the top 5 reaching the quarter finals:
L64 Stephen Hendry (1) 1-5 Matthew Stevens (37)
L16 John Higgins (2) 3-5 Tony Jones (84)
L64 Peter Ebdon (3) 3-5 Mark Bennett (40)
L32 Ronnie O'Sullivan (4) 1-5 Nick Pearce (72)
L64 Nigel Bond (5) 1-5 Oliver King (115)

QFs:
Mark Williams (10) 5-3 Alain Robidoux (25)
John Parrott (6) 5-3 James Wattana (16)
Mark Bennett (40) 5-1 Tony Drago (31)
Euan Henderson (47) 5-4 Tony Jones (84)

SFs:
Williams (10) 6-1 Parrott (6)
Henderson (47) 6-3 Bennett (40)

Final:
Williams (10) 9-5 Henderson (47)

Following the 1996 Grand Prix...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 23821
2 +1 Peter Ebdon 19157
3 -1 John Higgins 18973
4 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 15957
5 = Nigel Bond 13792
6 = John Parrott 13526
7 +3 Mark Williams 12194
8 = Ken Doherty 11686
9 -2 Alan McManus 10832
10 +3 Steve Davis 9222
11 = Rod Lawler 9108
12 -3 Dave Harold 9081
13 -1 Darren Morgan 9073
14 +1 Jimmy White 8549
15 +2 Gary Wilkinson 8414
16 +3 Stephen Lee 8369

In: Gary Wilkinson; Stephen Lee
Out: Andy Hicks; James Wattana

Top 32
In: Euan Henderson; Mark Bennett; Paul Hunter
Out: Chris Small; Terry Murphy; Dave Finbow

Top 64
In: Tony Jones; Nick Pearce
Out: Dene O'Kane; Shokat Ali

Top 128
In: Alan Burnett; Ian Sargeant; Tai Pichit
Out: Jeff Cundy; Cliff Thorburn (inactive); Brian Rowswell

1996 UK Championship - Guild Hall, Preston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_UK_Championship

Stephen Hendry was once again in imperious form. During his prime years, he really seemed to turn it on in the big events.
He had reasonably comfortable wins against tough opponents, until he reached the final.
Against John Higgins, he must have felt very confident in winning his 3rd consecutive UK title and fifth overall as he sailed into an 8-4 lead.
However, with two frames still to win, Higgins obviously felt he was still in with a chance. The Wizard fought back to win the next 5, going one frame from victory. He didn't score another point though, with Hendry knocking in breaks of 82 and then 77. We can only imagine how Higgins must have felt having not been given a chance in the decider.

Paul Hunter has been racing up the rankings. He made it to the quarter-finals here, his victories including a 9-0 over Willie Thorne and a 9-5 over James Wattana. He now moves into the top 16 in this his second season.

The surprise results in this championship were Terry Murphy knocking out O'Sullivan, and Karl Broughton beating Peter Ebdon, both in the last 64.

L16:
Stephen Hendry (1) 9-1 Anthony Hamilton (22)
Paul Hunter (30) 9-7 Terry Murphy (35)
Alan McManus (9) 9-5 Billy Snaddon (34)
John Parrott (6) 9-6 Joe Johnson (41)
Alain Robidoux (23) 9-8 Karl Broughton (43)
Ken Doherty (8) 9-5 Steve Davis (10)
Mark Williams (7) 9-4 Nigel Bond (5)
John Higgins (3) 9-8 Tony Drago (25)

QFs:
Hendry (1) 9-5 Hunter (30)
McManus (9) 9-8 Parrott (6)
Doherty (8) 9-3 Robidoux (23)
Higgins (3) 9-6 Williams (7)

SFs:
Hendry (1) 9-1 McManus (9)
Higgins (3) 9-3 Doherty (8)

Final:
Hendry (1) 10-9 Higgins (3)

