Rankings revisit - a trip through history

Alex Higgins last tv run coming just a few months before I started watching Snooker.

badtemperedcyril wrote:

chengdufan wrote:Anyway, where was I? Van Velthoven actually won his wildcard game, against Matthew Couch, and then got a bye against Jimmy White, who withdrew (anyone know why?). So he made it to the last 16. Well played Yvan!

Suspect it was when he was undergoing cancer treatment. It was certainly late 94, early 95. He also had that implant hair thing done.

it says on snooker.org white missed the tournament because he was having his hair implant done.

Juddernaut88 wrote:Once this heads to 1997 onwards I'll feel so down as that was the slow fall of the great Stephen Hendry :(

Yes, but still a seventh World Title past that point, so not exactly a demise

SnookerEd25 wrote:

Juddernaut88 wrote:Once this heads to 1997 onwards I'll feel so down as that was the slow fall of the great Stephen Hendry :(

Yes, but still a seventh World Title past that point, so not exactly a demise

True but you know you know lol.

Alain de cockerel and Alain de Botton would be a good pairing.

The qualifiers for the remaining 4 events of the season were played before the 1995 Welsh Open. These qualifiers were for the International Open, Thailand Open, British Open and World Championship.

It surprises me how long it is taking Joe Perry to break through. He has played all the qualifiers for 3 seasons now, and he is yet to break into the top 128. In fact, the highest he can now end the 94-95 season is 162nd.

1995 Welsh Open - Newport Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Welsh_Open_(snooker)

The first ranking event of the calendar year in 1995 was the Welsh Open.
This was to be Steve Davis' 28th and final ranking title. And he did it in style, winning 5 frames in a row from 4-3 up to beat John Higgins 9-3. He was able to take the title without facing any of his fellow top-8 players. Aside from Higgins, his toughest matchups in the event were against Dave Harold (10), Mark Williams (29), and Peter Ebdon (9).

Although in reaching the quarter-finals, Mark Flowerdew may be considered one of the surprise packages of the event, the only player he faced higher than himself in the rankings was Alain Robidoux.
The big surprise was of course Chris Small reaching the semis. Before outplaying Stephen Hendry in a 5-1 quarter-final victory, he had already thrashed Nigel Bond 5-0 and Fergal O'Brien 5-1.

QFs:
Steve Davis (3) 5-3 Mark Flowerdew (45)
Peter Ebdon (9) 5-4 Joe Swail (15)
John Higgins (12) 5-4 Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
Chris Small (50) 5-1 Stephen Hendry (1)

(I see the Welsh fans were denied the Hendry-O'Sullivan semi-final match they must have been anticipating)

SFs:
Davis (3) 6-3 Ebdon (9)
Higgins (12) 6-1 Small (50)

Final:
Davis (3) 9-3 Higgins (12)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 27510
2. Steve Davis 21142
3. Ronnie O'Sullivan 18391
4. James Wattana 18111

Co92
10. John Higgins 13958
25. Mark Williams 6618

Top 16 - no change

Top 32
In: Chris Small; Stephen Lee; Anthony Davies; Mark Flowerdew; Paul Davies
Out: Jason Ferguson; Brian Morgan; Neal Foulds; Gary Wilkinson; David Roe

Top 64
In: Tony Chappel; Peter Francisco; Euan Henderson; Paul McPhillips; John Read; Stefan Mazrocis
Out: Jimmy Michie; Karl Payne; Les Dodd; Doug Mountjoy; Wayne Jones; Brian Rowswell

Top 128
In: Tai Pichit; Jason Wallace; Marcus Campbell; Matt Wilson; Barry Pinches; Robin Hull; Barry West; Peter Lines; Scott MacFarlane; Pat Kenny
Out: Sean Storey; Noppadon Noppachorn; Craig MacGillivray; Mark Fenton; Richy McDonald; David McDonnell; Jack McLaughlin; Steve Meakin; Jim Chambers; Leigh Robinson

1995 International Open - Bournemouth International Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_International_Open

This event was sponsored by Sweater Shop. I love the variety of 1990s sponsors...

