2003 British Open

The 2003 British Open was the 2003 edition of the British Open professional ranking snooker tournament, that was held from 8–16 November 2003 at the Brighton Centre, Brighton, England. Stephen Hendry won the tournament by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan nine frames to six in the final. The final saw a record 5 centuries in a row from the two players (three from O'Sullivan and two from Hendry, including a 135), which remains a joint record for consecutive centuries made between two players in a professional tournament match and is a standalone record for ranking events and finals.

2003 British Open

Tournament information
Dates	8–16 November 2003 (2003-11-08 – 2003-11-16)
Venue	Brighton Centre
City	Brighton
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£450,000
Winner's share	£52,000
Highest break	John Higgins (SCO) (147)
Final
Champion	Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Runner-up	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Score	9–6
← 2002 2004 →

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[1]

Winner: £52,000 Runner-up: £26,000 Semi-final: £13,000 Quarter-final: £9,500 Last 16: £7,450 Last 32: £5,600 Last 48: £3,900 Last 64: £2,750

Last 80: £1,750 Last 96: £1,100 Stage one highest break: £1,800 Stage two highest break: £5,000 Stage one maximum break: £5,000 Stage two maximum break: £20,000 Total: £450,000

Main draw

^[2][3]

	Last 48 Best of 9 frames					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	Paul Hunter	5
	23	Dave Harold	1			64	Shaun Murphy	2
											1	Paul Hunter	5
	64	Shaun Murphy	5
											12	David Gray	3
						12	David Gray	5
	18	Chris Small	3			55	Nick Dyson	2
																1	Paul Hunter	3
	55	Nick Dyson	5
																6	Stephen Lee	5
						15	Jimmy White	2
	24	Tony Drago	5			24	Tony Drago	5
											24	Tony Drago	0
	40	Nigel Bond	2
											6	Stephen Lee	5
						6	Stephen Lee	5
	19	Marco Fu	5			19	Marco Fu	2
																					6	Stephen Lee	2
	42	Barry Hawkins	4
																					4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
						7	Ken Doherty	2
	17	Ali Carter	1			50	Gerard Greene	5
											50	Gerard Greene	5
	50	Gerard Greene	5
											27	Joe Swail	1
						11	Steve Davis	3
	27	Joe Swail	5			27	Joe Swail	5
																50	Gerard Greene	4
	43	Stuart Bingham	1
																4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
						14	Quinten Hann	5
	30	John Parrott	4			62	Andy Hicks	3
											14	Quinten Hann	1
	62	Andy Hicks	5
											4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
						4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	29	Mark Selby	3			41	Stephen Maguire	3
																										4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
	41	Stephen Maguire	5
																										3	Stephen Hendry	9
						3	Stephen Hendry	5
	28	Dominic Dale	5			28	Dominic Dale	2
											3	Stephen Hendry	5
		Patrick Wallace	2
											16	Joe Perry	0
						16	Joe Perry	5
	26	Ian McCulloch	3				Tom Ford	1
																3	Stephen Hendry	5
		Tom Ford	5
																5	John Higgins	4
						10	Alan McManus	4
	21	Robert Milkins	3			35	Mark Davis	5
											35	Mark Davis	2
	35	Mark Davis	5
											5	John Higgins	5
						5	John Higgins	5
	32	Robin Hull	1			37	Michael Judge	1
																					3	Stephen Hendry	6
	37	Michael Judge	5
																					9	Matthew Stevens	3
						8	Peter Ebdon	5
	25	Drew Henry	3				Ricky Walden	2
											8	Peter Ebdon	3
		Ricky Walden	5
											9	Matthew Stevens	5
						9	Matthew Stevens	5
	22	Mark King	5			22	Mark King	1
																9	Matthew Stevens	5
	36	Barry Pinches	0
																2	Mark Williams	1
						13	Graeme Dott	4
	31	Anthony Davies	2			33	Fergal O'Brien	5
											33	Fergal O'Brien	2
	33	Fergal O'Brien	5
											2	Mark Williams	5
						2	Mark Williams	5
	20	Anthony Hamilton	2			39	Michael Holt	2
	39	Michael Holt	5

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Eirian Williams. Brighton Centre, Brighton, England. 16 November 2003.[3]
Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)  England	6–9	Stephen Hendry (3)  Scotland
Afternoon: 103–29 (62), 78–37 (61), 2–59, 0–135 (135), 106–0 (106), 104–0 (100), 0–135 (121), 109–0 (109) Evening: 28–84 (61), 4–89 (50), 0–135 (135), 56–78 (56, 78), 0–95 (95), 70–5 (64), 12–72
109	Highest break	135
3	Century breaks	3
7	50+ breaks	7

Qualifying

Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales between 21 and 25 September 2003.^[2]

Round 1

Best of 9 frames

Kwan Poomjang 5–4 Stephen Croft Andrew Norman 5–2 Ian Sargeant Wayne Brown 5–1 Chris Melling Ryan Day 5–3 Supoj Saenla Paul Wykes 5–2 Garry Hardiman Jason Ferguson 1–5 Steve Mifsud Billy Snaddon 5–4 James Leadbetter Luke Fisher 5–2 Ding Junhui Andrew Higginson 5–2 Stuart Mann Terry Murphy 1–5 Neil Robertson Craig Butler 5–2 Paul Sweeny Simon Bedford 3–5 Philip Williams Leo Fernandez w/d–w/o Gary Thomson Paul Davies 5–1 Kurt Maflin Kristján Helgason 4–5 Michael Wild Munraj Pal 5–4 Carlo Giagnacovo

