The 1995 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1995 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 14 and 30 April 1995 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
Background
The inaugural 1927 World Snooker Championship, then known as the Professional Championship of Snooker, took place at various venues in England between November 1926 and May 1927. Joe Davis won the final—held at Camkin's Hall in Birmingham from 9 to 12 May 1927—and went on to win the tournament 15 consecutive times before retiring undefeated after the 1946 edition (no tournaments were held from 1941 to 1945 because of World War II). The tournament went into abeyance after only two players contested the 1952 edition. The six editions of the World Professional Championship held between 1952 and 1957 are retroactively regarded as legitimate continuations of the World Snooker Championship, but that tournament was discontinued due to waning public interest in snooker in the post-war era. The world title was uncontested between 1958 and 1963.
Then-professional player Rex Williams was instrumental in reviving the World Snooker Championship on a challenge basis in 1964. John Pulman, winner of the 1957 World Professional Championship, defended the world title across seven challenge matches between 1964 and 1968. The World Snooker Championship reverted to an annual knockout tournament for the 1969 edition, marking the beginning of the championship's "modern era". The 1977 edition was the first staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where it has remained since. As of 1995, the most successful players in the were Ray Reardon and Steve Davis, each having won the title six times. Stephen Hendry was the tournament's youngest winner, having captured his first title at the 1990 event, aged . Reardon was the oldest winner, having secured his sixth title at the 1978 event, aged .
Overview The 1995 edition of the tournament—the 26th successive year that the World Snooker Championship was contested through the modern knockout format—took place from 14 to 30 April at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 19th consecutive year that the World Championship was staged at the venue. Until the 2020 event, postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 1995 edition was the last that started on a Friday rather than on a Saturday and did not finish on the May Day bank holiday, observed on the first Monday in May. Sponsored by cigarette brand Embassy, it was the ninth and last ranking tournament of the 1994–95 season, held after the British Open. The defending champion was Stephen Hendry, who had defeated Jimmy White 18–17 in the final of the 1994 World Championship to win the title.
Format The top 16 players in the snooker world rankings were seeded through to the main stage at the Crucible Theatre. They faced 16 players who progressed through the qualifying rounds. First-round matches were played as the best of 19 , held over two . Second-round and quarter-final matches were played as the best of 25 frames, held over three sessions. The semi-final matches were played as the best of 31 frames, held over four sessions. The final was the best of 35 frames, also held over four sessions.
Prize fund The winner of the event received £190,000 from a total prize fund of £1,132,000. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
Winner: £190,000 Runner-up: £115,000 Semi-final: £57,000 Quarter-final: £29,000 Last 16: £15,500 Last 32: £8,750 Last 48: £7,400 Last 64: £4,450 Last 96: £2,350 Last 128: £1,475 Highest (televised phase): £16,000 Highest break (qualifying rounds): £5,000 Maximum break: £147,000
Total: £1,132,000
Summary Qualifying The qualifying competition was held at the Norbreck Hotel, Blackpool, between 4 and 20 January 1995. There were eight rounds; rounds one to three were the best of 9 and the later rounds were the best of 19.
The 1993 World Amateur champion Tai Pichit lost only three frames in three matches as he progressed to round five, then defeated Stuart Reardon 10–8. Barry Pinches made a of 136 in his 5–4 second round win against Matthew Stevens. Seven-time World Women's Snooker Championship winner Allison Fisher defeated Richard Somauroo on the final in round two, then beat Ian Sargeant 5–3. She led Roger Garrett 3–1 in round four, but eventually lost 4–10.
In round six, Anthony Hamilton made a of 145 in the third frame of his 10–6 defeat of Nick Walker. It was the highest break that had ever been made in World Championship qualifying, superseding the previous record of 143. Pichit faced the 1972 and 1982 champion Alex Higgins. Higgins, trailing 3–7, was on a break of 103 in frame 11 when he asked the referee John Williams to move from what he said was his line of sight. Williams was standing behind and to the left of Higgins and refused to move when Higgins told him that he was in his "line of thought". Higgins started crying and went on to the table, his break of 137 being the highest he had ever made in 23 years of competing at the championship. Pichit won the match 10–5. The 1980 champion Cliff Thorburn lost 9–10 to Jamie Woodman. Joe Johnson, who won the title in 1986 and was runner-up in 1987, beat Matthew Couch 10–5. Nick Terry made breaks of 138 and 132 against Paul Cavney in the seventh round, but lost 8–10. Andy Hicks beat Johnson 10–2. Eddie Charlton, aged 65, lost 9–10 to Pinches.