Anyway, I make it that three very notable things happened, making this quite an interesting event.

John Higgins won his second ranking title of the season (he is still a teenager remember). He didn't have an easy run either, beating the likes of Joe Swail, Ken Doherty, John Parrott, and then Steve Davis in the final.

Mark Johnston-Allen, who had been slipping down the rankings with very few results of note over the last 2 years, beat Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan on his way to the quarter-final. There he met Jimmy White, who easily won 5-0, compiling 4 50+ breaks.

And Roger Garrett happened...
Roger had been looking like quite a promising up-and-coming player. He was steadily rising up the rankings (prior to this event I have him at no.75), and was making notable progress, qualifying for the venue stages of this and of the upcoming Thailand Open. However, before his first match at the venue, he vanished, never to be seen again. All that was left was his cue and his dress suit in the hotel room.
He hasn't been seen or heard of since then, though there were unconfirmed reports in 2010 that he was working at Heathrow Airport.

QFs:
John Higgins (10) 5-2 Euan Henderson (57)
John Parrott (9) 5-1 Alan McManus (6)
Steve Davis (2) 5-0 Mick Price (54)
Jimmy White (7) 5-0 Mark Johnston-Allen (74)

SFs:
Higgins (10) 6-4 Parrott (9)
Davis (2) 6-4 White (7)

Final:
Higgins (10) 9-5 Davis (2)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 27188
2. Steve Davis 22927
3. Ronnie O'Sullivan 18870
4. James Wattana 17467

Co92
5. John Higgins 17202
23. Mark Williams 6882

Top 16 - no change

Top 32
In: Rod Lawler
Out: Paul Davies

Top 64
In: Mark Johnston-Allen
Out: Stephen O'Connor

Top 128
In: Colin Morton
Out: Scott MacFarlane

1995 Thailand Open - Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, Bangkok
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Thailand_Open

We had a couple of surprise semi-finalists in Bangkok. Cliff Thorburn rolled back the years to reach that stage for the first time since the 1991 European Open. It was to be the last time he would reach the latter stages of a ranking event. To get that far, he had claimed the notable scalp of Steve Davis in the last 16.
And Mark Johnston-Allen carried over his form from the International Open, this time beating the likes of Jimmy White and Darren Morgan.

James Wattana once again won the title. He certainly seems to relish playing in front of his home crowd. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final, largely thanks to racing out to a 4-0 lead.
O'Sullivan had knocked out Stephen Hendry in the last 16.

QFs:
James Wattana (4) 5-0 Gary Wilkinson (40)
Mark Johnston-Allen (52) 5-4 Darren Morgan (12)
Cliff Thorburn (42) 5-4 Tony Drago (24)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (3) 5-1 Peter Ebdon (8)

SFs:
Wattana (4) 5-1 Johnston-Allen (52)
O'Sullivan (3) 5-0 Thorburn (42)

Final:
Wattana (4) 9-6 O'Sullivan (3)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 26503
2. Ronnie O'Sullivan 21262
3. Steve Davis 20961
4. James Wattana 18231

Co92
5. John Higgins 17032
19. Mark Williams 7275

Top 16
In: Anthony Hamilton
Out: Joe Swail

Top 32
In: Cliff Thorburn; Jason Ferguson
Out: Martin Clark; Rod Lawler

Top 64
In: Doug Mountjoy
Out: Stefan Mazrocis

Top 128 - no change

chengdufan wrote:1995 International Open - Bournemouth International Centre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_International_Open

This event was sponsored by Sweater Shop. I love the variety of 1990s sponsors...

Anyway, I make it that three very notable things happened, making this quite an interesting event.

John Higgins won his second ranking title of the season (he is still a teenager remember). He didn't have an easy run either, beating the likes of Joe Swail, Ken Doherty, John Parrott, and then Steve Davis in the final.

