Post a reply

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

All I will say chaps is - never go into politics!

(but both your efforts are better served on your current projects here, and they are appreciated by others <ok>)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1993-94 season was split in half. The qualifiers for the first 5 ranking events were held in the summer of 93, while the qualifying matches for the remaining four events of the season took place in January 94.

29 players played in a last 128 match for the first time during the first set of qualifiers, including Gerard Greene, Ian McCulloch, Mike Dunn and Matthew Couch. Following the conclusion of the first ranking event of the season, the Dubai Classic, only one of the 29 won enough points to break into the top 128 in the rankings. That was Thai player Noppadon Noppachorn.
There were some good names among the 29, including Garry Baldrey (parents obviously fans of Italian history), Mario Fernandez (related to Leo I wonder?), Joe Canny and Eddie Lott.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1993 Dubai Classic - Al Nasr Stadium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Dubai_Classic

The top-16 are seeded through to the venue in all the ranking events this season. For overseas events such as this Dubai Classic, the rounds from the last 32 are played at the venue.

Stephen Hendry continued the form he showed in the recent World Championship, beating Steve Davis 9-3 in the final. This included an 8-1 run to start the match. Davis' frame was one of only 6 won against Hendry in the 5 matches he played. Aside from the 3 won by Davis, the other 3 frames were won by young up-and-coming players. 2 by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-final, and 1 by Mark Davis in the last 16. Hendry whitewashed Anthony Hamilton and a resurgent Jonathan Birch.

Jimmy White lost to Peter Ebdon in the last 16, and subsequently loses the number one spot in the rankings, which goes back to Hendry.
The other top 4 player, John Parrott, lost to Andy Hicks at the same stage. Hicks now moves into the top16.

QFs:
Stephen Hendry (2) 5-0 Jonathan Birch (63)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (23) 5-2 Peter Ebdon (13)
Steve Davis (3) 5-4 Ken Doherty (7)
Alan McManus (5) 5-3 Andy Hicks (36)

SFs:
Hendry (2) 6-2 O'Sullivan (23)
Davis (3) 6-3 McManus (5)

Final:
Hendry (2) 9-3 Davis (3)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 26919
2. Jimmy White 23775
3. Steve Davis 18615
4. Alan McManus 18119

Player watch
140. Gerard Greene 760
194. Robin Hull 296

Top 16
In: Ronnie O'Sullivan; Andy Hicks
Out: Neal Foulds; Mick Price

Top 32
In: Stephen Lee; Anthony Hamilton; Billy Snaddon
Out: Alain Robidoux; Tony Jones; Tony Knowles

Top 64
In: John Higgins; Mark Williams; Mark Davis; Fergal O'Brien; Stephen O'Connor; Paul McPhillips; Paul Tanner
Out: Tony Meo; Stephen Murphy; Les Dodd; Cliff Thorburn; Rod Lawler; Ian Graham; Warren King

Top 128
In: Terry Murphy; Mark Flowerdew; Chris Scanlon; Darryn Walker; Lee Richardson; Dylan Leary; Steve Meakin; Jamie Burnett; Yasin Merchant; Mark King; Nick Walker; Noppadon Noppachorn
Out: Pat Kenny; Jason Whittaker; Jon Wright; Robby Foldvari; Ian Brumby; Bob Harris; Anthony Harris; Robert Marshall; Murdo MacLeod; Paddy Browne; Colin Roscoe; Ray Edmonds

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

rekoons wrote:Wow, Ronnie really went up the rankings fast!


He was too good not too, to be honest. Isn't there some amazing stat that, because all the tournament qualifying rounds happened together, he won his opening thirty-something matches as a pro' and qualified for most (if not all) of the final stages of the ranking events.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

OK, I did the maths.

In his first season he won 76 of 78 qualifying matches including a record 38 consecutive. That meant he qualified for the venue stages of six of the eight ranking events.

The two he missed out on were the Dubai Classic (he lost to Dave Finbow) and the British Open (lost to Sean Storey).

His stats for that first season (all competitions) were :

Matches played : 112
Won : 94
Drew : 3*
Lost : 15

Frames Won : 553
Frames Lost : 238

*(because he turned pro under Barry Hearn, he was included in that season's Matchroom League - forerunner of the championship League. He drew 4-4 with Steve Davis, Peter Ebdon and Jimmy White)

Even given his natural ability, this is still a mighty achievement for any first year pro', let alone a teenager given all the adjustments he would have had to make.

