# 1998–99 snooker season

The 1998–99 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between June 1998 and May 1999. The following table outlines the results for the ranking and the invitational events.

## Calendar
### World Snooker Tour

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| ? Jun | ? Jun | CHN | Super Challenge | | Guangzhou | Steve Davis | Stephen Hendry | |
| 8 Sep | 10 Sep | CHN | Champions Super League | | | Stephen Hendry | John Higgins | |
| 29 Sep | 4 Oct | SCO | Scottish Masters | Civic Centre | Motherwell | Ronnie O'Sullivan | John Higgins | 9–7 |
| 14 Oct | 25 Oct | ENG | Grand Prix | Guild Hall | Preston | Stephen Lee | Marco Fu | 9–2 |
| 1 Nov | 12 Nov | ENG | Benson & Hedges Championship | Willie Thorne Snooker Centre | Malvern | David Gray | Dave Harold | 9–6 |
| 16 Nov | 29 Nov | ENG | UK Championship | Bournemouth International Centre | Bournemouth | John Higgins | Matthew Stevens | 10–6 |
| 3 Dec | 6 Dec | MLT | Malta Grand Prix | New Dolmen Hotel | Qawra | Stephen Hendry | Ken Doherty | 7–6 |
| 8 Dec | 13 Dec | GER | German Masters | Best Western Rheinhotel | Bingen am Rhein | John Parrott | Mark Williams | 6–4 |
| 15 Dec | 20 Dec | IRL | Irish Open | National Basketball Arena | Tallaght | Mark Williams | Alan McManus | 9–4 |
| 16 Jan | 24 Jan | ENG | Nations Cup | Telewest Arena | Newcastle upon Tyne | Wales | Scotland | 6–4 |
| 25 Jan | 31 Jan | WAL | Welsh Open | Cardiff International Arena | Cardiff | Mark Williams | Stephen Hendry | 9–8 |
| 7 Feb | 14 Feb | ENG | The Masters | Wembley Conference Centre | London | John Higgins | Ken Doherty | 10–8 |
| 15 Feb | 21 Feb | SCO | Scottish Open | A.E.C.C. | Aberdeen | Stephen Hendry | Graeme Dott | 9–1 |
| 25 Feb | 28 Feb | ENG | Charity Challenge | Assembly Rooms | Derby | John Higgins | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 9–4 |
| 1 Mar | 7 Mar | THA | Thailand Masters | Ambassador Hotel | Bangkok | Mark Williams | Alan McManus | 9–7 |
| 8 Mar | 14 Mar | CHN | China International | JC Mandarin Hotel | Shanghai | John Higgins | Billy Snaddon | 9–3 |
| 23 Mar | 28 Mar | IRL | Irish Masters | Goff's | Kill | Stephen Hendry | Stephen Lee | 9–8 |
| 4 Apr | 11 Apr | ENG | British Open | Plymouth Pavilions | Plymouth | Fergal O'Brien | Anthony Hamilton | 9–7 |
| 17 Apr | 3 May | ENG | World Snooker Championship | Crucible Theatre | Sheffield | Stephen Hendry | Mark Williams | 18–11 |
| 2 Jan | 16 May | ENG | Premier League | Magnet Leisure Centre | Maidenhead | John Higgins | Jimmy White | 9–4 |
| 15 May | 22 May | WAL | Pontins Professional | Pontins | Prestatyn | Jimmy White | Matthew Stevens | 9–5 |
* Ranking event
* Non-ranking event

### UK Tour

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 5 Oct | 7 Oct | ENG | UK Tour 1 | Hazel Grove Snooker Club | Stockport | Alfie Burden | Anthony Davies | 6–5 |
| 27 Oct | 29 Oct | ENG | UK Tour 2 | Jesters Snooker Club | Swindon | Joe Swail | Alfie Burden | 6–1 |
| 22 Feb | 24 Feb | ENG | UK Tour 3 | Jesters Snooker Club | Swindon | Stuart Bingham | Matthew Couch | 6–1 |
| 12 Apr | 14 Apr | ENG | UK Tour 4 | Hazel Grove Snooker Club | Stockport | James Reynolds | Jason Ferguson | 6–4 |

