Rankings revisit - a trip through history

2000 Scottish Open - Aberdeen Exhibition Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Scot ... n_(snooker)

This was the final ranking event before the 2000 World Championship (for which the qualifying matches have already been played).
For once, the Scottish Open wasn't dominated by Scottish players, with only Dott and Higgins getting as far as the quarter finals. It should be noted though that Stephen Maguire (currently ranked 63) made a 147.

Ronnie O'Sullivan met the man on form, Mark Williams in the final, and it was a one-sided affair. Ronnie handed down a thrashing to his class of 92 contemporary, winning 9-1. The tone was set in the first frame of the match, with the Rocket winning despite Williams' 68 break. The highest break of the match was only 69, made by Ronnie in winning the eighth frame.

Stephen Lee didn't play in this one. Hendry lost to Stevens in the last 16.

QFs:
Graeme Dott (37) 5-3 Matthew Stevens (7)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (4) 5-1 Dave Harold (10)
Mark Williams (1) 5-2 Anthony Hamilton (13)
Marco Fu (8) 5-3 John Higgins (3)

SFs:
O'Sullivan (4) 6-5 Dott (37)
Williams (1) 6-5 Fu (8)

Final:
O'Sullivan (4) 9-1 Williams (1)

Following the 2000 Scottish Open

Top 16
1 = Mark Williams 29438
2 +1 John Higgins 24662
3 -1 Stephen Hendry 23659
4 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 19661
5 = Stephen Lee 17108
6 = Ken Doherty 16322
7 = Matthew Stevens 15855
8 = Marco Fu 13547
9 +1 Dave Harold 11408
10 -1 John Parrott 10217
11 +2 Anthony Hamilton 10023
12 -1 Peter Ebdon 9710
13 -1 Alan McManus 9280
14 +2 Joe Perry 9084
15 -1 Fergal O'Brien 8917
16 -1 Jimmy White 8555

Top 32
In: Graeme Dott; Paul Davies; Stuart Bingham; Tony Drago
Out: Brian Morgan; James Wattana; Jimmy Michie; Lee Walker

Top 64
In: Kristjan Helgason; Quinten Hann; Ali Carter; John Read
Out: Wayne Brown; Darren Clarke; Leigh Griffin; Joe Johnson

Top 128
In: Barry Mapstone
Out: Nigel Gilbert

2000 World Championship first round (seeded players on the left)

Joe Perry was the only top 16 player who failed to qualify. He lost to Tony Drago in the final qualifying round.

Stephen Hendry (3) 7-10 Stuart Bingham (30)
Jimmy White (16) 10-7 Billy Snaddon (31)
Matthew Stevens (7) 10-2 Tony Drago (32)
Alan McManus (13) 10-7 Nigel Bond (28)
John Parrott (10) 10-9 Gary Wilkinson (68)
Paul Hunter (18) 6-10 Joe Swail (17)
Peter Ebdon (12) 6-10 Dominic Dale (29)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (4) 9-10 David Gray (42)
Mark Williams (1) 10-4 John Read (62)
Mark King (20) 8-10 Drew Henry (21)
Fergal O'Brien (15) 10-8 Chris Small (23)
Stephen Lee (5) 10-3 Kristjan Helgason (52)
Ken Doherty (6) 10-3 Darren Morgan (35)
Anthony Hamilton (11) 10-4 Marco Fu (8)
Steve Davis (19) 10-6 Graeme Dott (24)
John Higgins (2) 10-8 Dave Harold (9)

Quiten Hann was up and down those rankings

Alex0paul wrote:Quiten Hann was up and down those rankings

He barely played in the 99-00 season. Not sure why. Suspended?

chengdufan wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Quiten Hann was up and down those rankings

He barely played in the 99-00 season. Not sure why. Suspended?

Think he had a bike accident or a sky diving accident

chengdufan wrote:

Alex0paul wrote:Quiten Hann was up and down those rankings

He barely played in the 99-00 season. Not sure why. Suspended?

think that was the year he suffered a motorcycle accident.

Stuart Bingham looking like he's going to be top 16 soon.

Being a Hendry fan in the 2000s was tough :(

2000 World Championship - Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Mark Williams firmly established his dominance of the 99-00 season by winning the World Championship in style, beating John Higgins in the semis, and Matthew Stevens in the final.

Joe Swail was the surprise package of the Championship, beating Stephen Maguire, Paul Hunter, John Parrott and Dominic Dale to reach the semi-final.

