Rankings revisit - a trip through history

The 1992 Welsh Open was the first ever Welsh Open ranking event. It took place at the Newport Leisure Centre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Welsh_Open_(snooker)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport,_Wales

Steve Davis and Jimmy White did not take part, and so the favourites to reach the final were Stephen Hendry and John Parrott.
Hendry duly obliged and won the event. Parrott however was beaten by home favourite Darren Morgan in the semi-final.

From what I can gather, nothing too much of note happened in the event, though it's perhaps worth mentioning that soon to be 59-year-old Cliff Wilson reached the last 16.

QFs:
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-4 Steve James (6)
Nigel Bond (8) 5-4 James Wattana (9)
Darren Morgan (12) 5-3 Gary Wilkinson (10)
John Parrott (3) 5-2 Willie Thorne (20)

SFs:
Hendry (1) 6-1 Bond (8)
Morgan (12) 6-3 Parrott (3)

Final:
Hendry (1) 9-3 Morgan (12)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry
2. Steve Davis
3. John Parrott
4. Jimmy White

Top 16
In: Martin Clark (17->16)
Out: Mick Price (13->18)

Top 32
In: -
Out: -

Top 64
In: Bob Chaperon (65->51); Wayne Jones (70->61)
Out: Bob Harris (61->66); Robby Foldvari (64->69)

Top 128
In: Paul McPhillips (131->123)
Out: Pat Houlihan (128->136)

The 8th edition of The British Open as a ranking event took place at The Assembly Rooms in February of 1992.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_British_Open

James Wattana made a 147 in the last 16 against Tony Drago and reached his second ranking event final.
In the final, he faced off against Jimmy White, who built a commanding 7-0 lead. The final became a classic though as Wattana pulled back frame after frame, getting as close as 8-7. White then made a 113 break in frame 16, and saw out the match in the 17th frame.

QFs:
Jimmy White (4) 5-3 Terry Griffiths (14)
Steve Davis (2) 5-3 Alain Robidoux (20)
James Wattana (11) 5-3 Doug Mountjoy (46)
Ken Doherty (15) 5-2 Stephen Hendry (1)

SFs:
White (4) 9-8 Davis (2)
Wattana (11) 9-6 Doherty (15)

Final:
White (4) 10-7 Wattana (11)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 30429
2. Steve Davis 26180
3. Jimmy White 24039
4. John Parrott 23042

Top 16
In: -
Out: -

Top 32
In: -
Out: -

Top 64
In: Cliff Wilson (65->62)
Out: Craig Edwards (64->65)

Top 128
In: -
Out: -

Wattana's 147. Quite a break!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boWRMz6WhB0

The final

https://youtu.be/YpclxukMrY8

The Strachan Open was held at the Thornbury Leisure Centre in Bristol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Strachan_Open

Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Jimmy White refused to participate due to the low prize money available and lower ranking points tariff. This made John Parrott and James Wattana the favourites for the title. Parrott and Wattana met in the final, with the Thai-phoon victorious, winning his maiden ranking title.

After a horrendous campaign in 1990-91, Cliff Thorburn has been winning matches again this season. While he hasn't shown his form of previous years, he did make the quarter-finals of this event, which is a promising sign as we head towards the World Championship.

Franky Chan made the quarter-finals too, with notable victories over Silvino Francisco and Tony Meo.

QFs:
James Wattana (5) 5-2 Cliff Thorburn (28)
Nigel Bond (9) 5-1 Franky Chan (58)
John Parrott (4) 5-2 David Roe (25)
Ken Doherty (12) 5-2 Mick Price (19)

SFs:
Wattana (5) 9-5 Bond (9)
Parrott (4) 9-7 Doherty (12)

Final:
Wattana (5) 9-5 Parrott (4)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 30923
2. Steve Davis 26549
3. John Parrott 25119
4. Jimmy White 24079

