2008 World Snooker Championship

Last updated

2008 888.com World Snooker Championship
World Snooker Championship 2008 Poster.jpg
Tournament information
Dates19 April – 5 May 2008 (2008-04-19 2008-05-05)
Venue Crucible Theatre
City Sheffield
CountryEngland
Organisation WPBSA
Format Ranking event
Total prize fund£1,050,000
Winner's share£250,000
Highest breakFlag of England.svg  Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG) (147)
Flag of England.svg  Ali Carter  (ENG) (147)
Final
ChampionFlag of England.svg  Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG)
Runner-upFlag of England.svg  Ali Carter  (ENG)
Score18–8
2007
2009

The 2008 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2008 888.com World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 2008 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 32nd consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre, and the seventh and final ranking event of the 2007–08 snooker season. The tournament was organised by World Snooker, and sponsored by betting company 888.com. The tournament featured a total prize fund of £1,050,000 with £250,000 being awarded to the winner.

Contents

Qualifying for the event took place between 6 and 11 January at Pontin's in Prestatyn, Wales. Sixteen players progressed from a four-round qualification tournament to meet a further sixteen seeded players. John Higgins was the defending champion who had won his second championship the previous year, defeating Mark Selby in the final 18–13. This year, Higgins lost in the second round 9–13 to Ryan Day. Ronnie O'Sullivan met Ali Carter in the final, won 18–8 to win his 20th ranking title.

Overview

The World Snooker Championship is an annual cue sport tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. [1] Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, [2] the sport was popular in Great Britain. [3] In modern times it has been played worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand. [4] The event was sponsored by 888.com. [5]

In the 2008 tournament, 32 professional players competed in one-on-one snooker matches played over several frames , using a single-elimination tournament format. [6] The 32 players were selected for the event using the snooker world rankings and a pre-tournament qualification competition. [7] In 1927, the first world championship was won by Joe Davis. The event's final took place in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England. [5] [8] Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. [9] The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. [10] [11] Scotsman John Higgins was the defending champion, having defeated Mark Selby 18–13 in the previous years final. [12]

Format

The 2008 World Snooker Championship took place from 19 April to 5 May 2008 in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the last of seven ranking events in the 2007–08 snooker season on the World Snooker Tour. [13] It featured a 32-player main draw that was held at the Crucible Theatre, as well as a qualifying draw that was played at the Pontin's, Prestatyn Sands, from 6 to 11 January. [6] This was the 32nd consecutive year that the tournament had been staged at the Crucible. [14]

The top 16 players in the latest world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seeded players. [15] [lower-alpha 1] Higgins was seeded first overall as the defending champion, and the remaining 15 seeds were allocated based on the latest world rankings. [15] The number of frames required to win a match increased throughout the tournament. The first round consisted of best-of-19-frames matches, with the final match being played over a maximum of 35 frames. [16] All 16 non-seeded spots in the main draw were filled with players from the qualifying rounds. [6] The event was broadcast by the BBC and Eurosport in Europe. [16]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: [6] [17]

Tournament summary

Early rounds

The first round was played between 20 and 24 April as the best of 19 frames, held over two sessions . [18] Defending champion John Higgins defeated Matthew Stevens 10–5, [19] but runner-up Mark Selby was knocked out by qualifier Mark King 10–8. [20] [21] Ding Junhui's 10–9 victory over Marco Fu was his first ever win at the Crucible. [22] Stephen Maguire took the first eight frames in the first session of his first round match against Anthony Hamilton, before Hamilton won frame 9. Maguire won the match 10–3. [6] Three players were making their debuts at the event; Jamie Cope, [23] Liu Chuang [24] and Liang Wenbo. [25] Of the three, Wenbo won their first round match, as he defeated Ken Doherty 10–5. The defeat caused Doherty to drop out of the top 16 of the World Rankings for the first time since the 1992/93 season. [26] Cope lost in a deciding frame to Peter Ebdon despite having led 5–2 up earlier on. [27]

The second round was played from 24 to 28 April as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions. [18] Defending champion Higgins was defeated by Ryan Day 9–13. This was the first time Day had progressed to the quarter-finals at the event. [28] Ronnie O'Sullivan made a maximum break against Mark Williams in the final frame of his 13–7 win. [29] Williams, ranked twelfth in the world before the tournament, fell out of the top 16 after the loss. [30] Hendry reached the quarter-finals for the seventeenth time in his career, after a 13–7 win over Ding Junhui. [31] Maguire also won the first eight frames of the match in his second round clash with Neil Robertson, which he won 13–7. [6] Leading at 12–10, Liang Wenbo punched the air in celebration as he potted match ball . However, his opponent, Joe Swail earned the snookers he required, and also won the next frame to force the match into a deciding frame. Swail missed a brown ball allowing Wenbo to win the match 13–12. After the match, Swail complained bitterly that in the final frame the referee had incorrectly replaced the cue ball after calling a miss, giving Liang an easier escape from a snooker, and accused Liang of unprofessional conduct for not pointing out the referee's mistake. [32]

