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2002 LG Cup (snooker)

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LG Cup
Tournament information
Dates5–13 October 2002
VenueGuild Hall
CityPreston
CountryEngland
OrganisationWorld Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£597,200
Winner's share£82,500
Highest break Stephen Lee (ENG) (141)
Final
Champion Chris Small (SCO)
Runner-up Alan McManus (SCO)
Score9–5
2001
2003

The 2002 LG Cup was the 2002 edition of the professional Grand Prix snooker tournament and was held from 5 to 13 October 2002 at the Guild Hall in Preston, Lancashire, England. It was the second year the event was known as the LG Cup and the 21st overall staging of the competition. The tournament was the first of eight World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2002/2003 season and was televised in the United Kingdom on the BBC.

150/1 outsider Chris Small, who has the spinal condition ankylosing spondylitis, won the tournament defeating fellow Scot Alan McManus nine frames to five (9–5) in the final. It was Small's first major ranking tournament title of his career. In the semi-finals Small beat Jimmy Michie 6–2 and McManus defeated six-time world champion Steve Davis 6–2. Stephen Lee compiled the tournament's highest break of a 141 total clearance in his second round match against Ryan Day. The tournament preceded the second ranking event of the season, the British Open.

Background

The tournament was created as the Professional Players Tournament in 1982 by the snooker governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), to provide another ranking event. It was renamed the Grand Prix for the 1984 event until 2001, when it was called the LG Cup, before reverting to the Grand Prix in 2004.[1]

The 2002 tournament was held at the Guild Hall in Preston, Lancashire between 5 and 13 October. It was the first of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2002–2003 season and the next event following last season's World Championship,[2] which was won by Peter Ebdon, his first victory in the event and the world number 3.[3] Stephen Lee won the 2001 LG Cup in a nine frames to four victory (9–4) over Ebdon.[4] The event preceded the second ranking tournament of the season, the British Open.[2] Sponsored by the Korean multinational conglomerate LG for the second year in a row,[1] it had a prize fund of £597,200,[5] and was broadcast on the BBC.[2] The maximum number of frames contested in a match increased from nine in the first round to the quarter-finals to eleven in the semi-finals, leading up to the final, which was played as best-of-seventeen frames.[6]

Prize money

The breakdown of prize money for the 2002 tournament is shown below:[5]

Tournament summary

Qualifying

The qualifying rounds were played between 2 to 16 September 2007 at the Meadowside Centre, Burton upon Trent, for players on the main tour ranked 33 and lower for one of 32 places in the final stage.[7][8] The successful qualifiers included the likes of Ryan Day, Shokat Ali, Ian McCulloch, Jimmy Michie, Robin Hull, Patrick Wallace and Jamie Burnett.[9]

Round one

The first round of the tournament took place between 5 and 7 October,[6][10] with the 16 qualifiers facing members of the top 32, but not including the top 16 seeds.[7] Day, both the Snooker Writers Association and the World Snooker Newcomer of the Year, defeated Ali Carter 5–3. Day led 3–0 but Carter got the score back to 3–2 with breaks of 53 and 65 before Day won the match with a 83 break in frame six and a clearance in the eighth.[11] Anthony Davies made runs of 84, 85 and 72 in his 5–0 whitewash of Marcus Campbell and would play world number 4 John Higgins in the next round.[12] Ali, Pakistan's number one ranked player, compiled breaks of 64, 51, 95 and 98 in a 5–1 victory over John Parrott, the 1991 world champion.[13] Fergal O'Brien edged out Nick Dyson 5–3, while Tony Drago and Gerard Greene defeated Gary Wilkinson and Dominic Dale respectively by the same scoreline.[11] Drew Henry was also beaten by exactly the same scoreline by Michael Holt,[11] and Anthony Hamilton overcame Ian McCulloch to win 5–4 in a game that concluded past midnight on 5 October after a final frame safety exchange on the pink ball.[14]

