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Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Empire State Human wrote:
chengdufan wrote:
For some reason, Cliff Thorburn didn't play. Does anyone know why?

He was busy doing cocaine. I checked - Snooker Scene said he was banned from 2 ranking events.

<ok> naughty boy!

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1988 Grand Prix was held at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading.

https://cuetracker.net/tournaments/grand-prix/1988/596

And what an interesting set of results it threw up!
OK, Steve Davis won :zzz:

But look at the bottom half of the quarter-final line-up, along with their rankings at the time:

QFs:
Davis (1) 5-3 Griffiths (6)
Taylor (12) 5-2 White (2)
Robidoux (103) 5-4 Nigel Gilbert (50)
Higgins (37) 5-4 Williams (40)

Despite his low ranking, Robidoux actually had a surprisingly easy route to the semi-final. He beat:
Jimmy van Rensberg (80)
Roger Bales (96)
John Virgo (17)
Tony Meo (44)
Doug Mountjoy (58)
Nigel Gilbert (50)

So beating Virgo 5-1 was a good result for sure, but Meo and Mountjoy were on serious downward spirals by then, Roger Bales had taken a complete nosedive over the last two years, and van Rensberg had never been higher than around 64th in his career.
Aside from Virgo, only Gilbert could be regarded as a tough match, being an up and coming player on the rise. But Robidoux should have expected a much tougher semi-final opponent in only his 3rd ranking event appearance.

So what happened to the rest of the top 16? Here's a round-up:
L32: Mountjoy (58) 5-1 Hendry (3)
Thorburn (4) - suspended
L32: Edmonds (59) 5-3 Parrott (5)
L16: Higgins (37) 5-3 N Foulds (7)
L32: Hughes (39) 5-2 Johnson (8)
L16: Taylor (12) 5-2 Hallett (9)
L16: N Gilbert (50) 5-4 Knowles (10)
L32: Hallett (9) 5-2 James (11)
L64: Gary Wilkinson (56) 5-3 Thorne (13)
L32: S Davis (1) 5-1 Newbury (14)
L32: Higgins (37) 5-0 O'Kane (15)
L64: White (2) 5-0 Fowler (16)


Here were the semi-final and final results:

SFs:
Davis (1) 9-1 Taylor (12)
Higgins (37) 9-7 Robidoux (103)

Final:
Davis (1) 10-6 Higgins (37)


Following the event, Alex Higgins jumps 23 places to 14th and regains his top 16 status. Danny Fowler falls out of the 16. He's down to 19th.
Robidoux goes up a ridiculous 53 places, rising to 50th.
Nigel Gilbert is up to 32nd.
Rex Williams goes back up to 25th from 40th.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Good teamwork Iranu, thank you!

So we go to Canada for the first time!
The 1988 Canadian Masters was held at the Minkler Auditorium in Toronto.

https://cuetracker.net/tournaments/cana ... s/1988/595

At long last we have a winner not named Steve! Jimmy White, who has comfortably been at number 2 in the rankings for quite some time now, achieved his first ranking win in a year and 8 months, and his 4th in total. He comfortably beat Steve Davis 9-4 in the final.

Cliff Thorburn returned from suspension and showed good form, reaching the quarter-finals. It wasn't a happy tournament for most of the Canadian entrants though. I make it that 11 took part, most losing their first match.

New to the tour, Ian Graham and Darren Morgan had breakthrough events, the former losing 5-4 to Thorburn in the last 16 after beating the likes of Jon Wright, Peter Francisco and Eddie Charlton, and the latter beating Tony Jones (5-0) and Dene O'Kane before succumbing to John Parrott 5-3 in the last 32.

Following the event, Dean Reynolds enters the top 16, while Dene O'Kane drops out.
Doug Mountjoy and Cliff Wilson return to the top 32 in place of Rex Williams and Peter Francisco.
The Franciscos have had a rough 1988 and have dropped together from the top 16 graduallly down now to 32nd and 33rd.
Colin Roscoe and Paul Medati get back in the top 64. Paul Gibson (who has withdrawn from all three events this season) and Graham Miles lose their top 64 place.

