# 2002–03 snooker season

The 2002–03 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 27 August 2002 and 22 May 2003. Due to a legal ban, this was the final season to have events sponsored by tobacco companies (apart from Embassy, who would continue to sponsor the World Championship for another two years). The following table outlines the results for the ranking events and the invitational events. Mark Williams won all three triple crown events (UK Championship, Masters, World Championship) - the last player to do so in a single season.

## Calendar
### World Snooker Tour

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 24 Sep | 29 Sep | SCO | Scottish Masters | Thistle Hotels | Glasgow | Ronnie O'Sullivan | John Higgins | 9–4 |
| 5 Oct | 13 Oct | ENG | LG Cup | Guild Hall | Preston | Chris Small | Alan McManus | 9–5 |
| 21 Oct | 31 Oct | ENG | Benson & Hedges Championship | Towers Snooker Club | Mansfield | Mark Davis | Mehmet Husnu | 9–6 |
| 9 Nov | 17 Nov | ENG | British Open | Telford International Centre | Telford | Paul Hunter | Ian McCulloch | 9–4 |
| 2 Dec | 15 Dec | ENG | UK Championship | Barbican Centre | York | Mark Williams | Ken Doherty | 10–9 |
| 22 Jan | 26 Jan | WAL | Welsh Open | Cardiff International Arena | Cardiff | Stephen Hendry | Mark Williams | 9–5 |
| 2 Feb | 9 Feb | ENG | Masters | Wembley Conference Centre | London | Mark Williams | Stephen Hendry | 10–4 |
| 11 Mar | 16 Mar | ENG | European Open | Palace Hotel | Torquay | Ronnie O'Sullivan | Stephen Hendry | 9–6 |
| 25 Mar | 30 Mar | IRL | Irish Masters | Citywest Hotel | Dublin | Ronnie O'Sullivan | John Higgins | 10–9 |
| 5 Apr | 13 Apr | SCO | Scottish Open | Royal Highland Centre | Edinburgh | David Gray | Mark Selby | 9–7 |
| 19 Apr | 5 May | ENG | World Snooker Championship | Crucible Theatre | Sheffield | Mark Williams | Ken Doherty | 18–16 |
| 11 Jan | 11 May | ENG | Premier League | Crowtree Leisure Centre | Sunderland | Marco Fu | Mark Williams | 9–5 |
* Ranking event
* Non-ranking event

### Challenge Tour

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 2 Nov | 7 Nov | WAL | Challenge Tour 1 | Towers Snooker Club | Mansfield | Chris Melling | Tom Ford | 6–2 |
| 15 Feb | 20 Feb | ENG | Challenge Tour 2 | Jesters Snooker Club | Swindon | Adrian Rosa | Stuart Mann | 6–5 |
| 15 Mar | 20 Mar | WAL | Challenge Tour 3 | Jesters Snooker Club | Swindon | Michael Rhodes | Luke Simmonds | 6–5 |
| 16 May | 22 May | WAL | Challenge Tour 4 | Pontin's | Prestatyn | Kurt Maflin | James Leadbetter | 6–2 |

### Other events

| Start | Finish | Country | Tournament name | Venue | City | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
| 1 Oct | 8 Oct | KOR | Asian Games | Dongju College Gymnasium | Busan | Ding Junhui | Supoj Saenla | 3–1 |
| 20 Feb | 22 Feb | NIR | Irish Open | Millennium Forum | Derry | Joe Swail | Fergal O'Brien | 10–3 |
| 19 Feb | 23 Feb | THA | Thailand Masters | Rajamangala National Stadium | Bangkok | Noppadon Noppachorn | Rom Surin | 5–4 |

## Official rankings

The top 16 of the world rankings, these players automatically played in the final rounds of the world ranking events and were invited for the Masters.
| No. | Player | Points 2000/01 | Points 2001/02 | Total |
| 1 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 25399 | 24625 | 50024 |
| 2 | Mark Williams | 21735 | 25050 | 46785 |
| 3 | Peter Ebdon | 20777 | 23875 | 44652 |
| 4 | John Higgins | 22034 | 22300 | 44334 |
| 5 | Ken Doherty | 22079 | 21400 | 43479 |
| 6 | Stephen Hendry | 17478 | 24650 | 42128 |
| 7 | Stephen Lee | 13944 | 25725 | 39669 |
| 8 | Matthew Stevens | 14879 | 18000 | 32879 |
| 9 | Paul Hunter | 15809 | 15500 | 31309 |
| 10 | Jimmy White | 12009 | 16925 | 28934 |
| 11 | Mark King | 11895 | 15537 | 27432 |
| 12 | Graeme Dott | 11397 | 15762 | 27159 |
| 13 | Joe Perry | 9269 | 17700 | 26969 |
| 14 | Quinten Hann | 11395 | 14837 | 26232 |
| 15 | Alan McManus | 12190 | 13550 | 25740 |
| 16 | Joe Swail | 12117 | 12762 | 24879 |