2008 Northern Ireland Trophy

The 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 24 and 31 August 2008 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Trophy
Tournament information
Dates24–31 August 2008 (2008-08-24 – 2008-08-31)
VenueWaterfront Hall
CityBelfast
CountryNorthern Ireland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£200,500
Winner's share£30,000
Highest break Stephen Lee (ENG) (145)
Final
Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Runner-up Dave Harold (ENG)
Score9–3
2007
Last →

Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed his 21st ranking tournament by defeating surprise finalist Dave Harold 9–3 in the final.[1]

Tournament summary

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  • Notable comebacks in the qualifiers included: Li Hang coming from 0–4 down to beat Irish prodigy David Morris 5–4, and both Jimmy White and Ian Preece came from 2–4 behind to win their matches 5–4, against Jamie Jones and Paul Davies respectively.
  • Jimmy White qualified for the final stage of an event for the first time in over a year, stretching back to the 2007 China Open.
  • Long standing top-16 players, Mark Williams, Ken Doherty and Stephen Lee were playing in the qualifiers for the first time in over a decade.
  • Last year's runner-up, Fergal O'Brien fell at the first hurdle, losing 3–5 to Michael Holt.
  • In his match against Mark Selby, Andrew Higginson was playing in front of the TV cameras for the first time since his run to the final of the 2007 Welsh Open.
  • Dominic Dale came from 1–4 down against Mark Allen to level at 4–4, before Allen played superbly to take the decider.
  • In beating Ding Junhui 5–4, Mark Davis secured one of the best wins of his career.
  • Ronnie O'Sullivan won three quick consecutive frames to oust former world champion Ken Doherty 5–4 in the last 32.
  • Stephen Maguire won the last three frames to beat Alan McManus 5–4, a player who had not reached the last 16 of an event the previous season.
  • Dave Harold beat Stephen Lee 5–4, a player who had been considered one of the tournaments in-form players, having knocked in three centuries, including a high break of 145.
  • Harold increased his head-to-head record to 3–0 over Stephen Maguire by beating him 5–2 in the quarter-finals, afterwards Maguire stated that he never seems to perform against Harold.
  • Barry Hawkins produced a brave fightback to recover from 1–4 to level at 4–4 against Ronnie O'Sullivan in their quarter-final match, before the world champion took the decider.
  • Dave Harold led John Higgins 5–1, but won only 6–4, to reach his first ranking final since 1994, the gap between those two ranking finals is the longest in snooker history.

Prize fund

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The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[2]

Main draw

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[3]

Last 48
Best of 9 frames
Last 32
Best of 9 frames
Last 16
Best of 9 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
Final
Best of 17 frames
1  Stephen Maguire5
24  Fergal O'Brien3  Michael Holt1
1  Stephen Maguire5
  Michael Holt5
  Alan McManus4
15  Mark King3
17  Matthew Stevens2  Alan McManus5
1  Stephen Maguire2
  Alan McManus5
28  Dave Harold5
13  Graeme Dott3
28  Dave Harold528  Dave Harold5
28  Dave Harold5
  Ricky Walden2
27  Stephen Lee4
6  Stephen Hendry1
27  Stephen Lee527  Stephen Lee5
28  Dave Harold6
  Judd Trump3
5  John Higgins4
5  John Higgins5
30  Michael Judge4  David Gilbert2
5  John Higgins5
  David Gilbert5
  Liang Wenbo1
9  Peter Ebdon0
29  Steve Davis3  Liang Wenbo5
5  John Higgins5
  Liang Wenbo5
25  Ian McCulloch3
10  Neil Robertson2
25  Ian McCulloch525  Ian McCulloch5
25  Ian McCulloch5
  Mike Dunn4
4  Mark Selby4
4  Mark Selby5
31  Anthony Hamilton3  Andrew Higginson1
28  Dave Harold3
  Andrew Higginson5
2  Ronnie O'Sullivan9
3  Shaun Murphy2
22  Mark Williams522  Mark Williams5
22  Mark Williams3
  Marcus Campbell3
16  Mark Allen5
16  Mark Allen5
32  Dominic Dale532  Dominic Dale4
16  Mark Allen2
  Adrian Gunnell4
7  Ali Carter5
11  Ding Junhui4
20  Joe Swail4  Mark Davis5
  Mark Davis2
  Mark Davis5
7  Ali Carter5
7  Ali Carter5
21  Stuart Bingham4  Rory McLeod1
7  Ali Carter5
  Rory McLeod5
2  Ronnie O'Sullivan6
8  Ryan Day5
23  Nigel Bond1  Stuart Pettman4
8  Ryan Day3
  Stuart Pettman5
26  Barry Hawkins5
14  Marco Fu2
26  Barry Hawkins526  Barry Hawkins5
26  Barry Hawkins4
  Jimmy White3
2  Ronnie O'Sullivan5
12  Joe Perry5
19  Jamie Cope519  Jamie Cope2
12  Joe Perry3
  David Gray4
2  Ronnie O'Sullivan5
2  Ronnie O'Sullivan5
18  Ken Doherty518  Ken Doherty4
  Gerard Greene2