QFs:
Davis (1) 5-3 Griffiths (4)
Hendry (3) 5-4 Thorburn (6)
Hallett (10) 5-3 Parrott (5)
White (2) 5-3 Dennis Taylor (9)

SFs:
Davis (1) 9-5 Hendry (3)
White (2) 9-2 Hallett (10)

Final:
White (2) 9-4 Davis (1)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1988 UK Championship was the last ranking event of the calendar year and was held at the Guild Hall in Preston.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_UK_Championship

Dan-cat will of course remember who the surprise winner was...


Doug Mountjoy!!

What a run he had, beating Wayne Jones, Neal Foulds, Joe Johnson, John Virgo, Terry Griffiths and Stephen Hendry. All 6 of those players were ranked above him prior to the tournament in the Chengdufan rankings.
It could perhaps only have been tougher had he faced Davis or White.
But Davis lost to Hendry in the semi-final, while White lost in the last 32 to Mark Bennett.

L16:
Davis (1) 9-6 Fowler (17)
Parrott (4) 9-4 Dennis Taylor (8)
Thorburn (5) 9-8 Roe (19)
Hendry (3) 9-4 Thorne (13)
Mountjoy (27) 9-5 Johnson (9)
Virgo (18) 9-3 Knowles (10)
Griffiths (6) 9-6 Reynolds (16)
West (26) 9-4 Bennett (47)

QFs:
Davis (1) 9-4 Parrott (4)
Hendry (3) 9-2 Thorburn (5)
Mountjoy (27) 9-8 Virgo (18)
Griffiths (6) 9-5 West (26)

SFs:
Hendry (3) 9-3 Davis (1)
Mountjoy (27) 9-4 Griffiths (6)

Final:
Mountjoy (27) 16-12 Hendry (3)

I think from now on, I'll summarise the ranking changes by indicating the top 4 following the event, as well as ins and outs for the top 16, 32, 64 and 128.

Top 4:
Davis
White
Hendry
Griffiths

Top 16
In: Doug Mountjoy; John Virgo; Danny Fowler
Out: Alex Higgins; Dean Reynolds; Steve Newbury

Top 32
In: Mark Bennett; Peter Francisco; Joe O'Boye
Out: Cliff Wilson; Silvino Francisco; Bob Chaperon

Top 64
In: -
Out: -

Top 128
In: Mark Rowing; Craig Edwards
Out: Ian Anderson; Clive Everton

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

Esteemed editor and commentator extraordinaire, Mr. Everton sadly departs the playing scene. To be honest, I'm surprised it was this late; do you have a rough idea of when his last professional match was? :chin:

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

SnookerEd25 wrote:Esteemed editor and commentator extraordinaire, Mr. Everton sadly departs the playing scene. To be honest, I'm surprised it was this late; do you have a rough idea of when his last professional match was? :chin:

Not sure. He's still going strong for now, winning the odd frame here and there and dipping in and out of the top 128.
He lost 9-1 to Ian Williamson in the first round of the '88 UK

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Just checked. His first ranking event was the 1982 World Championship.
He's only missed two rankers since then, the 87 and 88 British Opens.

I'll keep an eye out for his last match, for sure.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The first event of 1989 was the Classic. It was held at The Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Classic_(snooker)

And the surprise winner was...

Doug Mountjoy!!
What a run he's having! He moves up two places after this, from 8th to 6th. It should be noted that his opponents this time around were not as high in quality as in the UK, but you can only beat the guys put in front of you.
This time he defeated Dennis Hughes, Nick Terry, Tony Knowles, Paddy Browne, Cliff Thorburn amd Wayne Jones.

There were quite a number of shock results in the competition. Davis and White both lost in the last 64, to Tony Chappel and Wayne Jones respectively. Mike Hallett also lost in the last 64 to Paddy Browne.

QFs:
Mountjoy (8) 5-3 Browne (90)
Thorburn (6) 5-4 Hendry (3)
Thorne (13) 5-4 Martin Clark (22)
Jones (28) 5-4 Parrott (5)

SFs:
Mountjoy (8) 9-5 Thorburn (6)
Jones (28) 9-4 Thorne (13)

Final:
Mountjoy (8) 13-11 Jones (28)

Following the event...