Following the 1996 UK Championship...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 23008
2 +1 John Higgins 21872
3 -1 Peter Ebdon 16470
4 +2 John Parrott 14527
5 +2 Mark Williams 14029
6 -2 Ronnie O'Sullivan 13918
7 +1 Ken Doherty 12892
8 -3 Nigel Bond 12650
9 = Alan McManus 12112
10 = Steve Davis 9407
11 = Rod Lawler 9268
12 +4 Stephen Lee 8937
13 +17 Paul Hunter 8854
14 +9 Alain Robidoux 8632
15 = Gary Wilkinson 8191
16 +9 Tony Drago 8153

In: Paul Hunter; Alain Robidoux; Tony Drago
Out: Dave Harold; Darren Morgan; Jimmy White (who drops all the way down to 32nd)

Top 32
In: Terry Murphy; Billy Snaddon; Karl Broughton; Chris Small
Out: Mark Bennett; Drew Henry; Brian Morgan; David Roe

Top 64
In: Shokat Ali; Mick Price; Dennis Taylor; Dominic Dale
Out: Karl Payne; Willie Thorne; Stefan Mazrocis; Terry Griffiths (inactive)

Top 128
In: Cliff Thorburn (inactive) - weird that he comes back in, I know. But he didn't lose any points in this update, while others did...
Out: Joe Perry

1996 German Open - Osnabrück Garrison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_German_Open_(snooker)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osnabr%C3%BCck

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Alain Robidoux renewed their rivalry in the final of the 96 German Open. O'Sullivan again came out on top, beating the 36-year-old Quebec native 9-7 in what would turn out to be his only ranking event final.
After Robidoux made a 145 in frame 7 to close it to 4-3, O'Sullivan took the next 3 to take a commanding 7-3 lead. The Canadian won 4 on the bounce to pull it back to 7-7, but Ronnie closed out the match.

There were no wildcards this year after the horror show put on by the three local favourites in the previous year, when none of them was able to win a single frame. (4th wildcard, Belgian Yvan van Velthoven saved some face by winning one frame).

The big surprise this year was new professional David Gray reaching the last 16 after knocking out John Parrott.

QFs:
John Higgins (2) 5-1 Mark Williams (5)
Alain Robidoux (14) 5-4 Dave Harold (18)
Nigel Bond (8) 5-4 Mark Davis (49)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) 5-2 Stephen Hendry (1)

SFs:
Robidoux (14) 6-4 Higgins (2)
O'Sullivan (6) 6-1 Bond (8)

Final:
O'Sullivan (6) 9-7 Robidoux (14)

Following the 1996 German Open...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 22379 (Hendry hanging onto the number 1 spot by a thread)
2 = John Higgins 22076
3 +3 Ronnie O'Sullivan 16314
4 -1 Peter Ebdon 15640
5 -1 John Parrott 14223
6 -1 Mark Williams 14160
7 +1 Nigel Bond 13230
8 -1 Ken Doherty 12320
9 = Alan McManus 11769
10 +4 Alain Robidoux 11159
11 -1 Steve Davis 9761
12 -1 Rod Lawler 9002
13 +5 Dave Harold 8977
14 -2 Stephen Lee 8629
15 -2 Paul Hunter 8615
16 = Tony Drago 8440

In: Dave Harold
Out: Gary Wilkinson

Top 32 - no change
Top 64 - no change
Top 128 - no change

The future Zhou Yuelong's parents are trying for a baby...
The future Yan Bingtao's parents have recently been introduced to each other...

At this point in the season, the 1997 World Championship qualifiers take place.

The following players are not in the top 16, but are seeded and qualify automatically:
Darren Morgan
James Wattana (making up for earlier in his career when he should have been seeded but wasn't)
Jimmy White

The following are in the top 16 but need to qualify and will face a seed in the first round if they do so:
Rod Lawler
Stephen Lee
Paul Hunter

chengdufan wrote:The following are in the top 16 but need to qualify and will face a seed in the first round if they do so:
Rod Lawler
Stephen Lee
Paul Hunter

Of these 3, only Stephen Lee qualified. Lawler lost to Billy Snaddon in the final qualifying round, while Hunter lost to Jimmy Michie in the last 96.