Last 16
Jimmy White (16) 13-9 Stuart Bingham (30)
Matthew Stevens (7) 13-4 Alan McManus (13)
Joe Swail (17) 13-12 John Parrott (10)
Dominic Dale (29) 13-1 David Gray (42)
Mark Williams (1) 13-9 Drew Henry (21)
Fergal O'Brien (15) 13-8 Stephen Lee (5)
Anthony Hamilton (11) 13-12 Ken Doherty (6)
John Higgins (2) 13-11 Steve Davis (19)

QFs
Stevens (7) 13-7 White (16)
Swail (17) 13-9 Dale (29)
Williams (1) 13-5 O'Brien (15)
Higgins (2) 13-3 Hamilton (11)

SFs
Stevens (7) 17-12 Swail (17)
Williams (1) 17-15 Higgins (2)

Final
Williams (1) 18-16 Stevens (7)

Here are the rankings at the end of the 99-00 season. There were 128 professionals who were automatic entries into every event. 3 amateurs who only played in the World Championship are in the top 128 (they have points remaining from 98-99 as well).

1 +2 Mark Williams 34758
2 -1 John Higgins 27178
3 -1 Stephen Hendry 22546
4 +3 Matthew Stevens 21927
5 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 19190
6 +2 Stephen Lee 17093
7 -3 Ken Doherty 16817
8 +11 Marco Fu 12878
9 +14 Joe Swail 11934
10 +5 Dave Harold 11095
11 -1 Anthony Hamilton 11008
12 -6 John Parrott 10869
13 +3 Jimmy White 10358
14 -2 Fergal O'Brien 10192
15 -6 Alan McManus 9772
16 -3 Peter Ebdon 9327
17 -3 Steve Davis 9223
18 +30 Drew Henry 9053
19 -2 Joe Perry 8853
20 +15 Dominic Dale 8352
21 -10 Paul Hunter 8094
22 +48 Stuart Bingham 7774
23 -5 Mark King 7602
24 +56 Anthony Davies 7340
25 +8 Graeme Dott 7183
26 -5 Chris Small 6912
27 +25 Michael Holt 6578
28 +4 Nigel Bond 6547
29 +2 Billy Snaddon 6224
30 -8 Paul Davies 6173
31 +31 David Gray 6126
32 +27 Michael Judge 6040
33 -8 Tony Drago 5690
34 -6 Darren Morgan 5532
35 -5 Marcus Campbell 5337
36 +40 Stuart Pettman 5263
37 +2 Dave Finbow 5253
38 +5 Brian Morgan 5184
39 -13 James Wattana 5137
40 -3 Ian McCulloch 5079
41 +17 Patrick Wallace 5070
42 -4 Lee Walker 5061
43 +23 Jason Ferguson 5001
44 -2 Terry Murphy 4927
45 +1 Peter Lines 4876
46 -2 Jimmy Michie 4844
47 +51 Kristjan Helgason 4830
48 -24 Bradley Jones 4786
49 -2 Alfie Burden 4767
50 -1 John Lardner 4673
51 +40 Robert Milkins 4480
52 -18 Nick Walker 4446
53 -27 Gary Ponting 4327
54 +15 John Read 4239
55 +23 Shokat Ali 4214
55 -1 Rod Lawler 4214
57 -28 Matthew Couch 4178
57 +78 Stephen Maguire 4178
59 -3 Leo Fernandez 4155
60 +40 Paul Sweeny 4140
61 -41 Quinten Hann 4018
62 +35 Wayne Brown 3772
63 -13 Jonathan Birch 3762
64 -19 Gary Wilkinson 3718
65 -25 Euan Henderson 3706
66 +1 David Roe 3702
67 +6 Darren Clarke 3655
68 +77 Ali Carter 3646
69 +35 Phaitoon Phonbun 3626
70 -15 Steve James 3616
71 -20 Leigh Griffin 3512
72 +7 Martin Dziewialtowski 3406
73 +2 Paul Wykes 3388
74 -9 Andy Hicks 3251
75 -14 Joe Johnson 3228
76 -35 Jamie Burnett 3090
77 -3 Mark Gray 2981
78 +3 Stephen O'Connor 2968
79 +11 Willie Thorne 2950
80 +32 Hugh Abernethy 2944
81 +12 Mark Davis 2826
82 +54 Mike Dunn 2824
83 +4 Tony Chappel 2744
84 +1 Stefan Mazrocis 2741
85 -14 Karl Broughton 2734
86 +34 Patrick Delsemme 2699
87 -51 Gerard Greene 2683
88 +112 Noppadon Noppachorn 2607
89 -32 Alain Robidoux 2602
90 -8 Steve Judd 2543
91 +35 Mark Fenton 2514
92 -28 Nick Pearce 2510
93 +80 Nick Dyson 2501
94 -10 Craig MacGillivray 2492
95 +15 Barry Pinches 2491
96 -10 Mick Price 2484
97 -20 Tony Jones 2474
98 +7 Ian Brumby 2450
99 -31 Martin Clark 2409
100 +25 David McLellan 2385
101 -6 Mark Bennett 2368
102 +8 Adrian Gunnell 2345
103 -50 Dean Reynolds 2325
104 -21 Dene O'Kane 2321
105 -16 Sean Storey 2307
106 -5 Troy Shaw 2306
107 +47 James Reynolds 2233
108 (a) +9 Colm Gilcreest 2163
109 -17 Robin Hull 2157
110 +57 Eddie Manning 2148
111 NEW Ryan Day 2073
112 -4 Wayne Jones 2064
113 = Craig Harrison 2023
114 -54 Chris Scanlon 1991
115 -52 Neal Foulds 1982
116 -17 Karl Burrows 1966
117 +2 Nick Terry 1948
118 -46 Jason Prince 1892
119 -1 Mario Geudens 1850
120 -26 Tony Knowles 1809
121 NEW Mark Selby 1788
122 -34 Lee Richardson 1510
123 -18 Dennis Taylor 1427
124 +23 Munraj Pal 1301
125 +19 Mehmet Husnu 1170
126 +36 Gareth Chilcott 1071
127 (a) -11 Barry Mapstone 798
128 (a) -13 Nigel Gilbert 758

