Embassy World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates20 April – 6 May 1996 (1996-04-20 – 1996-05-06)
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£1,200,000
Winner's share£200,000
Highest break Peter Ebdon (ENG) (144)
 Tony Drago (MLT) (144)
Final
Champion Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Runner-up Peter Ebdon (ENG)
Score18–12
← 1995
1997 →

The 1996 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1996 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 20 April and 6 May 1996 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

Stephen Hendry won his sixth World Championship by defeating Peter Ebdon 18–12, equalling the modern-day record of Steve Davis and Ray Reardon. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

Tournament summary

  • In the first round, Alain Robidoux accused Ronnie O'Sullivan of showing him disrespect by playing left-handed for most of one frame of their match, and refused to shake hands with O'Sullivan when the match ended.[1] O'Sullivan's reaction to this was to claim that "I'm better with my left hand than he was with his right."[2]
  • O'Sullivan received a two-year suspended ban and a £20,000 fine, plus another £10,000 to be donated to charity, for an alleged assault on an official.[3]
  • Terry Griffiths won his first round match for the 14th time in a row (the first being in 1983),[4] a record that was beaten in 2018 by Ronnie O'Sullivan.[5][6] In the second round, Griffiths lost 8–13 against Steve Davis, his seventh loss in seven matches against Davis at the Crucible.
  • O'Sullivan's 13–4 victory over Tony Drago in the second round set the record for the fastest best-of-25-frames match in a professional tournament at just 167 minutes and 33 seconds.[7]
  • The final is the only time in Crucible history that the world champion did not take the last shot of the championship. Needing snookers, Peter Ebdon missed a shot and left Stephen Hendry a simple pot, but decided to concede the match rather than let Hendry continue.
  • This was Hendry's fifth consecutive title, a record for the modern era.
  • Legendary BBC commentator Ted Lowe retired after the conclusion of the final.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[8][9]

  • Winner: £200,000
  • Runner-up: £120,000
  • Semi-final: £60,000
  • Quarter-final: £30,500
  • Last 16: £16,000
  • Last 32: £9,000
  • Highest break: £17,000
  • Maximum break: £147,000
  • Total: £1,200,000

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).[8][10][11]

First round
Best of 19 frames		Second round
Best of 25 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 25 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 31 frames		Final
Best of 35 frames
20 April
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)10
26 & 27 April
England Jason Ferguson8
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)13
21 & 22 April
England Gary Wilkinson7
England David Roe (16)9
30 April & 1 May
England Gary Wilkinson10
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)13
23 April
Wales Darren Morgan (8)5
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (9)10
28 & 29 April
England Nick Terry5
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty (9)5
24 April
Wales Darren Morgan (8)13
Wales Darren Morgan (8)10
2, 3 & 4 May
Scotland Drew Henry8
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)16
24 & 25 April
England Nigel Bond (12)7
Thailand James Wattana (5)10
27, 28 & 29 April
England Jimmy Michie8
Thailand James Wattana (5)4
22 & 23 April
England Nigel Bond (12)13
England Nigel Bond (12)10
30 April & 1 May
England Anthony Hamilton9
England Nigel Bond (12)13
20 & 21 April
England Dave Harold (13)7
England Dave Harold (13)10
25, 26 & 27 April
England Neal Foulds4
England Dave Harold (13)13
21 & 22 April
England Rod Lawler6
England John Parrott (4)6
5 May & 6
England Rod Lawler10
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)18
20 & 21 April
England Peter Ebdon (10)12
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)10
25 & 26 April
Canada Alain Robidoux3
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)13
20 & 21
Malta Tony Drago (14)4
Malta Tony Drago (14)10
30 April & 1 May
England Steve James2
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)13
23 & 24 April
Scotland John Higgins (11)12
Scotland John Higgins (11)10
27, 28 & 29
England Martin Clark5
Scotland John Higgins (11)13
22 & 23 April
Scotland Alan McManus (6)5
Scotland Alan McManus (6)10
2, 3 & 4 May
England Mick Price5
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)14
24 & 25 April
England Peter Ebdon (10)16
England Jimmy White (7)10
28 & 29 April
Scotland Euan Henderson9
England Jimmy White (7)12
20 & 21 April
England Peter Ebdon (10)13
England Peter Ebdon (10)10
30 April & 1 May
New Zealand Dene O'Kane1
England Peter Ebdon (10)13
23 & 24 April
England Steve Davis (2)10
Wales Terry Griffiths (15)10
26 & 27 April
Scotland Jamie Burnett9
Wales Terry Griffiths (15)8
22 April
England Steve Davis (2)13
England Steve Davis (2)10
England Willie Thorne8
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 5 May & 6 May 1996. Referee: John Williams[12]
Stephen Hendry (1)
 Scotland		 18–12 Peter Ebdon (10)
 England
2–121, 75–42, 34–78, 34–61, 65–51, 18–57, 103–4, 74–39, 60–58, 125–0, 22–81, 70–31, 70–77, 134–0, 74–0, 82–0, 85–14, 1–75, 86–21, 83–23, 34–89, 0–77, 60–66, 96–0, 54–27, 78–23, 77–25, 1–71, 39–83, 73–16 Century breaks: 1 (Hendry 1)

Highest break by Hendry: 125
Highest break by Ebdon: 79

 2–121, 75–42, 34–78, 34–61, 65–51, 18–57, 103–4, 74–39, 60–58, 125–0, 22–81, 70–31, 70–77, 134–0, 74–0, 82–0, 85–14, 1–75, 86–21, 83–23, 34–89, 0–77, 60–66, 96–0, 54–27, 78–23, 77–25, 1–71, 39–83, 73–16
Scotland Stephen Hendry wins the 1996 Embassy World Snooker Championship

Century breaks

There were 48 century breaks in the 1996 World Snooker Championship, a new record which would last until 1998.[8] The highest break of the tournament was 144 made by both Peter Ebdon and Tony Drago.[13] Stephen Hendry made 11 century breaks in the tournament,[8] one short of his record of 12 set the previous year.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Anger over left-leaning O'Sullivan". The Independent. London. 22 April 1996. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "Bad breaks mount up for a troubled soul". The Independent. London. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
  3. ↑ "Bad Boys: Ronnie O'Sullivan". BBC Sport. 7 May 2003. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Terry Griffiths at the World Championships". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Kastner, Hugo. "SNOOKER – Spieler, Regeln & Rekorde (May 2011 update)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 119.
  7. ↑ Turner, Chris. "Various Snooker Records". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Embassy World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  9. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  10. ↑ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  11. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 42–43.
  12. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  13. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 148.
  14. ↑ Eric, Hayton (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History. London: Rose Villa Publications. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
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