The 2003 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2003 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

tournament that took place from 19 April to 5 May 2003 at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, England. It was the final

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

event of the 2002–03 snooker season. This was the 26th consecutive year that the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...

had been held at the Crucible, marking the 25th anniversary of the first staging of the event at this venue. The championships were sponsored by cigarette manufacturer

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

. Mark Williams won his second World Championship title by defeating

Ken Doherty Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...

18–16 in the final. Having won the

UK Championship 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 Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan ...

and the Masters earlier in the season, Williams held all three Triple Crown titles simultaneously. The defending champion,

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addit ...

, lost 12–13 to Paul Hunter in the quarter-finals and became another first-time champion to fall to the

Crucible curse The "Crucible curse" (also known as "The curse of the Crucible" or sometimes the "Crucible jinx") is a quip in professional snooker referring to the fact that every first-time world champion has failed to retain the title the following year. The ...

by failing to defend his first world title. A total prize fund of £1,682,900 was awarded at the event, with the winner receiving £270,000.

Overview

The

is a professional tournament and the official

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

of the game of

. Founded in the late 19th century by

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

soldiers stationed in India, the sport was popular in the British Isles. However, in the modern era it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand. The championship featured 32 professional players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a

single elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

format, each played over several . The 32 competitors in the main tournament were selected using a combination of the top players in the world snooker rankings and a pre-tournament qualification stage.

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...

won the first World Championship in 1927, the final match being held in

Camkin's Hall William Alexander Camkin (1894 – 26 April 1956) was a billiard hall owner who came to prominence in the early years of the World Snooker Championship, when many of the tournament's matches were held at his clubs. He was involved in various asp ...

, Birmingham, England. Since 1977, the event has been held in the

in Sheffield, England.

Format

The championship was held from 19 April and 5 May 2003 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 26th consecutive time that the tournament was held at the venue. It was the ninth and last ranking event of the 2001–02 snooker season on the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...

. There were a total of 120 entrants from the tour, and the competition's main draw had 32 participants. The top 16 players in the latest world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seeded players. As defending champion,

was seeded first for the event, with world number 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan seeded 2; the remaining seeds were allocated based on the players' world ranking positions. Matches in the first round of the main draw were played as best-of-19-frames. The number of frames needed to win a match increased to 13 in the second round and quarter-finals, and 17 in the semi-finals; the final match was played as best-of-35-frames.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below: * Winner: £270,000 * Runner-up: £158,000 * Semi-final: £79,000 * Quarter-final: £39,500 * Last 16: £22,000 * Last 32: £15,000 * Highest break: £22,000 *

Maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

: £147,000 * Highest pre-TV break: £5,000 * Total: £1,682,900

Tournament summary

First round

The opening round was played from 19 to 24 April as the best-of-19 frames, held over two sessions.

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

compiled a

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

in his first-round match against

Marco Fu Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix (snooker), 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian ...

, making him the first player to have scored two 147s at the venue. This was the fifth maximum compiled at the world championships; the first since O'Sullivan at the 1997 World Championship. However, Fu won the match 10–6.

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

made a 132 break in his first round match against Gary Wilkinson, and became the first player to compile 100

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

s at the Crucible. Hendry won the match 10–7. The number one seed Peter Ebdon won the opening match of the event, with a 10–3 victory over

Gerard Greene Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his ...

. Ebdon lead 4–3 but then won six frames in a row to win. Ebdon thanked stronger

contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmeti ...

es for his ability to stay in the match.

lead qualifier

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) 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. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...

8–4, but Murphy won four frames to tie the match at 8–8. The next two frames were tied, sending the match to a , which was won on the final by Doherty.

Second round

The second round was played from 24 to 28 April as the best-of-25 frames, held over three sessions. Mark Williams lost the opening two frames of his second-round match against

Quinten Hann Quinten may refer to: People Surname * Christopher Quinten (born 1957), British actor Given name * Quinten Burg (born 1948), American politician * Quinten Hann (born 1977), Australian snooker player * Quinten Hermans (born 1995), Belgian cyclist ...

before winning 13 in a row – a record for a single match in the modern era of snooker – to triumph 13–2.

Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens (born 11 September 1977) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He has won two of the game's Triple Crown events, the Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been a two-time runner-up in the other triple ...

played Paul Hunter, with Hunter compiling the 750th century at the Crucible in frame four. He led 12–4 after two sessions, and won 13–6. Ken Doherty had a second deciding frame in two matches as he defeated

Graeme Dott Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001. He has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship a ...

. Doherty was 2–7 behind, but won 9 of the next 11 frames to lead 11–9. With the scores tied at 12–12, Doherty won a 42-minute final frame. In an all Scottish clash, Stephen Hendry defeated Drew Henry 13–10 from 9–10 behind.