Former World Matchplay champion James Wattana defeated Hull 5–4, coming from 4–0 behind to win four consecutive frames from runs of 56, 51 and 43 to force a final frame decider. Wattana won it after Hull left a red ball in the jaws of a corner pocket.[15] Michael Judge whitewashed Dave Finbow 5–0, a match in which Judge's highest break was 48 and Finbow conceded the fifth frame despite being 49 points behind with 59 remaining on the table.[16] Six-time world champion Steve Davis achieved the competition's third whitewash with a 5–0 victory over the world number 46 Jamie Burnett to set up a match with fellow Londoner Jimmy White for the first time in a ranking tournament since the semi-finals of the 1995 International Open.[17] World number 29 Chris Small, who suffers from the spinal condition ankylosing spondylitis, beat Mark Davis 5–2.[17] Small led Mark Davis 4–0 until the latter took two frames in succession. Small claimed frame seven to win the match.[18] Scottish Open runner-up David Gray won 5–1 against Atthasit Mahitthi, while Patrick Wallace came from 2–0 and 4–3 behind to beat Dave Harold 5–4 in a 4 hour, 34 minute game. That delayed Nigel Bond's match with Brian Morgan by two hours, which Bond won 5–1.[13] In the last game of round one, Michie beat Marco Fu 5–1.[2]

Round two

The winners of round 1 went through to face members of the top 16,[7] which took place from 7 to 9 October.[10] Day was defeated 5–4 by Lee, who achieved a 141 total clearance (the highest break of the tournament) and Day compiled a 57 break to force a final frame decider. A break of 52 that commenced with a fluked red ball won Lee the match.[13] Higgins beat Davies in a 5–0 whitewash during which he missed an opportunity to achieve a maximum break in frame five,[19] as he outscored Davies 361–75.[20] Greene produced breaks of 61 and 78 in his 5–1 victory over world number 12 Graeme Dott.[19] Ronnie O'Sullivan produced runs of 85, 56, 52 and 43 to beat Hamilton 5–2 in 85 minutes but expressed his displeasure at not achieving a sixth maximum break because of a lack of concentration.[21] Ali missed a straightforward red ball while on 47 points in the opening frame of his 5–0 whitewash to McManus.[22] Stephen Hendry, a seven-time world champion, opened his match with Drago by winning the first two frames. Drago made runs of 32 and 36 to win frame three but Hendry won the next three with breaks of 52, 56 and 65 to win.[23]

O'Brien led 2–0 with a run of 128 and his opponent Ebdon responded with a 101 break. Runs of 103, 45 and 53 put Ebdon into the lead but O'Brien won the game 5–4 with victories in frame eight and the 41-minute ninth. In the match between Paul Hunter and Wattana, Hunter led 4–0 before Wattana won three successive frames. Hunter won frame eight and the match with a score of 91–8.[24] Mark Williams led Judge 2–0 before Judge took three frames in a row to go 3–2 in front. Williams made a match-high break of 60 to win 5–3. Holt overcame Quinten Hann 5–4 in a ¼ hour battle on the final pink and black balls in the deciding frame of their match.[25] White came from 3–1 behind to tie Davis at 3–3 with a break of 72. Both players shared the next two frames to force a final frame decider. Leading 49–16 with five un-potted red balls on the table, Davis fluked one of them and went on to produce a break of 21 to win the match that ran past midnight due to other fixtures running longer than expected.[26]

On the second table, world number 16 Joe Perry lost 2–5 to Small despite the latter's heavy back strain.[26] 1997 world champion and world number 5 Ken Doherty was the highest ranked player to lose in the round when Wallace beat him 5–3. Wallace dedicated the victory to his practice partner and former Northern Ireland Amateur Championship runner-up Barry McNamee who died when a car struck him that year.[27] Joe Swail was another top 16 seed to be eliminated in round two when he lost 5–3 to Bond despite leading 3–1 midway through.[28] Of the other two second round matches, Matthew Stevens lost 1–5 to Gray and Michie won 5–2 against the world number 11 Mark King.[29]

Round three

The third round was played from 9 to 10 October.[10] Lee led McManus 3–1 but the latter took four straight frames with a break of 105 to force a final frame decider. Lee missed the final yellow ball shot and he potted the cue ball to give McManus the penalty points he required to return to contention and the latter made a 51 clearance to win 5–4.[30] Greene took his fifth victory of the season when he beat O'Brien by the same scoreline.[29] Small produced breaks of 58, 71 and 100 as he compiled 300 unanswered points against Higgins who won frame five to prevent a whitewash but Small took the sixth to claim a 5–1 victory. Holt took a 3–0 lead over O'Sullivan who responded to claim five consecutive frames for a 5–3 victory to avoid elimination.[31]

Hunter led Hendry 3–1 with breaks of 112 and 66 and to 4–2 when Hendry achieved a 67 break in frame six before Hunter clinched the game 5–3 in a disjointed eighth frame.[32] Michie edged out Wallace 5–4 to enter his first ranking professional tournament quarter-final since 1999.[33] Similarly, Davis took the opening three frames of a match against Williams while the latter claimed frame four. Davis produced a run of 69 in frame five and he then compiled a match-winning 48 in the sixth frame for a final score of 5–1 in his favour. Davis remarked of his performance after the match, "It's the best I've played for years."[34] In the final third round match Gray came from 4–2 behind to beat Bond 5–3.[35]