131 -24 Peter McCullagh 689
133 NEW Richard King (II) 624
134 +50 Wayne Saidler 558

edit: typed Wayne Saidler's points incorrectly

To the end of the 99-00 season, 149 ranking events have been played. Here is the roll of honour:

Stephen Hendry 32 (1999 British Open)
Steve Davis 28
John Higgins 13 (1999 Grand Prix | 2000 Welsh Open)
Jimmy White 9
John Parrott 9
Mark Williams 9 (1999 UK Championship | 2000 Thailand Masters | 2000 World Championship)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 8 (1999 China Open | 2000 Scottish Open)
Ray Reardon 5
James Wattana 3
Ken Doherty 3 (2000 Malta Grand Prix)
Cliff Thorburn 2
Tony Knowles 2
Dennis Taylor 2
Doug Mountjoy 2
Alan McManus 2
Peter Ebdon 2
John Spencer, Terry Griffiths, Alex Higgins, Willie Thorne, Silvino Francisco, Joe Johnson, Neal Foulds, Tony Meo, Mike Hallett, Steve James, Bob Chaperon, Tony Jones, Dave Harold, Nigel Bond, Dominic Dale, Paul Hunter, Stephen Lee, Fergal O'Brien : 1 each

Ranking number 1s:

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 10/10/93-03/05/98 (4.5 yrs)
John Higgins 04/05/98-18/12/99 (1 yr 7 mths)
Mark Williams 19/12/99-29/01/00 (1 mth)
John Higgins 30/01/00-26/02/00 (1 mth)
Mark Williams 27/02/00-

I see Mark Selby has entered your rankings now. I shall be keeping an eye on yours to see how closely it mirrors his official ranking. Of all the players to become multiple World Champions, they sort of had that aura about them from the word go. They seemed to stand out from those around them. Selby never did. I remember Angles commenting about him once 'he seemed to just become a good player overnight'. He did get to the Scottish Open final in his fourth season (lost to David Gray), but other than that only one Ranking semi to that point. He first came to most people's attention as a quarter-finalist in the Grand Prix at the start of the 04/05 season, mainly because of the BBC coverage, but didn't really do much for the rest of that campaign, a couple of last 32 placings being his best showings.

But, of course, he had that amazing run to the 2007 World Final (even that season a couple of last 16 places had been his limit) and never looked back from there. It's one of the reasons I think he's benefitted from a weaker era, if he was really as strong as his more recent results have shown, surely he'd have risen to the top quicker?

His official rankings (from 00/01 to 07/08 when he hit the top 16 and has never left) were :

2000/01 : 122
01/02 : 95
02/03 : 53
03/04 : 29
04/05 : 36
05/06 : 39
06/07 : 28
07/08 : 11

I'll be interested to see how his Chengdu Ranking differs...

It is interesting yes. He has finished 120th out of 128 pros in the 1999-2000 season, which isn't a fantastic start. He was born in June '83 though, so he was only 16. Add to that, his father passed away just before the start of the season. And most of the other players have some points from 98-99 contributing to their ranking.
I'm not sure through what route he qualified to become a pro, but to be one at 16 has been a very rare event in history, so I assume there was some promise evident early.