Clearly the GOAT

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1993 Grand Prix - The Hexagon, Reading
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Grand_Prix_(snooker)

We had a couple of relatively surprise finalists in this event, as none of the established top-6 made it that far. Ken Doherty, who has been way behind the top 6 and way ahead of the rest for a while, played against a young Peter Ebdon, who had been comfortably in the top 16 for some time without really challenging for titles.
Peter Ebdon took his first lead of the final in the ninth frame before going on to victory, winning 9-6.

Ebdon and Doherty had taken care of the top three in the rankings earlier in the tournament. Ebdon beat Hendry in the last 32, while Doherty beat both White (L16) and Davis (SF).
4th ranked Alan McManus lost to Martin Clark in the last 16.

Stephen Lee had a breakthrough at this event, beating the likes of Foulds and Drago on his way to the quarter-finals.

QFs:
Ken Doherty (7) 5-4 Tony Knowles (36)
Steve Davis (3) 5-0 Stephen Lee (23)
John Parrott (6) 5-4 Martin Clark (26)
Peter Ebdon (12) 5-4 Gary Wilkinson (20)

SFs:
Doherty (7) 9-4 Davis (3)
Ebdon (12) 9-5 Parrott (6)

Final:
Ebdon (12) 9-6 Doherty (7)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 25709
2. Jimmy White 23204
3. Steve Davis 18619
4. Alan McManus 17569

Player watch
105. Gerard Greene 1276
166. Robin Hull 504

Top 16
In: Gary Wilkinson
Out: Andy Hicks

Top 32
In: John Higgins; Alain Robidoux; Tony Knowles
Out: Paul Davies; Mark Bennett; Billy Snaddon

Top 64
In: Karl Broughton
Out: Cliff Wilson

Top 128
In: Gerard Greene; Robby Foldvari; Ken Owers; Roger Garrett; Marcus Campbell
Out: Paul Gibson; Jason Smith; Peter Lines; Nick Walker; Noppadon Noppachorn

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1993 UK Championship - Guild Hall, Preston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_UK_Championship

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the championship at the age of 17, becoming the youngest winner of a ranking event.
He did it the hard way too, beating top-16 players Alan McManus (4), Ken Doherty (7), Steve Davis (3), and Darren Morgan (12), before facing number 1, Stephen Hendry, in the final.
Hendry had been in scintillating form, knocking in 9 century breaks on his way to the final. He hadn't had an easy route either, having to overcome James Wattana (6) and John Parrott (5) along the way.

L16
Darren Morgan (12) 9-7 Jimmy White (2)
Terry Griffiths (14) 9-6 Dean Reynolds (45)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (9) 9-5 Ken Doherty (7)
Steve Davis (3) 9-3 Tony Drago (24)
John Parrott (5) 9-3 David Roe (22)
Nigel Bond (10) 9-6 Drew Henry (44)
James Wattana (6) 9-2 Tony Jones (37)
Stephen Hendry (1) 9-5 Martin Clark (19)

QFs
Morgan (12) 9-5 Griffiths (14)
O'Sullivan (9) 9-6 Davis (3)
Parrott (5) 9-5 Bond (10)
Hendry (1) 9-7 Wattana (6)

SFs
O'Sullivan (9) 9-5 Morgan (12)
Hendry (1) 9-3 Parrott (5)

Final
O'Sullivan (9) 10-6 Hendry (1)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 26373
2. Jimmy White 21820
3. Steve Davis 20224
4. John Parrott 17775

Top 16
In: Martin Clark; Andy Hicks
Out: Gary Wilkinson; Steve James

Top 32
In: Tony Jones; Drew Henry
Out: Alain Robidoux; Tony Knowles

Top 64
In: Terry Murphy; Cliff Wilson; Nigel Gilbert; Rod Lawler
Out: Nick Dyson; Paul Tanner; Bob Chaperon; Chris Small

Top 128 - no change

Player watache
103. Gerard Greene 1276
167. Robin Hull 504

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

The 1993-94 season European Open was held at Arenahal in Antwerp.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Euro ... (1993/1994)

The event was sponsored by Dutch language Belgian weekly tabloid 'Humo'.

There was a cracking line-up of players on display for the crowd, with almost all the top players reaching the latter stages. It must be said though that the majority of the matches at the venue were fairly one-sided, with only 3 of them going to a deciding frame (O'Sullivan, Parrott and Morgan's wins over Thorne, Hamilton and Williams in the L32).

