On this week: First 146

The first English Professional Championship was won by Steve Davis who beat Tony Meo 9-8 in the final at Sandwell.

Stephen Hendry won the Thailand Masters for the only time in his career to date. In the final, at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel in Bangkok, he beat John Parrott 9-6.

The first China International to be a world ranking event was won by John Higgins. In the all-Scottish final in Shanghai, he beat Billy Snaddon 0-3, who was appearing in his first ranking final.

The second European Open was won, like the first, by John Parrott who beat Stephen Hendry 10-6 at the Palais de Sport in Lyon.

World number 36, Tony Jones, who had only once previously reached a ranking quarter final, was the surprise winner of the European Open in Rotterdam. In a final nobody would have predicted, he beat world number 60, Mark Johnston-Allen 9-7.

The fourth and final Thailand Open provided Peter Ebdon with his second world ranking title. At the Century Park Hotel in Bangkok he defeated Nigel Bond 9-7 in the final.

The European Open was held in the UK for the first time, at the Palace Hotel in Torquay. Ronnie O'Sullivan took the title with a 9-6 victory over Stephen Hendry.

Alan McManus won the Singha Thailand Open, his second world ranking title, when he defeated Ken Doherty 9-8 in the final at the Riverside Montien Hotel in Bangkok.

A 9-3 victory over Stephen Hendry in the final of the Thailand Masters in Bangkok, gave Ken Doherty a back-to-back double of ranking titles. He had already won the Welsh Open a few weeks earlier.

It was not a maximum but Stuart Bingham did make the first ever 146 break in the World Championship. It came in his final qualifying round match against Nigel Bond at the Palace Hotel in Torquay.

The World Championship final qualifier between Gary Wilkinson and Jason Ferguson at the Newport Centre ended in a 10-9 win for Wilkinson after 11 hours and 38 minutes of play, making it the longest best-of-19 frame match.

At Blackpool Tower Circus, Fred Davis won his seventh world title, the fifth in succession, when he beat John Pulman 37-34 in the final of the Professional Match Play Championship. This event had replaced the official world championship following a dispute with the then governing body.

After a gap of five years, England regained the World Cup at the Bournemouth International Centre. Steve Davis, Neal Foulds and Jimmy White beat the Australian trio of Eddie Charlton, John Campbell and Warren King 9-7 in the final.

Thailand's sporting hero, James Wattana won the Thailand Open title for the second year running. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 in the final at the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel in Bangkok.

The world number 93, Dave Harold, a 300-1 outsider in only his second season as a professional, was the shock winner of the Asian Open at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel in Bangkok. In a tournament of surprises, Harold beat Stephen Hendry in the last 16 and then went on to beat Darren Morgan 9-3 in the final to become the lowest ranked winner of a ranking event – a record which still stands.

In a repeat of the previous year's final, Ireland A beat Canada 9-2 to win the World Cup at Bournemouth International Centre. It was the third year in a row that Dennis Taylor, Alex Higgins and Eugene Hughes had won this event in a team representing All-Ireland. The Canadian team of Cliff Thorburn, Kirk Stevens and Bill Werbeniuk was unchanged for the eighth successive World Cup.

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