Will definitely be keeping an eye on him in the coming seasons.

He won the English U15 championship in 1998. Not sure if that carried automatic entry, or whether he got an invitation because of it, but I suspect it was a key factor in his turning over.

The 2000-2001 season sees an increase in the number of professionals from 128 to 160.
3 players from 99-00 are no longer pros:
Dennis Taylor
Chris Scanlon
Mario Geudens

That gives us 35 new or returning pros.
2 did not play in the qualifying matches at the start of the season, Farhan Mirza of Sweden, and Da Hailin of China. Mirza has entered the UK Championship though.

The other 33 are:
Andrew Higginson
Barry Hawkins
Joe Jogia
Charoen Phorat
Jason Weston
Bjorn Haneveer
Paul McPhillips
David McDonnell
Jeff Cundy
Simon Bedford
Lee Spick
Philip Williams
Scott MacKenzie
Bob Chaperon
Matt Wilson
Antony Bolsover
Stuart Mann
Colm Gilcreest
Mike Hallett
Barry Mapstone
Craig Butler
Neil Robertson
Darryn Walker
Chris Shade
Alan Burnett
Joe Delaney
Stuart Reardon
Jason Barton
Mario Wehrmann
Somporn Kanthawung
Graham Lee
Lasse Munstermann
Craig Roper

2000 British Open - Plymouth Pavilions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_British_Open

The first ranking event of the new season was won by Peter Ebdon. He beat Jimmy White in the final.

The top players didn't have the best of tournaments. Williams was beaten by Mark King, Higgins by Paul Hunter, Hendry by McManus, Stevens by Gary Ponting, and O'Sullivan by Ebdon.

Hunter's run to the semi-finals was a welcome sight after his awful ranking event record in 99-00.

QFs:
Alan McManus (15) 5-2 Stephen Hendry (3)
Peter Ebdon (16) 5-3 Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
Paul Hunter (21) 5-4 Gary Ponting (53)
Jimmy White (13) 5-4 Mark King (23)

SFs:
Ebdon (16) 6-2 McManus (15)
White (13) 6-2 Hunter (21)

Final:
Ebdon (16) 9-6 White (13)

Following the 2000 British Open

Top 16
1 = Mark Williams 26317
2 = John Higgins 19920
3 +1 Matthew Stevens 17031
4 -1 Stephen Hendry 16387
5 = Ronnie O'Sullivan 14176
6 = Stephen Lee 12745
7 = Ken Doherty 11319
8 +5 Jimmy White 10963
9 -1 Marco Fu 9433
10 +6 Peter Ebdon 9199
11 -2 Joe Swail 9120
12 -1 Anthony Hamilton 8992
13 -3 Dave Harold 8777
14 = Fergal O'Brien 7964
15 +2 Steve Davis 7906
16 +7 Mark King 7807

In: Steve Davis; Mark King
Out: Alan McManus; John Parrott

Top 32
In: Robert Milkins; Marcus Campbell
Out: Billy Snaddon; Paul Davies

Top 64
In: Ali Carter; Phaitoon Phonbun; Jamie Burnett; Nick Dyson
Out: Quinten Hann; Rod Lawler; John Read; Jonathan Birch

Top 128
In: Bjorn Haneveer; Andrew Higginson; Paul McPhillips; Wayne Saidler; Barry Hawkins; Matt Wilson
Out: Dennis Taylor; Mehmet Husnu; Lee Richardson; Gareth Chilcott; Barry Mapstone; Nigel Gilbert

2000 Grand Prix - Telford International Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Grand_Prix_(snooker)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telford

Mark Williams claimed his tenth ranking title, becoming the fourth player to achieve that feat. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-5 in the final. O'Sullivan led 2-1, but then Williams took the next 6 to build a commanding 7-2 lead. O'Sullivan won the next three with breaks of 95, 56 and 74, before Williams closed out the match.

John Higgins reached the quarter-finals, but withdrew to attend his brother's wedding.

Jimmy White continued his resurgence with another semi-final appearance. He is back up to 7th in the rankings after this event.

