1996 World Cup (snooker)

Castrol-Honda World Cup

Tournament information
Dates	29 October – 10 November 1996 (1996-10-29 – 1996-11-10)
Venue	Armari Watergate Hotel
City	Bangkok
Country	Thailand
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£400,000
Winner's share	£105,000
Highest break	John Higgins 139
Final
Champion	Scotland
Runner-up	Republic of Ireland
Score	10–7
← 1990 2011 →

The 1996 Snooker World Cup was a team snooker tournament which returned after a six-year absence. With the increasing rise of snooker in some countries, This new version has 20 teams in the championship and it was played in Bangkok in Thailand. Scotland's 'Dream Team' with Stephen Hendry, Alan McManus and John Higgins were strong favourites to win from the start and they did so by beating Republic of Ireland with Ken Doherty, Fergal O'Brien and Stephen Murphy to win their only World Cup. Higgins got the highest break of the tournament with a 139 in his semi-final match against Thailand's Tai Pichit. The tournament was a success but hosting the event had become too costly that the event was withdrawn afterward. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Main draw

Teams

Country	Player 1 (Captain)	Player 2	Player 3
Scotland	Stephen Hendry	Alan McManus	John Higgins
England	Peter Ebdon	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Nigel Bond
Wales	Darren Morgan	Mark Williams	Anthony Davies
Northern Ireland	Dennis Taylor	Joe Swail	Terry Murphy
Ireland	Ken Doherty	Fergal O'Brien	Stephen Murphy
Canada	Cliff Thorburn	Alain Robidoux	Jim Wych
Malta	Tony Drago	Alex Borg	Joe Grech
Thailand	James Wattana	Noppadon Noppachorn	Tai Pichit
Australia	Robby Foldvari	Quinten Hann	Stan Gorski
Pakistan	Shokat Ali	Farhan Mirza	Saleh Mohammad
South Africa	Silvino Francisco	Hitesh Naran	Munier Cassim
New Zealand	Dene O'Kane	Mark Canovan	Daniel Haenga
Belgium	Bjorn Haneveer	Mario Geudens	Patrick Delsemme
Hong Kong	Kong Wahorn	Chan Wai Tat	Paul Fung
Singapore	Keith Boon	Bernard Tey	Ang Chiok Hong
China	Guo Hua	Pang Weiguo	Tao Shan
United Arab Emirates	Masood Akil	Mohammed Shehab	Mohammed Al Joker
Iceland	Kristján Helgason	Johannes Johannesson	Edvard Matthiasson
Malaysia	Sam Chong	Ng Ann Seng	Yong Kien Foot
Netherlands	Raymond Fabrie	Mario Wehrmann	Johan Oenema

Darren Morgan was later replaced by Mark Bennett after the death of his mother.

The two best teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Group A

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Date
Belgium	6–3	Iceland
Republic of Ireland	6–3	New Zealand
Northern Ireland	6–3	Iceland
Republic of Ireland	7–2	Belgium
Northern Ireland	4–5	Belgium
New Zealand	5–4	Iceland
Republic of Ireland	4–5	Northern Ireland
New Zealand	5–4	Belgium
Republic of Ireland	7–2	Iceland
Northern Ireland	6–3	New Zealand

Group B

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Date
Hong Kong	2–7	Singapore
Canada	8–1	South Africa
Scotland	9–0	Singapore
Hong Kong	7–2	South Africa
Scotland	6–3	South Africa
Canada	8–1	Singapore
Canada	7–2	Hong Kong
South Africa	5–4	Singapore
Scotland	6–3	Canada
Scotland	8–1	Hong Kong

Group C

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Date
Thailand	4–5	China
England	8–1	United Arab Emirates
China	4–5	United Arab Emirates
Thailand	6–3	Pakistan
England	5–4	China
England	6–3	Thailand
Pakistan	8–1	United Arab Emirates
Pakistan	7–2	China
Thailand	9–0	United Arab Emirates
England	6–3	Pakistan

Group D

Team 1	Score	Team 2	Date
Australia	6–3	Netherlands
Malta	6–3	Malaysia
Wales	6–3	Netherlands
Australia	5–4	Malta
Wales	8–1	Malaysia
Malta	4–5	Netherlands
Wales	7–2	Australia
Netherlands	6–3	Malaysia
Wales	5–4	Malta
Australia	6–3	Malaysia

	Quarter-finals Best of 19 Frames					Semi-finals Best of 19 Frames					Final Best of 19 Frames
	Scotland		10
	Northern Ireland		6			Scotland		10
	Thailand		10			Thailand		5
	Wales		9								Scotland		10
	England		10								Republic of Ireland		7
	Australia		5			England		9
	Republic of Ireland		10			Republic of Ireland		10
	Canada		6

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referees: Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. 10 November 1996.
Scotland Stephen Hendry, Alan McManus, John Higgins	10–7	Ireland Ken Doherty, Fergal O'Brien, Stephen Murphy
Hendry v O'Brien: 84–4 McManus v Murphy: 93–0 Higgins v Doherty: 68–30 Hendry v Murphy: 74–25 McManus v Doherty: 59–63 Higgins v O'Brien: 21–70 Hendry v Doherty: 69–70 McManus v O'Brien: 71–24 Higgins v Murphy: 59–70 Hendry v O'Brien: 77–46 McManus v Murphy: 66–60 Higgins v Doherty: 63–20 McManus v O'Brien: 8–75 Higgins v Murphy: 44–66 Hendry v Doherty: 0–102 (68) Higgins v O'Brien: 86–26 Hendry v Murphy: 73–34
	Highest break
	Century breaks
	50+ breaks

References

1. "Fin's Fables: The 1996 Snooker World Cup". Snooker HQ. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
2. Whebell, Charles (11 November 1996). "Scotland let off by edgy Irish". The Daily Telegraph. p. 43.
3. "Castrol-Honda World Cup 1996". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 August 2018.