Top 16 - no change
Top 32 - no change

Top 64
In: Craig Edwards (65->60); Joe Swail (67->62); Paul Davies (68->63); Bob Harris (66->64)
Out: Steve Newbury (60->65); Alex Higgins (48->66); Robert Marshall (56->67); Bob Chaperon (51->72)

Top 128 - no change

The 1992 European Open was played in the small Belgian city of Tongeren. I believe only the quarters, semis and final were played there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Euro ... n_(snooker)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongeren

Jimmy White won the title, losing only 10 frames in his six mathes, including a 5-1 walloping of Steve Davis in the quarters. His toughest match was his first, a 5-4 nailbiter against Tony Chappel in the last 64.

Mark Johnston-Allen reached the final after beating Stephen Hendry (again) and John Parrott.

QFs:
Jimmy White (4) 5-1 Steve Davis (2)
Terry Griffiths (13) 5-1 Darren Morgan (11)
Mark Johnston-Allen (26) 5-4 Mick Price (18)
John Parrott (3) 5-1 Alain Robidoux (19)

SFs:
White (4) 6-0 Griffiths (13)
Johnston-Allen (26) 6-2 Parrott (3)

Final:
White (4) 9-3 Johnston-Allen (26)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 30623
2. Steve Davis 26399
3. Jimmy White 26185
4. John Parrott 25560

Top 16 - no change

Top 32
In: Dene O'Kane (33->31)
Out: Rod Lawler (31->34)

Top 64
In: Alex Higgins (66->61); Steve Newbury (65->62)
Out: Jack McLaughlin (61->69); Bob Harris (64->73)

Top 128
In: Dave Harold (131->126); Mark Davis (132->127)
Out: Malcolm Bradley (127->130); Graham Cripsey (128->137)

So the top 16 as we head into the 1992 World Championship is as follows:

1 Stephen Hendry
2 Steve Davis
3 Jimmy White
4 John Parrott
5 James Wattana
6 Nigel Bond
7 Alan McManus
8 Steve James
9 Ken Doherty
10 Neal Foulds
11 Darren Morgan
12 Gary Wilkinson
13 Terry Griffiths
14 Dennis Taylor
15 Tony Jones
16 Martin Clark

And here's the draw for the first round. Seeds on the left, rankings in brackets.

John Parrott (4) v Eddie Charlton (37)
Tony Knowles (24) v Mark Johnston-Allen (20)
Dennis Taylor (14) v Mick Price (18)
Mike Hallett (27) v Alan McManus (7)
Gary Wilkinson (12) v Willie Thorne (17)
Dean Reynolds (21) v Jim Wych (78)
Alain Robidoux (19) v Nigel Bond (6)
Jimmy White (3) v Tony Drago (28)
Steve Davis (2) v Peter Ebdon (52)
Martin Clark (16) v Peter Francisco (39)
Terry Griffiths (13) v Bob Chaperon (65)
Neal Foulds (10) v Jason Ferguson (42)
Steve James (8) v Dene O'Kane (31)
Doug Mountjoy (35) v Chris Small (149)
Tony Jones (15) v James Wattana (5)
Stephen Hendry (1) v Stephen Murphy (63)

From the top 16, Darren Morgan (11) and Ken Doherty (9) failed to qualify. Morgan lost 10-7 to David Roe in the last 64, while Doherty lost to Peter Francisco by the same scoreline in the final qualifying round.

The 1992 World Championship took place at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Worl ... ampionship

Stephen Hendry was the clear favourite, but Steve Davis, Jimmy White and John Parrott were all expected to have realistic chances of winning. There was also hope that youngsters James Wattana and Alan McManus may spring a surprise.

In fact, it was favourite Stephen Hendry who took the prize, sealing his 18-14 victory over Jimmy White in the final with a century break.

New professionals Peter Ebdon and Chris Small both played at the Crucible. For Small, this was the first event for which he had even reached the last 128 stage.
Ebdon had shown through the season that he was ready to step up to the big stage, but no-one predicted that the flashy pony-tailed attacking player would beat Steve Davis in the first round. He followed that up with another impressive win against Martin Clark on his run to the quarter-final.

