The 2003 Welsh Open (officially the 2003 Regal Welsh Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 22 to 26 January at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
Paul Hunter was the defending champion, but he lost in the semi-finals 2âÂÂ6 against Mark Williams. Williams in turn lost to Stephen Hendry 9âÂÂ5 in the final. Hendry won his third Welsh Open title and the 34th ranking title of his career.
Defending champion Paul Hunter was the number 1 seed with World Champion Peter Ebdon seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings.
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
Winner: ã82,500<br /> Runner-up: ã42,500<br /> Semi-final: ã21,250<br /> Quarter-final: ã11,700<br /> Last 16: ã9,600<br /> Last 32: ã7,800<br /> Last 48: ã4,000<br /> Last 64: ã3,150
Last 80: ã2,150<br /> Last 96: ã1,450
Stage one highest break: ã1,800<br /> Stage two highest break: ã7,500
Stage one maximum break: ã5,000<br /> Stage two maximum break: ã20,000
Total: ã597,200
Best of 9 frames