The qualifiers were:

14. Stephen Lee
17. Gary Wilkinson
19. Billy Snaddon
20. Anthony Hamilton
24. Andy Hicks
29. Graeme Dott
33. Brian Morgan
42. Mark Davis
58. Mick Price
63. Dominic Dale
67. Stefan Mazrocis
72. Terry Griffiths (this was the only tournament he entered this season)
105. David McLellan
117. Graham Horne
123. Bradley Jones
132. Lee Walker

1997 Welsh Open - Newport Leisure Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Welsh_Open_(snooker)

Mark King reached his first ever ranking event final, but lost emphatically to Stephen Hendry. The Scotsman set the tone early with a 140 and a 101 in the first two frames, and went on to win 9-2.

Northern Irishman Terry Murphy had a rather impressive run. He beat Stephen Lee 5-3, Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-4 and Nigel Bond 5-0 to reach the quarter-finals, in which he competed well against Hendry. 24-year-old Murphy will be a regular winner in the early rounds in the coming seasons, but will never again reach a quarter-final, and will drop out of the professional ranks at the age of 32.

QFs:
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-3 Terry Murphy (18)
John Parrott (5) 5-1 John Higgins (2)
Mark Williams (6) 5-3 Paul Davies (43)
Mark King (30) 5-2 Fergal O'Brien (23)

SFs:
Hendry (1) 6-2 Parrott (5)
King (30) 6-5 Williams (6)

Final:
Hendry (1) 9-2 King (30)

Following the 1997 Welsh Open...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 24476
2 = John Higgins 21838
3 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 15991
4 = Peter Ebdon 15615
5 = John Parrott 15344
6 = Mark Williams 15030
7 = Nigel Bond 13311
8 = Ken Doherty 12834
9 = Alan McManus 11648
10 = Alain Robidoux 11524
11 +7 Terry Murphy 9184
12 +4 Tony Drago 9098
13 -2 Steve Davis 9085
14 +16 Mark King 9038
15 = Paul Hunter 8721
16 -4 Rod Lawler 8663

In: Terry Murphy; Mark King
Out: Dave Harold; Stephen Lee

Top 32
In: Brian Morgan; Drew Henry
Out: Jimmy White; Chris Small

Top 64
In: Michael Judge; Stefan Mazrocis; Dene O'Kane
Out: Jamie Woodman; Nick Terry; Mark Flowerdew

Top 128
In: Lee Walker; Dylan Leary; Joe Perry; Paul Davison
Out: Paul Cavney; Adrian Rosa; Doug Mountjoy; Cliff Thorburn (inactive)

1997 International Open - Aberdeen Exhibition Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_International_Open
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen

Remarkably, 31-year-old Tony Drago reached his only ranking event final, in Aberdeen in February. He did so by overcoming John Higgins 6-5 in the semi-final.
In the final, he met a dominant Stephen Hendry, who thrashed him 9-1.

Jimmy White had something of a return to form after having an awful season to date. His initial wins were against the low-ranked Michael Judge and the rapidly declining Dave Finbow, but he did have a number of high breaks. And he then went on to beat Nigel Bond and take 2 frames off Hendry.

The unknown Stuart Parnell won 6 matches to reach the last 16, including a notable win over Darren Morgan. I can't find much online about Parnell, other than his snooker results. He made 9,220GBP in 6 years as a professional. I hope he had another job.

QFs:
John Higgins (2) 5-3 Alan McManus (9)
Tony Drago (12) 5-3 John Parrott (5)
Peter Ebdon (4) 5-1 Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-2 Jimmy White (34)

SFs:
Drago (12) 6-5 Higgins (2)
Hendry (1) 6-3 Ebdon (4)

Final:
Hendry (1) 9-1 Drago (12)

Following the 1997 International Open...

