Welsh Open 2007

Welsh Open 2007
Tournament type:	World ranking tournament
Venue:	Newport Center, Newport , Wales
Opening:	February 12, 2007
Endgame:	February 18, 2007
Winner:	Neil Robertson
Finalist:	Andrew Higginson
Highest Break:	147 ( Andrew Higginson )
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The Welsh Open 2007 was a snooker tournament of the 2006/07 season that was held from February 12 to 18, 2007 in Newport , South Wales . The Newport Center was - with an interruption - the venue for the tournament for the tenth time.

Defending champion Stephen Lee lost his opening match this time. Australian Neil Robertson took his second world rankings title after winning the Grand Prix earlier in the season . He defeated Andrew Higginson 9: 8 in the final . For the Englishman, who had only qualified again for the Main Tour this season after two amateur years, it was the first professional tournament final of his career. He also managed his first maximum break in the quarterfinals , the third in tournament history.

Prize money / world ranking points

There were no changes compared to the previous year in terms of both the prize money and the points for the world ranking list .

	Prize money	World ranking points a
winner	£ 35,000	5,000
finalist	£ 17,500	4,000
Semi-finalist	£ 8,750	3,200
Quarter finalist	£ 6,500	2,500
Round of 16	£ 4,275	1,900
Last 32	£ 2,750	1,400
Last 48	£ 1,725	1,150
Last 64	£ 1,325	900
Last 80	-	650
Last 96	-	200
Highest Break (Final Round)	£ 2,000
Highest Break (Qualification)	£ 500
All in all	£ 225,500

^a Seeded players who lost their first game in qualifying only received half the number of points.

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

Final round

The Welsh Open was one of three tournaments this season in which 48 players started in the main tournament.

Round 1

As in previous years, three qualifying rounds had been played before the main tournament in Prestatyn . The fourth round was played as the opening round in Newport. The 16 qualifiers competed against the world ranking players from 17th to 32nd place.