The final was a repeat of the UK Championship final from three weeks earlier. This time though, Stephen Hendry gained revenge, winning the match 9-5 from 5-4 down.

John Higgins was the only player from outside the top 8 to reach the quarter finals. Doherty (7) lost to O'Sullivan in the L16.

QFs
Ronnie O'Sullivan (8) 5-3 Steve Davis (3)
Jimmy White (2) 5-2 John Higgins (32)
John Parrott (4) 5-3 Alan McManus (6)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-2 James Wattana (5)

SFs:
O'Sullivan (8) 6-3 White (2)
Hendry (1) 6-1 Parrott (4)

Final:
Hendry (1) 9-5 O'Sullivan (8)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 28013
2. Jimmy White 20694
3. Steve Davis 20102
4. John Parrott 16537

Top 16
In: Dave Harold
Out: Andy Hicks

Top 32 - no change

Top 64
In: Craig Edwards; Nick Dyson; Troy Shaw
Out: Eddie Charlton; Rod Lawler; Cliff Wilson

Top 128
In: Noppadon Noppachorn; Paul Gibson
Out: Bill Oliver; John Rea

Player watch
103. Gerard Greene 1276
166. Robin Hull 504

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

D4P wrote:What was Ronnie's ranking after the 93 UK? On that note, I enjoyed seeing the running update on the Class of 92 after each event...


Co92
Following the 1993 Dubai Classic:
9. O'Sullivan 8453
35. Higgins 4076
40. Williams 3705

After 1993 Grand Prix:
9. O'Sullivan 8378
29. Higgins 4690
36. Williams 4061

After the 1993 UK Championship
8. O'Sullivan 13487
32. Higgins 4690
42. Williams 4061

After the 93-94 season European Open
7. O'Sullivan 15844
22. Higgins 5638
38. Williams 4101

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

There have been huge changes in the makeup of the players on tour since the open format was introduced for the 91-92 season.
20 new players were among the top 128 at the end of 91-92, and a further 23 players made the 128 at the end of the 92-93 season. Let's have a recap. I'll list them in the order they finished the season in the rankings (highest ranked first), along with their year of birth.

91-92 new players:
Peter Ebdon (b.1970)
Andy Hicks (b.1973)
Joe Swail (b.1969)
Paul Davies (b.1970)
Anthony Hamilton (b.1971)
Chris Small (b.1973)
Drew Henry (b.1968)
Stuart Reardon (b.1969)
Peter Lines (b.1969)
Billy Snaddon (b.1969)
Anthony Davies (b.1969)
David McDonnell (b.1971)
Jamie Woodman (b.1971)
Dave Finbow (b.1968)
John Read (b.1969)
Paul McPhillips (b.1971)
Shaun Mellish (b.1970)
Bradley Jones (b.1974)
Peter Daubney (b.1968)
Euan Henderson (b.1967)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

92-93 new players

Ronnie O'Sullivan (b.1975)
Dave Harold (b.1966)
Stephen Lee (b.1974)
Mark Williams (b.1975)
John Higgins (b.1975)
Troy Shaw (b.1969)
Mark Davis (b.1972)
Fergal O'Brien (b.1972)
Stephen O'Connor (b.1972)
Karl Broughton (b.1971)
Karl Payne (b.1970)
Shokat Ali (b.1970)
John Giles (b.1969)
Darren Clarke (b.1970)
Spencer Dunn (b.1969)
Nick Fruin (b.1970)
Jimmy Michie (b.1971)
Scott MacFarlane (b.1970)
Jason Weston (b.1971)
Sean Lanigan (b.1967)
Pat Kenny (b.1971)
Stefan Mazrocis (b.1967)
Sean Storey (b.1971)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby LDS

chengdufan wrote:QFs
Ronnie O'Sullivan (8) 5-3 Steve Davis (3)
Jimmy White (2) 5-2 John Higgins (32)
John Parrott (4) 5-3 Alan McManus (6)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-2 James Wattana (5)



I remember reading on here a few days ago someone saying how the early 2000s was the toughest period in snooker history with regards the the level of quality players someone would need to plough through to win any event. When I read that I thought, sure, you certainly have a good case to make there...but...

And then when you posted this it kinda confirmed what I was thinking. That I think the toughest time ever to be a journeyman snooker pro looking to make some headway in random tournaments it really should be the season you're highlighting at the moment.

This one specific season might not make an era, but taken by itself, it surely must be the toughest year ever.

