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.[1]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14–25 October 1998 |
| 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 (ENG) (139) |
| Final | |
| Champion | Stephen Lee (ENG) |
| Runner-up |  Marco Fu (HKG) |
| Score | 9–2 |
← 1997 1999 → | |
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.[2] 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:[1]
Main draw
Final
| Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Newton. Preston Guild Hall, Preston, England, 25 October 1998.[1][3] | ||
| 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 |