Mark Johnston-Allen, who had been slipping down the rankings with very few results of note over the last 2 years, beat Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan on his way to the quarter-final. There he met Jimmy White, who easily won 5-0, compiling 4 50+ breaks.

And Roger Garrett happened...
Roger had been looking like quite a promising up-and-coming player. He was steadily rising up the rankings (prior to this event I have him at no.75), and was making notable progress, qualifying for the venue stages of this and of the upcoming Thailand Open. However, before his first match at the venue, he vanished, never to be seen again. All that was left was his cue and his dress suit in the hotel room.
He hasn't been seen or heard of since then, though there were unconfirmed reports in 2010 that he was working at Heathrow Airport.

QFs:
John Higgins (10) 5-2 Euan Henderson (57)
John Parrott (9) 5-1 Alan McManus (6)
Steve Davis (2) 5-0 Mick Price (54)
Jimmy White (7) 5-0 Mark Johnston-Allen (74)

SFs:
Higgins (10) 6-4 Parrott (9)
Davis (2) 6-4 White (7)

Final:
Higgins (10) 9-5 Davis (2)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 27188
2. Steve Davis 22927
3. Ronnie O'Sullivan 18870
4. James Wattana 17467

Co92
5. John Higgins 17202
23. Mark Williams 6882

Top 16 - no change

Top 32
In: Rod Lawler
Out: Paul Davies

Top 64
In: Mark Johnston-Allen
Out: Stephen O'Connor

Top 128
In: Colin Morton
Out: Scott MacFarlane

was looking at roger garrett's ranking moved up from 125 to 85 and was removed from the ranking the following season.

1995 British Open - Plymouth Pavilions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_British_Open

John Higgins won his third ranking event of the season, and established himself as a real contender for the upcoming World Championship (if he wasn't already). He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-6 in the final.
It looks like it was a cracker of a match, with 11 breaks over 50, including 3 centuries.

Mick Price caused the biggest upset of the tournament, beating Jimmy White 5-2 in the last 16. This was perhaps an indication that Jimmy would not be one of the favourites to win the World Championship this year. It must be the first time that has been the case since the early 80s.

QFs:
Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 5-4 Dave Harold (11)
James Wattana (4) 5-1 Mick Price (45)
John Higgins (5) 5-2 Steve Davis (3)
John Parrott (8) 5-1 Stephen Hendry (1)

SFs:
O'Sullivan (2) 6-4 Wattana (4)
Higgins (5) 6-2 Parrott (8)

Final:
Higgins (5) 9-6 O'Sullivan (2)

Following the event...

Top 4:
1. Stephen Hendry 26520
2. Ronnie O'Sullivan 22135
3. Steve Davis 21405
4. James Wattana 19155

Co92:
5. John Higgins 19026
22. Mark Williams 6846

Top 16
In: Joe Swail; Terry Griffiths
Out: Mark King; Anthony Hamilton

Top 32
In: Martin Clark; Neal Foulds
Out: Jason Ferguson; Mark Flowerdew

Top 64
In: Wayne Jones
Out: Dominic Dale

Top 128
In: Scott MacFarlane
Out: Cliff Wilson (nearly a year after his sad passing)

Here is the top 16 going into the 1995 World Championship:
1 Stephen Hendry
2 Ronnie O'Sullivan
3 Steve Davis
4 James Wattana
5 John Higgins
6 John Parrott
7 Peter Ebdon
8 Jimmy White
9 Ken Doherty
10 Alan McManus
11 Dave Harold
12 Darren Morgan
13 Nigel Bond
14 Andy Hicks
15 Joe Swail
16 Terry Griffiths

Hendry is the clear favourite, but O'Sullivan, Davis, Wattana and Higgins can be considered strong contenders.
Outside bets would be on Parrott, Ebdon, White, Doherty, McManus, Harold and Morgan.

