WELSH OPEN TICKETS ON SALE NOW
WELSH OPEN TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Top class snooker returns to Cardiff next month when the Welsh Open takes place at the Welsh Institute of Sport.
Tickets for the event are now on sale. They start at £7 for adults (£3.50 for children under 12, students and OAPS) and rise to £15 for the evening session of the final. For more details, call the box office on 02920 224488.
The event has previously been held at the Newport Centre and the Cardiff International Arena and now moves to the Institute of Sport for the first time. The tournament, to be televised by BBC Wales, will take place from January 19 to 25, 2004.
The Welsh Open is the fourth event on the new LG Electronics Tour. The leader of the Order of Merit after the tour’s seventh and final event will receive a £50,000 prize.
In pole position in the Order of Merit is Welsh Dragon Matthew Stevens. The 26-year-old from Carmarthen enjoyed the greatest moment of his career in November when he won the Travis Perkins UK Championship in York, beating Stephen Hendry 10-8 in the final.
Hendry will be the defending champion in Cardiff. He upset the local fans by beating Mark Williams 9-5 in the 2003 final. “I can’t be too popular around here!” said the Scot. “Mark is a good mate of mine but when you get out there on the match table it’s a different story.”
Williams had the last laugh, though, as he beat Hendry 10-4 in the final of the Masters at Wembley two weeks later and went on to become world champion and world No 1.
Williams and Stevens will be leading the home challenge in Cardiff in January along with Dominic Dale of Penarth and Anthony Davies of Barry.
All of the world’s top 32 players will be in action, including Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Paul Hunter, Ken Doherty, Steve Davis and Jimmy White. They will be joined by the 16 qualifiers who come through the initial rounds, which are currently being played at Prestatyn in north Wales.
A spokesman for World Snooker said: “We are delighted to be keeping the Welsh Open in Cardiff. This tournament has always produced a high standard of snooker and no doubt it will be the same this season.”