Twelve of the players seeded 17th to 32nd lost in the final qualifying round. Pichit was the only first-season professional to qualify, when he beat Mike Hallett 10–8. Cavney was 33 points behind Neal Foulds in the , but made a break of to win. The 1985 champion Dennis Taylor, who had been the only player to participate at the Crucible Theatre every year since the tournament moved there in 1977, lost 2–10 to Anthony Davies. Taylor complained about the format of the qualifying competition, saying that "Anthony has played seven matches here in just over a week and he's got used to the conditions. That's a disadvantage for me... there should be a break of at least a week between matches to make it fair for everyone." Two-time championship semi-finalist Tony Knowles, who was defeated 4–10 by Stephen Lee, also complained, saying "This venue is terrible and so is the system. We aren't being given a level playing field. So many top players lose here, the percentages are there for all to see."
The players who qualified for the main stage for the first time were Lee, Pichit, Cavney, Rod Lawler, Hicks, John Higgins, and Stefan Mazrocis. Hamilton won the £5,000 prize for the highest break of the qualifying rounds for his 143 against Walker.
First round The first round took place from 14 to 19 April, each match played as the best of 19 frames over two . The defending champion Stephen Hendry made breaks of 90, 128, 69, 50, and 114 to defeat the world number 73 Mazrocis 10–3. Debutant Cavney, trailing Tony Drago 8–0, won the last frame of the first day. He also took the first of the second session, but Drago then produced a break of 84 and also won the next frame for a 10–2 victory. James Wattana, the third seed, constructed a 4–1 lead against Gary Wilkinson winning four consecutive frames, but Wilkinson replied by winning the last four of the first session to lead. In the second session, Wattana led 6–5 and also 7–6 aided by an 83 break, but Wilkinson won the match 10–8. Lawler took the opening frame with a , but Peter Ebdon, a quarter-finalist in the 1992 edition, replied with eight consecutive frames, featuring breaks of 107 and 57. Ebdon then sealed victory in the second session, taking the first and the third frames for a 10–2 scoreline.
Ken Doherty, winner of the 1994 Scottish Masters during the season, trailed Mark Davis 4–5 after the first session. Doherty levelled at 5–5 thanks to an 85 break and again at 6–6, but Davis went on to win 10–7. Jimmy White, who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and undergone surgery during the season, eliminated Peter Francisco 10–2, winning three frames on the last . "I was totally relaxed but I couldn't score heavily enough. But with my health problems behind me, I'll have to dig in and practise even more," White said. Unusual gambling patterns were detected before the match and all the betting was eventually suspended. The governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, launched an inquiry, which resulted in a five-year suspension for Francisco for "not conducting himself in a manner consistent with his status as a professional sportsman." White was cleared. Ronnie O'Sullivan compiled breaks of 80, 80, 112, 56, 111, 55, and 58 as he beat Dave Harold 10–3. The 112 break was a maximum break attempt which ended after he had fourteen and fourteen blacks. "This game is all about taking your chances. It's not the negative, game it was a few years ago. This suits me fine as it's tailor-made for me," O'Sullivan said.
Six-time World Champion Steve Davis trailed Hicks 3–6 after the first session. Hicks also added the first two frames of the second session. Davis won four in a row to reduce the deficit to one at 7–8, but Hicks secured victory with back-to-back half-centuries. Hicks called the win a "dream come true". It was only Davis's third first-round defeat at the World Championship. "I hate losing and the way I played last night...I still enjoy playing the game, though perhaps not as much as I used to because I'm losing more often," Davis commented. Debutant John Higgins had won three ranking tournaments throughout the season and was second-favourite to win the World Championship. He fell 3–6 behind the two-time semi-finalist Alan McManus during the first session. McManus, whose highest break in the match was 99, won all four frames played in the second session to progress. "I think [Higgins] had a bit of a shock playing here for the first time. Every year I come to the Crucible it seems smaller and smaller. It's hard to describe but the pressure is tenfold and so different to anywhere else," McManus said.
Requiring victory to remain in the top 16 of the world rankings going into the next season, Terry Griffiths won three consecutive frames to lead Alain Robidoux 5–4 after the first session. Robidoux took the first two frames of the second session to go in front, but Griffiths replied by winning five in succession to advance to the second round. The match, which ended past midnight, lasted 7 hours and 42 minutes. David Roe made three half-centuries as he led Billy Snaddon by one frame after the first session. Snaddon tied the match with a break of 78, but Roe won five of the following six frames to progress. Darren Morgan produced breaks of 62, 62, and 100 to build a 7–2 lead against Davies. Davies took the first frame of the second session, but Morgan won three in a row to claim victory. Playing in his first season as a professional, Pichit led Willie Thorne 2–0. Thorne then won four frames in a row and went on to win 10–6. "I was perhaps a little over-cautious, I didn't know what to expect. But really it was a great draw for me as rookies seldom win their first match at the Crucible," Thorne said.