Later rounds (Quarter-finals–final)

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the event, his third win at the event Ronnie O'Sullivan at German Masters Snooker Final (DerHexer) 2012-02-05 23.jpg
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the event, his third win at the event

The quarter-finals were played on 29 and 30 April as the best of 25 frames held over three sessions. [18] Carter made a maximum break in his 13–9 win over Ebdon. [33] His opponent came very close to a maximum of his own just a frame earlier, but narrowly missed the fifteenth black. Just minutes before on the other table, Stephen Hendry was also attempting a maximum of his own but also missed the fifteenth red. [34] Hendry reached the 12th Crucible semi-final of his career after a 13–7 win over Day, setting a record for one-table appearances that still stands. [35] Wenbo was the first player from mainland China to reach the quarter-finals of the world championships, but lost 7–13 to O'Sullivan. [34] Perry defeated Maguire on a deciding frame 13–12. [36]

The semi-finals were played from the 1 to 3 May as the best of 33 frames. [18] After tying the first session 4–4, O'Sullivan completed an 8–0 whitewash over Hendry in their second session, and won the first frame of session three, meaning that O'Sullivan had won twelve consecutive frames from 1–4 down to 13–4 in front. At one point O'Sullivan scored 448 points without reply. This was the first time Hendry had lost every frame in a full session at the Crucible. [37] O'Sullivan won the match 17–6 with a session to spare . [38] Carter reached his first ranking final by defeating Perry 17–15. [39]

The final was played on 4 and 5 May between O'Sullivan and Carter. [18] Both men were English for the first time since the 1991 event, when John Parrott defeated Jimmy White 18–11. [40] O'Sullivan led 11–5 after the first day's play and won the match 18–8. [41] This was O'Sullivan's third world championship joining Steve Davis and Hendry having won more than two World titles at the Crucible; and was his 20th career ranking title. [40] [42] In post-match interviews, both players admitted to not having played particularly well, with O'Sullivan commenting "Ali and I are disappointed not to put on a better performance". Carter's performance was described as "jaded". [41] The win also gave O'Sullivan the top spot in the world rankings. [43]

Main draw

Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks. [6] [7]

First round
Best of 19 frames
Second round
Best of 25 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 33 frames
Final
Best of 35 frames
19 April
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins (1)10
24, 25 & 26 April
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 5
Flag of Scotland.svg John Higgins (1)9
20 & 21 April
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ryan Day (16)13
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ryan Day (16)10
29 & 30 April
Flag of Ireland.svg Michael Judge 6
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ryan Day (16)7
22 April
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry (8)13
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui (9)10
25 & 26 April
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Marco Fu 9
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ding Junhui (9)7
20 & 21 April
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry (8)13
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry (8)10
1 & 2 May
Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen 9
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Hendry (8)6
23 & 24 April
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)17
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)10
26, 27 & 28 April
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 5
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)13
21 & 22 April
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams (12)7
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Mark Williams (12)10
29 & 30 April
Flag of England.svg Mark Davis 3
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)13
19 & 20 April
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 7
Flag of England.svg Stephen Lee (13)4
27 & 28 April
Ulster Banner.svg Joe Swail 10
Ulster Banner.svg Joe Swail 12
23 April
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 13
Flag of Ireland.svg Ken Doherty (4)5
4 & 5 May
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 10
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)18
22 & 23 April
Flag of England.svg Ali Carter (14)8
Flag of England.svg Shaun Murphy (3)10
25 & 26 April
Flag of England.svg Dave Harold 3
Flag of England.svg Shaun Murphy (3)4
19 & 20 April
Flag of England.svg Ali Carter (14)13
Flag of England.svg Ali Carter (14)10
29 & 30 April
Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins 9
Flag of England.svg Ali Carter (14)13
21 & 22 April
Flag of England.svg Peter Ebdon (6)9
Flag of England.svg Mark Selby (11)8
24 & 25 April
Flag of England.svg Mark King 10
Flag of England.svg Mark King 9
19 & 20 April
Flag of England.svg Peter Ebdon (6)13
Flag of England.svg Peter Ebdon (6)10
1, 2 & 3 May
Flag of England.svg Jamie Cope 9
Flag of England.svg Ali Carter (14)17
19 & 20 April
Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 15
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Neil Robertson (7)10
26, 27 & 28 April
Flag of England.svg Nigel Bond 4
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Neil Robertson (7)7
23 & 24 April
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire (10)13
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire (10)10
29 & 30 April
Flag of England.svg Anthony Hamilton 3
Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Maguire (10)12
21 April
Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 13
Flag of England.svg Steve Davis (15)8
27 & 28 April
Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 10
Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 9
22 & 23 April
Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 13
Flag of Scotland.svg Graeme Dott (2)7
Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 10
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 4 May & 5 May 2008. Referee: Jan Verhaas [44]
Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
Flag of England.svg  England
18–8 Ali Carter (14)
Flag of England.svg  England
81–56, 127–0, 99–0, 0–104, 86–4, 62–76, 65–18, 73–0, 78–0, 36–60, 86–4, 28–93, 45–80, 123–0, 77–32, 110–5, 66–48, 74–0, 25–64, 85–0, 0–84, 58–42, 4–89, 68–39, 75–32, 62–16Century breaks: 2
(O'Sullivan 1, Carter 1)