Here is the draw for the first round:
Stephen Hendry (1) v Stefan Mazrocis (65)
Tony Drago (23) v Paul Cavney (80)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) v Dave Harold (11)
Darren Morgan (12) v Anthony Davies (31)
John Parrott (6) v Brian Morgan (43)
Joe Swail (15) v Nigel Gilbert (56)
David Roe (38) v Billy Snaddon (21)
Jimmy White (8) v Peter Francisco (48)
James Wattana (4) v Gary Wilkinson (36)
Terry Griffiths (16) v Alain Robidoux (17)
Nigel Bond (13) v Stephen Lee (30)
Alan McManus (10) v John Higgins (5)
Ken Doherty (9) v Mark Davis (46)
Peter Ebdon (7) v Rod Lawler (40)
Willie Thorne (25) v Tai Pichit (84)
Steve Davis (3) v Andy Hicks (14)

All members of the top 16 have qualified this year.

John Higgins won 3 ranking events this season but is not seeded for the World Championship. How harsh is that?

chengdufan wrote:Hendry is the clear favourite, but O'Sullivan, Davis, Wattana and Higgins can be considered strong contenders.
Outside bets would be on Parrott, Ebdon, White, Doherty, McManus, Harold and Morgan.

Well, Davis, Wattana and Higgins were all knocked out in the first round. Doherty and Harold are out too. Let's look at the first round results...

Stephen Hendry (1) 10-3 Stefan Mazrocis (65)
Tony Drago (23) 10-2 Paul Cavney (80)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (2) 10-3 Dave Harold (11)
Darren Morgan (12) 10-3 Anthony Davies (31)
John Parrott (6) 10-5 Brian Morgan (43)
Joe Swail (15) 10-8 Nigel Gilbert (56)
David Roe (38) 10-6 Billy Snaddon (21)
Jimmy White (8) 10-2 Peter Francisco (48)
James Wattana (4) 8-10 Gary Wilkinson (36)
Terry Griffiths (16) 10-6 Alain Robidoux (17)
Nigel Bond (13) 10-8 Stephen Lee (30)
Alan McManus (10) 10-3 John Higgins (5)
Ken Doherty (9) 7-10 Mark Davis (46)
Peter Ebdon (7) 10-2 Rod Lawler (40)
Willie Thorne (25) 10-6 Tai Pichit (84)
Steve Davis (3) 7-10 Andy Hicks (14)

So the top half looks loaded with Hendry, O'Sullivan, Parrott, White and Morgan. Hendry is scheduled to meet O'Sullivan in the quarter-final.

And in the bottom half, things have really opened up. It looks like it's between Ebdon and McManus to make the final, with Ebdon the clear favourite of those two.

1995 World Championship - Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Worl ... ampionship

Stephen Hendry came through the tough top half, beating O'Sullivan and White on his way to the final.
In quite a shock, he faced Nigel Bond in the final. Bond would not have been expected to come through to the final in a month of Sundays, but the draw was not as tough as it could have been, and he was the most likely finalist of those whom I didn't give a chance to prior to the tournament.

Hendry of course won the final at a canter.
But who knows what would have happened if the seedings had more accurately reflected the players' abilities when going into the tournament?

L16:
Hendry (1) 13-6 Drago (23)
O'Sullivan (2) 13-8 Morgan (12)
Parrott (6) 13-11 Swail (15)
White (8) 13-7 Roe (38)
Wilkinson (36) 13-9 Griffiths (16)
Bond (13) 13-10 McManus (10)
Ebdon (7) 13-7 Mark Davis (46)
Hicks (14) 13-7 Thorne (25)

QFs:
Hendry (1) 13-8 O'Sullivan (2)
White (8) 13-11 Parrott (6)
Bond (13) 13-7 Wilkinson (36)
Hicks (14) 13-8 Ebdon (7)

SFs:
Hendry (1) 16-12 White (8)
Bond (13) 16-11 Hicks (14)

Final:
Hendry (1) 18-9 Bond (13)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 31640
2. Ronnie O'Sullivan 24007
3. Steve Davis 20409
4. James Wattana 19238

Co92
7. John Higgins 18326
23. Mark WIlliams 6784

Top 16 - no change

Top 32
In: Gary Wilkinson; David Roe; Mark Davis
Out: Dean Reynolds; Cliff Thorburn; Neal Foulds

Top 64
In: Stefan Mazrocis
Out: Doug Mountjoy

Top 128
In: Cliff Wilson
Out: Troy Shaw


EDIT: The Davis in the last 16 is Mark Davis, not Steve. Just changed it to clarify that.