QFs:
Graeme Dott (27) w/o John Higgins (2)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (5) 5-0 Ken Doherty (7)
JImmy White (8) 5-3 Brian Morgan (43)
Mark Williams (1) 5-3 Paul Hunter (23)

SFs:
O'Sullivan (5) 6-3 Dott (27)
Williams (1) 6-2 White (8)

Final:
Williams (1) 9-5 O'Sullivan (5)

Following the 2000 Grand Prix

Top 16
1 = Mark Williams 28942
2 = John Higgins 20118
3 = Matthew Stevens 17594
4 +1 Ronnie O'Sullivan 16334
5 -1 Stephen Hendry 16217
6 = Stephen Lee 13180
7 +1 Jimmy White 12208
8 -1 Ken Doherty 11867
9 = Marco Fu 9617
10 +1 Joe Swail 9324
11 -1 Peter Ebdon 9292
12 +1 Dave Harold 8961
13 -1 Anthony Hamilton 8466
14 +5 Alan McManus 8189
15 +1 Mark King 8031
16 +7 Paul Hunter 7904

In: Alan McManus; Paul Hunter
Out: Steve Davis; Fergal O'Brien

Top 32
In: Billy Snaddon; Brian Morgan
Out: Nigel Bond; Marcus Campbell

Top 64 - no change
Top 128 - no change

Mark Selby watch:
Rank 95
Points 2240

McManus dropped out the 16 after getting to the British Open semis, but climbed back in without making a dent in the Grand Prix?

ChengduFan works in mysterious ways

Jimmy is in great form right now. Could 2001 be his year?

Worrying signs for Hendry dropping down the rankings.

SnookerEd25 wrote:McManus dropped out the 16 after getting to the British Open semis, but climbed back in without making a dent in the Grand Prix?

ChengduFan works in mysterious ways

A funny one, for sure!

It's about the points coming off of course, as much as the points going on.

KrazeeEyezKilla wrote:Jimmy is in great form right now. Could 2001 be his year?

He's definitely back on the way up, so is looking like he could be a contender. There's a long way to go in the season though.
And as I type this, he loses to Nick Dyson in his first match at the 2000 UK Championships. Dyson did produce 8 50+ breaks in the 9-5 win, including a 144. A surprise result for a World Championship contender though.

Juddernaut88 wrote:Worrying signs for Hendry dropping down the rankings.

I'd agree with this.
He is still provisionally in 5th at the end of the season, so he's far from done yet I'd say.
Not looking good for Parrott, who is already down to 23rd, and provisionally 44th at the end of the season.

2000 UK Championship - Bournemouth International Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_UK_Championship

A hotly anticipated final between the two top players in the game, Williams and Higgins, in fact ended as a one-sided affair. Higgins won the match comfortably, without much resistance from the Welshman.

It was a good event for Quinten Hann, who made it as far as the quarters.

L16:
Mark Williams (1) 9-3 Marco Fu (9)
Fergal O'Brien (19) 9-8 Matthew Stevens (3)
Quinten Hann (65) 9-0 Gerard Greene (92)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (4) 9-5 Dave Harold (12)
Stephen Hendry (5) 9-6 Michael Judge (29)
Stephen Lee (6) 9-7 Brian Morgan (32)
Drew Henry (17) 9-4 Dominic Dale (20)
John Higgins (2) 9-4 Peter Ebdon (11)

QFs:
Williams (1) 9-2 O'Brien (19)
O'Sullivan (4) 9-5 Hann (65)
Hendry (5) 9-8 Lee (6)
Higgins (2) 9-6 Henry (17)

SFs:
Williams (1) 9-4 O'Sullivan (4)
Higgins (2) 9-4 Hendry (5)

Final:
Higgins (2) 10-4 Williams (1)

Following the 2000 UK Championship, the class of 92 take the top three places in the rankings for the first time

Top 16
1 = Mark Williams 26820
2 = John Higgins 19513
3 +1 Ronnie O'Sullivan 16305
4 +1 Stephen Hendry 15611
5 -2 Matthew Stevens 14218
6 = Stephen Lee 12923
7 = Jimmy White 10976
8 = Ken Doherty 10091
9 +2 Peter Ebdon 9753
10 +7 Drew Henry 9251
11 -2 Marco Fu 8994
12 +8 Dominic Dale 8025
13 -3 Joe Swail 8018
14 +5 Fergal O'Brien 7953
15 = Mark King 7907
16 +10 David Gray 7721

In: Drew Henry; Dominic Dale; Fergal O'Brien; David Gray
Out: Alan McManus; Dave Harold; Anthony Hamilton; Paul Hunter

Top 32
In: Quinten Hann
Out: Chris Small

Top 64
In: Gerard Greene; Rod Lawler
Out: Phaitoon Phonbun; Ali Carter; Matthew Couch

Top 128
In: Mehmet Husnu
Out: Matt Wilson

Is this the first time that Ronnie passed Hendry in the rankings...?