Highest break by O'Sullivan: 106
Highest break by Carter: 104

81–56, 127–0, 99–0, 0–104, 86–4, 62–76, 65–18, 73–0, 78–0, 36–60, 86–4, 28–93, 45–80, 123–0, 77–32, 110–5, 66–48, 74–0, 25–64, 85–0, 0–84, 58–42, 4–89, 68–39, 75–32, 62–16
Flag of England.svg Ronnie O'Sullivan wins the 2008 888.com World Snooker Championship

Qualification

Preliminary qualifying

The preliminary qualifying rounds for the tournament took place at Pontin's in Prestatyn, Wales between 3 and 5 January 2008. [6] [45]

Round 1

Flag of England.svg Phil Seaton5–2 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Donald Newcombe

Round 2

Flag of England.svg Colin Mitchell5–4 Flag of England.svg Phil Seaton
Flag of England.svg Les Dodd 1–5 Flag of India.svg David Singh
Flag of England.svg Adam Osbourne0–5 Flag of England.svg Sean Storey
Flag of England.svg Tony Knowles 5–1 Flag of England.svg Ali Bassiri
Flag of England.svg Neil Selman5–1 Flag of England.svg John Wilson
Flag of England.svg Ian Stark5–4 Flag of England.svg Del Smith
Flag of England.svg Tony Brown5–1 Flag of England.svg Christopher Flight
Flag of England.svg Stephen Ormerodw/o–w/d Flag of England.svg Paul Wykes

Round 3

Flag of England.svg Colin Mitchell5–3 Flag of India.svg David Singh
Flag of England.svg Sean Storey 5–0 Flag of England.svg Tony Knowles
Flag of England.svg Neil Selman4–5 Flag of England.svg Ian Stark
Flag of England.svg Tony Brown3–5 Flag of England.svg Stephen Ormerod

Qualifying

The qualifying rounds 1–4 for the tournament took place at Pontin's in Prestatyn, Wales between 6 and 11 January 2008. The final round of qualifying took place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield between 7 and 10 March. [6] [45]

Round 1

Ulster Banner.svg Patrick Wallace 10–1 Flag of England.svg Sean Storey
Flag of England.svg Jimmy Robertson 10–5 Flag of England.svg Stephen Ormerod
Flag of Ireland.svg Rodney Goggins 10–4 Flag of England.svg Ian Stark
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10–0 Flag of England.svg Colin Mitchell