To the end of the 94-95 season, 103 ranking events have been played. Here is the roll of honour:

Steve Davis 28 ('95 Welsh Open)
Stephen Hendry 22 ('94 UK Championship; '94 European Open; '95 World Championship)
Jimmy White 9
John Parrott 7
Ray Reardon 5
James Wattana 3 ('95 Thailand Open)
John Higgins 3 ('94 Grand Prix; '95 International Open; ;95 British Open)
Cliff Thorburn 2
Tony Knowles 2
Dennis Taylor 2
Doug Mountjoy 2
Ronnie O'Sullivan 2
John Spencer 1
Terry Griffiths 1
Alex Higgins 1
Willie Thorne 1
Silvino Francisco 1
Joe Johnson 1
Neal Foulds 1
Tony Meo 1
Mike Hallett 1
Steve James 1
Bob Chaperon 1
Tony Jones 1
Ken Doherty 1
Dave Harold 1
Peter Ebdon 1
Alan McManus 1 ('94 Dubai Classic)

Outstanding thread. I know I've said it before but... you are allowing me to relive some of my favourite moments in the sport.

There was a few years, in the noughties, when i was fulltime DJ and getting f*cked up every weekend where I only tuned into the triple crown, and even then only the latter stages. So being able to follow the other storylines through this thread is filling in gaps in my knowledge.

1994-95 End of Season rankings:

