1999 World Snooker Championship 1999 World Snooker Championship The 1999 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1999 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 April–3 May 1999 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. John Higgins was the defending champion, but he lost in the semi-finals 10–17 against Mark Williams and became another World Champion who fell to the Crucible curse and could not defend his first World title. Stephen Hendry won his seventh and final World title by defeating Mark Williams in the final by 18 frames to
2016 World Snooker Championship unable to defend his title at the venue. During the tournament, six-time world champion Steve Davis played the last professional match of his 38-year career against Fergal O'Brien in the qualifiers; he announced his retirement a week later on live BBC television. Ding Junhui and Alan McManus set a new record in their semifinal for the most century breaks achieved in a professional match (10), with Ding also setting a new record for the most centuries by one player in a world championship match (7). In defeating McManus, Ding became the first Asian player ever to reach a World Championship