1 = Stephen Hendry 27362
2 = John Higgins 22723
3 +1 Peter Ebdon 16916
4 -1 Ronnie O'Sullivan 16687
5 = John Parrott 15524
6 = Mark Williams 15054
7 = Nigel Bond 13847
8 = Ken Doherty 12983
9 = Alan McManus 12499
10 = Alain Robidoux 11485
11 +1 Tony Drago 11114
12 +5 Gary Wilkinson 9072
13 +1 Mark King 9038
14 -3 Terry Murphy 8991
15 +3 Dave Harold 8796
16 = Rod Lawler 8633

In: Gary Wilkinson; Dave Harold
Out: Steve Davis; Paul Hunter

Top 32
In: Jimmy White
Out: Drew Henry

Top 64
In: Jamie Woodman; Nick Walker
Out: Wayne Jones; Gerard Greene

Top 128
In: Adrian Rosa
Out: Paul Davison

1997 European Open - Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Euro ... n_(snooker)

I'll keep this fairly brief because you can enjoy two tournament summaries on the above wiki link.

This was a nice little winter sojourn for 32 players, including Robert Milkins, who would turn 21 a couple of weeks after his first round exit. I wonder if he stayed on to party 1997 style?

John Higgins closed the gap a little on Hendry by winning this. He beat John Parrot (doing well in Europe again) in the final.

Ronnie lost 5-1 to Chris Small in the first round.

QFs:
John Parrott (5) 5-4 Alan McManus (9)
Ken Doherty (8) 5-3 Peter Ebdon (3)
John Higgins (2) 5-3 Stephen Lee (19)
James Wattana (18) 5-2 Stephen Hendry (1)

SFs:
Parrott (5) 6-4 Doherty (8)
Higgins (2) 6-0 Wattana (18)

Final:
Higgins (2) 9-5 Parrott (5)

Following the 1997 European Open...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 28100
2 = John Higgins 24783
3 +2 John Parrott 17808
4 -1 Peter Ebdon 17796
5 -1 Ronnie O'Sullivan 16704
6 = Mark Williams 15112
7 +1 Ken Doherty 14543
8 -1 Nigel Bond 14187
9 = Alan McManus 13439
10 = Alain Robidoux 11629
11 = Tony Drago 11431
12 +6 James Wattana 9676
13 +6 Stephen Lee 8931
14 -2 Gary Wilkinson 8754
15 = Dave Harold 8592
16 +1 Steve Davis 8572

In: James Wattana; Stephen Lee; Steve Davis
Out: Terry Murphy; Mark King; Rod Lawler

Top 32
In: Chris Small
Out: Euan Henderson

Top 64
In: Willie Thorne; Barry Pinches
Out: Nick Walker; Jamie Woodman

Top 128
In: Alfie Burden; Paul Davison
Out: Joe Perry; Les Dodd

People tend to forget Parrott's longevity, to still be as high as No.3 as late of this when the CO92 were all pretty much fully fledged.

badtemperedcyril wrote:People tend to forget Parrott's longevity, to still be as high as No.3 as late of this when the CO92 were all pretty much fully fledged.

I certainly had. My memory was telling me he was pretty much done by 1995. Shows what I know!

chengdufan wrote:

badtemperedcyril wrote:People tend to forget Parrott's longevity, to still be as high as No.3 as late of this when the CO92 were all pretty much fully fledged.

I certainly had. My memory was telling me he was pretty much done by 1995. Shows what I know!

He's not done yet either. Won the '98 German, but it was the only year it wasn't a ranking event.

1997 Thailand Open - Century Park Hotel, Bangkok
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Thailand_Open

Quinten Hann announced his presence in March of '97 by knocking out both John Higgins and Mark Williams from the Thailand Open. He came unstuck against eventual finalist Nigel Bond in the quarters though, being thumped 5-0.