1 = Stephen Hendry 31640
2 +4 Ronnie O'Sullivan 24007
3 = Steve Davis 20409
4 = James Wattana 19238
5 -3 Jimmy White 18828
6 +1 John Parrott 18581
7 +24 John Higgins 18326
8 +2 Peter Ebdon 17109
9 -4 Alan McManus 14504
10 +1 Nigel Bond 14420
11 -3 Ken Doherty 14143
12 -3 Darren Morgan 13732
13 -1 Dave Harold 12869
14 +2 Andy Hicks 11976
15 -1 Joe Swail 8405
16 -3 Terry Griffiths 8143
17 -2 Tony Drago 7935
18 +7 Gary Wilkinson 7901
19 +18 Alain Robidoux 7381
20 -3 Willie Thorne 7241
21 +28 Mark King 7102
22 +11 Billy Snaddon 7049
23 +19 Mark Williams 6784
24 -1 Drew Henry 6769
25 +3 Anthony Hamilton 6764
26 -6 Fergal O'Brien 6372
27 +38 Chris Small 6345
28 -10 David Roe 6333
29 +1 Stephen Lee 6225
30 -8 Martin Clark 6079
31 +7 Mark Davis 5954
32 +12 Anthony Davies 5948
33 +1 Dean Reynolds 5914
34 +5 Cliff Thorburn 5802
35 -14 Neal Foulds 5673
36 +5 Mick Price 5489
37 +27 Mark Flowerdew 5474
38 -9 Jason Ferguson 5384
39 +11 Rod Lawler 5275
40= +26 Mark Johnston-Allen 5273
40= -16 Brian Morgan 5273
42 +130 Euan Henderson 5008
43 -16 Dennis Taylor 5003
44 +18 Paul Davies 4870
45 -19 Dene O'Kane 4746
46 -14 Tony Knowles 4589
47 +6 Peter Francisco 4564
48 +10 Tony Chappel 4463
49 +3 Nigel Gilbert 4387
50 +20 Terry Murphy 4161
51 -4 Dave Finbow 4086
52 -33 Steve James 4066
53 -10 Nick Terry 4022
54 -19 Tony Jones 3968
55 -10 Alex Higgins 3966
56 -20 Mike Hallett 3961
57 +10 Stefan Mazrocis 3598
58 +42 Ian Brumby 3447
59 = Stephen Murphy 3444
60 +1 Joe Johnson 3372
61 +21 Jamie Burnett 3358
62 -7 Wayne Jones 3354
63 -7 Paul McPhillips 3304
64 +49 John Read 3283
65 +13 Dominic Dale 3197
66 -26 Doug Mountjoy 3172
67 -21 Les Dodd 3095
68 +15 Karl Payne 2954
69 +22 Matthew Couch 2935
70 -19 Stephen O'Connor 2911
71 = Jimmy Michie 2893
72 +62 Michael Judge 2761
73 +52 Tai Pichit 2663
74 -26 Mark Bennett 2642
75 +96 Jason Wallace 2600
76 +73 Paul Cavney 2577
77 +55 Roger Garrett 2564
78 -10 Steve Newbury 2539
79 -25 Jason Prince 2534
80 -7 Brian Rowswell 2481
81 -18 Jonathan Birch 2471
82 +22 Jamie Woodman 2444
83 +35 Nick Walker 2340
84 +3 Steve Judd 2282
85 -28 Jim Wych 2211
86 NEW Wayne Brown 2153
87 +1 Darren Clarke 2091
88 +20 Antony Bolsover 2087
89 +30 Lee Richardson 2039
90 -15 Tony Meo 2010
91 -12 Sean Lanigan 1912
92 +18 Nick Fruin 1856
93 +6 Shokat Ali 1820
94 -22 Karl Broughton 1809
95 +36 Jeff Cundy 1785
96 +10 Chris Scanlon 1758
97 +23 Adrian Rosa 1741
98 -18 Surinder Gill 1710
99 +10 Jason Weston 1709
100 -19 Silvino Francisco 1706
101 +43 Marcus Campbell 1692
102 -42 Danny Fowler 1642
103 -29 Darryn Walker 1607
104 -6 Nick Dyson 1604
105 -16 Eddie Charlton 1581
106 NEW Graeme Dott 1563
107 -10 Mark Rowing 1535
108 +20 Stuart Pettman 1503
109 -33 Joe Grech 1491
110 +12 Ken Owers 1470
111 -26 Ian Graham 1441
112 +133 Matt Wilson 1434
113 +1 Peter Daubney 1418
114 -30 Gary Ponting 1404
115 +36 Peter Lines 1349
116 +52 Barry Pinches 1343
117 -22 Andrew Cairns 1331
118 +21 Robin Hull 1270
119 -50 Craig Edwards 1264
120 -18 Gerard Greene 1222
121 -16 Yasin Merchant 1163
122 +24 Barry West 1150
123 -8 Colin Morton 1145
124 -13 David Taylor 1109
125 +58 Nick Marsh 1077
126 +41 Pat Kenny 1072
127 +2 Scott MacFarlane 1051
128 -51 Cliff Wilson 956

Dan-cat wrote:Outstanding thread. I know I've said it before but... you are allowing me to relive some of my favourite moments in the sport.

There was a few years, in the noughties, when i was fulltime DJ and getting f*cked up every weekend where I only tuned into the triple crown, and even then only the latter stages. So being able to follow the other storylines through this thread is filling in gaps in my knowledge.

This '95 World Championship has been a fun one for me too. I remember watching matches in this quite clearly, but I was a casual fan at best back then so had no idea of the lead up to the Championship.

I remember deperately wanting Hicks to make the final because I thought he played incredible snooker in the matches I watched.
And I remember being disappointed Bond wasn't more exciting to watch, given his name! I don't remember watching much of O'Sullivan funnily enough.

chengdufan wrote:
Top 128
In: Cliff Wilson

How has the big man managed to climb back into the top128 a year after he died?

