Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | 8–14 November 2004 |
Venue | Brighton Centre |
City | Brighton |
Country | England |
Organisation | WPBSA |
Format | Ranking event |
Total prize fund | £200,000 |
Winner's share | £30,000 |
Highest break | John Higgins (SCO) (144) |
Final | |
Champion | John Higgins (SCO) |
Runner-up | Stephen Maguire (SCO) |
Score | 9–6 |
← 2003 2021 → |
The 2004 British Open was the 2004 edition of the British Open snooker tournament, held from 8 to 14 November 2004 at Brighton Centre, Brighton, England. John Higgins won the tournament, defeating Stephen Maguire nine frames to six in the all-Scottish final to lift his first ranking-event title since the 2001 edition of this event. In the semi-finals, Higgins defeated Shaun Murphy 6–0 and Maguire defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–1. The defending champion Stephen Hendry lost in the quarter-finals. Higgins made the highest tournament break with his two breaks of 144. The tournament was the second of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2004/2005 snooker season, following the Grand Prix in October, which was won by O'Sullivan. It preceded the third ranking event of the season, the UK Championship.
The 2004 British Open was the second ranking event of the 2004/2005 snooker season, [1] after the Grand Prix in October, which was won by world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan—the 2004 and two-time world champion—who defeated Ian McCulloch 9–5 in the final. [2] [3] It preceded the UK Championship. [4]
The defending champion was seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry who defeated O'Sullivan 9–6 in last year's final. [5] Hendry was still angry at his loss at the Grand Prix to McCulloch, explaining, "The way I felt at the Grand Prix was down to the fact that I know what I'm still capable of". [6] The total prize fund was £200,000 [7] and the host broadcaster was Eurosport. [1] [8] O'Sullivan was considered the favourite, with his mentor Ray Reardon saying "Ronnie is in the form of his life and looks very close to being unstoppable at the moment". [9] Although few top players reached the final eight in the Grand Prix, O'Sullivan said he would not be surprised if they performed well in this tournament. [9]
The qualifying rounds were played between players ranked lower than 32 for one of 16 places in the final stage, at Pontin's Snooker Centre, Prestatyn, Wales. The matches were best-of-9 frames until the semi-finals. Highly regarded 17-year-old Chinese player Ding Junhui, in his professional first season, won his sixth consecutive match when he beat Robin Hull 5–2. [10] [11] The other successful qualifiers included the likes of Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, and Ryan Day.
The 16 first-round matches were between players ranked 17–32 and those who had made it through the qualifying stage. In this round, Ding took 63 minutes to whitewash 5–0 Malta's Tony Drago—who turned professional before Ding was born—outscoring Drago 463–73, for his first appearance in the last 32 of a ranking tournament. [11] European Open winner Stephen Maguire defeated Australian Robertson 5–3, while world number 48 Murphy beat McCulloch 5–2. Michael Holt, in his first season in the top 32, beat Dave Harold 5–2, and Mark King defeated Selby by the same scoreline. Ali Carter whitewashed Belgian's number one Bjorn Haneveer 5–0 in 76 minutes, while Barry Hawkins prevailed 5–4 over Joe Perry, despite the latter making the highest break so far with a 133. [12] John Parrott made a century break in his 5–3 victory over Jamie Burnett, while Joe Jogia won four consecutive frames to overcome Joe Swail 5–4. [13]
The winners of round 1 went through to face members of the top 16. Ding continued his run, defeating Jimmy White 5–1 to make the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time. Ding called the win his most satisfying to date and White commended his opponent's performance, saying, "He's dangerous and he's improved a hell of a lot this year". [14] Elsewhere, Maguire whitewashed UK champion Matthew Stevens 5–0, outscoring him 427–68. [14] O'Sullivan extended his unbeaten run to 12 matches when he defeated Parrott 5–2, in a match that lasted two hours and 28 minutes and which featured a lot of tactical, disjointed exchanges. [15] [16] He was not satisfied with his performance, however: "I was awful—if I keep playing like that they'll have to call the nuthouse to come and collect me". [15] 1997 world champion Ken Doherty, who was ranked seventh but had slipped to fifteenth in the provisional rankings, defeated Quinten Hann 5–1, after Hann had smashed the red balls from his break-off shot at 0–4 down, from which he fluked a red and made an 89 break. [15] [17] John Higgins, a three-time champion who first won in 1995, beat Drew Henry 5–1, and said he would withdraw from the tournament if his pregnant wife went into labour. [18] [19] Hendry beat Robert Milkins 5–1, and dismissed suggestions that the loss at the Grand Prix had inspired him to play better at this tournament. [20] Murphy defeated world number four Paul Hunter 5–3 for his second last-16 appearance in a ranking event, and attributed the win to his happiness off the table; Murphy—a Christian since the age of 17—said, "My girlfriend Claire is a wonderful woman. We've become engaged and we're involved with a tremendous church in Rotherham". [21] [22] Two-time world champion and world number two Mark Williams—who became a father in May and had slipped to eighth in the provisional rankings—claimed a 5–1 victory over Jogia in 89 minutes. [21] [23] In a hard-fought contest, Stephen Lee defeated King 5–4. [16] The other winners were Carter, Andy Hicks, Anthony Hamilton, Hawkins, Barry Pinches, Holt, and Stuart Bingham.