Top 4
Davis
Hendry
White
Thorburn

Top 16
In: Wayne Jones; Martin Clark
Out: Neal Foulds; Danny Fowler

Top 32
In: Alain Robidoux; Steve Duggan; Gary Wilkinson
Out: Jim Wych; Tony Drago; Peter Francisco

Top 64
In: Brian Rowswell; Paddy Browne
Out: Bill Werbeniuk; Tony Meo

Top 128
In: -
Out: -

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1989 European Open took place in Deuville, France.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Euro ... n_(snooker)

I've never been to Deuville, but it sounds like an interesting place. Apparently it's a resort for wealthy Europeans:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deauville
It does seem a slightly odd choice of place to hold a snooker tournament.

As many as 5 players withdrew at the last 64 stage, which was the start of the main event. The withdrawals unfortunately included Steve Davis, Dean Reynolds, John Spencer, Wayne Jones and Eric Lawlor (who had won two matches to qualify).

The favourites to win were probably Doug Mountjoy, who had won the previous two events, Stephen Hendry, and Jimmy White.
Doug's great run came to an abrupt end with a 5-0 reverse at the hands of Cliff Thorburn in the last 16. Hendry lost at the same stage to Mike Hallett. And Jimmy lost his semi-final decider.
Notably, both of the semi-finals and the final all went to deciders.

John Parrott won the competition, beating Terry Griffiths in the final for his maiden ranking event title.

QFs:
Parrott (7) 5-1 Charlton (49)
Hallett (11) 5-3 Wych (36)
Griffiths (5) 5-1 Clark (16)
White (3) 5-3 Thorburn (4)

SFs:
Parrott (7) 5-4 Hallett (11)
Griffiths (5) 5-4 White (3)

Final:
Parrott (7) 9-8 Griffiths (5)

Following the event:

Top 4
Davis
White
Hendry
Griffiths

Top 16
In: -
Out: -

Top 32
In: Jim Wych
Out: Steve Duggan

Top 64
In: Mark Johnston-Allen; Dave Gilbert
Out: Dave Martin; Brian Rowswell

Top 128
In: -
Out: -

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1989 British Open was held at the Assembly Rooms in Derby

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_British_Open

What a season we have had so far in terms of surprises and upsets. In the '89 British Open, Tony Meo, ranked 73rd, beat number 20 Dean Reynolds in the final. No Davis, Hendry or White in sight.
This means we have had 5 different ranking event winners in the 7 tournaments so far this season. Heading into the World Championship, it must be the most open event ever. Who would dare pick a winner?

QFs:
Meo (73) 5-3 P Francisco (47)
Hallett (8) 5-3 Clark (13)
Reynolds (20) 5-4 Johnson (11)
Parrott (6) 5-1 Davis (1)

SFs:
Meo (73) 9-8 Hallett (8)
Reynolds (20) 9-8 Parrott (6)

Final:
Meo (73) 13-6 Reynolds (20)

Following the event:

Top 4
Davis
Hendry
White
Parrott

Top 16
In: Dean Reynolds
Out: Tony Knowles

Top 32
In: Tony Meo
Out: Joe O'Boye

Top 64
In: -
Out: Paul Medati

Top 128
In: -
Out: -

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Here is the top 16 heading into the 1989 World Championship

1 Steve Davis
2 Stephen Hendry
3 Jimmy White
4 John Parrott
5 Terry Griffiths
6 Cliff Thorburn
7 Doug Mountjoy
8 Mike Hallett
9 Joe Johnson
10 Dennis Taylor
11 Willie Thorne
12 Martin Clark
13 Dean Reynolds
14 Wayne Jones
15 Steve James
16 John Virgo

And here is the first round draw:
Steve Davis (1) v Steve Newbury (26)
Cliff Wilson (35) v Steve Duggan (39)
Mike Hallett (8) v Doug Mountjoy (7)
Tony Knowles (17) v David Roe (19)
Terry Griffiths (5) v Bob Chaperon (41)
Silvino Francisco (49) v Joe O'Boye (36)
Willy Thorne (11) v Paddy Browne (61)
Stephen Hendry (2) v Gary Wilkinson (32)
Neal Foulds (21) v Wayne Jones (14)
Peter Francisco (34) v Dean Reynolds (13)
Joe Johnson (9) v Tony Meo (20)
Cliff Thorburn (6) v Eddie Charlton (42)
John Parrott (4) v Steve James (15)
Dennis Taylor (10) v Eugene Hughes (52)
John Virgo (16) v Darren Morgan (78)
Jimmy White (3) v Dene O'Kane (30)

Martin Clark (12) is the only member of the top 16 who hasn't qualified. He lost to Bob Chaperon in the final qualifying round.
There are a number of tasty looking match-ups there. For me, Hallett v Mountjoy, Knowles v Roe, Foulds v Jones and Parrott v James all stand-out.