game Player 1 Result Player 2 1 Nigel Bond  35 : 35  Liang Wenbo 2 Stuart Bingham  05 : 05  Joe Delaney 3 Ryan Day  50: 50  Michael Judge 4th Marco Fu  52: 52  Andrew Higginson 5 Ding Junhui  51: 51  Jamie Cope 6th Robert Milkins  53: 53  Jamie Burnett 7th Alan McManus  25 : 25  Rod Lawler 8th Joe Swail  15 : 15  Adrian Gunnell 9 David Gray  53: 53  Ben Woollaston 10 Michael Holt  4th5 : 45  Ricky Walden 11 Mark Selby  05 : 05  Ian Preece 12 Ian McCulloch  4th5 : 45  Mark Allen 13 Andy Hicks  54: 54th  Dave Harold 14th Joe Perry  25 : 25  John Parrott 15th James Wattana  51: 51  David Gilbert 16 Mark King  50: 50  Gerard Greene Top 32 to the final The top 16 in the world were seeded for round 2. The winners from round 1 were drawn to them.   Round 1 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   Stephen Lee 2                 20th   Nigel Bond 5   20th   Nigel Bond 4th   15th   Ali Carter 5   15th   Ali Carter 5 24   Stuart Bingham 3   15th   Ali Carter 1     Andrew Higginson 5   12   Barry Hawkins 2     43   Michael Judge 5   43   Michael Judge 1     Andrew Higginson 5   6th   John Higgins 3   Andrew Higginson 5     Andrew Higginson 6th   10   Stephen Maguire 3   7th   Shaun Murphy 5 47   Jamie Cope 0   7th   Shaun Murphy 5   54   Jamie Burnett 4th   9   Mark Williams 4th 54   Jamie Burnett 5   7th   Shaun Murphy 3   10   Stephen Maguire 5   10   Stephen Maguire 5     19th   Alan McManus 0   10   Stephen Maguire 5   4th   Ken Doherty 3   4th   Ken Doherty 5 30th   Joe Swail 3     Andrew Higginson 8th 13   Neil Robertson 9 3   Stephen Hendry 5   Ben Woollaston 2   3   Stephen Hendry 3   13   Neil Robertson 5   13   Neil Robertson 5 21st   Michael Holt 2   13   Neil Robertson 5   5   Ronnie O'Sullivan 4th   14th   Matthew Stevens 1     28   Mark Selby 5   28   Mark Selby 1   5   Ronnie O'Sullivan 5   5   Ronnie O'Sullivan 5 26th   Ian McCulloch 1   13   Neil Robertson 6th   11   Steve Davis 3   8th   Peter Ebdon 4th 35   Dave Harold 5   35   Dave Harold 3   16   Anthony Hamilton 5   16   Anthony Hamilton 5 18th   Joe Perry 4th   16   Anthony Hamilton 4th   11   Steve Davis 5   11   Steve Davis 5       David Gilbert 0   11   Steve Davis 5   2   Graeme Dott 3   2   Graeme Dott 5 38   Gerard Greene 3   final Neil Robertson had his most successful season to date, winning his first professional tournament four months earlier. Andrew Higginson lost his pro status in 2004 and had just returned to the Main Tour. The round of 16 at the Malta Cup at the beginning of the month had been his best ranking result until then. Robertson then approached the final with more determination and was able to go into the break between the sessions with a clear 6-2 lead. But in the evening the roles were reversed. While Higginson was now taking his chances, nothing went on for the Australian. In five frames together he made just 10 points, while Higginson won the frames with high breaks. He won six frames in a row and it was only in the last of them that Robertson showed a little more resistance. Nevertheless, he was close to defeat with the 6-8. In this situation he managed a high 92 break for the first time and with a 59 break in frame 16 he was able to save himself in the decider. Even without a high break, but with multiple points, the Australian took the second win in his second final. Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: Michaela Tabb Newport Center,  Newport , Wales , February 18, 2007 Andrew Higginson 8: 9 Neil Robertson Afternoon : 0: 77 (76), 114 : 1 (114), 19: 117 (71), 47: 67 , 46: 78 , 25: 98 (98), 67 : 8, 0: 74 (74); Evening : 98 : 0 (54), 100 : 1 (100), 97 : 0 (97), 65 : 9, 80 : 0 (64), 85 : 39 (81), 2: 124 (92), 5: 98 (59), 0:70 114 Highest break 98 2 Century breaks - 6th 50+ breaks 6th qualification The qualifiers took place from January 6th to 8th 2007 at the Pontin's Center in Prestatyn . In round 1, the places 65 to 96 of the world rankings played against each other, the winners met in round 2 on places 49 to 64, in round 3 numbers 33 to 48 were added.   Round 1 (Top 96) Best of 9 frames   Round 2 (Top 80) Best of 9 frames   Round 3 (Top 64) Best of 9 frames                          Liang Wenbo 5    Joe Jogia 2    Mark Davis 4th  Dene O'Kane 0    Liang Wenbo 5    Liang Wenbo 5  Lee Spick 5    Joe Delaney 5    Marcus Campbell 4th  Patrick Einsle 1    Lee Spick 3    Joe Delaney 5  Chris Melling 1    Tony Drago 5    Michael Judge 5  Jamie Jones 5    Jamie Jones 2    Tony Drago 2  Andrew Higginson 5    Scott MacKenzie 1    Drew Henry 0  Passakorn Suwannawat 3    Andrew Higginson 5    Andrew Higginson 5  Mark Joyce 5    Mike Dunn 5    Jamie Cope 5  Mohammed Shehab 3    Mark Joyce 1    Mike Dunn 0  Liu Song 5    Jamie Burnett 5    Dominic Dale 4th  Jeff Cundy 2    Liu Song 3    Jamie Burnett 5  Chris Norbury 4th    Andrew Norman 5    Rod Lawler 5  Sean Storey 5    Sean Storey 1    Andrew Norman 3  Matthew Couch 2    Paul Davies 4th    Adrian Gunnell 5  Alex Borg 5    Alex Borg 5    Alex Borg 0  Paul Davison 4th    Shokat Ali 3    Fergal O'Brien 2  Ben Woollaston 5    Ben Woollaston 5    Ben Woollaston 5  Tian Pengfei 4th    Stuart Pettman 5    Ricky Walden 5  Robert Stephen 5    Robert Stephen 2    Stuart Pettman 1  Ian Preece 5    Robin Hull 2    Tom Ford 1  Peter Lines 0    Ian Preece 5    Ian Preece 5  Paul Wykes 2    Mark Allen 5    Jimmy White 4th  Issara Kachaiwong 5    Issara Kachaiwong 1    Mark Allen 5  Lee Page 4th    David Roe 1    Dave Harold 5  David Morris 5    David Morris 5    David Morris 3  Judd Trump 5    Jimmy Michie 5    John Parrott 5  Mark Boyle 2    Judd Trump 2    Jimmy Michie 4th  Alfie Burden 3    David Gilbert 5    Barry Pinches 4th  James Leadbetter 5    James Leadbetter 2    David Gilbert 5  Roy Stolk 1    Rory McLeod 5    Gerard Greene 5  Dermot McGlinchey 5    Dermot McGlinchey 4th    Rory McLeod 3 Century breaks 20 players scored 47 breaks of at least 100 points in the main tournament. There were 31 Centurys in the qualification divided between 22 players. Andrew Higginson scored the 56th official maximum break in snooker history. He was the only player to play all nine rounds from the first qualifying round to the final. Overall, he achieved 10 century breaks alone. Main tournament Andrew Higginson 147 , 133, 125 a , 121, 117, 114, 104, 100 Neil Robertson 141, 135, 124, 109 Anthony Hamilton 139, 134, 119, 115 Michael Judge 137 a Stuart Bingham 136, 115 a Nigel Bond 136 Shaun Murphy 135, 134, 123, 102, 101 Mark Selby 133 Michael Holt 131 a , 115 a , 104 a Dave Harold 130 Stephen Hendry 128 Joe Perry 127 a , 110 Ronnie O'Sullivan 122, 109 (2 ×), 100 Stephen Maguire 121, 111, 104 Ken Doherty 116, 111 Graeme Dott 114 Alan McManus 113 a Jamie Cope 110 a Jamie Burnett 104 Gerard Greene 102 a a scored in round 1 (round of the last 48 without the top 16 players) qualification Ricky Walden 139, 110, 107 Lee Spick 136 Ian Preece 134, 126 John Parrott 132 Jamie Cope 131 Mark Davis 128, 100 Mark Allen 127 Andrew Higginson 127, 122 Stuart Pettman 122 Rory McLeod 118 Robert Stephen 115 Tony Drago 111 Passakorn Suwannawat 111 Mark Boyle 110 Liang Wenbo 108 (2 ×), 106 David Gilbert 107 Paul Wykes 105 Judd Trump 104, 103, 102 Joe Jogia 104 Chris Norbury 104 Sean Storey 100 Paul Davies 100 swell ↑ a b 2007 Welsh Open - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed November 5, 2017 .  ↑ 2007 Welsh Open. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed November 5, 2017 .  ↑ Welsh Open 2007. snooker.org, accessed on November 5, 2017 (English).  ↑ 2007 Welsh Open. Global Cue Sports Ltd., archived from the original on September 4, 2007 ; accessed on November 5, 2017 .  ↑ Rankings - 2006-2007. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed November 5, 2017 .