2008 Welsh Open (snooker)

The 2008 Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 11 and 17 February 2008 in the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales.

Neil Robertson was the defending champion, but he lost his last 16 match against Ali Carter. Mark Selby won his first ranking title by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8, after coming back from 5–8 down.

Notable happenings

Tian Pengfei won the last 3 frames to oust one of the Welsh favourites, Matthew Stevens 5–4.
David Roe led John Higgins 3–1 before losing 3–5.
Mark Williams won the last 3 frames to beat Marco Fu 5–4.
Ali Carter led Neil Robertson 4–0 but won only 5–3.
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the high break prize with a 143 in the last frame of his 6–3 semi-final victory over Shaun Murphy, surpassing an effort of 134 from Marcus Campbell.
Mark Selby had a highest break of 77 in the final compared to O'Sullivan's 135.

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[1]

Winner: £35,000
Runner Up: £17,500
Semi Finalists: £8,750
Quarter Finalist: £6,500
Last 16: £4,275
Last 32: £2,750
Last 48: £1,725
Last 64: £1,325

Stage one highest break: £500
Stage two highest break: £2,000

Stage one maximum break: £1,000
Stage two maximum break: £20,000

Total: £225,500

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

			1	Neil Robertson	5
22	Jamie Cope	5	22	Jamie Cope	1
61	Jimmy Michie	4				1	Neil Robertson	3
						14	Ali Carter	5
			14	Ali Carter	5
20	Matthew Stevens	4	69	Tian Pengfei	2
69	Tian Pengfei	5							14	Ali Carter	4
									6	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
			15	Steve Davis	5
21	Mark King	5	21	Mark King	3
42	Andrew Norman	1				15	Steve Davis	3
						6	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
			6	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
17	Joe Swail	2	51	Judd Trump	3
51	Judd Trump	5										6	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
												4	Shaun Murphy	3
			7	Peter Ebdon	1
18	Joe Perry	5	18	Joe Perry	5
39	John Parrott	2				18	Joe Perry	5
						23	Stuart Bingham	2
			10	Stephen Maguire	4
23	Stuart Bingham	5	23	Stuart Bingham	5
	Matthew Selt	2							18	Joe Perry	0
									4	Shaun Murphy	5
			12	Mark Williams	5
27	Marco Fu	5	27	Marco Fu	4
40	Adrian Gunnell	3				12	Mark Williams	2
						4	Shaun Murphy	5
			4	Shaun Murphy	5
28	Ian McCulloch	5	28	Ian McCulloch	3
57	Drew Henry	1

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

			3	Graeme Dott	4
25	Nigel Bond	4	34	Michael Judge	5
34	Michael Judge	5				34	Michael Judge	2
						13	Stephen Lee	5
			13	Stephen Lee	5
26	Anthony Hamilton	2	44	Andrew Higginson	3
44	Andrew Higginson	5							13	Stephen Lee	2
									8	Stephen Hendry	5
			16	Ryan Day	5
29	Mark Allen	5	29	Mark Allen	2
45	David Gilbert	4				16	Ryan Day	4
						8	Stephen Hendry	5
			8	Stephen Hendry	5
24	Michael Holt	5	24	Michael Holt	1
58	Joe Delaney	4										8	Stephen Hendry	4
												11	Mark Selby	6
			5	Ken Doherty	5
31	Dominic Dale	2	38	Alan McManus	3
38	Alan McManus	5				5	Ken Doherty	2
						11	Mark Selby	5
			11	Mark Selby	5
30	Dave Harold	5	30	Dave Harold	2
49	Rod Lawler	4							11	Mark Selby	5
									2	John Higgins	2
			9	Ding Junhui	5
32	Gerard Greene	3	52	Marcus Campbell	4
52	Marcus Campbell	5				9	Ding Junhui	1
						2	John Higgins	5
			2	John Higgins	5
19	Barry Hawkins	2	55	David Roe	3
55	David Roe	5

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Eirian Williams. Newport Centre, Newport, Wales, 17 February 2008.^[2]
Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) England	8–9	Mark Selby (11) England
Afternoon: 6–90 (77), 50–60, 69–5 (50), 72–44, 23–56 (51), 62–35, 0–139 (70, 65), 130–0 (108) Evening: 97–0 (93), 135–6 (135), 22–72 (72), 87–35 (63), 69–1 (54), 0–89, 28–86 (62), 53–67 (O'Sullivan 53), 37–72
135	Highest break	77
2	Century breaks	0
7	50+ breaks	6

Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontin's in Prestatyn, Wales between 26 January and 28 January 2008.^[4]