Embassy World Snooker Championship
Tournament information
Dates20 April – 6 May 1991 (1991-04-20 – 1991-05-06)
VenueCrucible Theatre
CitySheffield
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£750,000
Winner's share£135,000
Highest break Jimmy White (ENG) (140)
Final
Champion John Parrott (ENG)
Runner-up Jimmy White (ENG)
Score18–11
← 1990
1992 →

The 1991 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1991 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 20 April and 6 May 1991 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.

Stephen Hendry was the defending champion, but he lost in the quarter-finals to Steve James and thus fell to the Crucible curse, becoming another champion who was unable to defend his first world title.

John Parrott won his only World Championship title by defeating Jimmy White 18–11 in the final. It was the third time that White had lost in the final after 1984 and 1990.[1][2] The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.

The highest break of the tournament was 140, made by Jimmy White.

Tournament summary

  • Future champion Ken Doherty made his Crucible debut, losing to Steve Davis 8–10;[3] former champion Joe Johnson qualified for the last time, losing to Dennis Taylor 6–10.[4] Both of these were first-round matches.
  • Future three-time semi-finalist Alan McManus also made his debut this year. He came through five rounds of qualifying and reached the second round at the Crucible, where he narrowly lost 12–13 to Terry Griffiths.
  • Ray Reardon the six time world champion announced his retirement from the game after losing his second round qualifying match 10–5 to Jason Prince. Reardon was a professional since 1967.
  • Cliff Thorburn failed to qualify for the first time, after playing in every championship since 1973.[5]
  • In the 4th frame of his first round match against Doug Mountjoy, Gary Wilkinson potted 15 reds and 15 blacks to make a break of 120. With all 6 colours on their spots, Wilkinson had a golden chance of clinching a 147 maximum break and a £100,000 prize, but Wilkinson then missed the yellow, which wobbled in the jaws of the pocket.
  • The 14th frame of the second round match between Steve Davis and Tony Meo took 70 minutes, including a 33-minute spell on just the final yellow and green. Meo won the frame by the bizarre score of 87–72, which included many foul points. Undeterred, Davis then won the next five frames to win 13–6.
  • One of the matches of the tournament was the second round match between Jimmy White and Neal Foulds. White took early leads of 3–0 and 4–2, but then fell 4–6 behind. In the 13th frame, when 5–7 behind, White made the highest break of the tournament, a 140. Foulds kept a one or two frame lead until he pulled three frames clear at 11–8. White then responded by winning five of the last six frames, including the final two frames, to win 13–12. White's quarter final against the in form Gary Wilkinson was expected to be a close affair, but White won 13–3.
  • Defending champion Stephen Hendry lost to Steve James 11–13 in the quarter-finals, despite Hendry having led 11–9. Hendry would not suffer another defeat at the Crucible until the 1997 final against Ken Doherty.[6]
  • Steve Davis made his ninth semi-final in a row, a record that still stands,[7][8] but lost 10–16 against John Parrott. In the other semi final between Jimmy White and Steve James, the first day of which was played on their 29th and 30th birthdays respectively, White won 16–9.
  • John Parrott took a 7–0 lead against Jimmy White in the final with near flawless snooker in the first session, and although White reduced his arrears to 8–12 at one stage, Parrott eventually won 18–11, again with a seven frame advantage.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[9][10]

  • Winner: £135,000
  • Runner-up: £80,000
  • Semi-final: £42,000
  • Quarter-final: £20,000
  • Last 16: £11,000
  • Last 32: £6,500
  • Highest break: £12,000
  • Maximum break: £100,000
  • Total: £750,000

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).[9][11][12][13]

