2003 European Open (snooker)

2003 European Open
Tournament information
Dates	11–16 March 2003
Venue	Palace Hotel
City	Torquay
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£250,000
Winner's share	£44,000
Highest break	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (142)
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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

^[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 edit

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 edit

^[4]

Round 1 edit

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 edit


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 edit

^[4]

Qualifying stage centuries edit

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 edit

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 edit

^ ^a ^b ^c "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.
^ ^a ^b "O'Sullivan triumphs in Torquay". BBC Sport. 16 March 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b "European Open 2003". snooker.org. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b "2003 European Open". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

[Prize-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.

[BBC-2] "O'Sullivan triumphs in Torquay". BBC Sport. 16 March 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2020.

[SNORG-3] "European Open 2003". snooker.org. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2020.

[GSC-4] "2003 European Open". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

[3]

[2]

[1]

[4]

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 →