Peter Ebdon once again demonstrated his prowess against O'Sullivan, achieving another 5-1 victory over him, this time in the semi-final. Ebdon went on to beat Bond in a nip and tuck final. The 2-frame gap at the end, at 9-7, was the largest of the contest.

QFs:
Ronnie O'Sullivan (5) 5-3 Stephen Lee (13)
Peter Ebdon (4) 5-0 John Parrott (3)
Nigel Bond (8) 5-0 Quinten Hann (119)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-3 Fergal O'Brien (27)

SFs:
Ebdon (4) 5-1 O'Sullivan (5)
Bond (8) 5-4 Hendry (1)

Final:
Ebdon (4) 9-7 Bond (8)

Following the 1997 Thailand Open...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 29368
2 = John Higgins 24951
3 +1 Peter Ebdon 19680
4 -1 John Parrott 17721
5 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 17158
6 +2 Nigel Bond 16615
7 -1 Mark Williams 15319
8 -1 Ken Doherty 14670
9 = Alan McManus 13223
10 = Alain Robidoux 11845
11 = Tony Drago 11062
12 = James Wattana 10202
13 = Stephen Lee 9690
14 +2 Steve Davis 8759
15 = Dave Harold 8737
16 -2 Gary Wilkinson 8651

Top 32
In: Euan Henderson
Out: Brian Morgan

Top 64
In: Jamie Woodman
Out: Barry Pinches

Top 128 - no change

1997 British Open - Plymouth Pavilions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_British_Open

Mark Williams claimed his second title of the season and third overall, and did it in style by pummeling Stephen Hendry, going from 2-2 to winning 9-2 in the final. This after a tough battle against Ebdon in the semis, which he won 6-5.

Ronnie O'Sullivan lost in the first round again, which is becoming something of a habit. This time he lost to Gerard Greene.
John Higgins also lost in the first round, to a player ranked at a similar level to Greene, one Antony Bolsover
Greene inevitably lost in the next round, to the unheard of Paul Sweeny. Bolsover lost too, though this was less of a shock, as he was beaten by established pro Martin Clark. But why do players always seem to lose in the next round after they upset a top player?

QFs:
Mark Williams (7) 5-1 Tony Drago (11)
Peter Ebdon (3) 5-3 Michael Judge (55)
Steve Davis (14) 5-2 Alan McManus (9)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-3 Dave Harold (15)

SFs:
Williams (7) 6-5 Ebdon (3)
Hendry (1) 6-2 Davis (14)

Final:
Williams (7) 9-2 Hendry (1)

Following the 1997 British Open, the final event before the World Championship...

Top 16
1 = Stephen Hendry 31121
2 = John Higgins 24890
3 = Peter Ebdon 20907
4 +3 Mark Williams 17994
5 -1 John Parrott 17558
6 = Nigel Bond 17037
7 -2 Ronnie O'Sullivan 16516
8 = Ken Doherty 13984
9 = Alan McManus 13410
10 +1 Tony Drago 11779
11 -1 Alain Robidoux 11652
12 +2 Steve Davis 10087
13 +2 Dave Harold 9941
14 -1 Stephen Lee 9562
15 -3 James Wattana 9427
16 = Gary Wilkinson 9039

Top 32 - no change

Top 64
In: Gerard Greene; Nick Walker; Bradley Jones
Out: Jamie Woodman; Anthony Davies; Mark Johnston-Allen

Top 128
In: Paul Sweeny; Joe Perry
Out: Stuart Reardon; Michael Duffy

I believe Williams has moved ahead of O'Sullivan for the first time.

It's hard to see past Hendry winning the upcoming World Championship. He has almost double the points of O'Sullivan in 7th.
Higgins could be a fair shout to push him, with Ebdon as an outside bet. Any other winner seems highly improbable.