2003 European Open (snooker)

2003 European Open

Tournament information
Dates	11–16 March 2003 (2003-03-11 – 2003-03-16)
Venue	Palace Hotel
City	Torquay
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£250,000 [1]
Winner's share	£44,000 [1]
Highest break	Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG) (142) [2]
Final
Champion	Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG)
Runner-up	Stephen Hendry  (SCO)
Score	9–6
← 2001 2004 →

The 2003 European Open was a professional snooker tournament and the fifth of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2002/2003 season, following the Welsh Open. It was held from 11 to 16 March 2003 at the Palace Hotel in Torquay, England. ^[3] This marked the first and only time when any of the editions of this tournament was not held outside the British Isles. Ronnie O'Sullivan won his 12th ranking title by defeating Stephen Hendry 9–6 in the final. ^[2] O'Sullivan went on to win back-to-back ranking titles – his next coming at the 2003 Irish Masters, just two weeks later, where he triumphed over John Higgins in a deciding frame.

Tournament summary

Defending champion Stephen Hendry was the number 1 seed with World Champion Peter Ebdon 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]

Winner: £44,000 Final: £22,000 Semi-final: £11,000 Quarter-final: £6,800 Last 16: £4,000 Last 32: £2,600 Last 48: £1,450 Last 64: £1,050

Last 80: £700 Last 96: £375 Stage one highest break: £1,000 Stage two highest break: £3,000 Stage one maximum break: £5,000 Stage two maximum break: £20,000 Total: £250,000

Main draw

^[3]

	Last 32 Best of 9 frames					Last 16 Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
	1	Stephen Hendry	5
		Dave Harold	3
						1	Stephen Hendry	5
						12	Graeme Dott	4
	12	Graeme Dott	5
		Tony Drago	3
											1	Stephen Hendry	5
											5	John Higgins	2
	10	Jimmy White	3
		Gerard Greene	5
							Gerard Greene	4
						5	John Higgins	5
	5	John Higgins	5
		Barry Pinches	1
																1	Stephen Hendry	6
																4	Mark Williams	3
	6	Ken Doherty	5
		David Gray	1
						6	Ken Doherty	3
						9	Paul Hunter	5
	9	Paul Hunter	5
		Robin Hull	2
											9	Paul Hunter	2
											4	Mark Williams	5
	15	Alan McManus	1
		Bjorn Haneveer	5
							Bjorn Haneveer	1
						4	Mark Williams	5
	4	Mark Williams	5
		Steve Davis	1
																					1	Stephen Hendry	6
																					3	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
	3	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
		Michael Holt	3
						3	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
							Dave Finbow	3
	13	Joe Perry	4
		Dave Finbow	5
											3	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
											7	Stephen Lee	2
	14	Quinten Hann	5
		Jamie Burnett	4
						14	Quinten Hann	3
						7	Stephen Lee	5
	7	Stephen Lee	5
		Robert Milkins	4
																3	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
																2	Peter Ebdon	3
	8	Matthew Stevens	5
		Ian McCulloch	1
						8	Matthew Stevens	3
						11	Mark King	5
	11	Mark King	5
		David Roe	3
											11	Mark King	4
											2	Peter Ebdon	5
	16	Joe Swail	5
		Mark Davis	4
						16	Joe Swail	2
						2	Peter Ebdon	5
	2	Peter Ebdon	5
		Marco Fu	2

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Jan Verhaas. Palace Hotel, Torquay, England, 16 March 2003.
Stephen Hendry (1)   Scotland	6–9	Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)   England
Afternoon: 0–140 (140), 100–11, 101–7 (101), 0–76 (76), 5–65 (52), 3–131 (126), 8–76 (76), 88–33 (88) Evening: 0–142 (142), 97–25 (53), 123–1 (117), 0–77 (77), 72–37 (72), 50–79 (Hendry 50), 0–79 (79)
117	Highest break	142
2	Century breaks	3
6	50+ breaks	8

Qualifying

^[4]

Round 1

Best of 9 frames

Craig Butler 5–3 Manan Chandra Peter Lines 0–5 Simon Bedford Sean Storey 5–2 Pang Weiguo Jason Prince 5–2 Ricky Walden Phaitoon Phonbun 5–2 Hugh Abernethy Adrian Gunnell 5–1 Atthasit Mahitthi Jason Ferguson 5–4 Jamie Cope Stephen Kershaw 5–3 Peter Roscoe Kristján Helgason 5–4 David Gilbert John Read w/o–w/d Matthew Farrant Andrew Higginson 5–0 Justin Astley Andrew Norman 5–2 James Reynolds Paul Wykes 5–0 Colm Gilcreest Martin Dziewialtowski w/o–w/d Eddie Manning Matthew Couch 5–0 Jimmy Robertson Paul Davies 5–0 Leo Fernandez

Neal Foulds 3–5 David John Euan Henderson w/d–w/o Jin Long Paul Davison 1–5 Bob Chaperon Jeff Cundy 3–5 Stefan Mazrocis Shaun Murphy 5–1 Jason Weston Luke Fisher 5–1 Lee Spick Joe Johnson 4–5 David McLellan Rod Lawler 5–2 Mario Wehrman Troy Shaw 5–2 Darren Clarke Alain Robidoux 5–3 Mark Gray Antony Bolsover 5–2 David Donovan Rory McLeod 3–5 Munraj Pal Lee Walker 2–5 Kwan Poomjang Ryan Day 4–5 Matthew Selt Wayne Brown 5–4 Johl Younger Tony Jones 3–5 Nick Pearce