37-year-old Jim Wych's run is also worth mentioning. At the end of a largely forgettable season, the Canadian outsider beat Steve Duggan, John Virgo, Dean Reynolds and Willie Thorne in his unexpected run to the quarters.

L32:
John Parrott (4) 10-0 Eddie Charlton (37)
Tony Knowles (24) 10-4 Mark Johnston-Allen (20)
Dennis Taylor (14) 6-10 Mick Price (18)
Mike Hallett (27) 8-10 Alan McManus (7)
Gary Wilkinson (12) 6-10 Willie Thorne (17)
Dean Reynolds (21) 7-10 Jim Wych (78)
Alain Robidoux (19) 10-7 Nigel Bond (6)
Jimmy White (3) 10-4 Tony Drago (28)
Steve Davis (2) 4-10 Peter Ebdon (52)
Martin Clark (16) 10-7 Peter Francisco (39)
Terry Griffiths (13) 10-8 Bob Chaperon (65)
Neal Foulds (10) 10-8 Jason Ferguson (42)
Steve James (8) 9-10 Dene O'Kane (31)
Doug Mountjoy (35) 7-10 Chris Small (149)
Tony Jones (15) 5-10 James Wattana (5)
Stephen Hendry (1) 10-3 Stephen Murphy (63)

L16:
Parrott (4) 13-4 Knowles (24)
McManus (7) 13-10 Price (18)
Wych (78) 13-6 Thorne (17)
White (3) 13-11 Robidoux (19)
Ebdon (52) 13-4 Clark (16)
Griffiths (13) 13-7 Foulds (10)
O'Kane (31) 13-10 Small (149)
Hendry (1) 13-10 Wattana (5)

QFs:
McManus (7) 13-12 Parrott (4)
White (3) 13-9 Wych (78)
Griffiths (13) 13-7 Ebdon (52)
Hendry (1) 13-6 O'Kane (31)

SFs:
White (3) 16-7 McManus (7)
Hendry (1) 16-4 Griffiths (13)

Final:
Hendry (1) 18-14 White (3)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 32213
2. Jimmy White 29519
3. John Parrott 24765
4. Steve Davis 23746

Top 16
In: Mick Price; Alain Robidoux; Willie Thorne
Out: Martin Clark; Tony Jones; Dennis Taylor

Top 32
In: Peter Ebdon; Jim Wych
Out: Jason Prince; Warren King

Top 64
In: Bob Chaperon; Jack McLaughlin; Kirk Stevens; Andy Hicks
Out: Tony Wilson; Steve Campbell; Colin Roscoe; Paul Davies; Alex Higgins

Top 128
In: Chris Small; Shaun Mellish
Out: Mark Davis; Dave Harold

Here is the roll of honour after 76 ranking events:

Steve Davis 24 ('81 WC; '83 WC; '83 IO; '84 Cl; '84 WC; '84 IO; '84 UK; '85 GP; '85 UK; '86 BO; '86 UK; '87 Cl; '87 WC; '87 IO; '87 UK; '88 Cl; '88 WC; '88 IO; '88 GP; '89 WC; '89 IO; '89 GP; '92 Cl; '92 AO)
Stephen Hendry 14 ('87 GP; '88 BO; '89 AO; '89 DC '89 UK; '90 WC; '90 GP; '90 AO; '90 DC; '90 UK; 91 'BO; '91 GP; '92 WO; '92 WC)
Jimmy White 7 ('86 Cl; '86 GP; '87 BO; '88 CM; '91 Cl; '92 BO; '92 EO)
Ray Reardon 5 ('74 WC; '75 WC; '76 WC; '78 WC; '82 PPT)
John Parrott 5 ('89 EO; '90 EO; '91 WC; '91 DC; '91 UK)
Cliff Thorburn 2 ('80 WC; '85 MT)
Tony Knowles 2 ('82 IO; '83 PPT)
Dennis Taylor 2 ('84 GP; '85 WC)
Doug Mountjoy 2 ('88 UK; '89 Cl)
John Spencer 1 ('77 WC)
Terry Griffiths 1 ('79 WC)
Alex Higgins 1 ('82 WC)
Willie Thorne 1 ('85 Cl)
Silvino Francisco 1 ('85 BO)
Joe Johnson 1 ('86 WC)
Neal Foulds 1 ('86 IO)
Tony Meo 1 ('89 BO)
Mike Hallett 1 ('89 HK)
Steve James 1 ('90 Cl)
Bob Chaperon 1 ('90 BO)
Tony Jones 1 ('91 EO)
James Wattana 1 ('92 SO)