Martin Dziewialtowski 5–2 Joe Delaney Bradley Jones 5–1 Luke Simmonds Jason Prince 4–5 Michael Rhodes Lee Walker 2–5 Tom Ford Rory McLeod 5–3 Andy Neck Johl Younger 5–1 Steven Bennie Jamie Cope 5–4 Mehmet Husnu Matthew Couch 5–4 Liu Song Ricky Walden 5–0 Martin Gould David Gilbert 4–5 Darryn Walker Adrian Gunnell 5–3 Ian Preece Joe Johnson w/d–w/o Alain Robidoux Peter Lines 5–1 Scott MacKenzie Atthasit Mahitthi 5–2 Ian Brumby Tony Jones 0–5 Adrian Rosa Colm Gilcreest 5–4 Joe Meara

Round 2–4

	Round 2 Best of 9 frames					Round 3 Best of 9 frames					Round 4 Best of 9 frames
	Kwan Poomjang		3			Shaun Murphy		5			Gary Wilkinson		4
	Andrew Norman		5			Andrew Norman		2			Shaun Murphy		5
	Wayne Brown		3			Nick Dyson		5			Jamie Burnett		2
	Ryan Day		5			Ryan Day		1			Nick Dyson		5
	Paul Wykes		5			David Roe		5			Nigel Bond		5
	Steve Mifsud		4			Paul Wykes		3			David Roe		0
	Billy Snaddon		5			Dave Finbow		1			Barry Hawkins		5
	Luke Fisher		4			Billy Snaddon		5			Billy Snaddon		0
	Andrew Higginson		5			Bjorn Haneveer		3			Gerard Greene		5
	Neil Robertson		1			Andrew Higginson		5			Andrew Higginson		1
	Craig Butler		5			Sean Storey		3			Stuart Bingham		5
	Philip Williams		1			Craig Butler		5			Craig Butler		1
	Gary Thomson		5			Andy Hicks		5			Stuart Pettman		3
	Paul Davies		2			Gary Thomson		4			Andy Hicks		5
	Michael Wild		5			Mike Dunn		5			Stephen Maguire		5
	Munraj Pal		3			Michael Wild		4			Mike Dunn		2
	Martin Dziewialtowski		5			Patrick Wallace		5			Jonathan Birch		0[n 1]
	Bradley Jones		0			Martin Dziewialtowski		0			Patrick Wallace		5
	Michael Rhodes		1			Alfie Burden		1			Brian Morgan		2
	Tom Ford		5			Tom Ford		5			Tom Ford		5
	Rory McLeod		3			Shokat Ali		4			Mark Davis		5
	Johl Younger		5			Johl Younger		5			Johl Younger		0
	Jamie Cope		4			Nick Walker		5			Michael Judge		5
	Matthew Couch		5			Matthew Couch		3			Nick Walker		1
	Ricky Walden		5			Darren Morgan		1			James Wattana		3
	Darryn Walker		1			Ricky Walden		5			Ricky Walden		5
	Adrian Gunnell		5			Marcus Campbell		5			Barry Pinches		5
	Alain Robidoux		1			Adrian Gunnell		0			Marcus Campbell		2
	Peter Lines		3			Rod Lawler		4			Fergal O'Brien		5
	Atthasit Mahitthi		5			Atthasit Mahitthi		5			Atthasit Mahitthi		4
	Adrian Rosa		5			Jimmy Michie		1			Michael Holt		5
	Colm Gilcreest		3			Adrian Rosa		5			Adrian Rosa		4

1. Birch conceded the match at 0–3 down.

Century breaks

^[2]

Qualifying stage centuries

145, 103 – Ian McCulloch 138, 126, 110 – Andy Hicks 138 – Stephen Maguire 135, 130, 103 – Adrian Rosa 134, 117 – Ricky Walden 133 – Fergal O'Brien 132 – Stuart Bingham 132 – Peter Lines 131 – Kwan Poomjang 125 – Darryn Walker 123, 112 – Billy Snaddon 121 – Barry Pinches 119 – Gerard Greene 118, 109, 103 – Tom Ford

117 – Joe Swail 110, 107 – Ryan Day 110, 104 – Andrew Norman 106 – Martin Dziewialtowski 106 – Nick Dyson 105, 101 – David Roe 104 – Phil Williams 104 – Wayne Brown 102 – Ian Brumby 102 – Craig Butler 102 – Marco Fu 101 – Andrew Higginson 101 – Anthony Hamilton

Televised stage centuries

147, 135, 118 – John Higgins 138 – Michael Judge 135, 135, 134, 133, 121, 120 – Stephen Hendry 130, 127 – Ken Doherty 130 – Jimmy White 123 – Alan McManus 120 – Stephen Lee 116, 100 – Dominic Dale 115, 105 – Quinten Hann

114 – David Gray 112, 104 – Paul Hunter 111, 109 – Matthew Stevens 111, 104 – Mark Williams 109, 106, 100, 100 – Ronnie O'Sullivan 107 – Gerard Greene 107 – Graeme Dott 104 – Michael Holt