1996 World Cup (snooker)

Castrol-Honda World Cup
Tournament information
Dates29 October – 10 November 1996 (1996-10-29 – 1996-11-10)
VenueArmari Watergate Hotel
CityBangkok
CountryThailand
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£400,000
Winner's share£105,000
Highest break John Higgins 139
Final
Champion Scotland
Runner-up Republic of Ireland
Score10–7
1990
2011

The 1996 Snooker World Cup was a team snooker tournament which returned after a six-year absence. With the increasing rise of snooker in some countries, This new version has 20 teams in the championship and it was played in Bangkok in Thailand. Scotland's 'Dream Team' with Stephen Hendry, Alan McManus and John Higgins were strong favourites to win from the start and they did so by beating Republic of Ireland with Ken Doherty, Fergal O'Brien and Stephen Murphy to win their only World Cup. Higgins got the highest break of the tournament with a 139 in his semi-final match against Thailand's Tai Pichit. The tournament was a success but hosting the event had become too costly that the event was withdrawn afterward.[1][2][3]

Main draw

Teams

Country Player 1 (Captain) Player 2 Player 3
 Scotland Stephen Hendry Alan McManus John Higgins
 England Peter Ebdon Ronnie O'Sullivan Nigel Bond
 Wales Darren Morgan Mark Williams Anthony Davies
 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor Joe Swail Terry Murphy
 Ireland Ken Doherty Fergal O'Brien Stephen Murphy
 Canada Cliff Thorburn Alain Robidoux Jim Wych
 Malta Tony Drago Alex Borg Joe Grech
 Thailand James Wattana Noppadon Noppachorn Tai Pichit
 Australia Robby Foldvari Quinten Hann Stan Gorski
 Pakistan Shokat Ali Farhan Mirza Saleh Mohammad
 South Africa Silvino Francisco Hitesh Naran Munier Cassim
 New Zealand Dene O'Kane Mark Canovan Daniel Haenga
 Belgium Bjorn Haneveer Mario Geudens Patrick Delsemme
Hong Kong Kong Wahorn Chan Wai Tat Paul Fung
 Singapore Keith Boon Bernard Tey Ang Chiok Hong
 China Guo Hua Pang Weiguo Tao Shan
 United Arab Emirates Masood Akil Mohammed Shehab Mohammed Al Joker
 Iceland Kristján Helgason Johannes Johannesson Edvard Matthiasson
 Malaysia Sam Chong Ng Ann Seng Yong Kien Foot
 Netherlands Raymond Fabrie Mario Wehrmann Johan Oenema

Darren Morgan was later replaced by Mark Bennett after the death of his mother.

The two best teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Group A

Team 1 Score Team 2 Date
Belgium 6–3 Iceland
Republic of Ireland 6–3 New Zealand
Northern Ireland 6–3 Iceland
Republic of Ireland 7–2 Belgium
Northern Ireland 4–5 Belgium
New Zealand 5–4 Iceland
Republic of Ireland 4–5 Northern Ireland
New Zealand 5–4 Belgium
Republic of Ireland 7–2 Iceland
Northern Ireland 6–3 New Zealand

Group B

Team 1 Score Team 2 Date
Hong Kong 2–7 Singapore
Canada 8–1 South Africa
Scotland 9–0 Singapore
Hong Kong 7–2 South Africa
Scotland 6–3 South Africa
Canada 8–1 Singapore
Canada 7–2 Hong Kong
South Africa 5–4 Singapore
Scotland 6–3 Canada
Scotland 8–1 Hong Kong

Group C

Team 1 Score Team 2 Date
Thailand 4–5 China
England 8–1 United Arab Emirates
China 4–5 United Arab Emirates
Thailand 6–3 Pakistan
England 5–4 China
England 6–3 Thailand
Pakistan 8–1 United Arab Emirates
Pakistan 7–2 China
Thailand 9–0 United Arab Emirates
England 6–3 Pakistan

Group D

Team 1 Score Team 2 Date
Australia 6–3 Netherlands
Malta 6–3 Malaysia
Wales 6–3 Netherlands
Australia 5–4 Malta
Wales 8–1 Malaysia
Malta 4–5 Netherlands
Wales 7–2 Australia
Netherlands 6–3 Malaysia
Wales 5–4 Malta
Australia 6–3 Malaysia
Quarter-finals
Best of 19 Frames
Semi-finals
Best of 19 Frames
Final
Best of 19 Frames
Scotland 10
Northern Ireland 6 Scotland 10
Thailand 10 Thailand 5
Wales 9 Scotland 10
England 10 Republic of Ireland 7
Australia 5 England 9
Republic of Ireland 10 Republic of Ireland 10
Canada 6

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referees:
Amari Watergate Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. 10 November 1996.
 Scotland
Stephen Hendry, Alan McManus, John Higgins
10–7  Ireland
Ken Doherty, Fergal O'Brien, Stephen Murphy
Hendry v O'Brien: 84–4
McManus v Murphy: 93–0
Higgins v Doherty: 68–30
Hendry v Murphy: 74–25
McManus v Doherty: 59–63
Higgins v O'Brien: 21–70
Hendry v Doherty: 69–70
McManus v O'Brien: 71–24
Higgins v Murphy: 59–70
Hendry v O'Brien: 77–46
McManus v Murphy: 66–60
Higgins v Doherty: 63–20
McManus v O'Brien: 8–75
Higgins v Murphy: 44–66
Hendry v Doherty: 0–102 (68)
Higgins v O'Brien: 86–26
Hendry v Murphy: 73–34
Highest break
Century breaks
50+ breaks

References

  1. ^ "Fin's Fables: The 1996 Snooker World Cup". Snooker HQ. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  2. ^ Whebell, Charles (11 November 1996). "Scotland let off by edgy Irish". The Daily Telegraph. p. 43.
  3. ^ "Castrol-Honda World Cup 1996". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 August 2018.