The 1989 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the Embassy World Snooker Championship for sponsorship reasons) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 1989 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the eighth and final ranking event of the 1988–89 snooker season and the thirteenth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament at this location having taken place in 1977. There were 142 entrants to the competition.
The defending champion was Steve Davis, who had previously won the World Championship five times. He met John Parrott in the final, which was a best-of-35- match. Davis won the match 18–3, which remains the biggest winning margin in the sport's modern era, and meant that the final, scheduled for four , finished with a . This was Davis's sixth and last world title, and his last appearance in a World Championship final. Stephen Hendry scored the championship's highest , a 141, in his quarter-final match. There were 19 century breaks compiled during the championship.
A five-round qualifying event for the championship was held at the Preston Guild Hall from 22 March to 4 April 1989 for 126 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. Davis received £105,000 from the total prize fund of £525,000.
Overview 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. In the modern era, which started in 1969 when the World Championship reverted to a knockout format, 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, hosted 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 1989 championship featured 32 professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a single-elimination format, each round being played over a pre-determined number of , and each match divided into two or more s containing a set number of frames. These competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top 16 players in the snooker world rankings and the winners of a pre-tournament qualification stage. It was the eighth and final ranking event of the 1988–89 snooker season, and the thirteenth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament there having taken place in 1977. The defending champion in 1989 was Steve Davis, who had defeated Terry Griffiths 18–11 in the final of the 1988 World Snooker Championship to win his fifth world title. The 1989 championship was sponsored by cigarette brand Embassy, and was also referred to as the Embassy World Snooker Championship. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC.
Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for the championship is shown below:
Winner: £105,000 Runner-up: £63,000 Semi-finalist: £31,500 Quarter-finalist: £15,750 Last 16: £7,875 Last 32: £4,429.68 Last 48: £3,445.31 Last 64: £1,804.68 Highest break (televised stage): £10,500 Highest break (untelevised stage): £2,625 Maximum break: £100,000 Total: £525,000
Tournament summary Qualifying
Qualifying matches took place at Preston Guild Hall from 22 March to 4 April 1989, all matches being the best of 19 frames. There were 126 participants in the qualifying competition, 16 of whom reached the main stage, where they met the 16 invited seeded players. Mannie Francisco, playing his first match in the United Kingdom since losing in the final of the 1972 World Amateur Snooker Championship, led Tony Wilson 5–4 after their first session, but was eliminated 6–10. Darren Morgan compiled breaks of 108 and 103 against Eric Lawlor, the first time that two century breaks had been achieved in consecutive frames in the World Snooker Championship. Bill Werbeniuk had been due to return to competitive play after a six-month ban imposed by the WPBSA for his use of beta blockers, but did not appear for his match. From 4–9 in arrears, Paddy Browne won six consecutive frames against Steve Meakin to progress to the next round, 10–9 after a . Joe O'Boye built a 9–0 lead over Danny Fowler, who then won six successive frames before O'Boye achieved a 10–6 victory. Six-time champion Ray Reardon was eliminated 5–10 by Gary Wilkinson.
In the final round qualifying, Tony Meo established a new record highest break for world championship qualifying by compiling a 142 during his defeat of Tony Jones. Steve Duggan eliminated two former World Championship title-holders, Fred Davis and John Spencer. Another ex-champion, Alex Higgins, failed to qualify for the championship for the first time in his career, after he lost to Morgan. Higgins, the world number 17, who had beaten four of the top seven players in the rankings on the way to victory at the 1989 Irish Masters on 2 April, was defeated 8–10 by Morgan the following day. Morgan broke Meo's record for the highest break in world championship qualifying by compiling a break of 143, his fourth century break of the competition. Seven players qualified for the main event for the first time: Morgan, Wilkinson, Browne, O'Boye, Duggan, Steve Newbury, and David Roe.
First round The first round took place between 15 and 20 April, each match played over two sessions as the best of 19 frames. Defending champion Davis played Newbury, and took a 7–2 lead at the end of the first session after being 0–2 behind. Newbury won the first three frames of the second session to narrow the deficit to 5–7 before Davis won 10–5. For the seventh time, Cliff Wilson failed to win a match at the Crucible, eliminated 1–10 by Steve Duggan. Winning seven consecutive frames to move from 2–4 behind Tony Knowles to 9–4 ahead, David Roe went on to defeat Knowles 10–6. Mike Hallett was 0–3 behind Doug Mountjoy before winning the fourth frame after he a , ended the first session at 4–4, then fell 4–6 behind, but won six of the next seven frames to progress to the next round 10–7.