In the last 16, O'Sullivan compiled two century breaks to whitewash Lee 5–0 for his 13th consecutive win and his 9th consecutive quarter-final. [24] Regarding comments he made about his retirement after his previous match, O'Sullivan said, "There's no point quoting me because what I say from one day to the next will be different". [25] Maguire made a total clearance of 140 in his 5–2 win over Ding, while Hamilton defeated Williams 5–3 for his fourth consecutive win over the world number two. [24] Hendry, whose last tournament victory was this event last year, made four breaks over 60 in his 5–2 win over Carter to set up a match with Higgins, who made the highest break so far with a 141 in his 5–3 win over Pinches. [26] Doherty became the fifth member of the top eight to lose when he was defeated 4–5 by Hicks, while Hawkins defeated Bingham 5–4 and Murphy beat Holt 5–3. [1] [27]
In the quarter-finals, O'Sullivan defeated Hicks 5–1 in a match in which Hicks made a few errors. After the match, O'Sullivan attributed his success to his mentor Reardon. [28] Maguire made three consecutive century breaks from 2–0 up to whitewash Hamilton 5–0, setting up a semi-final clash with O'Sullivan. Maguire won the first two frames on the black, the second after trailing 0–74 and requiring two snookers . [29] Maguire said that he played brilliant, like in practice, [28] and Hamilton said his opponent was a "proper talent". [29] Higgins defeated Hendry 5–2 in a low-quality match in which Higgins won the first three frames with a high break of 30. Hendry won the next two with breaks of 66 and 58, but Higgins closed the match with breaks of 85 and 79. Higgins said he was willing to risk a possible fine by attending to his wife if she gave birth. [30] [31] Murphy beat fellow qualifier Hawkins 5–3 to reach his first ranking semi-final, with Higgins as the opponent. [29]
In the semi-finals, now best-of-11, Higgins took 73 minutes to whitewash Murphy 6–0, scoring breaks of 58, 114, 57, 89, and completing the victory with a total clearance of 144, the highest break so far. The time of 73 minutes was only two minutes slower than the quickest best-of-11 match—the semi-finals of the 1993 International Open between Hendry and Dave Harold—and Higgins outscored Murphy 566–72. [32] [33] In the first three frames, Murphy managed to score a total of 10 points. In the fourth, Murphy broke down on a break of 50 before Higgins fluked a yellow, enabling him to make a 57 break. He then fortuitously snooked Murphy on the pink, which Higgins potted to make it 4–0. An 89 break extended Higgins' lead, before he finished the match with a 144 break. [34] Higgins attributed his performance to a shortening of his cue. [32] [33]
In the other semi-final, Maguire ended O'Sullivan's 14-match unbeaten run with a 6–1 victory to earn a place in the final against Higgins. Maguire made century breaks in the first two frames, becoming the first player to make five consecutive century breaks (including the three made in his previous match). Maguire won the third on the pink after O'Sullivan missed the yellow. O'Sullivan won the next with a break of 51, before Maguire made a break of 71 in each of the final two frames. After the match, O'Sullivan—who had won all three previous encounters against Maguire—said, "I've never seen anything like that on a snooker table before ... He's a great player, probably the best in the world at the moment", [32] [33] and even before the match, O'Sullivan had described Maguire as "of the young ones, definitely the best". [8] The defeat meant that Reardon lost the £100 bet he placed at 150–1 that O'Sullivan would win all eight of the season's ranking events. [35]
In the all-Scottish best-of-17 final, Higgins defeated Maguire 9–6 for a record-equalling fourth title. Of the victory, Higgins said it was the most important of his career. He had not won a ranking title since his 2001 victory at this event and had lost his previous six finals. It was his 25th major title and his 16th ranking title, and it earned him £30,000 in prize money. [18] [36]
In the afternoon session, Maguire took the first frame, but Higgins won the next three, compiling a 100 break in the third. Breaks of 72, 55, and 76 allowed Maguire to regain the lead, before Higgins took the eighth after Maguire missed a straightforward red to leave it 4–4 at the end of the first session. In the evening session, Higgins took the ninth, before Maguire made two breaks over 50 in the 10th. Higgins then made two consecutive century breaks, including a 144 in the 11th, which equalled his own highest break. He continued his run with a break of 68 in the 13th, before Maguire pulled one back in the next. A 97 break gave Higgins the victory. [18] [36] [37]
