By Stephen Carley

When the draw for the 1998 championships was made with Stephen Hendry in attendance, all eyes were on the mouth-watering clash between the Scot and six times losing finalist Jimmy White.

The match didn't fail to live up to its billing with White streaking into a 7-1 lead. Hendry made a fight of it and, although The Whirlwind's 10-4 win could never make up for past heartbreaks, he acknowledged his standing ovation with a shout of triumph.

This defeat paved the way for John Higgins who needed the Scot to lose in the first round to give himself a chance of becoming the new world number one. Only one outcome could give Higgins the top spot – he had to win the title.

Ken Doherty began the defence of his title with a tough opening match against Lee Walker. Walker showed promise but was finally beaten 10-8 by the Irishman.

Stephen Lee made rather easy work of Andy Hicks 10-4 while qualifier Matthew Stevens accounted for Alain Robidoux 10-8.

Mark King saw off Nigel Bond while Peter Ebdon trounced Terry Murphy 10-3.

Simon Bedford made the most of his debut by bleaching his hair for his match against the legendary Steve Davis. Bedford battled strongly but was to lose 10-6 to the master.

Fergal O'Brien edged a tricky encounter with James Wattana 10-9, as did Higgins who beat Jason Ferguson 10-8.

Alfie Burden made Tony Drago work hard during their first round match, but Drago's pace around the table ultimately proved too much for the young qualifier.

John Parrott and Ronnie O'Sullivan both made light work of their opponents, Peter Lines and Joe Swail respectively.

White's fantastic run continued in the second round as he thrashed Welshman Darren Morgan with a session to spare 13-3. His unbelievable shot on the brown, using a full rest extension, was voted shot of the championship by BBC viewers.

Alan McManus suffered a similar fate. He managed to take Ronnie O'Sullivan into a third session but was soundly beaten 13-4.

Defending champion Doherty was showing excellent form as he despatched Lee 13-9 to march onward while Stevens was excelling himself with a 13-9 win over King.

O'Brien wasn't quite so lucky against Ebdon. His 13-5 defeat ended his hopes of a quarter-final place as 1996 runner-up Ebdon advanced.

Davis and Anthony Hamilton both made second round exits to Williams and Higgins respectively despite Hamilton leading Higgins 6-2 after the first session.

Parrott was also making steady progress as he saw off Malta's Tony Drago 13-7.

Stevens' run finally came to an end at the hands of Doherty in the quarter-finals 13-10 while Williams edged out Ebdon 13-11 to book his place in the last four.

The quarter-final between Higgins and Parrott was also close, with the Scot running out the winner 13-11. Sadly it was the end of another Crucible campaign for Jimmy White.

A less convincing performance against O'Sullivan saw him lose 13-7 but he had enjoyed a good tournament.

The semi-final between Doherty and Williams was a closely fought affair. With the winning post now 17 frames, both players looked capable of making the final. However, Doherty moved one step closer to being the first player ever to successfully defend his title with a 17-14 victory over the Welshman.

The other semi-final between Higgins and O'Sullivan was decided in the middle session with John Higgins winning all eight frames to move 12-4 in front.

O'Sullivan made a fight of it but went into the final session 15-9 behind. Higgins polished off the two frames he needed for victory within 30 minutes of the re-start and secured a final place against Doherty.

The final was a tense encounter but one in which Higgins always had the upper hand. In the end Higgins was to run out the winner by the same scoreline with which Doherty had secured the title a year earlier, 18-12.

The victory was to mean even more to Higgins as he displaced Stephen Hendry at the top of the rankings after eight years of domination.