Round 2–5

	Round 2 Best of 9 frames				Round 3 Best of 9 frames				Round 4 Best of 9 frames				Round 5 Best of 9 frames
	Craig Butler	5			Stuart Pettman	5			Jonathan Birch	5			Dave Harold	5
	Simon Bedford	4			Craig Butler	2			Stuart Pettman	4			Jonathan Birch	4
	Sean Storey	5			Andy Hicks	2			Marcus Campbell	5			Tony Drago	5
	Jason Prince	0			Sean Storey	5			Sean Storey	3			Marcus Campbell	2
	Phaitoon Phonbun	3			Gerard Greene	5			Terry Murphy	0			Dominic Dale	1
	Adrian Gunnell	5			Adrian Gunnell	4			Gerard Greene	5			Gerard Greene	5
	Jason Ferguson	5			Barry Pinches	5			Alfie Burden	3			John Parrott	0
	Stephen Kershaw	4			Jason Ferguson	4			Barry Pinches	5			Barry Pinches	5
	Kristján Helgason	5			Nick Walker	5			Shokat Ali	4			David Gray	5
	John Read	4			Kristján Helgason	1			Nick Walker	5			Nick Walker	2
	Andrew Higginson	5			Bradley Jones	4			Robin Hull	5			James Wattana	2
	Andrew Norman	1			Andrew Higginson	5			Andrew Higginson	1			Robin Hull	5
	Paul Wykes	4			Bjorn Haneveer	5			Billy Snaddon	3			Nigel Bond	4
	Martin Dziewialtowski	5			Martin Dziewialtowski	1			Bjorn Haneveer	5			Bjorn Haneveer	5
	Matthew Couch	5			Jimmy Michie	2			Patrick Wallace	4			Steve Davis	5
	Paul Davies	3			Matthew Couch	5			Matthew Couch	5			Matthew Couch	2
	David John	4			Mike Dunn	5			Michael Holt	5			Drew Henry	4
	Jin Long	5			Jin Long	1			Mike Dunn	1			Michael Holt	5
	Bob Chaperon	2			Dave Finbow	5			Gary Wilkinson	2			Anthony Hamilton	4
	Stefan Mazrocis	5			Stefan Mazrocis	3			Dave Finbow	5			Dave Finbow	5
	Shaun Murphy	4			Stephen Maguire	5			Jamie Burnett	5			Fergal O'Brien	4
	Luke Fisher	5			Luke Fisher	1			Stephen Maguire	2			Jamie Burnett	5
	David McLellan	3			Barry Hawkins	5			Robert Milkins	5			Michael Judge	0
	Rod Lawler	5			Rod Lawler	3			Barry Hawkins	4			Robert Milkins	5
	Troy Shaw	1			Nick Dyson	5			Ian McCulloch	5			Anthony Davies	4
	Alain Robidoux	5			Alain Robidoux	4			Nick Dyson	0			Ian McCulloch	5
	Antony Bolsover	4			Mark Selby	3			David Roe	5			Chris Small	3
	Munraj Pal	5			Munraj Pal	5			Munraj Pal	1			David Roe	5
	Kwan Poomjang	5			Stuart Bingham	4			Mark Davis	5			Ali Carter	4
	Matthew Selt	2			Kwan Poomjang	5			Kwan Poomjang	0			Mark Davis	5
	Wayne Brown	3			Darren Morgan	5			Brian Morgan	2			Marco Fu	5
	Nick Pearce	5			Nick Pearce	2			Darren Morgan	5			Darren Morgan	3

Century breaks

^[4]

Qualifying stage centuries

140 – Barry Pinches 138, 111 – Robert Milkins 133, 133, 101 – Adrian Gunnell 131, 115 – Stephen Maguire 130 – Antony Bolsover 128 – Marco Fu 128 – Ali Carter 121 – Jin Long 119 – David Gray 114, 103 – Stefan Mazrocis 114 – Andrew Higginson

113, 111 – Troy Shaw 113 – Mike Dunn 113 – Luke Fisher 109, 106 – Barry Hawkins 108 – Shaun Murphy 101 – Mark Davis 101 – Bjorn Haneveer 100 – Sean Storey 100 – Rod Lawler 100 – Munraj Pal

Televised stage centuries

142, 140, 139, 129, 126, 121, 112, 102 – Ronnie O'Sullivan 136 – Mark King 132 – Paul Hunter 123, 117, 110, 101 – Stephen Hendry 118 – Mark Williams

113, 111 – Peter Ebdon 112 – John Higgins 102 – Robin Hull 101 – Stephen Lee

References

1. "European Open 2003 Prize Money". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 14 March 2003. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
2. "O'Sullivan triumphs in Torquay". BBC Sport. 16 March 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
3. "European Open 2003". snooker.org. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
4. "2003 European Open". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004. Retrieved 25 January 2023.