2003 European Open (snooker)
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. 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. 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: 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