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British Open Including British Gold Cup, Yamaha Organs Trophy and Yamaha International Masters |
World Ranking Event since 1985 |
Brief History of the British Open (Formerly British Gold Cup, Yamaha Organs Trophy and Yamaha Organs International Masters) The British Open is one of the oldest ranking events having been a regular feature of the circuit since 1985. Its beginnings however go back a few years earlier. It all started with the British Gold Cup, a sixteen-man event held at Derby’s Assembly Rooms in 1980 with the players split into four groups played on a round robin basis with four group winners going into the semi-finals. Alex Higgins was the winner. The following year sponsorship was obtained and it became the Yamaha Organs Trophy. Played at the same venue it retained the same format as the Gold Cup. Then, in 1982, under the new title of the Yamaha Organs International Masters, the top eight from the first round contested two further groups with the winners meeting in the final. Steve Davis won both of these titles. The field was enlarged to 27 in 1984, split into 9 groups of three. The winners played in three semi-final groups and then those winners went into a three-man round-robin final. On of the finalists was John Dunning who, at nearly 57, became the oldest person to reach a major final. Steve Davis won again to make it three out of four of the Yamaha events. When the WPBSA wanted to increase the number of ranking events in 1984/5, Dulux Paints stepped in as sponsors following the withdrawal of Yamaha, and the British Open was born. There have been many different venues and sponsors over the years but the event has continued ever since. Derby remained the venue until 1993 but that first running provided quite an upset. Silvino Francisco of South Africa beat Kirk Stevens in the final and was one of the lowest ranked players to have won a major event. Dulux continued with their sponsorship for two more years which saw Steve Davis and Jimmy White emerge as the winners. Then in 1988, MIM Britannia took over as sponsors for one year only and Stephen Hendry took the title for the first time. Anglian Windows became another one-off backer in 1989 and Tony Meo, who had dropped to 31 in the rankings, was the surprise winner. Canada’s Bob Chaperon was another unlikely champion in 1990 when Pearl Assurance began a three-year sponsorship and FA Cup style draws were introduced for each round from the last 32 onwards. 1992 saw the event’s first maximum by James Wattana. He had no sooner completed the break than he was told of the death of his father. To his credit he carried on all the way to the final but Jimmy White was the eventual winner. Wickes Home Improvements stepped in to support the last British Open at Derby in 1993, which Steve Davis won and Wattana was runner-up again. Plymouth Pavilions was the new venue but no sponsor could be found in 1994. Wattana was runner-up yet again with Ronnie O’Sullivan taking the title for the first time. Castella were sponsors for 1995 and 1996 when John Higgins and Nigel Bond were the winners but then followed five unsponsored years. In 1995 David McDonnell made a maximum in the qualifying rounds. Hendry reached the final in both 1997 and 1998 but first Mark Williams and then John Higgins prevented him getting his third win in the event. Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien beat Anthony Hamilton to take the title in April1999. There was a maximum from Graeme Dott and another from Jason Prince in the qualifiers in what was the last occasion that the event was held in the spring. It then moved to September so Fergal only held it for five months.
Stephen Hendry finally got that third win in the September 1999 event and made a 147 as well in the final against Peter Ebdon. The event moved to only its third venue in eighteen years in 2001 when, with backing from bookmakers, Stan James, it was staged in the Telewest Arena in Newcastle, John Higgins gaining his third victory, and then it moved again for 2002 to Telford, once again without any sponsors. Yet another change of venue, the Brighton Centre, provided Stephen Hendry with his fourth victory in 2003 and John Higgins gained his fourth a year later. The event was dropped from the calendar in 2005/6
Roll Of Honour
Season |
Venue |
Sponsor |
Winner
|
Runner Up |
Score |
1st Prize |
1977 |
BRITISH GOLD CUP |
1979/80 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
none |
Alex Higgins |
Ray Reardon |
5-1 |
£4,000 |
1979 |
YAMAHA ORGANS TROPHY |
1980/1 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Yamaha |
Steve Davis |
David Taylor |
9-6 |
£10,000 |
1979 |
YAMAHA ORGANS INTERNATIONAL MASTERS |
1981/2 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Yamaha |
Steve Davis |
Terry Griffiths |
9-7 |
£11,000 |
1982/3 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Yamaha |
Ray Reardon |
Jimmy White |
9-6 |
£12,000 |
1983/4 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Yamaha |
Steve Davis |
Dave Martin |
# |
£20,000 |
1979 |
BRITISH OPEN |
1984/5 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Dulux |
Silvino Francisco |
Kirk Stevens |
12-9 |
£50,000 |
1985/6 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Dulux |
Steve Davis |
Willie Thorne |
12-7 |
£55,000 |
1986/7 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Dulux |
Jimmy White |
Neal Foulds |
13-9 |
£60,000 |
1987/8 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
MIM Britannia Unit Trusts |
Stephen Hendry |
Mike Hallett |
13-2 |
£60,000 |
1988/9 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Anglian Windows |
Tony Meo |
Dean Reynolds |
13-6 |
£70,000 |
1989/90 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Pearl Assurance |
Bob Chaperon |
Alex Higgins |
10-8 |
£75,000 |
1990/1 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Pearl Assurance |
Stephen Hendry |
Gary Wilkinson |
10-9 |
£75,000 |
1991/2 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Pearl Assurance |
Jimmy White |
James Wattana |
10-7 |
£75,000 |
1992/3 |
Assembly Rooms, Derby |
Wickes Home Improvements |
Steve Davis |
James Wattana |
10-2 |
£50,000 |
1993/4 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
none |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
James Wattana |
9-4 |
£36,000 |
1994/5 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
Castella |
John Higgins |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
9-6 |
£60,000 |
1995/6 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
Castella |
Nigel Bond |
John Higgins |
9-8 |
£60,000 |
1996/7 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
none |
Mark J. Williams |
Stephen Hendry |
9-2 |
£60,000 |
1997/8 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
none |
John Higgins |
Stephen Hendry |
9-8 |
£60,000 |
1998/9 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
none |
Fergal O'Brien |
Anthony Hamilton |
9-7 |
£60,000 |
1999/00 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
none |
Stephen Hendry |
Peter Ebdon |
9-5 |
£62,000 |
2000/1 |
Plymouth Pavilions |
none |
Peter Ebdon |
Jimmy White |
9-6 |
£62,000 |
2001/2 |
Telewest Arena, Newcastle |
Stan James |
John Higgins |
Graeme Dott |
9-6 |
£92,500 |
2002/3 |
Telford International Centre |
none |
Paul Hunter |
Ian McCulloch |
9-4 |
£52,000 |
2003/4 |
Brighton Centre |
none |
Stephen Hendry |
Ronnie O'Sullivan |
9-6 |
£52,000 |
2004/5 |
Brighton Centre |
none |
John Higgins |
Stephen Maguire |
9-6 |
£30,000 |
# 1983/4 final was decided on a 3-man round robin basis. The third finalist was John Dunning.
Maximum Breaks
Final Stage |
James Wattana |
1991/2 |
Last 16 v. Tony Drago |
Graeme Dott |
1998/9 |
Last 64 v. David Roe |
Stephen Hendry |
1999/0 |
Final v. Peter Ebdon |
John Higgins |
1993/4 |
Last 32 v. Michael Judge |
Qualifying Rounds
|
David McDonnell |
1994/5 |
Qual Rd 4 v Nic Barrow |
Jason Prince |
1998/9 |
Qual Rd 5 v. Ian Brumby |
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İChris Turner 2008
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