Rounds 2–5

Round 2
Best of 19 frames
Round 3
Best of 19 frames
Round 4
Best of 19 frames
Round 5
Best of 19 frames
Flag of England.svg Alex Davies 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ian Preece 10 Flag of England.svg Adrian Gunnell 10 Flag of England.svg Stuart Bingham 10
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Mifsud 2 Flag of England.svg Alex Davies 9 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Ian Preece 9 Flag of England.svg Adrian Gunnell 3
Flag of England.svg Mark Joyce 10 Flag of England.svg Jimmy Michie 10 Flag of Ireland.svg Michael Judge 10 Flag of England.svg Michael Holt 6
Ulster Banner.svg Patrick Wallace 8 Flag of England.svg Mark Joyce 4 Flag of England.svg Jimmy Michie 6 Flag of Ireland.svg Michael Judge 10
Flag of Scotland.svg James McBain 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Marcus Campbell 9 Flag of Ireland.svg Fergal O'Brien 10 Flag of England.svg Jamie Cope 10
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Kevin Van Hove 2 Flag of Scotland.svg James McBain 10 Flag of Scotland.svg James McBain 4 Flag of Ireland.svg Fergal O'Brien 5
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tian Pengfei 10 Flag of England.svg Mike Dunn 10 Flag of England.svg Andrew Norman 2 Flag of England.svg Dave Harold 10
Flag of England.svg Ashley Wright 4 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tian Pengfei 2 Flag of England.svg Mike Dunn 10 Flag of England.svg Mike Dunn 4
Flag of England.svg Munraj Pal 8 Flag of England.svg David Roe 10 Flag of England.svg Andy Hicks 10 Flag of England.svg Barry Hawkins 10
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xiao Guodong 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xiao Guodong 5 Flag of England.svg David Roe 5 Flag of England.svg Andy Hicks 8
Flag of England.svg Matthew Selt 10 Flag of England.svg Jimmy White 10 Flag of England.svg A Higginson 7 Flag of England.svg Mark King 10
Flag of Scotland.svg Fraser Patrick 6 Flag of England.svg Matthew Selt 4 Flag of England.svg Jimmy White 10 Flag of England.svg Jimmy White 3
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Song 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Scott MacKenzie 10 Flag of Thailand.svg James Wattana 8 Flag of England.svg Anthony Hamilton 10
Flag of England.svg Jimmy Robertson 6 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Song 5 Flag of Scotland.svg Scott MacKenzie 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Scott MacKenzie 2
Flag of Norway.svg Kurt Maflin 9 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Paul Davies 8 Flag of England.svg John Parrott 10 Flag of England.svg Joe Perry 10
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gareth Coppack 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gareth Coppack 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Gareth Coppack 3 Flag of England.svg John Parrott 8
Flag of England.svg Shailesh Jogia 4 Flag of England.svg Barry Pinches 10 Flag of England.svg Robert Milkins 4 Flag of England.svg Nigel Bond 10
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Michael White 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Michael White 4 Flag of England.svg Barry Pinches 10 Flag of England.svg Barry Pinches 7
Flag of England.svg Lee Spick 9 Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Jamie Burnett 2 Ulster Banner.svg Joe Swail 10
Flag of Ireland.svg Rodney Goggins 10 Flag of Ireland.svg Rodney Goggins 4 Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 10 Flag of England.svg Judd Trump 9
Flag of England.svg Jamie O'Neill 8 Flag of England.svg Stuart Pettman 4 Flag of England.svg Rory McLeod 10 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Matthew Stevens 10
Flag of England.svg Martin Gould 10 Flag of England.svg Martin Gould 10 Flag of England.svg Martin Gould 8 Flag of England.svg Rory McLeod 5
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 10 Flag of England.svg Rod Lawler 6 Flag of England.svg Dave Gilbert 3 Flag of England.svg Ian McCulloch 5
Flag of England.svg Ben Woollaston 3 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liang Wenbo 10
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Lee Walker 9 Flag of Ireland.svg Joe Delaney 5 Flag of England.svg David Gray 5 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Dominic Dale 9
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Chuang 10
Flag of Ireland.svg Leo Fernandez 10 Flag of Scotland.svg Drew Henry 2 Flag of England.svg Mark Davis 10 Ulster Banner.svg Gerard Greene 2
Flag of England.svg Alfred Burden 4 Flag of Ireland.svg Leo Fernandez 10 Flag of Ireland.svg Leo Fernandez 9 Flag of England.svg Mark Davis 10
Flag of Ireland.svg David Morris 9 Flag of Finland.svg Robin Hull Flag of Scotland.svg Alan McManus 10 Flag of Hong Kong.svg Marco Fu 10
Flag of Thailand.svg Supoj Saenla 10 Flag of Thailand.svg Supoj Saenla W/O Flag of Thailand.svg Supoj Saenla 2 Flag of Scotland.svg Alan McManus 3
Flag of Malta.svg Tony Drago 9 Flag of England.svg Tom Ford 5 Flag of England.svg Ricky Walden 10 Ulster Banner.svg Mark Allen 10
Flag of Thailand.svg I Kachaiwong 10 Flag of Thailand.svg I Kachaiwong 10 Flag of Thailand.svg I Kachaiwong 4 Flag of England.svg Ricky Walden 8

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

The highest break received a prize of £10,000, and a maximum break received a prize of £147,000 – a total of £157,000. This prize was shared, as two players made a 147, winning £78,500 each. In total there were 63 century breaks made at this year's world championships. O'Sullivan and Carter both made a maximum break during the event. [6]

Qualifying stage centuries

The highest break in qualifying was a 139 made by Patrick Wallace. [6]

Notes

  1. In the event of the defending champion being ranked outside the top 16, he would replace the player ranked world number 16 as an automatic qualifier. [15]

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