Davis is still a peak-level player, a destroyer of the highest order, not yet gone off the boil.
White is on full peak, even claiming number 1 spot above peak Hendry in phases.
Parrott is still on the tail end of his peak.
McManus is an ever present wall of near perfection.
Hendry is already the new Davis and considered stronger in every department, total peaking.
O'Sullivan already a big name and big threat after just a few tv appearances.
Watana and Doherty cleaning up any remaining players who managed to squeak past the early rounds.
And this is before you realise there's people like Ebdon and Bond lurking in the shadows.

Its no surprise people like Gary Wilkinson seemed to vanish over night. Why the old guard of Griffiths & co suddenly stopped being regularly seen on tele.

Griffiths in 1991/1992 - 2 QF 3 SF, one of the SFs even being the worlds & just 2 seasons later in 93/94 he was lucky to get one solitary QF... in the European Open.

Wilkinson in 1992/1993 - 3 QF, 1 SF, 1 F, and one of the QFs was The Masters, just one season later in 93/94 he was lucky to get one QF in the Grad Prix.

This particular year wasn't immense because it was the beginning of a new era, it was immense because it combined the effective peak of three eras, that of the early 80s, the late 80s and the early 90s. And I don't think any other year can claim to have just soooo much talent peaking at exactly the same time. It must have been horrifying for David Roe, getting to rank 16 and then, no matter where he looked, round 2 was going to be a pants-shitting draw.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1994 Welsh Open - Newport Leisure Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Welsh_Open_(snooker)

From the round of 64 on, The Welsh Open was played after the qualifying matches for the 4 other remaining tournaments in the season.

Steve Davis took the crown, beating Alan McManus in the final. McManus had earlier taken care of favourite Stephen Hendry in the quarters, while Jimmy White lost to James Wattana at the same stage.

Paul McPhillips had a noteworthy run, reaching the last 16 after beating Dean Reynolds and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

O'Sullivan, despite being knocked out in the last 32, moves up to 4th in the rankings. This is largely due to his strong performances in qualifying for the venue stages of 3 of the remaining events of the season, including the World Championship.

QFs
Steve Davis (3) 5-0 David Roe (17)
James Wattana (5) 5-3 Jimmy White (2)
Alan McManus (6) 5-4 Stephen Hendry (1)
Peter Ebdon (9) 5-4 Dave Harold (16)

SFs
Davis (3) 6-1 Wattana (5)
McManus (6) 6-2 Ebdon (9)

Final
Davis (3) 9-6 McManus (6)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 28503
2. Steve Davis 21774
3. Jimmy White 21626
4. Ronnie O'Sullivan 18544

Top 16
In: Andy Hicks; Fergal O'Brien
Out: Willie Thorne; Martin Clark

Top 32
In: Drew Henry; Billy Snaddon; Tony Knowles; Brian Morgan
Out: Dene O'Kane; Mike Hallett; Mick Price; Neal Foulds

Top 64
In: Cliff Thorburn; Les Dodd; Alex Higgins; Anthony Davies; Rod Lawler
Out: Terry Murphy; Silvino Francisco; Eddie Charlton; Shaun Mellish; Darren Clarke

Top 128
In: Surinder Gill; Matthew Couch; Dominic Dale; Gary Ponting; Colin Morton; Ian Brumby; Jim Chambers
Out: John Virgo; Dylan Leary; Robby Foldvari; Franky Chan; Marcus Campbell; Barry West; Tony Wilson

Co92
17. Stephen Lee 7346
23. John Higgins 6530
33. Mark Williams 5411

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1994 International Open - Bournemouth International Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_International_Open

John Parrott had a return to glory in Bournemouth, having steadily been slipping down the rankings prior to this. He beat James Wattana in the final. The final began as a close affair, at one stage being 5-5. Parrott rattled off the next four frames though for victory.

It was another event in which the quarter-finals were made up solely of the top players. The only relatively unfamiliar name being 14th ranked Joe Swail.
Neal Foulds' appearance was notable, as he had been dropping down the rankings of late. His only tough opponent in reaching the quarters had been Terry Griffiths though, who he defeated in a deciding frame.

The biggest surprise was probably Alan McManus thrashing Stephen Hendry 5-0 in their quarter-final. He stole the first frame after Hendry had made a 52 break, and then knocked in 3 50+ breaks himself in winning the next 4 frames.

