1988 World Snooker Championship

1988 snooker tournament

The 1988 World Snooker Championship, also known as the 1988 Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship reasons, was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 1988 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), it was the sixth and final ranking event of the 1987–88 snooker season and the twelfth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament there having taken place in 1977. A five round qualifying event for the championship was held at the Preston Guild Hall from 22 March to 2 April 1988 for 113 players, 16 of whom reached the main stage, where they met the 16 invited seeded players. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and was sponsored by the Embassy cigarette company. The winner received £95,000 from the total prize fund of £475,000. The defending champion was Steve Davis, who had previously won the World Championship four times. He met the 1979 champion Terry Griffiths in the final, which was a best of 35 match. Davis won the match 18–11 after the pair had been level at 8–8 at the end of the first day of the final. Steve James scored the championship's highest , a 140, in his first round match. There were 18 century breaks compiled during the championship.

The World Snooker Championship is an annual professional snooker tournament organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA). Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, the cue sport gained popularity in the British Isles in the 1920s and 1930s. it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand. Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council, the final match being held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham, England. Since 1977, the event has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The 1988 championship featured 32 professional players competing in one on one snooker matches in a single elimination format, each match played over several These competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top players in the snooker world rankings and the winners of a pre tournament qualification stage that took place at Preston Guild Hall from 22 March to 2 April 1988. The rounds held at the Crucible Theatre were broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC. The 1988 championship was sponsored by cigarette brand Embassy, and was also referred to as the Embassy World Snooker Championship.

The tournament featured a total prize fund of £475,000, with £95,000 being awarded to the winner. The prize money allocation is shown below. The qualifying competition consisted of five knockout rounds, including a single preliminary round match, starting with 113 players, and all qualifying matches were played as best of 19 frames. On the first day of the qualifying competition, Billy Kelly established a new record highest for world championship qualifying, compiling a 141 in the sixth frame of his match against Tony Kearney. Kelly won 10–4, concluding with a 76 break in the 14th frame. Alain Robidoux had walkovers against Frank Jonik, who withdrew due to problems with his back, and Robbie Grace, who was unable to travel from South Africa, which meant Robidoux earned a ranking merit point that enabled him to gain full professional status for the following season. He lost 2–10 to Bill Oliver in the third round. Oliver eliminated six time champion Ray Reardon 10–4 before losing 6–10 to Cliff Wilson. It was the first time in his career that Reardon had failed to qualify for the main event. Eight time champion Fred Davis, aged 74, progressed past Jack Fitzmaurice, 10–8, and Jim Bear, 10–4, before losing 3–10 to John Campbell in the last qualifying round. Four players, Steve James, Bob Chaperon, Tony Drago and Peter Francisco, qualified for the main event for the first time. James received a walkover against Terry Whitthread in the first round, and eliminated Joe O'Boye, Paddy Browne and Eugene Hughes; Chaperon defeated Robert Marshall, Tommy Murphy and David Taylor; Drago won against Tony Chappel; and Francisco eliminated Robby Foldvari. Alex Higgins, who won the competition in 1972 and 1982, had been banned (in April 1987) from the first two ranking events of the season, as part of a punishment imposed by the WPBSA for behaviour including headbutting the tournament director at the 1986 UK Championship. He trailed Drago 2–7 after their first session, The 1985 champion Taylor was 4–5 behind to Bill Werbeniuk as their first session ended. This was Werbeniuk's last appearance at the World Snooker Championship finals. Joe Johnson, champion in 1986 and runner up in 1987, knocked out Wilson 10–7. Nine days after suffering a serious road traffic accident that wrote off his car, James compiled a break of 140, and another of 104, on his way to defeating Rex Williams 10–6. In the opening frame against King, Parrott produced a break of 80, which turned out to be his only break above 40 as he won 10–4. was only able to compete after his lawyers managed to postpone a disciplinary hearing relating to his failed drug test at the 1988 British Open. He eliminated Stevens, who had undergone voluntary treatment for cocaine addiction and fell from fourth place to outside the top 32 in the rankings during the season. Thorburn won the match 10–6. From 3–3 against Wayne Jones, Neal Foulds led 6–3 at the end of the first session and progressed by winning 10–7. Drago, having defeated a former world champion in the first round, knocked out another in the second round, winning 13–5 against Dennis Taylor. Foulds equaled Davis's record for an emphatic victory at the Crucible, Griffiths reached the quarter finals for the fifth year in succession, going from 9–9 to 13–9 against Thorne and concluding with a 101 break in the 22nd frame. In all, the match featured twenty breaks of 50 or more, including three century breaks. The match was re shown on BBC Two on 23 April 2020 in a series called Crucible Classics shown in place of the 2020 World Snooker Championship which was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first of seven Crucible matches between White and Hendry over the following decade, including four finals, White losing each encounter until their seventh world championship clash in 1998. After the eight frames of the first session between Thorburn and James, the score was 4–4. Knowles won four consecutive frames, compiling a break of 124 in the process, to trail 6–10. White responded by winning the next three to progress 13–6. During the second session, the players were level at 6–6 before Davis moved into an 8–6 lead, increasing this to 11–6 by taking the first three frames of the third session. Breaks of 77 and 49 in the 18th frame, and a narrow win in the 19th frame, saw Thorburn move to 8–11. Thorburn led by 57 points in the twentieth frame but conceded 4 points by accidentally missing the red balls when playing a safety shot, and Davis compiled a break of 54 to clinch the frame by a single point, finishing the session 14–8 ahead after winning the last two frames. Davis won the first two frames of the fourth session to complete a 16–8 victory. White won the first two frames against Griffiths, compiling a break of 83 in the second, and made it 3–1 after Griffiths had won the third frame. Griffiths reduced White's advantage to one frame with a fifth frame break of 114. In the next frame, Griffiths missed a red to allow White in and gain the frame. Griffiths won the following two frames and the first session ended level at 4–4.

The final between Davis and Griffiths took place on 1 and 2 May, as a best of 35 frames match played over four sessions. and Griffith's first since his win in 1979. Davis had won fifteen of the previous nineteen matches between the pair. In the second session, Griffiths won the first frame after a break of 34. Davis followed this by taking the next two frames with breaks of 83 and 81 to lead 7–3. Griffiths equalised at 7–7, making breaks of 30, 49, 63 and 55. Davis took the lead back with a break of 66 in the 15th frame, but a fluke on a red by Griffiths and a later miss on a red by Davis contributed to Griffiths equalising at 8–8 at the session's end. Davis missed some easy pots at the start of the third session, In the 29th frame, Griffiths missed a black from its spot, and Davis went on to win the frame with a break of 66 and take the title, achieving victory at 18–11. and he became first player to win all of the snooker "Triple Crown" events in a single season. His prize money earnings for the season were £425,000, and he retained his top position in the end of year rankings with 59 points, ahead of White in second on 44 points. Griffiths, with 33 points, was fifth, one place higher than in the previous ranking list.