Later this year, Ken Dahdi will return to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield to celebrate his 25th anniversary of winning the World Championships with pride as Ireland.
文/Hector Nunns，《The Sportsman》
Ken Dahdi won the World Championship in 1997 from Hendry, who had won crucible for five consecutive years. In that famous 18:12 final, waiting for Dahdi's honor to return home was a convertible and a victory parade in Dublin. The local police chief told him that during the crucial period of the game, the criminal activities in Dublin City had stopped for a while.
At last week's Old England Championship in Hull, Dahdi recalled to reporters the hot summer against Hendry and fond memories of Sheffield.
"I think May 5, 1997 is the day that really defines the value of my life – after that day, wherever you go, you'll be called a world champion," Dahdi said. ”
"When I saw Alex Higgins win the World Championship in 1982, I knew I wanted to be a snooker player, and soon after, Dennis Taylor, also from Northern Ireland, won the World Championship in 1985."
"So emulating them and winning the World Championship is a dream come true, especially when it comes to beating the seemingly invincible Stephen (Hendry) in the final, which is a big surprise."
"It's been 25 years since '97 ... Time flies so fast. The open-top bus that greeted me in Dublin was incredible, it was supposed to be a celebration for the Irish football team or the Olympic heroes – not actually for snooker, but it was also influential enough at the time. ”
"I've been playing well in 1996/97, although I lost three games at the start of the season and my confidence was low and I was very affected. Although I had never done this before, I decided to ask Ronnie O'Sullivan to train with me at the club in Irfurt to prepare for the World Championships. ”
"During those two weeks of practice, we had to play 19 innings a day and played very hard. If you play fast, even play two 19-innings of pairings, because I am practicing with Ronnie, often both sides play very fast. ”
"So we both came to Sheffield with a lot of energy and an efficient level of practice. Ronnie scored the famous 147 points in the shortest time in an official match in just five minutes. ”
"In the first round against Mark Davies, I played very slowly and I felt relieved to beat him, and then I beat Steve Davis, John Higgins, Alain Robbidu and the final welcomed Stephen."
"Even though it was my first time in a World Championship final, I had beaten him (Hendry) in other finals before, which made me less panicked. Although everyone could see that I was at a disadvantage, I really enjoyed the final process. ”
'Crucible is like his home stadium, he's so calm and confident on the pitch, he shot a three-shot break in the first quarter, but I didn't show weakness and showed him my confidence.
"After taking a big lead, I was a little nervous at 15:12 and he was an easy player to reverse the game. But after playing 16:12, I felt like I had won. ”
"But I'm going to encourage Stephen to come back to Crucible for a special celebration of my 25th anniversary. He could speak freely about his defeat in that game! But we'll also invite Dennis Taylor and John Wolgo to talk about it, and there will be a lot of interesting stories. But hopefully, before that, I can qualify for the World Championships in Crucible for the last time. ”
Dahdi last played in the World Championships in 2014, and he hasn't broken through the qualifying round since. That year, he came down the steps and emotionally knelt down and kissed the Crucible carpet was a very touching scene.
Although the 1997 World Championships were Dahdi's highlight moment, Sheffield left Dahdi with more than just the 1997 blazing and applause.
Dahdi added: "I went to Crucible once as a youth champion when I was 14 and the first time I played as a player at the World Championships was in 1991, when my first-round opponent was Steve Davis. Sitting next to one of Snooker's greatest legends coming to play, I felt very nervous and scared. ”
"I found myself falling behind in an hour at 0:4 and I had to shake myself up in the dressing room. I went on to lead 5:4 and 8:6, only to end up losing 8:10, but it was an incredible experience. ”
"Then in 1994, I played Alex Higgins in the first round, which was his last appearance at the World Championships. But it was a game I didn't really like, and I was naturally very excited to play against him, but he had an argument with referee John Williams at the end of the game, which overshadowed the game. ”
"He told the referee to walk away and when John said 'Alex, I'm not in your line of sight', Higgins said an unforgettable sentence 'No, but you're in my head!'" He was so drunk during the game that my promotion seemed a bit overwhelming. But Alex Higgins was my childhood hero, and I will always admire him. It was he who introduced me into the world of snooker. ”