QFs:
Alan McManus (5) 5-0 Stephen Hendry (1)
James Wattana (6) 5-4 Steve Davis (2)
Jimmy White (3) 5-2 Neal Foulds (40)
John Parrott (7) 5-4 Joe Swail (14)

SFs:
Wattana (6) 6-3 McManus (5)
Parrott (7) 6-4 White (3)

Final:
Parrott (7) 9-5 Wattana (6)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 28428
2. Jimmy White 22968
3. Steve Davis 22516
4. James Wattana 19290

Co92
7. Ronnie O'Sullivan 18492
18. Stephen Lee 7346
26. John Higgins 6530
37. Mark Williams 5411

Top 16
In: David Roe
Out: Fergal O'Brien

Top 32
In: Dene O'Kane; Mick Price
Out: Tony Jones; Brian Morgan

Top 64 - no change

Top 128
In: Robby Foldvari
Out: Roger Garrett

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1994 Thailand Open - Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, Bangkok
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Thailand_Open

James Wattana won his second ranking title, this time in his home country. He had a monster run to the final, beating O'Sullivan 5-0, and Griffiths, Swail and White 5-1.
In the final, he raced to a 7-2 lead over Steve Davis with 3 centuries in the first 9 frames, including a 142. Davis made a comeback, but it wasn't enough to avoid a 9-7 reverse.

This event was the first ranking event to feature wild cards, with three Thais and one Chinese player featuring. 3 of the Wild Cards won their opening match, and there was a big shock in the subsequent round of 32 as Tai Pichit beat Stephen Hendry 5-2. In that match, Pichit had gone 4-0 up at the interval, with breaks of 62, 53 and 84.
Pichit sadly lost his next match narrowly 5-4 to Darren Morgan.

QFs:
James Wattana (4) 5-1 Joe Swail (13)
Jimmy White (2) 5-3 Tony Drago (21)
Steve Davis (3) 5-4 Peter Ebdon (9)
Alan McManus (6) 5-4 Darren Morgan (10)

SFs:
Wattana (4) 5-1 White (2)
Davis (3) 5-4 McManus (6)

Final:
Wattana (4) 9-7 Davis (3)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 26993
2. Steve Davis 22696
3. Jimmy White 22666
4. Alan McManus 20384

Co92 Watch
7. Ronnie O'Sullivan 18312
20. Stephen Lee 7023
26. John Higgins 6192
37. Mark Williams 5340

Top 16
In: Fergal O'Brien
Out: David Roe

Top 32
In: Neal Foulds
Out: Mick Price

Top 64
In: Mark King; Stephen Murphy
Out: Mark Johnston-Allen; Joe Johnson

Top 128
In: Roger Garrett; Mark O'Sullivan
Out: Jim Chambers; Warren King

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1984 British Open - Plymouth Pavilions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_British_Open

Just over a week before the 1994 World Championship, Ronnie O'Sullivan won his second ranking event. He beat Thorne, Doherty, Bond and Hendry on an impressive run to the final, before dispatching a peak James Wattana 9-4 in the final.

The only major surprise result against one of the top players was Tony Drago beating Jimmy White 5-2 in the last 16.
There were a few good runs though from lesser known players that are worth mentioning. We saw the likes of Darryn Walker, Dominic Dale, And Antony Bolsover making it to the last 32. Meanwhile, Yasin Merchant, Anton Bishop, Jamie Bodle and David Rippon beat the odds to reach the last 64 and play at the venue.

QFs:
Steve Davis (2) 5-0 Doug Mountjoy (45)
James Wattana (5) 5-0 Tony Drago (17)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (7) 5-0 Nigel Bond (13)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-4 Alan McManus (4)

SFs:
Wattana (5) 6-4 Davis (2)
O'Sullivan (7) 6-2 Hendry (1)

Final:
O'Sullivan (7) 9-4 Wattana (5)

Following the event...
Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 28150
2. Steve Davis 24147
3. James Wattana 22236
4. Jimmy White 22205

Co92 Watch
6. Ronnie O'Sullivan 19928
26. John Higgins 5928
27. Stephen Lee 5852
40. Mark Williams 4612

Top 16
In: Tony Drago
Out: Fergal O'Brien

Top 32
In: Tony Jones
Out: Billy Snaddon

Top 64
In: Joe Johnson
Out: Karl Broughton

Top 128
In: Antony Bolsover; Stuart Pettman; Adrian Rosa; Jim Chambers; Tai Pichit
Out: John Giles; Roger Garrett; Brady Gollan; Spencer Dunn; John Campbell

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

This really was Wattana’s peak - three Ranking finals in a row is no mean feat, & I must confess I don’t remember this achievement from the time, but given the tournaments were disappearing from terrestrial screens and I didn’t flirt with Sky until 1999, perhaps not that much of a surprise...

