Grand Prix 2004

Grand Prix 2004
Tournament type:	World ranking tournament
Venue:	Guild Hall, Preston , England
Opening:	October 2, 2004
Endgame:	October 10, 2004
Winner:	Ronnie O'Sullivan
Finalist:	Ian McCulloch
Highest Break:	147 ( John Higgins )
← 2003   2005 →

The 2004 Grand Prix was a 2004/05 snooker tournament held at the Preston Guild Hall from October 2-10, 2004 . After three years with the sponsor LG and the renaming to LG Cup , the tournament returned to the name Grand Prix with the new sponsor Totesport . The venue remained the same.

Defending champion was Mark Williams , but the Welshman has already lost his opening game. Ian McCulloch reached a professional final for the second time in his career after the British Open in 2002 . Again he lost, the winner was Ronnie O'Sullivan , he won the final 9: 5.

John Higgins broke 147 points in Round 1. Just a year earlier, Higgins had also scored a maximum break in the same place . It was fourth in the Grand Prix, but no one who scored one could win the tournament afterwards. Higgins lost his opening match 3: 5 despite the maximum.

Prize money / world ranking points

The exit of sponsor LG brought a drop in prize money of £ 200,000 compared to the previous year . The prize went down by £ 22,500 and the second got £ 12,500 less. The other premiums were also reduced accordingly. Qualifiers who did not make it into the last 64 did not receive any bonuses, in the previous year double-digit prize money was paid up to the last 96.

In terms of the points for the world rankings , on the other hand, there was an increase of 1,000 points for the winner and increases up to the last 64.

	Prize money	World ranking points a
winner	£ 60,000	5,000
finalist	£ 30,000	3,750
Semi-finalist	£ 15,000	3,150
Quarter finalist	£ 11,000	2,600
Round of 16	£ 7,000	2,050
Last 32	£ 5,000	1,500
Last 64	£ 3,000	1,000
Last 96	-	250
Highest TV break	£ 4,000
All in all	£ 420,000

^a Seeded players who lost their opening game in the first main round received only 50% of the points.

There was an additional £ 20,000 bonus for the Maximum Break .

Final round

In the previous year, the main tournament was played with 48 players. As of this year, 64 players competed in Preston. This returned to the mode until 1999 . The top 32 of the world rankings were set for the first final round. They were drawn to the 32 players who had prevailed in the Prestatyn qualification a month earlier .

	First round best of 9 frames					Second round best of 9 frames					Round of 16 best of 9 frames					Quarterfinals Best of 9 Frames					Semi-final best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
	1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	40	Mark Davis	2
						1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
						31	Joe Swail	1
	31	Joe Swail	5
	58	Mike Dunn	3
											1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
											15th	Graeme Dott	3
	15th	Graeme Dott	5
	45	Ryan Day	4th
						15th	Graeme Dott	5
						32	Dominic Dale	2
	32	Dominic Dale	5
	80	Scott MacKenzie	1
																1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
																36	Mark Selby	0
	12	Chris Small	4th
	36	Mark Selby	5
						36	Mark Selby	5
						67	Leo Fernandez	2
	27	Drew Henry	4th
	67	Leo Fernandez	5
											36	Mark Selby	5
											8th	Peter Ebdon	3
	8th	Peter Ebdon	5
	73	Simon Bedford	2
						8th	Peter Ebdon	5
							Joe Jogia	4th
	23	Mark King	0
		Joe Jogia	5
																					1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6th
																					4th	Paul Hunter	3
	7th	Ken Doherty	5
	54	Anthony Davies	1
						7th	Ken Doherty	3
						33	James Wattana	5
	31	John Parrott	2
	33	James Wattana	5
											33	James Wattana	5
											9	Stephen Lee	1
	9	Stephen Lee	5
		Hugh Abernethy	2
						9	Stephen Lee	5
						25th	Anthony Hamilton	1
	25th	Anthony Hamilton	5
	55	Jimmy Michie	2
																33	James Wattana	0
																4th	Paul Hunter	5
	13	Steve Davis	5
	51	Sean Storey	1
						13	Steve Davis	5
						22nd	Tony Drago	1
	22nd	Tony Drago	5
		Jin Long	3
											13	Steve Davis	1
											4th	Paul Hunter	5
	4th	Paul Hunter	5
	75	Darren Morgan	3
						4th	Paul Hunter	5
						19th	Ali Carter	4th
	19th	Ali Carter	5
	61	Adrian Gunnell	4th
																									1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
																										17th	Ian McCulloch	5
	3	Stephen Hendry	5
	49	Jamie Burnett	4th
						3	Stephen Hendry	5
						28	Robert Milkins	3
	28	Robert Milkins	5
	66	Rory McLeod	2
											3	Stephen Hendry	3
											17th	Ian McCulloch	5
	11	Jimmy White	5
	39	Patrick Wallace	4th
						11	Jimmy White	4th
						17th	Ian McCulloch	5
	17th	Ian McCulloch	5
	57	Rod Lawler	4th
																17th	Ian McCulloch	5
																24	Stephen Maguire	2
	10	Alan McManus	5
	41	Fergal O'Brien	4th
						10	Alan McManus	4th
						35	Nigel Bond	5
	26th	Gerard Greene	2
	35	Nigel Bond	5
											35	Nigel Bond	1
											24	Stephen Maguire	5
	5	John Higgins	3
	76	Ricky Walden	5
						76	Ricky Walden	3
						24	Stephen Maguire	5
	24	Stephen Maguire	5
	48	Shaun Murphy	2
																				17th	Ian McCulloch	6th
																					42	Michael Judge	1
	6th	Matthew Stevens	1
	50	Andy Hicks	5
						50	Andy Hicks	3
						68	Neil Robertson	5
	29	Michael Holt	2
	68	Neil Robertson	5
											68	Neil Robertson	3
											20th	Joe Perry	5
	14th	David Gray	5
	59	Lee Walker	0
						14th	David Gray	3
						20th	Joe Perry	5
	20th	Joe Perry	5
	65	Shokat Ali	1
																20th	Joe Perry	1
																42	Michael Judge	5
	16	Marco Fu	5
	52	David Roe	2
						16	Marco Fu	5
						43	Barry Hawkins	4th
	21st	Barry Pinches	4th
	43	Barry Hawkins	5
											16	Marco Fu	1
											42	Michael Judge	5
	2	Mark Williams	2
	42	Michael Judge	5
						42	Michael Judge	5
						63	Marcus Campbell	4th
	18th	Quinten Hann	3
	63	Marcus Campbell	5