Final

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Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Eirian Williams.
Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 31 August 2008.[3]
Dave Harold
  England
3–9 Ronnie O'Sullivan
  England
Afternoon: 63–14, 44–68 (68), 17–127 (103), 0–84 (84), 44–87, 13–84, 60–76 (76)
Evening: 76–41, 19–73 (64), 54–61, 88–0 (81), 22–80 (50)
81 Highest break 103
0 Century breaks 1
1 50+ breaks 6

Qualifying

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Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales between 15 and 17 August 2008.[4]

Round 1
Best of 9 frames
Round 2
Best of 9 frames
Round 3
Best of 9 frames
  Rodney Goggins5  Rod Lawler5  Michael Holt5
  Declan Hughes2  Rodney Goggins0  Rod Lawler2
  Paul Davison0  Andy Hicks5  Alan McManus5
  Andrew Pagett5  Andrew Pagett4  Andy Hicks2
  Daniel Wells5  Barry Pinches5  Ricky Walden5
  Jin Long3  Daniel Wells1  Barry Pinches3
  Patrick Wallace5  Mark Joyce5  Judd Trump5
Bye0  Patrick Wallace0  Mark Joyce0
  Supoj Saenla2  Robert Milkins3  David Gilbert5
  Liu Chuang5  Liu Chuang5  Liu Chuang3
  Peter Lines5  David Roe5  Liang Wenbo5
  Andy Lee0  Peter Lines2  David Roe0
  Matthew Couch5  Andrew Norman5  Mike Dunn5
  Vincent Muldoon3  Matthew Couch3  Andrew Norman1
  Robert Stephen1  David Morris4  A. Higginson5
  Li Hang5  Li Hang5  Li Hang2
  Lee Spick5  Joe Delaney5  Marcus Campbell5
  Aditya Mehta2  Lee Spick0  Joe Delaney1
  Jamie Jones5  Ian Preece5  Adrian Gunnell5
  Stephen Craigie2  Jamie Jones4  Ian Preece2
  Kuldesh Johal5  Mark Davis5  Jamie Burnett2
  Michael Georgiou3  Kuldesh Johal1  Mark Davis5
  Matthew Selt5  Liu Song5  Rory McLeod5
  Chris McBreen1  Matthew Selt1  Liu Song2
  James McBain5  Stuart Pettman5  John Parrott4
  Stefan Mazrocis1  James McBain3  Stuart Pettman5
  Jimmy White5  Paul Davies4  Tom Ford2
  Atthasit Mahitthi4  Jimmy White5  Jimmy White 5
  Simon Bedford5  David Gray5  Jimmy Michie3
  David Grace1  Simon Bedford4  David Gray5
  Lewis Roberts1  Martin Gould5  Gerard Greene5
  Wayne Cooper5  Wayne Cooper3  Martin Gould3

Century breaks

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Qualifying stage centuries

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[4]

Televised stage centuries

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[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Classy O'Sullivan wins NI Trophy". BBC Sport. 31 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  2. ^ "Northern Ireland Trophy 2008 – Prize Money". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  3. ^ a b c "Northern Ireland Trophy 2008 – Results". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Northern Ireland Trophy 2008 – Qualifying Results". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2011.