Nice little north-of-the-border rivalry developing between Hendry & McManus too <ok>

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Wattana must surely be one of the favourites for the upcoming World Championship, though I note he has drawn Ebdon in the first round, which is sure to be a tough match.
Hendry looks to have an easier route, to the semis at least. He has Surinder Gill in the first round. Harold or Roe in the last 16, neither of whom will be easy, but Hendry will be the heavy favourite. Then Bond, or possibly Griffiths in the quarters.

Ronnie has Dennis Taylor up first, who he should beat. But probably Parrott after that which could go either way.

I'll publish the full draw tomorrow, where we can also see the matchups for the other contenders, White, Davis, McManus (and possibly Doherty).

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Here is the top 16 going into the 1994 World Championship:

1 Stephen Hendry 28150
2 Steve Davis 24147
3 James Wattana 22236
4 Jimmy White 22205
5 Alan McManus 21294
6 Ronnie O'Sullivan 19928
7 John Parrott 18744
8 Ken Doherty 15187
9 Peter Ebdon 13561
10 Darren Morgan 11686
11 Nigel Bond 9631
12 Dave Harold 9261
13 Joe Swail 8593
14 Terry Griffiths 8246
15 Andy Hicks 8209
16 Tony Drago 8151

And here is the draw for the first round. Seeds on the left, our rankings in brackets:
Stephen Hendry (1) v Surinder Gill (82)
David Roe (17) v Dave Harold (12)
Nigel Bond (11) v Cliff Thorburn (43)
Terry Griffiths (14) v Mark Davis (42)
James Wattana (3) v Peter Ebdon (9) (Pretty brutal first round draw there)
Martin Clark (22) v Brian Morgan (37)
Steve James (18) v Les Dodd (48)
Steve Davis (2) v Dene O'Kane (25)
Jimmy White (4) v Billy Snaddon (36)
Neal Foulds (28) v Anthony Davies (46)
Ken Doherty (8) v Alex Higgins (52)
Alan McManus (5) v Fergal O'Brien (21)
Willie Thorne (19) v Gary Ponting (91)
Darren Morgan (10) v Mark King (62)
Dennis Taylor (29) v Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
John Parrott (7) v Drew Henry (31)

3 top 16 players did not qualify, Swail, Hicks and Drago (rankings in brackets are the rankings at the time of the qualifying tournament, held in January):
L48 Joe Swail (13) 4-10 Billy Snaddon (42)
L64 Andy Hicks (18) 8-10 Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)
L48 Tony Drago (22) 5-10 Cliff Thorburn (81)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Let's have a look at the ages of the players who have qualified for the 1994 World Championship. Ages are at the time of the opening match of the tournament, on the 16th of April:

Stephen Hendry (25) v Surinder Gill (26)
David Roe (28) v Dave Harold (27)
Nigel Bond (28) v Cliff Thorburn (46)
Terry Griffiths (46) v Mark Davis (21)
James Wattana (24) v Peter Ebdon (23)
Martin Clark (25) v Brian Morgan (25)
Steve James (32) v Les Dodd (40)
Steve Davis (36) v Dene O'Kane (31)
Jimmy White (31) v Billy Snaddon (24)
Neal Foulds (30) v Anthony Davies (24)
Ken Doherty (24) v Alex Higgins (45)
Alan McManus (23) v Fergal O'Brien (22)
Willie Thorne (40) v Gary Ponting (19)
Darren Morgan (27) v Mark King (20)
Dennis Taylor (45) v Ronnie O'Sullivan (18)
John Parrott (29) v Drew Henry (25)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

1994 World Championship - The Crucible, Sheffield
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Worl ... ampionship

Stephen Hendry won his fourth World Championship. It was heartbreak for Jimmy White, who lost the deciding frame in the final. Hendry raced into a 5-1 lead, but was pegged back to 5-5. The remainder of the match was close throughout.

Spare a thought too for James Wattana and Alan McManus, who both must have thought they had a good chance of taking the title for the first time. McManus lost to Doherty in the last 16, while Wattana fell to Steve Davis in the quarters.

