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TOURNAMENT HISTORIES - BRITISH OPEN
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 fou
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 fi
Stephen Hendry won his second title in 1991 and 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 cred
Plymouth Pavilions was the new venue but no sponsor could be found i 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.
Chris Turner - July 2002Janie Watkins 2004 |
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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. 
r
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 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. In 1983 the title was changed again to the Yamaha
International Masters but the format was still the same and Ray
Reardon took the title from Jimmy White. 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 o
f
the finalists was John Dunning who, at nearly 58, became the oldest
person to reach a major final. Steve Davis won again to make it three
out of four of the Yamaha events.
nal
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.
it
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.
n
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 April1
999.
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.