### Other events

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score | Ref. |
| 6 Dec | 19 Dec | THA | Asian Games | Land Sports Complex | Bangkok | Shokat Ali | Sam Chong | 7–6 | |

## Official rankings

The top 16 of the world rankings, these players automatically played in the final rounds of the world ranking events and were invited for the Masters.
| No. | Player | Points 1996/1997 | Points 1997/1998 | Total |
| 1 | John Higgins | 19587 | 27835 | 47422 |
| 2 | Stephen Hendry | 30457 | 16790 | 47247 |
| 3 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 18302 | 21105 | 39407 |
| 4 | Ken Doherty | 21072 | 15095 | 36167 |
| 5 | Mark Williams | 21420 | 11335 | 32755 |
| 6 | John Parrott | 16422 | 15335 | 31757 |
| 7 | Peter Ebdon | 15086 | 10340 | 25426 |
| 8 | Alan McManus | 13639 | 10755 | 24394 |
| 9 | Stephen Lee | 11384 | 12880 | 24264 |
| 10 | Tony Drago | 14504 | 9305 | 23809 |
| 11 | Anthony Hamilton | 11764 | 10760 | 22524 |
| 12 | Alain Robidoux | 16597 | 5790 | 22387 |
| 13 | Nigel Bond | 14106 | 8150 | 22256 |
| 14 | Steve Davis | 13077 | 9175 | 22252 |
| 15 | James Wattana | 13177 | 8365 | 21542 |
| 16 | Mark King | 10520 | 10950 | 21470 |

## Points distribution

1998/1999 points distribution for world ranking events:
| Tournament | Round → | L256 | L198 | L166 | L134 | L102 | L96 | L64 | L48 | L32 | L16 | QF | SF | F | W |
| Grand Prix | Unseeded loser | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | – | 855 | 1140 | 1520 | 2025 | 3040 | 4560 |
| Grand Prix | Seeded loser | – | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 360 | 480 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| UK Championship | Unseeded loser | – | 270 | 360 | 480 | 640 | 640 | 855 | – | 1140 | 1520 | 2025 | 2700 | 4050 | 6075 |
| UK Championship | Seeded loser | – | – | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Irish Open | Unseeded loser | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | 855 | 1140 | 1330 | 1520 | 2025 | 3040 | 4560 |
| Irish Open | Seeded loser | – | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 360 | – | 640 | 855 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Welsh Open | Unseeded loser | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | – | 855 | 1140 | 1520 | 2025 | 3040 | 4560 |
| Welsh Open | Seeded loser | – | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 360 | 480 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Scottish Open | Unseeded loser | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | – | 855 | 1140 | 1520 | 2025 | 3040 | 4560 |
| Scottish Open | Seeded loser | – | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 360 | 480 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| China International | Unseeded loser | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | 855 | 1140 | 1330 | 1520 | 2025 | 3040 | 4560 |
| China International | Seeded loser | – | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 360 | – | 640 | 855 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Thailand Masters | Unseeded loser | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | 855 | 1140 | 1330 | 1520 | 2025 | 3040 | 4560 |
| Thailand Masters | Seeded loser | – | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 360 | – | 640 | 855 | – | – | – | – | – |
| British Open | Unseeded loser | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 480 | 480 | 640 | – | 855 | 1140 | 1520 | 2025 | 3040 | 4560 |
| British Open | Seeded loser | – | – | 200 | 270 | 360 | 360 | 480 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| World Championship | Unseeded loser | 270 | 360 | 480 | 640 | 855 | 855 | 1140 | 1520 | 2027 | 2360 | 2700 | 3600 | 5400 | 8100 |
| World Championship | Seeded loser | 200 | – | 360 | 480 | 640 | 640 | – | 1140 | 1520 | – | – | – | – | – |