L32:
Stephen Hendry (1) 10-1 Surinder Gill (82)
David Roe (17) 8-10 Dave Harold (12)
Nigel Bond (11) 10-9 Cliff Thorburn (43)
Terry Griffiths (14) 10-7 Mark Davis (42)
James Wattana (3) 10-6 Peter Ebdon (9)
Martin Clark (22) 9-10 Brian Morgan (37)
Steve James (18) 10-9 Les Dodd (48)
Steve Davis (2) 10-3 Dene O'Kane (25)
Jimmy White (4) 10-6 Billy Snaddon (36)
Neal Foulds (28) 10-7 Anthony Davies (46)
Ken Doherty (8) 10-6 Alex Higgins (52)
Alan McManus (5) 10-7 Fergal O'Brien (21)
Willie Thorne (19) 10-2 Gary Ponting (91)
Darren Morgan (10) 10-5 Mark King (62)
Dennis Taylor (29) 6-10 Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
John Parrott (7) 10-9 Drew Henry (31)

L16:
Hendry 13-2 Harold
Bond 13-8 Griffiths
Wattana 13-9 B Morgan
Davis 13-3 James
White 13-10 Foulds
Doherty 13-11 McManus
D Morgan 13-12 Thorne
Parrott 13-3 O'Sullivan

QFs:
Hendry 13-8 Bond
Davis 13-9 Wattana
White 13-10 Doherty
D Morgan 13-11 Parrott

SFs:
Hendry 16-9 Davis
White 16-8 Morgan

Final:
Hendry 18-17 White

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 32606
2. Jimmy White 26952
3. Steve Davis 26129
4. James Wattana 24119

Co92 (the end of their second season)
6. Ronnie 20219
31. John 5537
42. Mark 4458

Top 16 - no change

Top 32
In: Brian Morgan
Out: Tony Jones

Top 64 - no change

Top 128
In: John Giles
Out: Scott MacFarlane
Last edited by chengdufan on 22 Nov 2020, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

To the end of the 93-94 season, 94 ranking events have been played. Here is the roll of honour:

Steve Davis 27 ('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; '93 EO(1); '93 BO; '94 WO)
Stephen Hendry 19 ('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; '93 IO; '93 WC; '93 DC; '93 EO(2); '94 WC)
Jimmy White 9 ('86 Cl; '86 GP; '87 BO; '88 CM; '91 Cl; '92 BO; '92 EO; '92 GP; '92 UK)
John Parrott 7 ('89 EO; '90 EO; '91 WC; '91 DC; '91 UK; '92 DC; '94 IO)
Ray Reardon 5 ('74 WC; '75 WC; '76 WC; '78 WC; '82 PPT)
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)
James Wattana 2 ('92 SO; '94 TO)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 2 ('93 UK; '94 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)
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)
Ken Doherty 1 ('93 WO)
Dave Harold 1 ('93 AO)
Peter Ebdon 1 ('93 GP)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby badtemperedcyril

chengdufan wrote:Spare a thought too for James Wattana and Alan McManus, who both must have thought they had a good chance of taking the title for the first time. Wattana lost to Doherty in the last 16, while McManus fell to Steve Davis in the quarters.
Other way round

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

Here are the rankings at the end of the 93-94 season:

