1994 World Snooker Championship

Overview

• Two-time world champion Alex Higgins qualified for the championship for the last time, losing 6–10 in the first round to Ken Doherty.
• Cliff Thorburn, another former champion making his final World Championship appearance, lost 9–10 in the first round to Nigel Bond after leading 9–2.
• 18-year-old Ronnie O'Sullivan knocked out 1985 champion Dennis Taylor, who was also making his final appearance at the World Championship. O'Sullivan won their first-round match 10–6, his first victory at the Crucible after losing in the first round on his debut the previous year.
• Stephen Hendry won his third consecutive world title and his fourth in five years. This achievement was all the more remarkable because he played every match after the first round with a broken elbow.
• This was Jimmy White's fifth consecutive final appearance, his fourth against Hendry, and his sixth overall. The match went to a deciding frame; White had a great chance to win his first World title when leading 37–24 and only needing a handful of pots to win the title but missed a off the , and Hendry to clinch the title. This was White's last appearance in a World Championship final and the closest he ever came to winning the tournament.
• Earlier in the tournament, Hendry had sealed his position as world number one with a 16–9 semi-final victory over Steve Davis. This was Davis' eleventh and last appearance in a World Championship semi-final.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

• Winner: £180,000
• Runner-up: £110,000
• Semi-final: £55,000
• Quarter-final: £27,500
• Last 16: £15,000
• Last 32: £8,500
• Last 48: £6,000
• Last 64: £4,000
• Last 96: £1,750
• Last 128: £1,000
• Last 192: £600
• Stage one highest break: £5,000
• Stage two highest break: £15,400
• Stage two maximum break: £100,000
• Total: £1,068,000

Main draw

Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in parentheses beside some of the players are their seeding ranks (each championship has 16 seeds and 16 qualifiers).

Best of 19 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 25 frames Best of 31 frames Best of 35 frames |16 April|Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)|10|England Surinder Gill|1 |16 & 17 April|England David Roe (16)|8|England Dave Harold|10 |17 & 18 April|England Nigel Bond (9)|10|Canada Cliff Thorburn|9 |18 & 19 April|Wales Terry Griffiths (8)|10|England Mark Davis|7 |19 April|Thailand James Wattana (5)|10|England Peter Ebdon|6 |20 & 21 April|England Martin Clark (12)|9|England Brian Morgan|10 |17 & 18 April|England Steve James (13)|10|England Les Dodd|9 |20 April|England Steve Davis (4)|10|New Zealand Dene O'Kane|3 |16 & 17 April|England Jimmy White (3)|10|Scotland Billy Snaddon|6 |20 & 21 April|England Neal Foulds (14)|10|Wales Anthony Davies|7 |18 April|Ireland Ken Doherty (11)|10|Northern Ireland Alex Higgins|6 |19 & 20 April|Scotland Alan McManus (6)|10|Ireland Fergal O'Brien|7 |19 & 20 April|England Willie Thorne (7)|10|England Gary Ponting|2 |18 & 19 April|Wales Darren Morgan (10)|10|England Mark King|5 |16 April|Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (15)|6|England Ronnie O'Sullivan|10 |17 April|England John Parrott (2)|10|Scotland Drew Henry|9 |21 & 22 April|Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)|13|England Dave Harold|2 |22 & 23 April|England Nigel Bond (9)|13|Wales Terry Griffiths (8)|8 |24 & 25 April|Thailand James Wattana (5)|13|England Brian Morgan|9 |23 & 24 April|England Steve James (13)|3|England Steve Davis (4)|13 |23, 24 & 25 April|England Jimmy White (3)|13|England Neal Foulds (14)|10 |22 & 23 April|Ireland Ken Doherty (11)|13|Scotland Alan McManus (6)|11 |24 & 25 April|England Willie Thorne (7)|12|Wales Darren Morgan (10)|13 |21 & 22 April|England Ronnie O'Sullivan|3|England John Parrott (2)|13 |26 & 27 April|Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)|13|England Nigel Bond (9)|8 |26 & 27 April|Thailand James Wattana (5)|9|England Steve Davis (4)|13 |26 & 27 April|England Jimmy White (3)|13|Ireland Ken Doherty (11)|10 |26 & 27 April|Wales Darren Morgan (10)|13|England John Parrott (2)|11 |28, 29 & 30 April|Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)|16|England Steve Davis (4)|9 |28, 29 & 30 April|England Jimmy White (3)|16|Wales Darren Morgan (10)|8 |1 & 2 May|Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)|18|England Jimmy White (3)|17

|(Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 1 & 2 May 1994. Referee: John Williams |Stephen Hendry (1)

|18–17 |Jimmy White (3)

|7–94, 64–52, 89–0, 68–21, 93–24, 76–0, 1–85, 68–70, 42–85, 29–72, 15–110, 37–84, 71–54, 59–60, 94–27, 15–64, 71–26, 89–0, 0–77, 25–69, 73–4, 88–13, 53–64, 72–34, 56–61, 68–31, 66–34, 67–34, 0–116, 72–39, 66–71, 66–67, 68–0, 0–85, 82–37 |Century breaks: 1 (White 1)

Highest break by Hendry: 89

Highest break by White: 116 |7–94, 64–52, 89–0, 68–21, 93–24, 76–0, 1–85, 68–70, 42–85, 29–72, 15–110, 37–84, 71–54, 59–60, 94–27, 15–64, 71–26, 89–0, 0–77, 25–69, 73–4, 88–13, 53–64, 72–34, 56–61, 68–31, 66–34, 67–34, 0–116, 72–39, 66–71, 66–67, 68–0, 0–85, 82–37 |Scotland Stephen Hendry wins the 1994 Embassy World Snooker Championship |Best of 19 frames |Best of 25 frames |Best of 25 frames |Best of 31 frames

Century breaks

There were 35 century breaks in the Championship, a joint record with the 1993 tournament. The highest break of the tournament was 143 made by Alan McManus. The highest break of the qualifying stage was 143 made by Karl Payne.

• 143, 105, 102 Alan McManus
• 139, 102 Martin Clark
• 139 Cliff Thorburn
• 137 Billy Snaddon
• 134, 108 Brian Morgan
• 134, 101 Steve Davis
• 133, 112 Drew Henry
• 132 John Parrott
• 124, 120, 120, 109, 100 Stephen Hendry
• 124 Peter Ebdon
• 119, 100 Ken Doherty
• 118, 100 Fergal O'Brien
• 118 Willie Thorne
• 116, 112, 108, 107, 103 Jimmy White
• 115, 107, 100 Darren Morgan
• 114 Dene O'Kane
• 100 James Wattana

References

References

1. (25 July 2010). "Alex Higgins, snooker's anti-hero, dies aged 61". The Guardian.
2. Hodgson, Guy. (3 May 1994). "Snooker / World Championship: Hendry holds nerve to deny White again: Champion staggers rather than swaggers on to equal Davis's record of winning title for third successive year at The Crucible". The Independent.
3. (7 April 2004). "1994: Hendry beats White in classic". BBC Sport.
4. "1994 Embassy World Professional Snooker Championship".
5. Downer, Chris. (2012). "Crucible Almanac".
6. "World Championship 1994".
7. "Embassy World Championship".
8. "1994 World Championships Results".
9. Downer, Chris. (2012). "Crucible Almanac".
10. Downer, Chris. (2012). "Crucible Almanac".
11. "Crucible Centuries".
12. Downer, Chris. (2012). "Crucible Almanac".