I'm looking forward to this! Who will win?

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

As a side note, the 1989 World Championship was the first snooker I ever watched. I'd have been 7 at the time.
I remember my parents bought me a snooker table themed set of bedsheets. Each ball on the table was 'signed' by the top players and I was fascinated by names such as Silvino Francisco, John Virgo, John Parrott and Tony Meo.
The focus on the BBC was aimed at Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor. My brother decided to support Davis, while I supported Taylor. I remember being devastated when Dennis was knocked out.
My eighth birthday cake a few months later was a snooker table cake :D

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

This is the best live thread by far at the moment, worthy of a website of its own, i’d say <ok>

Thank you, ChengduFan for your sterling effort :clap:

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1989 World Championship was held at The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Worl ... ampionship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield

World number 1 Steve Davis won the Championship, and that probably doesn't sound surprising. In the context of the season though it perhaps was. Although Steve had won the first two events of the season, he missed out in the subsequent 5 ranking events. In fact, there had been all kinds of shocks and surprises in the events leaing up to this, something that hadn't really happened in the earlier 80s when prizes tended to be shared by an elite few.
People who watched Davis win, and win so emphatically against John Parrott, would probably not have guessed that it was to be his last world final. But perhaps the signs had been there.

This was also a breakthrough event for Darren Morgan. He had shown some promise as a new player on the tour, but this was the first time he had reached the latter stages, making the last 32.
It was also confirmation of a return to form for Tony Meo. A regular member of the top 16 for most of the 80s, Meo had been off his game for quite some time before suddenly winning the British Open from nowhere. His run to the semis in the World Championship saw him rise from 73rd in the rankings only two events ago, back into the top 16 at number 10.

A few interesting names popped up in qualifying that we haven't seen before:
Joe Grech; Mannie Francisco; Sam Frangie; Vladimir Potasznyk

Last 32:
Steve Davis (1) 10-5 Steve Newbury (26)
Cliff Wilson (35) 1-10 Steve Duggan (39)
Mike Hallett (8) 10-7 Doug Mountjoy (7)
Tony Knowles (17) 6-10 David Roe (19)
Terry Griffiths (5) 10-6 Bob Chaperon (41)
Silvino Francisco (49) 10-6 Joe O'Boye (36)
Willy Thorne (11) 10-5 Paddy Browne (61)
Stephen Hendry (2) 10-9 Gary Wilkinson (32)
Neal Foulds (21) 9-10 Wayne Jones (14)
Peter Francisco (34) 7-10 Dean Reynolds (13)
Joe Johnson (9) 5-10 Tony Meo (20)
Cliff Thorburn (6) 9-10 Eddie Charlton (42)
John Parrott (4) 10-9 Steve James (15)
Dennis Taylor (10) 10-3 Eugene Hughes (52)
John Virgo (16) 10-4 Darren Morgan (78)
Jimmy White (3) 10-7 Dene O'Kane (30)

L16:
Davis (1) 13-3 Duggan (39)
Hallett (8) 13-12 Roe (19)
Griffiths (5) 13-9 S Francisco (49)
Hendry (2) 13-4 Thorne (11)
Reynolds (13) 13-3 Jones (14)
Meo (20) 13-8 Charlton (42)
Parrott (4) 13-10 Taylor (10)
White (3) 13-12 Virgo (16)

QFs:
Davis (1) 13-3 Hallett (8)
Hendry (2) 13-5 Griffiths (5)
Meo (20) 13-9 Reynolds (13)
Parrott (4) 13-7 White (3)

SFs:
Davis (1) 16-9 Hendry (2)
Parrott (4) 16-7 Meo (20)

Final:
Davis (1) 18-3 Parrott (4)

Following the event:

Top 4
Davis
Parrott
Hendry
White

Top 16
In: Tony Meo
Out: Steve James

Top 32
In: Steve Duggan; Eddie Charlton
Out: Alex Higgins; Warren King

Top 64
In: Darren Morgan; Brian Rowswell; Ian Graham
Out: Steve Longworth; John Spencer; Graham Cripsey

