The 2008 Bahrain Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 8 and 15 November 2008 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre in Manama, Bahrain. It was the fourth ranking event of the 2008/2009 season.
Due to a clash with a previously arranged Premier League match-day, three leading players (John Higgins, Mark Selby and Ding Junhui) were forced to miss the event. This meant that they earned no ranking points, with Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty and Jamie Cope (ranked 17, 18 and 19 respectively) qualifying automatically due to the extra spaces in the draw. Likewise, the players ranked from 33 to 35 and 49–51 played one qualifier less than usual. Additionally, Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew three days before the tournament for unspecified medical reasons.
Steve Davis was also involved in Premier League action, playing on 13 November, but did not withdraw from the tournament. He played his qualifying match and received a walkover due to O'Sullivan's withdrawal, meaning that he reached the last sixteen. However, before his last 16 match he withdrew from the event as an ear infection prevented him from flying to Bahrain.
Liang Wenbo made the 65th official maximum break during his qualifying match against Martin Gould. This was Liang's first official 147. Marcus Campbell made the 66th official maximum break during his wildcard round match against Ahmed Basheer Al-Khusaibi. This was Campbell's first official 147.
Neil Robertson won his third ranking title by defeating Matthew Stevens 9–7.
Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
Winner: £48,000 Runner-up: £22,500 Semi-final: £12,000 Quarter-final: £6,500 Last 16: £4,275 Last 32: £2,750 Last 48: £1,725 Last 64: £1,325
Stage one highest break: £500 Stage two highest break: £2,000 Stage one maximum break: £1,000 Stage two maximum break: £20,000 Total: £271,000
Wildcard round The 6 lowest ranking qualifiers played one wildcard match each. Matches were played at Bahrain International Exhibition Centre on Saturday, 8 November.
Match Score WC1 5–1 WC2 5–1 WC3 5–0 WC4 5–0 WC5 5–1 WC6 5–0
Main draw
Final Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Eirian Williams.Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Manama, Bahrain, November 15, 2008. Matthew Stevens (14) 7–9 Neil Robertson (8) Afternoon: 0–129 (129), , , , , , Evening: 56–70 (63), 67–47, , , , , , , 110 Highest break 129 1 Century breaks 2 4 50+ breaks 7
Qualifying Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales between 27 and 30 October 2008.
Century breaks
Qualifying stage centuries
147, 139, 139, 115 Liang Wenbo 137 Dominic Dale 136 Atthasit Mahitthi 135 Li Hang 131, 126 Rory McLeod 128 Alan McManus 127 Kuldesh Johal 124 Liu Chuang
122 Jin Long 122, 114, 103 Judd Trump 111 Michael Holt 110 Scott MacKenzie 105, 100 Fergal O'Brien 105 Robert Milkins 101 Vincent Muldoon
Televised stage centuries
147 Marcus Campbell 139, 132, 113, 111, 106 Stephen Hendry 137, 114, 102 Robert Milkins 129, 117, 116, 100 Neil Robertson 123 Joe Perry 123 Barry Hawkins 122 Stephen Maguire 120 Ricky Walden 120, 116, 110 Matthew Stevens
119, 112, 111, 105 Mark Allen 118 Peter Ebdon 117 Dave Harold 112, 100 Barry Pinches 110 Graeme Dott 105 Michael Holt 101 Mike Dunn 100 Rod Lawler 100 Ali Carter
See also
Dubai Classic Saudi Arabia Masters
References