Marco Fu - 2007 Grand Prix
Marco Fu admitted after beating Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 to win the 2007 Royal London Watches Grand Prix that he feared he would never capture a ranking title.
The 29 year old from Hong Kong became the third Asian player to win a world ranking title, the other two being Thailand's James Wattana and China's Ding Junhui.
Coverage of the final was transmitted live to Hong Kong and China. It was Fu's sixth victory against the 'Rocket'.
Fu commented afterwards, 'There was a period of two to three years when I was struggling to get to the last 16 of tournaments, let alone win one. After I got to the final in 1998 I was really happy, but after that I was getting knocked out in the last 32's and last 16's.'
It was Fu's nerve and tremendous performance, the best of his ten year professional career, that kept Ronnie at bay. When O'Sullivan looked set to go level at 7-7 Fu punished him for an unexpected mistake with a 60 break and it was the turning point of the match.
'It was the best clearance I have made in my career, it was such an important moment and it's good to know that I can do that under pressure,' said Fu afterwards.
Fu then went on to take the last frame 76-0 and O'Sullivan could only sit and watch.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The tournament that is today generally known as the Grand Prix, had a mixed beginning, starting life as the Professional Players Tournament in the 1982/83 season. Before this only one event was a ranking event and that was the World Championship. However the WPBSA now decided to award the Jameson International, ranking event staus and to promote a 'new' ranking event which became the Professional Players Tournament.
In 1984 the event became sponsored by Rothmans and the tournament was given a new name along with its new sponsor, it became the Rothmans Grand Prix and was now televised by the BBC. The first event took place at The Hexagon, Reading where it remained until Rothmans withdrew its sponsorship in 1992. The first event was won by Dennis Taylor when he beat Cliff Thorburn 10-2. Dennis later that season went on to win the World Championship in that memorable 'black ball' final against Steve Davis
2002 Chris Small
Next year's final saw Steve Davis become the winner in another tussle against Taylor as he beat him 10-9 . The following year Rex Williams who turned professional in 1951, became the oldest player to reach a ranking final and in a now famous display of surrender Williams waved his towel on the end of his cue to concede victory to an up and coming Jimmy White just seven years a professional.
Over the next five years the trophy was passed between Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry with Hendry taking 3 of the 5 titles. The following year in 1992 Jimmy White beat Ken Doherty 10-9 to draw to a close Rothmans sponsorship of the event.
In 1993 it was taken over by Skoda and moved to Derby becoming the Skoda Grand Prix. Ken Doherty again lost in the final, this time 9-6 to Peter Ebdon. Skoda continued its sponsorship for another two years, with John Higgins in the final on both occasions, winning his first title as a professional in 1994 and losing the second in 1995 to Hendry.
From 1996 until 2001 the event was unsponsored. In 1998 the event moved to the Guild Hall, Preston replacing the long established UK Championship which was moved to the Bournemouth International Centre. The Grand Prix remained at Preston until 2000 when it was moved to Telford.
In 2001 a new sponsor was found for the event, although under the new three year banner of the LG Cup the tournament lost its identity as the Grand Prix, but to the majority of fans it was still the same event, it also returned to the Guild Hall from Telford.
The innaugural event under LG saw Ronnie O'Sullivan complete his fifth maximum and Stephen Lee get his second ranking event title when he beat Peter Ebdon 9-4. The match was memorable as it was the first time the two players had met after Ebdon's triumphant chanting during his 13-12 World Championship victory which had infuriated Lee.
In 2002 Scottish player Chris Small defied the odds and surprised everyone, except probably himself, as he won his first and only ranking event title of his eleven year career, beating fellow Scot Alan McManus in a tense 9-5 victory.
In the final year of LG's sponsorship Mark Williams completed a Grand Slam of BBC tournaments, winning the World, UK, Masters and LG Cup, as he beat John Higgins 9-5. Higgins also made his name in the event by becoming only the second player, following Stephen Hendry, to compile a maximum break in a major final
In 2004 the event returned to its better known title of the Grand Prix, again with a new sponsor and became known as the Totesport Grand Prix again being held at Preston. Ronnie O'Sullivan provided a spectacular display to defeat local hero Ian McCulloch 9-5
O'Sullivan appeared in the final again the following year this time against John Higgins. But John outclassed him in a display of snooker that hammered Ronnie 9-2 and earned him his third Grand Prix title and rewrote snooker’s record books in the process.
In the final Higgins made four consecutive centuries from frames seven to ten, the first time any player has achieved that in competitive play. It was a truly mesmerising performance from the Scot who also broke the all-time record for unanswered points. He scored 494 without reply, bettering Stephen Hendry’s record of 487 set at the 1996 Masters against Jimmy White.
In 2006 the event again had a new sponsor - The Royal London Watches Grand Prix - a new venue, Aberdeen and this time a new format as it changed to a 'round robin' event until the last 16. It also had a new winner in Australian Neil Robertson who beat Jamie Cope 9-5 another surprising finalist. It made history also because Robertson became the first Australian player ever to win a world ranking event.
The 2007 event had a surprise winner as Hong Kong's Marco Fu beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 to claim the first ranking title of his ten year career. Fu admitted afterwards that there were times when he feared he would never win a ranking title. The 29 year old became the third Asian player to win a world ranking title, the other two being China's Ding Junhui and Thailand's James Wattana.
| 2007 - Marco Fu bt R.O'Sullivan 9-6 | 1994 - John Higgins bt D.Harold 9-6 |
| 2006 - Neil Robertson bt J.Cope 9-5 | 1993 - Peter Ebdon bt K.Doherty 9-6 |
| 2005 - John Higgins bt R.O'Sullivan 9-2 | 1992 - Jimmy White bt K.Doherty 10-9 |
| 2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan bt I.McCulloch 9-5 | 1991 - Stephen Hendry bt S.Davis 10-6 |
| 2003 - Mark Williams bt J.Higgins 9-5 | 1990 - Stephen Hendry bt N.Bond 10-5 |
| 2002 - Chris Small bt A.McManus 9-5 | 1989 - Steve Davis bt D.Reynolds 10-0 |
| 2001 - Stephen Lee bt P.Ebdon 9-4 | 1988 - Steve Davis bt A.Higgins 10-6 |
| 2000 - Mark Williams bt R.O'Sullivan 9-5 | 1987 - Stephen Hendry bt D.Taylor 10-7 |
| 1999 - John Higgins bt M.Williams 9-8 | 1986 - Jimmy White bt R.Williams 10-6 |
| 1998 - Stephen Lee bt M.Fu 9-2 | 1985 - Steve Davis bt D.Taylor 10-9 |
| 1997 - Dominic Dale bt J.Higgins 9-6 | 1984 - Dennis Taylor bt C.Thorburn 10-2 |
| 1996 - Mark Williams bt E.Henderson 9-5 | 1983 - Tony Knowles bt J.Johnson 9-8 |
| 1995 - Stephen Hendry bt J.Higgins 9-5 | 1982 - Ray Reardon bt J.White 10-5 |