Top 128
In: Paul Thornley; Joe Grech; Derek Mienie
Out: Pascal Burke; Frank Jonik; David Greaves

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Here is the roll of honour after 48 ranking events:

Steve Davis 20 ('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)
Ray Reardon 5 ('74 WC; '75 WC; '76 WC; '78 WC; '82 PPT)
Jimmy White 4 ('86 Cl; '86 GP; '87 BO; '88 CM)
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)
Stephen Hendry 2 ('87 GP; '88 BO)
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)
John Parrott 1 ('89 EO)
Tony Meo 1 ('89 BO)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

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

John Spencer 30/04/77-28/04/78

Ray Reardon 29/04/78-27/04/79

Terry Griffiths 28/04/79-04/05/80

Alex Higgins 05/05/80-20/04/81

Steve Davis 21/04/81-15/05/82

Ray Reardon 16/05/82-01/05/83

Tony Knowles 02/05/83-08/10/83

Steve Davis 09/10/83-20/10/83

Tony Knowles 21/10/83-14/01/84

Steve Davis 15/01/84-present (01/05/89)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Here are the rankings at the end of the 1988-89 season.

I will divide these into blocks of 32. The numbers in brackets show the rise or fall since the start of the season.

1 (=) Steve Davis 32631
2 (+2) John Parrott 21350
3 (=) Stephen Hendry 20939
4 (-2) Jimmy White 19467
5 (+1) Terry Griffiths 17554
6 (+45) Doug Mountjoy 14980
7 (-2) Cliff Thorburn 14739
8 (+1) Mike Hallett 13327
9 (+19) Dean Reynolds 11187
10 (+50) Tony Meo 10598
11 (+10) Wayne Jones 10181
12 (=) Dennis Taylor 10169
13 (-5) Joe Johnson 10140
14 (-3) Willie Thorne 10091
15 (+25) Martin Clark 9777
16 (=) John Virgo 9656
17 (+8) David Roe 9268
18 (-1) Steve James 8923
19 (-4) Danny Fowler 8009
20 (-10) Tony Knowles 7788
21 (+112) Alain Robidoux 7120
22 (-15) Neal Foulds 7098
23 (+38) Gary Wilkinson 6632
24 (+32) Steve Duggan 6530
25 (-11) Steve Newbury 6505
26 (-13) Dene O'Kane 6458
27 (+9) Barry West 6408
28 (+25) Nigel Gilbert 6407
29 (+1) Jim Wych 6388
30 (-8) Tony Chappel 6267
31 (-5) Eddie Charlton 6043
32 (+5) Mark Bennett 5991

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

33 (-10) Alex Higgins 5922
34 (=) Joe O'Boye 5857
35 (-11) Warren King 5526
36 (+18) Colin Roscoe 5284
37 (+9) Ray Reardon 5111
38 (-20) Peter Francisco 5071
39 (-20) Silvino Francisco 5054
40 (-13) Bob Chaperon 5006
41 (+45) Paddy Browne 4966
42 (+20) Les Dodd 4903
43 (-2) Bill Oliver 4694
44 (+8) Martin Smith 4693
45 (-25) Tony Drago 4686
46 NEW Mark Johnston-Allen 4656
47 (-16) Tommy Murphy 4652
48 (-13) Cliff Wilson 4630
49 NEW Darren Morgan 4621
50 (+20) John Rea 4536
51 (+17) Murdo MacLeod 4431
52 (-9) Tony Jones 4404
53 (-21) Eugene Hughes 4272
54 (-5) Rex Williams 4269
55 (+12) Brian Rowswell 4208
56 (+10) Dave Gilbert 4178
57 (-15) John Campbell 4106
58 (-11) Kirk Stevens 3942
59 (-9) David Taylor 3893
60 (-12) Ray Edmonds 3877
61 (-17) Robby Foldvari 3850
62 (-5) Mario Morra 3784
63 NEW Ian Graham 3740
64 (-26) Jon Wright 3603