All tournament, Higgins had been anticipating the birth of his child and on 24 November, Higgins became a father for the second time when his wife gave birth to a son, Oliver, shortly after his loss at the UK Championship. [38]
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: [39]
|
|
Numbers to the left of the players are the tournament seedings. Players in bold are the match winners. [1] [27]
The bold text denotes winning frame scores and the winning finalist. [1] [27]
Final: Best of 17 frames. [27] Referee: Jan Verhaas. The Brighton Centre, Brighton, England. 14 November 2004. [1] [27] | ||
John Higgins (5) Scotland | 9–6 | Stephen Maguire (24) Scotland |
Afternoon: 39–81 (77), 61–26, 100–29 (100), 79–1, 0–72 (72), 17–95 (55), 20–91 (76), 72–19 (53) Evening:64–10, 13–110 (56, 54), 144–0 (144), 107–0 (107), 74–50 (68), 1–93 (50), 104–0 (97) | ||
144 | Highest break | 77 |
3 | Century breaks | 0 |
6 | 50+ breaks | 7 |
Qualifying for the tournament took place between 2 and 4 November 2004 at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales. Players in bold indicate match winners. [27]
A total of 13 players compiled a total of 14 century breaks during the qualifying stages of the 2004 British Open. [27]
|
|
There were 33 century breaks compiled by 17 different players during the course of the main rounds of the 2004 British Open. [27]
|
|
Ding Junhui is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport and widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian players of all time. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships. He has twice reached the final of the Masters, winning once in 2011. In 2016, he became the first Asian player to reach the final of the World Championship.
John Higgins is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 31 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (41) and Stephen Hendry (36). He has won four World Championships, three UK Championships and two Masters titles, for a total of nine Triple Crown titles, putting him level with Mark Selby and behind only O'Sullivan (23), Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15). He first entered the top 16 in the 1995–96 world rankings and remained there continuously for over 29 years until September 2024, setting a record for the longest uninterrupted tenure as a top-16 player. He reached the world number one position four times.
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the tournament a record eight times, followed by Steve Davis with six titles and Stephen Hendry with five. O'Sullivan is the reigning champion, winning his eighth title in 2023.
Stephen Maguire is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in 1998 after winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship. He was in the top 16 of the snooker world rankings for 11 consecutive years, from 2005 to 2016, twice reaching world no. 2. He is a prolific break-builder, having compiled over 500 century breaks, including three maximums.
Neil Robertson is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former world champion and former world number one. To date, he is the most successful player from outside the United Kingdom, and the only non-UK born to have completed snooker's Triple Crown, having won the World Championship in 2010, the Masters in 2012 and 2022, and the UK Championship in 2013, 2015 and 2020. He has claimed a career total of 24 ranking titles, having won at least one professional tournament every year between 2006 and 2022.
Judd Trump is an English professional snooker player who is a former world champion and the current world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently in fourth place on the list of all-time ranking event winners, having won 29 ranking titles. He has also won four Triple Crown titles.
The 2005 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament started on 16 April, and ended on 2 May 2005. The event was the eighth and final world ranking event of the 2004–05 snooker season, following the 2005 China Open. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Due to laws banning advertising cigarettes in Great Britain, this was the last time the event was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy. The event had a prize fund of £1,121,800, with the winner receiving £250,000.
