1998 Grand Prix (snooker)

Skoda Grand Prix

Tournament information
Dates	14–25 October 1998 (1998-10-14 – 1998-10-25)
Venue	Guild Hall
City	Preston
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£370,000
Winner's share	£60,000
Highest break	Peter Ebdon (139)
Final
Champion	Stephen Lee
Runner-up	Marco Fu
Score	9–2
← 1997 1999 →

The 1998 Skoda Grand Prix was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 14–25 October 1998 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England.

Dominic Dale was the defending champion, but he lost his last 64 match against Robin Hull.

Stephen Lee and Marco Fu both contested a ranking tournament final for the first time in their careers, Fu in his first tournament as a professional being ranked 377 at the time of his final appearance; the lowest ranked finalist at any ranking event. Lee prevailed 9–2 to claim his first ranking title.

Tournament summary

Defending champion Dominic Dale was the number 1 seed with World Champion John Higgins seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

• Winner: £60,000
• Runner-up: £32,000
• Semi-final: £16,000
• Quarter-final: £9,100
• Last 16: £4,600
• Last 32: £2,600
• Last 64: £2,225

• Stage one highest break: £1,100
• Stage two highest break: £5,000
• Total: £370,000

Main draw

	Last 64 Best of 9 frames					Last 32 Best of 9 frames					Last 16 Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
	1	Dominic Dale	0
		Robin Hull	5
							Robin Hull	3
						18	Gary Wilkinson	5
	18	Gary Wilkinson	5
	78	Matthew Couch	0
											18	Gary Wilkinson	0
											31	Jamie Burnett	5
	31	Jamie Burnett	5
	37	Steve James	1
						31	Jamie Burnett	5
						14	Nigel Bond	2
	14	Nigel Bond	5
		Patrick Wallace	2
																31	Jamie Burnett	3
																25	Chris Small	5
	12	Anthony Hamilton	5
	93	Leigh Griffin	4
						12	Anthony Hamilton	5
						24	Paul Hunter	1
	24	Paul Hunter	5
	81	Jimmy Michie	2
											12	Anthony Hamilton	2
											25	Chris Small	5
	25	Chris Small	5
	76	Stuart Pettman	3
						25	Chris Small	5
						7	John Parrott	4
	7	John Parrott	5
		Colm Gilcreest	4
																					25	Chris Small	1
																					377	Marco Fu	6
	8	Peter Ebdon	5
	36	Joe Swail	3
						8	Peter Ebdon	5
						32	Billy Snaddon	1
	32	Billy Snaddon	5
	64	Nick Pearce	1
											8	Peter Ebdon	5
											9	Alan McManus	0
	29	Terry Murphy	3
	55	Joe Johnson	5
						55	Joe Johnson	3
						9	Alan McManus	5
	9	Alan McManus	5
	54	Dean Reynolds	2
																8	Peter Ebdon	3
																377	Marco Fu	5
	11	Tony Drago	2
	43	Drew Henry	5
						43	Drew Henry	3
						377	Marco Fu	5
	22	Andy Hicks	4
	377	Marco Fu	5
											377	Marco Fu	5
											4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	2
	17	Mark King	5
	59	Gerard Greene	2
						17	Mark King	2
						4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
		Sam Chong	3
																										377	Marco Fu	2
																										10	Stephen Lee	9
	3	Stephen Hendry	5
	60	Ian McCulloch	1
						3	Stephen Hendry	5
						48	David Roe	0
	26	Matthew Stevens	1
	48	David Roe	5
											3	Stephen Hendry	5
											27	Brian Morgan	3
	27	Brian Morgan	5
	61	David Gray	3
						27	Brian Morgan	5
						40	Rod Lawler	2
	13	Alain Robidoux	1
	40	Rod Lawler	5
																3	Stephen Hendry	4
																20	Dave Harold	5
	16	James Wattana	1
	38	Euan Henderson	5
						38	Euan Henderson	2
						20	Dave Harold	5
	20	Dave Harold	5
		Alex Borg	0
											20	Dave Harold	5
											49	Shokat Ali	0
	19	Jimmy White	4
	49	Shokat Ali	5
						49	Shokat Ali	5
						5	Ken Doherty	3
	5	Ken Doherty	5
		David McDonnell	0
																					20	Dave Harold	4
																					10	Stephen Lee	6
	6	Mark Williams	5
	58	Michael Judge	3
						6	Mark Williams	4
						23	Darren Morgan	5
	23	Darren Morgan	5
	99	Robert Milkins	4
											23	Darren Morgan	2
											10	Stephen Lee	5
	21	Fergal O'Brien	5
		Mark Johnston-Allen	1
						21	Fergal O'Brien	1
						10	Stephen Lee	5
	10	Stephen Lee	5
	63	Tony Jones	3
																10	Stephen Lee	5
																45	Quinten Hann	0
	15	Steve Davis	4
	57	Dene O'Kane	5
						57	Dene O'Kane	4
						35	Jason Ferguson	5
	28	Martin Clark	3
	35	Jason Ferguson	5
											35	Jason Ferguson	3
											45	Quinten Hann	5
	30	Graeme Dott	3
		Alan Burnett	5
							Alan Burnett	4
						45	Quinten Hann	5
	2	John Higgins	1
	45	Quinten Hann	5

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Newton. Preston Guild Hall, Preston, England, 25 October 1998.
Marco Fu (377) Hong Kong	2–9	Stephen Lee (10) England
Afternoon: 8–115 (50), 0–128 (128), 17–75 (75), 0–130 (66, 64), 82–4 (82), 33–99 (66), 0–77 (70), 85–12 (85) Evening: 0–107 (90), 1–93 (57), 5–106 (106)
85	Highest break	128
0	Century breaks	2
2	50+ breaks	10

Century breaks

• 139 – Peter Ebdon
• 134 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 129 – Martin Clark
• 128, 126, 106, 104 – Stephen Lee
• 123 – Marco Fu
• 121, 111, 110 – Quinten Hann
• 121 – John Parrott

• 120 – Tony Drago
• 115, 107 – Chris Small
• 110 – Dene O'Kane
• 108 – Stephen Hendry
• 106 – Jason Ferguson
• 104, 103 – Dave Harold
• 104, 102 – Mark Williams