SnookerEd25 wrote:

chengdufan wrote:
Top 128
In: Cliff Wilson

How has the big man managed to climb back into the top128 a year after he died?

He was just that good.



...Actually, yes, it is a bit of a quirk!
Following the 95 WC, points from the venue stages of the 1993 International Open came off the totals.
Cliff failed to qualify for that one, losing to Nick Fruin in the last 96, so he didn't have any points to lose. Meanwhile, Troy Shaw qualified and won one frame against Alan McManus. After removing the points from that one won frame, he drops below Cliff in the rankings.

I like the first answer better

Interesting quirk though; I would have thought death resulted in an automatic removal from the rankings.

Mark Williams returned to the top 16 after the World Championship he failed to qualify for.

KrazeeEyezKilla wrote:Mark Williams returned to the top 16 after the World Championship he failed to qualify for.

At least he was still breathing!

1995 would be the last time Steve Davis won a ranking event.

SnookerEd25 wrote:I like the first answer better

Interesting quirk though; I would have thought death resulted in an automatic removal from the rankings.

You're absolutely right of course. Thanks for raising this.

I will make the necessary adjustments when I get home from work this evening.

I've had a quick check for other such cases. Of the 454 players who have played at least one last 128 match in the 103 ranking events so far, 4 have been reported as having passed away:
Warren Simpson (1980)
Marcus Owen (1987)
Cliff Wilson (1994)
Gary Owen (1995)

Only Cliff was still ranked at the time of his death.

There may be others whose death was not reported, or for whom I haven't found the report. But I will work on the assumption that they passed at least a couple of years afetr they stopped playing unless told otherwise.

Future ones to consider will of course be Paul Hunter and Lee Spick.

Cliff's final ranking was 77.

1995 Thailand Classic - Novotel Hotel, Bangkok
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Thailand_Classic

John Parrott gained a long overdue ranking event win, in the first such event of the 1995-96 season. He had a tough run to the final, overcoming both John Higgins and Stephen Hendry. And in the final, he met Nigel Bond, who had beaten Steve Davis 5-0 earlier in the competition.

There was quite a shock in the last 32, with Mark Johnston-Allen defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan. It seems it was common for Johnston-Allen to beat Hendry and O'Sullivan, though he struggled against practically anyone else!

QFs:
John Parrott (6) 5-3 John Higgins (7)
Stephen Hendry (1) 5-0 Terry Griffiths (16)
Nigel Bond (10) 5-4 Joe Swail (15)
Dene O'Kane (45) 5-4 Dave Finbow (51)

SFs:
Parrott (6) 5-4 Hendry (1)
Bond (10) 5-1 O'Kane (45)

Final:
Parrott (6) 9-6 Bond (10)

Following the event...

Top 4
1. Stephen Hendry 25264
2. Ronnie O'Sullivan 18658
3. John Parrott 16200
4. John Higgins 15619

Top 16
In: Gary Wilkinson
Out: Terry Griffiths

Top 32
In: Mark Johnston-Allen; Dave Finbow; Rod Lawler
Out: Stephen Lee; David ROe; Martin Clark

Top 64
In: Doug Mountjoy; Mark Bennett; Karl Payne; Matthew Couch
Out: Alex Higgins; Paul McPhillips; Stefan Mazrocis; Ian Brumby

Top 128
In: Matthew Stevens; Michael Duffy; Paul Wykes; David McLellan; Sean Storey; Stuart Reardon; Ian McCulloch; Nick Pearce
Out: Robin Hull; Barry West; Troy Shaw; Joe Grech; Nick Marsh; Scott MacFarlane; Craig Edwards; David Taylor

John Higgins has replaced Steve Davis in the top 4

chengdufan wrote:
There was quite a shock in the last 32, with Mark Johnston-Allen defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan. It seems it was common for Johnston-Allen to beat Hendry and O'Sullivan, though he struggled against practically anyone else!

Famously had a winning H2H against those two, and Steve Davis but did very little else. Quite bizarre.