Rankings at the end of the 1991-92 season:

1 (=) Stephen Hendry 32213
2 (+1) Jimmy White 29519
3 (+1) John Parrott 24765
4 (-2) Steve Davis 23746
5 (+6) James Wattana 18377
6 (+10) Alan McManus 16438
7 (+6) Terry Griffiths 12537
8 (+18) Ken Doherty 12302
9 (=) Nigel Bond 12287
10 (-3) Steve James 11507
11 (-5) Neal Foulds 11108
12 (-7) Gary Wilkinson 10659
13 (+11) Darren Morgan 9999
14 (+31) Mick Price 9872
15 (-1) Alain Robidoux 9602
16 (+4) Willie Thorne 9396
17 (+8) Martin Clark 9288
18 (-10) Tony Jones 8770
19 (-9) Dennis Taylor 8508
20 (+13) Mark Johnston-Allen 8195
21 (+16) Dene O'Kane 7901
22 (+39) David Roe 7494
23 (-8) Dean Reynolds 7397
24 (-7) Tony Knowles 7386
25 (+6) Tony Drago 7382
26 (-5) Joe Johnson 7365
27 (-8) Mark Bennett 6833
28 NEW Peter Ebdon 6792
29 (-17) Mike Hallett 6732
30 (+30) Jim Wych 6116
31 (+15) Cliff Thorburn 5849
32 (+10) Jonathan Birch 5584

33 (+66) Jason Ferguson 5566
34 (-5) Peter Francisco 5513
35 (+24) Jason Prince 5477
36 (+8) Eddie Charlton 5222
37 (-14) Warren King 5100
38 (+5) Tony Meo 5056
39 (+10) Rod Lawler 5034
40 (-18) Danny Fowler 4993
41 (-23) Doug Mountjoy 4875
42 (-10) Silvino Francisco 4681
43 (+5) Andrew Cairns 4672
44 (-4) Nigel Gilbert 4596
45 (+25) Stephen Murphy 4456
46 (-11) Wayne Jones 4419
47 (-8) Bob Chaperon 4414
48 (-12) Ian Graham 4189
49 (+33) David Taylor 3933
50 (+13) Brian Morgan 3905
51 (-24) Tony Chappel 3702
52 (-11) Nick Dyson 3653
53 (+23) Nick Terry 3596
54 (+13) Franky Chan 3581
55 (-3) Craig Edwards 3552
56 (+1) Jack McLaughlin 3496
57 (+11) Kirk Stevens 3439
58 (-30) Brady Gollan 3438
59 (-3) Cliff Wilson 3409
60 (-10) Barry Pinches 3386
61 (-27) Steve Newbury 3373
62 NEW Andy Hicks 3321
63 (-16) Les Dodd 3311
64 NEW Joe Swail 3301