Terry Griffiths led Bob Chaperon 4–0 and, always at least three frames ahead from that point on, won 10–6. Silvino Francisco eliminated Joe O'Boye 10–6 after leading 6–1. Paddy Browne was 5–4 ahead of Willie Thorne after their first session, but then lost six successive frames as Thorne progressed 10–5. Stephen Hendry built a 4–0 lead over Gary Wilkinson, and led 6–3 as the second session commenced, but after missing several short-length during the match, won only in the deciding frame, 10–9.
Third seed Neal Foulds lost 9–10 to Wayne Jones, at the end of a season that saw Foulds fall from third to twentieth place in the rankings. Peter Francisco held a 7–4 lead over Dean Reynolds but lost 7–10. Meo led the 1987 champion Joe Johnson 8–0 before winning the match 10–5. Eddie Charlton defeated Cliff Thorburn 10–9 in a match that finished at 2:39 am, which was the second-latest finish time for a match at the Crucible. Charlton, aged 59 years and 169 days, became the second-oldest player to win a match at the World Championship, after Fred Davis in 1979.
After constructing breaks of 110, 103 and 102, John Parrott led James 9–7. In each of the next two frames, he missed pots on the that would have won him the match, James taking both frames. The deciding frame was won by Parrott, who compiled a break of 33. Parrott, from Liverpool, wore a black armband during the match in recognition of the Hillsborough disaster that had happened on 15 April at the FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool. Dennis Taylor led Hughes 6–3 after their first session, and in the second session won four consecutive frames including breaks of 106 and 94, to qualify for the next round 10–3. John Virgo progressed to the second round for the first time since 1982 by eliminating Darren Morgan 10–4. Second seed Jimmy White defeated Dene O'Kane, who recorded a 127 break, 10–7.
Second round The second round, which took place between 20 and 24 April, was played as best-of-25-frames matches spread over three sessions. Davis defeated Duggan within two sessions, going from a 7–1 lead after the first to a 13–3 victory in the second. Hallett won in the deciding frame against Roe. Griffiths and Silvino Francisco were 3–3 at the end of their first session, after which Griffiths obtained a 10–6 lead during the second session, and eliminated Francisco 13–9. Thorne took a 2–0 lead against Hendry, but was eventually defeated 4–13.
Jones lost 3–13 to Reynolds. Meo was warned by the referee for slow play during the 21st frame against Charlton. This turned out to be the last frame, as Meo won the contest 13–8. Parrott won four consecutive frames to go from 9–10 behind Taylor to win 13–10. The match between White and Virgo saw White take a 5–3 lead from the first session, and went to a deciding frame during which Virgo, leading by two points in the frame, announced that he had committed a by slightly touching a with his cue. White went on to win the frame and match.
The afternoon session on 22 April, featuring the matches between Parrott and Taylor, and Griffiths and Francisco, had its start time delayed from 3:00 pm until 3:06 pm, commencing with a minute's silence in acknowledgement of the Hillsborough disaster a week earlier. There was no television coverage of matches on 24 April due to strike action by the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance and the National Union of Journalists relating to a pay dispute.
Quarter-finals The quarter-finals were played as best-of-25-frames matches over three sessions on 25 and 26 April. As in the previous round, Davis won his match before the final session was required. Davis compiled a 128 break in the second frame as he built a 7–0 lead, before Hallett took the last frame of the first session. The first four frames of the second session were won by Davis, putting him 11–1 ahead. Hallett compiled a 133 break when 2–12 behind, but lost the match 3–13. Griffiths and Hendry were level at 4–4 at the conclusion of their first session. Hendry won nine successive frames to progress 13–5, constructing a 141 break in the thirteenth frame of the match.
Reynolds, who had criticised Meo for the slow pace of his play during the 1989 British Open final between the pair in March, was warned by referee John Williams for slow play. Meo won the match 13–9, having held leads of 4–3 and 9–7 after the first two sessions. At the post-match press conference, Reynolds started crying during his opening sentence, and, a few minutes later, expressed his dissatisfaction with the referee's decisions during the match. Making several mistakes, White trailed Parrott 1–7 after their first session, but recovered to 6–8, and finished the second day 6–10 behind. Parrott won three of the first four frames on the third day to complete a 13–7 win.
Semi-finals