2002/03 snooker season

2002/03 snooker season
Season dates
Beginning of the season	September 24, 2002
End of season	May 5, 2003
Ranked tournaments	8th
Invitation tournaments	3
number of players	326
Triple Crown Winner
UK Championship	Mark Williams
Masters	Mark Williams
World Champion	Mark Williams
World ranking
Ranking first	Ronnie O'Sullivan
← 2001/02 2003/04 →

The 2002/03 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments that were part of the Main Tour . In the year before, 14 titles were played, of which 11 events remained - a trend that should continue in the following year. Apart from the two invitation tournaments, there were also points to be won for the world rankings.

After 13 years, the Thailand Masters was no longer held; Local hero James Wattana was no longer among the best in the world in recent years, so local interest had waned. The second Asian tournament, the China Open , also dropped out of the tournament calendar (but should return later). Also new was the short-lived Champions Cup . For the Scottish Masters , this 21st event should be the last. After an extended summer break on September 24, 2002, it formed the start of the 2002/03 season, which traditionally ended on May 5, 2003 with the World Cup finals.

Season results

The following table shows the final results of the season.

date	competition	venue	Art	winner	Final opponent	Result
September 24th to September 29th, 2002	Scottish Masters 2002	Glasgow	Invitation tournament	Ronnie O'Sullivan	John Higgins	9: 4
October 4 to October 12, 2002	LG Cup 2002	Preston	World ranking tournament	Chris Small	Alan McManus	9: 5
October 21 to October 31, 2002	Benson & Hedges Championship 2002	Mansfield	Invitation tournament	Mark Davis	Mehmet Husnu	9: 6
November 2002	Merseyside Professional 2002	Liverpool	Non-ranking tournament	Mark Davis	Stephen Maguire	5: 2
November 9th to November 17th, 2002	British Open 2002	Telford	World ranking tournament	Paul Hunter	Ian McCulloch	9: 4
December 1 to December 15, 2002	UK Championship 2002	York	World ranking tournament	Mark Williams	Ken Doherty	10: 9
January 22 to January 26, 2003	Welsh Open 2003	Cardiff	World ranking tournament	Stephen Hendry	Mark Williams	9: 5
February 2 to February 9, 2003	Masters 2003	London	Invitation tournament	Mark Williams	Stephen Hendry	10: 4
March 11 to March 16, 2003	European Open 2003	Torquay	World ranking tournament	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Stephen Hendry	9: 6
March 25 to March 30, 2003	Irish Masters 2003	Dublin	World ranking tournament	Ronnie O'Sullivan	John Higgins	10: 9
April 5 to April 13, 2003	Scottish Open 2003	Edinburgh	World ranking tournament	David Gray	Mark Selby	9: 7
April 19 to May 5, 2003	2003 World Snooker Championship	Sheffield	World ranking tournament	Mark Williams	Ken Doherty	18:16

World ranking

The snooker world ranking is only updated after each full season and takes into account the performance of the past two seasons. The following table shows the 32 best placed players of the 2002/03 season, based on the results of the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons . The position in the previous year is given in brackets.

Place 1 - 8		Place 9 - 16		17th - 24th place		Place 25 - 32
1	Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)	9	Paul Hunter (9)	17th	Anthony Hamilton (19)	25th	Steve Davis (21)
2	Mark Williams (1)	10	Jimmy White (11)	18th	John Parrott (22)	26th	Anthony Davies (31)
3	Peter Ebdon (7)	11	Mark King (13)	19th	David Gray (30)	27	Marco Fu (17)
4th	John Higgins (3)	12	Graeme Dott (14)	20th	Dominic Dale (20)	28	Tony Drago (29)
5	Ken Doherty (4)	13	Joe Perry (27)	21st	Dave Harold (15)	29	Chris Small (24)
6th	Stephen Hendry (5)	14th	Quinten Hann (25)	22nd	Drew Henry (18)	30th	Nigel Bond (23)
7th	Stephen Lee (8)	15th	Alan McManus (12)	23	Fergal O'Brien (16)	31	Ali Carter (61)
8th	Matthew Stevens (6)	16	Joe Swail (10)	24	Michael Judge (28)	32	James Wattana (32)

Individual evidence

1. ^ The 2002/2003 Season. In: snooker.org. Retrieved March 19, 2016 .  
2. ↑ 2002/2003 Embassy World Rankings. In: snooker.org. Retrieved March 19, 2016 .