65 (+4) Tony Wilson 3292
66 (-2) Steve Campbell 3248
67 (-37) Robert Marshall 3198
68 (-15) Colin Roscoe 3107
69 (-7) John Virgo 3075
70 (-32) John Campbell 3066
71 NEW Paul Davies 3059
72 (+12) Robby Foldvari 2930
73 (-22) Bob Harris 2915
74 (-3) Jason Smith 2911
75 (-21) Alex Higgins 2904
76 (-2) Barry West 2850
77 NEW Anthony Hamilton 2806
78 (+7) Bill Oliver 2798
79 NEW Chris Small 2766
80 NEW Drew Henry 2726
81 (-16) Eugene Hughes 2661
82 (+12) Jason Whittaker 2647
83 (-6) Mark Rowing 2590
84 (-11) Steve Duggan 2585
85 (-7) Ken Owers 2581
86 (-20) Ray Edmonds 2545
87 (-29) Rex Williams 2483
88 (+15) Brian Rowswell 2444
89 (+1) Jon Wright 2425
90 (-15) Jim Chambers 2423
91 (-10) Paddy Browne 2336
92 (+1) Murdo MacLeod 2322
93 (+4) Paul Medati 2301
94 (-39) Duncan Campbell 2300
95 (-8) Gary Natale 2282
96 (-5) Joe Grech 2163
97 (-18) Chris Cookson 2096
98 (-12) Martin Smith 2048
99 (-27) Mario Morra 2023
100 (-17) Joe O'Boye 1904
101 (+3) Ian Brumby 1871
102 NEW Stuart Reardon 1851
103 (-15) Marcel Gauvreau 1749
104 NEW Peter Lines 1717
105 (-25) John Rea 1703
106 NEW Billy Snaddon 1536
107 (-5) Paul Gibson 1519
108 (+18) Dave Martin 1472
109 (+1) Anthony Harris 1440
110 NEW Anthony Davies 1423
111 NEW David McDonnell 1401
112 (-24) Dave Gilbert 1375
113 NEW Jamie Woodman 1370
114 NEW Dave Finbow 1302
115 (-10) Steve Meakin 1283
116 (-21) Eddie Sinclair 1275
117 (-9) Steve Longworth 1260
118 (-7) Tony Kearney 1117
119 NEW John Read 1109
120 NEW Paul McPhillips 1089
121 NEW Shaun Mellish 1078
122 (-24) Roger Bales 1068
123 NEW Bradley Jones 1061
124 (-28) Ian Williamson 1052
125 NEW Peter Daubney 993
126 (-34) Tommy Murphy 932
127 NEW Euan Henderson 903
128 (-27) Graham Miles 818

Badsnookerplayer wrote:I used to play snooker at Peter Daubney's house

Did he ever find out?

Over 60 new players reached the last 128 stage of a ranking event at least once in the 1992-93 season.
These included Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, Stephen Lee, Dominic Dale, John Higgins, Jamie Burnett, Marcus Campbell, Allison Fisher, Joe Perry, and the gloriously named Sonic Multani.

The first ranking event of the 1992-93 season, one of 9, was the Dubai Classic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Dubai_Classic

The final between John Parrott and Stephen Hendry was nip and tuck all the way. Parrott won the decider though and took the title with a 63 break.

It wasn't a good start to the season for Steve Davis, who lost to Wayne Jones in the last 64. Jimmy White would also have hoped for better, losing as he did to Willie Thorne in the last 16.

None of the new players to the professional ranks made it to the venue, where the rounds from the last 16 onwards were played.

QFs:
John Parrot (3) 5-0 Mick Price (14)
Alan McManus (6) 5-1 Mark Bennett (27)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-0 Terry Griffiths (7)
James Wattana (5) 5-2 Willie Thorne (16)

SFs:
Parrott (3) 6-3 McManus (6)
Hendry (1) 6-5 Wattana (5)

Final:
Parrott (3) 9-8 Hendry (1)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 28048
2. Jimmy White 22846
3. John Parrott 22057
4. Steve Davis 17240

