By Stephen Carley

1999 will go down in the record books as the year Stephen Hendry finally made it a magnificent seven of world titles at the Crucible.

Defending champion John Higgins got off to a flier on the opening day, trouncing debutante Gerard Greene 10-2. Greene was one of eight players making their first appearance at the Crucible but sadly for him it wasn't to be.

Mark King, Stephen Lee and Alan McManus all had comfortable passages into the last 16, with McManus accounting for people's favourite Jimmy White 10-7.

French-Canadian Alain Robidoux's dismal form continued as he was seen off 10-6 by qualifier Nick Walker. This defeat saw Robidoux fall out of the top 16 and then ultimately out of the top 32 at the end of a season he would rather forget.

1997 champion Ken Doherty easily disposed of comeback maker Steve James 10-3 while 1995 finalist Nigel Bond edged out Dominic Dale 10-6.

Easy wins followed for Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams but the first round this year will also be remembered for the exit of six times world champion Steve Davis at the hands of qualifier Joe Perry. Perry led 7-2 at the half way stage, only for Davis to level at 9-9 in the second session.

A fantastic 55 clearance from Perry ensured a famous victory and a place in the second round. His clenched fist to the crowd on potting the final black showed just how much the victory meant to him.

Newcomer Marco Fu put up a good fight against Far Eastern rival James Wattana. Fu was to lose 10-8.

In the second round, Higgins started remarkably in his match with King, leading 8-0 after the first session. He finally went through 13-4.

Bond led 10-6 against Doherty after two sessions, only for the Irishman to strike back to win 13-11. Perry's dream was ended by O'Sullivan while Stevens and Hendry enjoyed comfortable wins.

Higgins again started brilliantly against Lee in the last eight. By the time Lee started to make inroads on his 8-0 deficit it was too late and he was ousted 13-6.

In the other quarter-finals Williams beat Doherty, O'Sullivan beat Parrott and Hendry put paid to Stevens' title hopes 13-5.

The semi-final between Higgins and Williams was disrupted for 30 minutes when water started leaking from an over-table camera. However, normal service was soon resumed with Williams running out the winner 17-10.

The second semi-final saw some of the best snooker ever to grace the Crucible Theatre. O'Sullivan and Hendry produced some amazing play with five centuries being made in eight-frames as O'Sullivan battled back from a 9-7 overnight deficit to draw level at 12-12. During the third session the Rocket jawed a pink on 134 to miss out on another Crucible maximum and he eventually went out 17-13.

So the new rivalry of Hendry and Williams came head to head in the final. Hendry led from the start, opening up a 10-6 overnight lead. Once Hendry led 17-10 Williams knew it was over but that didn't stop his valiant effort to make a maximum break in the 27th frame, only to miss on 89.

With that, Hendry promptly won the next frame to clinch his seventh title 18-11 to end the last world championship of the millennium in style.