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
25, 26 & 27 April
Australia Warren King4
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)13
20 & 21 April
Canada Alain Robidoux (16)8
Canada Alain Robidoux (16)10
30 April & 1 May
Wales Steve Newbury5
Scotland Stephen Hendry (1)11
21 & 22 April
England Steve James (9)13
England Steve James (9)10
28 & 29 April
England Ian Graham3
England Steve James (9)13
24 & 25 April
England Dean Reynolds (8)12
England Dean Reynolds (8)10
2, 3 & 4 May
England Robert Marshall8
England Steve James (9)9
22 & 23 April
England Jimmy White (4)16
Wales Doug Mountjoy (5)2
26 & 27 April
England Gary Wilkinson10
England Gary Wilkinson13
23 April
England Martin Clark (12)9
England Martin Clark (12)10
30 April
Wales Mark Bennett6
England Gary Wilkinson3
21 & 22 April
England Jimmy White (4)13
England Neal Foulds (13)10
27, 28 & 29 April
Australia Eddie Charlton7
England Neal Foulds (13)12
24 April
England Jimmy White (4)13
England Jimmy White (4)10
5 & 6 May
England Nick Dyson3
England Jimmy White (4)11
23 & 24 April
England John Parrott (3)18
England John Parrott (3)10
27 & 28 April
England Nigel Gilbert6
England John Parrott (3)13
21 April
England Tony Knowles1
England John Virgo (14)8
30 April & 1 May
England Tony Knowles10
England John Parrott (3)13
23 & 24 April
Wales Terry Griffiths (6)10
England Willie Thorne (11)8
26 & 27 April
Scotland Alan McManus10
Scotland Alan McManus12
22 & 23 April
Wales Terry Griffiths (6)13
Wales Terry Griffiths (6)10
2, 3 & 4 May
England Barry Pinches3
England John Parrott (3)16
24 & 25 April
England Steve Davis (2)10
England Mike Hallett (7)4
28 & 29 April
England Tony Jones10
England Tony Jones8
22 April
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (10)13
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (10)10
30 April & 1 May
England Joe Johnson6
Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor (10)7
20 April
England Steve Davis (2)13
England Tony Meo (15)10
25 & 26 April
England Craig Edwards7
England Tony Meo (15)6
20 & 21 April
England Steve Davis (2)13
England Steve Davis (2)10
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty8
Final (Best of 35 frames) Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 5 & 6 May 1991 Referee: John Williams[14]
Jimmy White (4)
 England		 11–18 John Parrott (3)
 England
0–97, 34–96, 0–82, 24–75, 6–88, 16–79, 0–117, 87–26, 67–32, 0–77, 63–77, 28–88, 69–49, 82–2, 64–6, 8–120, 136–0, 70–60, 50–51, 75–8, 55–58, 4–59, 68–55, 8–91, 8–112, 103–0, 13–74, 89–42, 24–76 Century breaks: 3 (Parrott 3)

Highest break by White: 92
Highest break by Parrott: 117

 0–97, 34–96, 0–82, 24–75, 6–88, 16–79, 0–117, 87–26, 67–32, 0–77, 63–77, 28–88, 69–49, 82–2, 64–6, 8–120, 136–0, 70–60, 50–51, 75–8, 55–58, 4–59, 68–55, 8–91, 8–112, 103–0, 13–74, 89–42, 24–76
England John Parrott wins the 1991 Embassy World Snooker Championship

Qualifying rounds

Century breaks

There were 31 century breaks in the championship. The highest break of the tournament was 140 made by Jimmy White.[15][16]

References

  1. ↑ Turner, Chris. "World Professional Championship". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  3. ↑ "Ken Doherty at the World Championships". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Joe Johnson at the World Championships". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Cliff Thorburne at the World Championships". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "Stephen Hendry profile". Betfred. Archived from the original on 16 April 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "Steve Davis at the World Championships". Snooker Database. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  8. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 119.
  9. 1 2 "World Championship 1991". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  10. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 130.
  11. ↑ "1991 World Championships Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "Embassy World Championship". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  13. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. pp. 32–33.
  14. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 143.
  15. ↑ "Crucible Centuries". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  16. ↑ Downer, Chris (2012). Crucible Almanac. p. 147.
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