Top 16
In: Peter Ebdon
Out: Darren Morgan

Top 32
In: Jason Ferguson; Joe Swail
Out: Cliff Thorburn; Jonathan Birch

Top 64
In: Drew Henry; Anthony Hamilton; Alex Higgins; Paul Davies; Dave Finbow; Tony Wilson; Ronnie O'Sullivan; Chris Small
Out: Craig Edwards; Cliff Wilson; Brady Gollan; Kirk Stevens; Jack McLaughlin; Barry Pinches; Franky Chan; Steve Newbury

Top 128
In: Dave Harold; Karl Payne; Mark Davis; Karl Broughton; Stephen O'Connor; Troy Shaw; Shokat Ali; Paul Tanner; Mark Williams; Stephen Lee; Pat Kenny; John Giles; Stefan Mazrocis; Jason Weston; Sean Lanigan; Spencer Dunn

(notably not John Higgins, who didn't have a brilliant qualifying campaign in his first season and is down at 142nd in the rankings)

Out: Joe O'Boye; Stuart Reardon; Chris Cookson; Martin Smith; Gary Natale; Rex Williams; Dave Martin; Mario Morra; Bradley Jones; Duncan Campbell; Dave Gilbert; Eddie Sinclair; Tony Kearney; Roger Bales; Ian Williamson; Graham Miles; Tommy Murphy

D4P wrote:If I'm not mistaken, the 92 Dubai Classic was Ronnie's first ranking event...

Technically it was, as it was the first ranking event of the season. It may actually have been too, I'm not sure though.

The qualifying matches for every ranking event that season were played between June and September 1992, and I haven't found the exact dates of the matches. What I'm fairly sure of is that the qualifiers weren't played in the same order as the events themselves as they came up through the season. So we didn't start with the Dubai Classic qualifiers in June, and work our way through to the World Championship qualifiers in September.
Ronnie reached the last 96 of the Dubai Classic, losing to Dave Finbow 5-0. It's hard to say though at which point during the summer of qualifiers that match was played.

The second ranking event of the season was the Grand Prix. Ronnie qualified for the venue stages for that event, so perhaps The Grand Prix may also technically be described as his first ranking event.

As I moved on to adding the 1992 Grand Prix data, I noticed a significant error I had made in the formulae for the rankings after the Dubai Classic.
I've corrected the error and edited my post above with the changes.

Darren Morgan drops out of the top-16, rather than Alain Robidoux as I initially stated.
Chris Small is in the top 64 and Steve Newbury drops out.

John Higgins is ranked 142nd, not 150th.

Class of '92 watch after their first ranking event:

Ronnie 51st
Mark 103rd
John 142nd

The 1992 Grand Prix was played at The Hexagon in Reading.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Grand_Prix_(snooker)

Jimmy White won the title, beating Ken Doherty in the Irishman's first ranking event final.

The event was also notable for including the fastest ever best of 9 frame match. 17-year-old Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Jason Curtis 5-0 in just over 43 minutes, in the 3rd qualifying round. The match included a high break of 141, which was the highest break of the event. Including his defeat to Gary Wilkinson in last 64, Ronnie played 10 matches and made 4 century breaks. There were only 41 centuries in the entire competition, which included an eye-watering total of 567 matches.
For a bit of perspective, champion Jimmy White did make 6 centuries in his 6 matches.

QFs:
Terry Griffiths (7) 5-2 Mark Bennett (21)
Ken Doherty (12) 5-2 Steve Davis (4)
Jimmy White (2) 5-1 Neal Foulds (14)
Alan McManus (6) 5-3 Nigel Bond (10)

SFs:
Doherty (12) 9-6 Griffiths (7)
White (2) 9-5 McManus (6)

Final:
White (2) 10-9 Doherty (12)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 27299
2. Jimmy White 25831
3. John Parrott 21514
4. Steve Davis 18200

CO92
49. O'Sullivan 4676
102. Williams 2220
115. Higgins 1896

Top 16
In: Darren Morgan
Out: Alain Robidoux

Top 32
In: Cliff Thorburn
Out: Tony Knowles

Top 64
In: Billy Snaddon
Out: Ian Graham

Top 128
In: John Higgins
Out: John Rea