1 +1 Stephen Hendry 32606
2 -1 Jimmy White 26952
3 = Steve Davis 26129
4 +2 James Wattana 24119
5 = Alan McManus 21224
6 +17 Ronnie O'Sullivan 20219
7 -3 John Parrott 19922
8 -1 Ken Doherty 15446
9 = Darren Morgan 14851
10 +3 Peter Ebdon 12517
11 -3 Nigel Bond 11333
12 +12 Dave Harold 9609
13 -2 Terry Griffiths 8508
14 -2 Joe Swail 8420
15 +6 Tony Drago 8089
16 +23 Andy Hicks 7786
17 -7 Willie Thorne 7701
18 -2 David Roe 7411
19 -5 Steve James 7267
20 +55 Fergal O'Brien 7151
21 -6 Neal Foulds 6929
22 -2 Martin Clark 6409
23 +22 Drew Henry 6229
24 +16 Brian Morgan 6192
25 -6 Gary Wilkinson 6103
26 +1 Dene O'Kane 6094
27 -9 Dennis Taylor 6026
28 +10 Anthony Hamilton 5869
29 -7 Jason Ferguson 5669
30 +18 Stephen Lee 5579
31 +36 John Higgins 5537
32 = Tony Knowles 5442
33 +4 Billy Snaddon 5289
34 +1 Dean Reynolds 5090
35 -6 Tony Jones 5022
36 -11 Mike Hallett 4969
37 -9 Alain Robidoux 4943
38 +32 Mark Davis 4754
39 +8 Cliff Thorburn 4608
40 -4 Doug Mountjoy 4534
41 -24 Mick Price 4518
42 +22 Mark Williams 4458
43 +3 Nick Terry 4368
44 +49 Anthony Davies 3966
45 +23 Alex Higgins 3868
46 +8 Les Dodd 3861
47 +5 Dave Finbow 3800
48 -22 Mark Bennett 3628
49 +116 Mark King 3470
50 +1 Rod Lawler 3440
51 +26 Stephen O'Connor 3387
52 +13 Nigel Gilbert 3365
53 +2 Peter Francisco 3323
54 -12 Jason Prince 3223
55 +1 Wayne Jones 3141
56 +17 Paul McPhillips 3093
57 -24 Jim Wych 3077
58 +1 Tony Chappel 3052
59 -2 Stephen Murphy 2961
60 -10 Danny Fowler 2905
61 -27 Joe Johnson 2904
62 -32 Paul Davies 2899
63 -3 Jonathan Birch 2886
64 +105 Mark Flowerdew 2831
65 -4 Chris Small 2706
66 -35 Mark Johnston-Allen 2683
67 +50 Stefan Mazrocis 2592
68 +8 Steve Newbury 2581
69 +20 Craig Edwards 2566
70 +77 Terry Murphy 2527
71 +38 Jimmy Michie 2431
72 +10 Karl Broughton 2424
73 +23 Brian Rowswell 2413
74 +66 Darryn Walker 2396
75 -17 Tony Meo 2322
76 +18 Joe Grech 2263
77 -24 Cliff Wilson 2258
78 +45 Dominic Dale 2249
79 +34 Sean Lanigan 2199
80 +96 Surinder Gill 2122
81 -38 Silvino Francisco 2115
82 +105 Jamie Burnett 2114
83 -2 Karl Payne 1981
84 NEW Gary Ponting 1980
85 -23 Ian Graham 1979
86 +32 Sean Storey 1976
87 +74 Steve Judd 1943
88 +15 Darren Clarke 1941
89 -45 Eddie Charlton 1903
90 +1 David McDonnell 1863
91 NEW Matthew Couch 1842
92 -51 Shaun Mellish 1807
93 -44 Bob Chaperon 1802
94 -22 Troy Shaw 1703
95 -12 Andrew Cairns 1665
96 NEW Noppadon Noppachorn 1642
97 -12 Mark Rowing 1626
98 -32 Nick Dyson 1621
99 -2 Shokat Ali 1578
100 +22 Ian Brumby 1553
101 -22 Eugene Hughes 1485
102 NEW Gerard Greene 1449
103 -40 Paul Tanner 1437
104 -17 Jamie Woodman 1405
105 +43 Yasin Merchant 1383
106 +83 Chris Scanlon 1379
107 -29 Jack McLaughlin 1357
108 +76 Antony Bolsover 1355
109 +7 Jason Weston 1327
110 -2 Nick Fruin 1322
111 -19 David Taylor 1316
112 +26 Steve Meakin 1308
113 -39 John Read 1229
114 = Peter Daubney 1214
115 +31 Colin Morton 1199
116 +118 Mark O'Sullivan 1122
117 -18 Steve Campbell 1112
118 +133 Nick Walker 1097
119 +136 Lee Richardson 1080
120 +75 Adrian Rosa 1040
121 -15 Steve Duggan 1033
122 +10 Ken Owers 1022
123 -43 Kirk Stevens 1014
124 +10 Jim Chambers 1001
125 +3 Robby Foldvari 984
126 NEW Tai Pichit 984
127 -25 John Giles 976
128 NEW Stuart Pettman 973
Last edited by chengdufan on 23 Nov 2020, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby chengdufan

badtemperedcyril wrote:
chengdufan wrote:Spare a thought too for James Wattana and Alan McManus, who both must have thought they had a good chance of taking the title for the first time. Wattana lost to Doherty in the last 16, while McManus fell to Steve Davis in the quarters.
Other way round

Yes, just seeing if anyone was paying attention.
ahem, cough cough :john:




Thank you :-)

Re: Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Postby SnookerEd25

On a sad note, also leaving the tour at the end of this season was Cliff Wilson.

Despite still holding a Chengdu World Ranking of 77, the great man passed away a few weeks after the conclusion of the World Championships on 21st May 1994 at the age of 60.

Rest in peace Big Man, and thanks for the memories. <ok>