The 2006 UK Championship was the 2006 edition of the UK Championship, a professional snooker tournament that is one of the sport's three Triple Crown events. It was held from 4 to 17 December 2006 at the Barbican Centre in York, North Yorkshire. The competition was the third of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season and the 30th edition of the tournament. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe on the BBC and Eurosport.
The 2007 Malta Cup was the 2007 edition of the Malta Cup snooker tournament, held from 28 January to 4 February 2007 at the Hilton Conference Center in Portomaso, Malta. The tournament was the fourth of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season, the 200th world ranking tournament and the 16th edition of the event. It was the third time that the competition was called the Malta Cup, which was renamed from the European Open, first held in 1989. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe by Eurosport.
The 2007 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament. It was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 31st consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. It started on 21 April 2007 and was scheduled to finish on 7 May 2007, but continued into the early hours of 8 May. The seventh and final ranking tournament of the 2006–07 snooker season, it was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored for the second time by online casino 888.com. The total prize fund was £941,000, of which the winner received £220,000.
The 2005 UK Championship was a professional snooker tournament and the 2005 edition of the UK Championship. It was held at the Barbican Centre in York, North Yorkshire, England from 5 to 18 December 2005. The competition was the second of six World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association ranking events in the 2005–06 snooker season, the first of the three Triple Crown events, and the tournament's 29th edition. It preceded the Malta Cup and followed the Grand Prix. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe on the BBC and Eurosport.
The 2005 Masters was the 2005 edition of the non-ranking Masters professional snooker tournament. It was held from 13 to 20 February 2005 at the Wembley Conference Centre, London. The tournament was the 31st staging of the competition and was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events in the 2004/2005 season. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC and by Eurosport in Europe.
The 2008 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 2008 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 32nd consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre, and the seventh and final ranking event of the 2007–08 snooker season. The tournament was organised by World Snooker, and sponsored by betting company 888.com. The tournament featured a total prize fund of £1,050,000 with £250,000 being awarded to the winner.
The 2009 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament. It was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 33rd consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. It took place between 18 April 2009 and 4 May 2009. The eighth and final ranking tournament of the 2008–09 snooker season, it was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored for the first time by online betting shop Betfred. The total prize fund was £1,111,000, of which the winner received £250,000.
The 2004 Snooker Grand Prix was the 2004 edition of the Grand Prix snooker tournament and was held from 2 to 10 October 2004 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan won the tournament defeating Ian McCulloch by nine frames to five (9–5) in the final. In the semi-finals O'Sullivan defeated Paul Hunter 6–3 and McCulloch beat Michael Judge 6–1. Mark Williams, who won the same event under the name LG Cup the year before, lost in the first round. John Higgins made the highest break with a 147. The 64-man tournament was the first of eight World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2004/2005 snooker season and the next event following last season's World Championship, which was won by O'Sullivan. It preceded the second ranking event of the season, the British Open.
The 2004 European Open was the 2004 edition of the European Open snooker tournament, held from 1 to 6 March 2004, at the Hilton Conference Centre, Portomaso, Malta. It was the final year the event was known as European Open, as the event was renamed to Malta Cup in next year. Stephen Maguire defeated Jimmy White by nine frames to three (9–3) in the final to claim his first ranking-event title, transforming him from "talented underachiever into a world-ranking event winner", according to The Times. In the semi-finals Maguire defeated Stephen Lee and White beat Tony Drago. The tournament was the fifth of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2003/2004 season, following the Welsh Open and preceding the Irish Masters.
The 2012 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 21 April to 7 May 2012 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 36th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible and the last ranking event of the 2011–12 snooker season. The event was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, and in Europe by Eurosport.
Shaun Peter Murphy is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting.
The 2017 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 2017 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 19th and final ranking event of the 2016–17 season which followed the China Open. It was the 41st consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible.
Ronnie O'Sullivan started his professional snooker career in 1992 and is widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. His play and accomplishments are described by some peers and pundits as being the greatest in the modern era of snooker. O'Sullivan is a seven-time world champion, and holds many records, including the fastest maximum break in professional competition; the highest number of century breaks; the highest number of maximum breaks, and the most Triple Crown event titles (23).