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final was played on 29 and 30 April as the best-of-25 frames played over three sessions. Paul Hunter defeated the defending champion Peter Ebdon in a deciding frame 13–12. The pair were tied 8–8 after the first two sessions, with Ebdon leading 10–9 after breaks of 76 and 109. Hunter won the next three frames with breaks of 55, 106 and 71 to be one frame from victory. Ebdon won the next two frames to tie the match 12–12 before Hunter won the decider. Having not reached a single final during his year as champion, Ebdon commented that "it has been a disappointing season", whilst Hunter perhaps drew on his two Masters finals wins to motivate him in the deciding frame. In his match against

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

, Ken Doherty won the first ten frames, before Higgins took the next seven. In seeing his lead shrink, Doherty referred to it as the "biggest collapse since

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...

in the 20s". Doherty eventually won the match 13–8. Mark Williams defeated seven-time champion and close friend Stephen Hendry 13–7. Stephen Lee and Marco Fu were tied at 4–4 after the first session of their match, but Lee won the next five frames to lead 9–4, and eventually win 13–7.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played between 1 and 3 May, as the best-of-33 frames, held over four sessions. In the first semi-final, Ken Doherty trailed Paul Hunter 9–15 at the start of the final session with Hunter only requiring two more frames for victory. Doherty won five in a row to reduce the deficit to a single frame. Hunter took frame 30 to lead 16–14, but Doherty won all three remaining frames to win the match 17–16. After the match, Hunter commented that he was "devastated" by the result. A condensed version of the match was showcased on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

on 28 April 2020 in place of the

2020 World Snooker Championship The 2020 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2020 Betfred World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 31 July to 16 August 2020 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was th ...

which was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The other semi-final was played between Mark Williams and Stephen Lee. Williams took an early 7–1 lead after the first session, but Lee won five of the eight frames in the second session to trail 10–6. Williams won the opening four frames of the third session, and lead 16–8 leading into the final session, and won the remaining frame to win 17–8. After the match, Lee called Williams "dangerous", whilst Williams suggested the opening session was when the match was won.

Final

The final was held on 4 and 5 May between Ken Doherty and Mark Williams as a best-of-35 frames match. The final was officiated by the Netherlands'

Jan Verhaas Jan Verhaas (; born 5 October 1966) is a Dutch snooker and pool referee. He was born in Maassluis, South Holland, and now lives in Brielle. Career After working as a process operator for Shell Chemicals, Verhaas qualified as a class 1 snooker r ...

, the youngest referee at a world final. Williams took an early lead in the final, leading at 6–2 after the first session, and extended the lead to 10–2 in the second session. Doherty won three of the remaining four frames in the session to leave Williams with an 11–5 lead overnight. On the resumption in the third session, Doherty won six frames in-a-row to tie the match at 11–11. The pair shared the next six frames with the scores tied at 14–14, before Williams won the next two frames to lead 16–14. Doherty won the next two, before Williams won frame 33 and then frame 34 with a break of 77 to win the match 18–16. The win was Williams' second world championship, having won the title in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. In winning the event, Williams completed the Triple Crown, having also won the

and Masters in the season. He was only the third player to win these three events in a single season and is the most recent player to have achieved this. The win allowed Williams to become world number one again, the first player to regain the position under the current ranking system and only the second overall after Ray Reardon. Williams had only lost 19 frames through the first four rounds, winning 52. With three of his matches going to a deciding frame, Doherty played 132 frames in the tournament, a record for the modern era, with only his quarter final win over Higgins having been decided by more than two frames.

Main draw

Shown below are the results for each round. The numbers in brackets represents players seeding, whilst those in bold denote match winners.

Century breaks

There were 53 century breaks made in the tournament. The highest break was a maximum break of 147 made by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the opening round. *

147 147 may refer to: * 147 (number), a natural number * AD 147, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century * 147 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 147 AH, a year in the Islamic calendar that corresponds to 764 – 765 CE ...

* 140, 125, 102, 100 Stephen Lee * 135, 127, 109, 105, 100

* 135, 128, 128, 120, 110, 106, 101 Paul Hunter * 133, 114, 109

* 132, 130, 120, 115, 114, 111

* 131, 128, 115, 115, 112, 112, 111, 107

* 131, 120, 118, 115, 102, 101 Mark Williams * 128

* 127, 122, 113, 103

* 127

Alan McManus Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and current commentator who works for Eurosport. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Du ...

* 117 Nigel Bond * 113, 107

Tony Drago Tony Drago (born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 G ...

* 104

* 101

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached numb ...

* 101

* 100 Ian McCulloch

References

{{Snooker season 2002/2003

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Sports competitions in Sheffield April 2003 sports events in the United Kingdom May 2003 sports events in the United Kingdom