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

65 (-11) Dave Martin 3454
66 (-1) Graham Miles 3383
67 (-28) Steve Longworth 3357
68 NEW Nick Terry 3343
69 (-11) Ken Owers 3300
70 (-41) John Spencer 3296
71 (-38) Graham Cripsey 3292
72 NEW Craig Edwards 3212
73 (+5) Jack McLaughlin 3179
74 (-3) Malcolm Bradley 3154
75 (+10) Jim Chambers 3135
76 (-7) Paul Medati 3106
77 (-32) Bill Werbeniuk 3060
78 (+36) Jason Smith 3042
79 (-15) Eddie Sinclair 2960
80 (+7) Glen Wilkinson 2958
81 (+20) Anthony Harris 2874
82 NEW Mick Price 2804
83 NEW Mark Rowing 2722
84 (+23) Terry Whitthread 2654
85 (-22) Jim Bear 2653
86 (-12) Vic Harris 2552
87 (-11) Ian Williamson 2542
88 NEW Tony Wilson 2444
89 NEW Steve Campbell 2385
90 (+32) Robert Marshall 2316
91 (-32) Paul Gibson 2244
92 (-19) Marcel Gauvreau 2214
93 (-10) Matt Gibson 2207
94 (-12) Paul Watchorn 2189
95 (-23) Bob Harris 2157
96 (-19) Fred Davis 2144

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

97 (-3) Eric Lawlor 2022
98 (-9) Mike Darrington 2010
99 (-7) John Dunning 2004
100 (+3) Jack Fitzmaurice 2001
101 (-13) George Scott 1930
102 (-21) Jim Meadowcroft 1894
103 (+1) Pat Houlihan 1891
104 (+12) Francois Ellis 1817
105 (-26) Gino Rigitano 1809
106 (-11) Dessie Sheehan 1763
107 (-27) Mark Wildman 1674
108 (-11) Tony Kearney 1626
109 (+1) Steve Meakin 1584
110 (-26) Jim Donnelly 1385
111 (-21) Billy Kelly 1365
112 (-19) Geoff Foulds 1318
113 (+4) Mike Watterson 1314
114 (-39) Jimmy van Rensberg 1296
115 (-17) Bernie Mikkelsen 1285
116 (-17) Roger Bales 1253
117 (-26) Mick Fisher 1203
118 (-22) Robbie Grace 1198
119 (-11) Dennis Hughes 1177
120 (-14) Ian Black 1039
121 (-21) Greg Jenkins 1032
122 (-9) Patsy Fagan 981
123 (-11) Jim Rempe 902
124 (-6) Paul Thornley 891
125 (-20) Jackie Rea 768
126 (-17) Dave Chalmers 763
127 NEW Joe Grech 740
128 (-5) Derek Mienie 648

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Sometimes the qualifiers and main event are split by another main event, or the qualifiers are months ahead of the latter stages.
This has an effect on the rankings, with the points from qualifying separated from the main event points.

It will cause a bit of a headache for me in the early 90s, when the qualifying for most events takes place in the summer, especially when players miss some events. It's manageable though.

Looking at the calendar for the 89-90 season though, it frankly looks bizarrely scheduled, so I'm slightly concerned that cuetracker has the dates wrong.
Does anyone have another source for the schedule, including qualifying dates?

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

I'm also wondering if anyone would like to volunteer to be a regular contributor to this thread?
I would love it if someone could write up a season summary at the end of each season. Is anyone interested?

And if there's another way someone would like to add a regular feature, please feel free to do so. Let me know and I'll pause to wait for the regular insert before my next event or end of season post.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

chengdufan wrote:Sometimes the qualifiers and main event are split by another main event, or the qualifiers are months ahead of the latter stages.
This has an effect on the rankings, with the points from qualifying separated from the main event points.

It will cause a bit of a headache for me in the early 90s, when the qualifying for most events takes place in the summer, especially when players miss some events. It's manageable though.

Looking at the calendar for the 89-90 season though, it frankly looks bizarrely scheduled, so I'm slightly concerned that cuetracker has the dates wrong.
Does anyone have another source for the schedule, including qualifying dates?


Wasn't it around this time that ALL qualifying rounds were thrashed out in the summer months at the one venue (possibly Prestatyn, or Blackpool). Basically, players would base themselves there for a 6-8wk period and set about qualifying for as many final stages as possible. If you didn't manage to make it to any, you would then have 10 months to twiddle your thumbs or get another job to tide you over. If you qualified for only the WC for example, you would then have eight months without any competitive action!

Hendon has told several anecdotes about these days on his Podcast.