final

Ian McCulloch and Ronnie O'Sullivan were only facing each other for the third time and McCulloch had never won against O'Sullivan or a professional tournament. However, he had already reached a final and was about to move into the top 16 in the world for the first time in his career. The world champion and world number one O'Sullivan was the clear favorite. He also took the lead 2-0 in the game and increased the lead to 5-1 before McCulloch was able to shorten it to 5-3 at the end of the first session. In the evening session, O'Sullivan won the first two frames again and the score of 7-3 put McCulloch under pressure. He was able to shorten twice, but in the end the world champion clearly won 9: 5. It was O'Sullivan's 16th world ranking win, but his only win at the Grand Prix.

Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: Jan Verhaas Guild Hall,  Preston , England , October 10, 2004
Ronnie O'Sullivan	9 : 5	Ian McCulloch
Afternoon : 99 : 4 (86), 70 : 20, 1: 75 , 104 : 0 (104), 80 : 7 (72), 62 : 58, 8: 65 (54), 53: 80 (66); Evening : 111 : 7 (104), 80 : 32, 0: 91 (69), 74 : 17 (69), 44: 78 (78), 103 : 23 (71)
104	Highest break	78
2	Century breaks	-
6th	50+ breaks	4th

qualification

On September 8 and 9, 2004, a qualifying round was held at the Pontin's Center in Prestatyn ( Wales ). The players from 33rd to 96th place in the world rankings played out who could challenge the top 32 in the main tournament.

Qualifying round

game Player 1 Result Player 2 1 Mark Davis  25 : 25  Paul Davies 2 Mike Dunn  05 : 05  Paul Wykes 3 Ryan Day  4th5 : 45  David McDonnell 4th Robin Hull  54: 54th  Scott MacKenzie 5 Mark Selby  4th5 : 45  Gary Wilson 6th Brian Morgan  54: 54th  Leo Fernandez 7th Nick Walker  51: 51  Simon Bedford 8th Stuart Bingham  54: 54th  Joe Jogia 9 Anthony Davies  4th5 : 45  Alfie Burden 10 James Wattana  25 : 25  Mark Gray 11 Gary Wilkinson  54: 54th  Hugh Abernethy 12 Jimmy Michie  25 : 25  Brian Salmon 13 Sean Storey  25 : 25  Craig Butler 14th Bjorn Haneveer  50: 50  Jin Long 15th Dave Harold  54: 54th  Darren Morgan 16 Adrian Gunnell  05 : 05  Steve James

game Player 1 Result Player 2 17th Jamie Burnett  25 : 25  David Hall 18th Stuart Pettman  51: 51  Rory McLeod 19th Patrick Wallace  25 : 25  Andrew Norman 20th Rod Lawler  15 : 15  Sean O'Neill 21st Fergal O'Brien  35 : 35  Adam Davies 22nd Nigel Bond  25 : 25  Joe Delaney 23 Nick Dyson  51: 51  Ricky Walden 24 Shaun Murphy  05 : 05  Mike Hallett 25th Andy Hicks  15 : 15  Ding Junhui 26th Dave Finbow  50: 50  Neil Robertson 27 Lee Walker  25 : 25  Stefan Mazrocis 28 Jonathan Birch  52: 52  Shokat Ali 29 David Roe  05 : 05  Paul Davison 30th Barry Hawkins  15 : 15  Rodney Goggins 31 Michael Judge  4th5 : 45  Tom Ford 32 Marcus Campbell  15 : 15  Ben Woollaston

Century breaks

16 players scored 34 breaks of at least 100 points in the main tournament. John Higgins scored the 49th maximum break in snooker history in round 1 . It was his third in a year and his fifth overall. There were another 8 Centurys in the qualification divided between 8 players.

Main tournament

John Higgins 147 Ian McCulloch 137, 134, 132, 105 Ronnie O'Sullivan 135 (2 ×), 115, 107, 104 (2 ×) Rod Lawler 133 Joe Perry 133, 103, 100 Alan McManus 132, 118 Andy Hicks 129, 127, 106 Paul Hunter 127, 114, 108, 102

Graeme Dott 119, 113 Peter Ebdon 117 Dominic Dale 114, 108 Michael Judge 112 Marco Fu 103 Stephen Maguire 102 Stephen Hendry 101 Mark Davis 100

qualification

Rory McLeod 142 Nigel Bond 140 Michael Judge 140 Ding Junhui 114

Robin Hull 100 Ricky Walden 100 Patrick Wallace 100 Neil Robertson 100

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} 2004 Grand Prix - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed December 1, 2017 . 
2. ↑ 2004 Grand Prix. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 17, 2017 . 
3. ↑ totesport Grand Prix 2004. snooker.org, accessed on December 17, 2017 (English). 
4. ↑ 2004 Totesport Grand Prix. Global Cue Sports Ltd., archived from the original on April 24, 2007 ; accessed on December 17, 2017 (English). 
5. ↑ Rankings - 2004-2005. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed December 17, 2017 .