Quarter-finals

The four quarter-finals were contested on 11 October.[10] Small defeated O'Sullivan 5–1 to reach his first semi-final since the 1998 tournament. Small produced breaks of 81, 44, 71 and 137, which gave him a 4–0 lead at the mid-session interval. O'Sullivan prevented the first whitewash of his career since the 1997 China International with victory in a disjointed frame five but Small won the match with a 78 clearance in the sixth.[36] Greene compiled breaks of 66 and 77 to lead Michie 2–0. After Michie won frame three, Greene took the following two to hold a 4–1 advantage. Michie responded with breaks of 66 and 98 to force a final frame decider, which he won on a long-range pink ball shot for a 5–4 scoreline.[37]

Davis overcame Hunter 5–4 in a tightly contested match lasting 3 hours, 32 minutes. Coming from 3–0 and 4–2 behind, Davis made runs of 47, 105 and 52 to bring the game to a final frame decider. With one red ball left on the table in frame nine, Hunter missed it five times from a snookered position and Davis accrued 21 points in fouls from Hunter.[38] Davis won the 47-minute frame and the match with a score of 85–40.[39] McManus defeated Gray 5–3 in a match which Gray's highest break was 98. McManus came from 3–1 down to produce runs of 76, 94 and 46 and won the eighth frame to progress into his 35th career semi-final.[40]

Semi-finals

The semi-finals on 12 October were best-of-11 frames.[9][10] Small reached the first major ranking final of his career when he defeated Michie 6–2.[41] Small won the first four frames, which included a 41-minute frame two that Michie lost because of a tight battle on the pink ball. Small produced a break of 77 in the third.[42] After the mid-session interval, Michie won frames five and six but runs of 36, 37, 43 and 39 won the match for Small, who commented on his delight to reach the final, "When I was a youngster I watched the snooker on television and thought how great it must be to play in a major final. Now I've done it at last and I'm determined to enjoy it. It's a dream come true and I can't wait."[41]

The other semi-final saw McManus reach his 15th career final with a 6–4 victory over Davis in a match that lasted almost five hours. McManus won three frames on the pink ball and made breaks of 78, 50 and 76 to win the match.[43] A male spectator was ejected from the Preston Guild Hall during frame eight for audible snoring and it was twice restarted because of separate safety shot stalemates.[44] After the game, McManus called it "one of the hardest matches of my life" after he did not pot a single ball because of extended table play from Davis,[44] "Halfway through I felt like a couldn't pot a ball so I'm pleased to have got through. I think it will be a different game in the final because Chris goes for his shots. It's a big match for both of us."[43]

Final

In the all-Scottish best-of-17 final on 13 October, 150/1 outsider Small defeated McManus 9–5 in a 6-hour and 13 minute match to win the first major ranking tournament title of his career at the age of 29.[45][46] Small earned £82,500 for the win.[47] The victory, according to Phil Yates of The Times, made Small possibly, "one of the most unlikely winners of a leading competition for years" because of his reputation of being a journeyman and him requiring monthly injections to reduce the effect of his spinal condition.[45]

In the first session of the final, McManus took an early 3–1 lead with successive breaks of 62 and 73. Small then reduced McManus' lead by one frame with a half century break before McManus produced a 62 run to hold a 4–2 advantage. Small later produced a 69 run in frame seven and won the eighth to end the first session tied at 4–4.[48] When play resumed in the second session, a break of 62 from Small after McManus missed a mid-range red ball to a top corner pocket for the lead. More safety errors from McManus gave Small a chance to produce runs of 47 and 27 in frame ten as the former did not record a single point in this period. But McManus took the eleventh frame when Small could not pot the last red ball on the table along the top cushion. Small took the next three frames to win the match and the tournament. He became the first non-top 16 ranked player to win a ranking tournament since O'Brien at the 1999 British Open.[49]

After the match, Small dedicated his victory to his grandmother who died three years prior, "I held her hand in hospital the day before she died and when she asked me to win a tournament for her one day, I promised her I would. Now I've done it, so I just hope she was up there looking down and watching my victory."[50] He also said it felt "like a dream",[51] and would use the winnings to pay the mortgage on his house.[52] McManus said he was pleased for Small and did not believe his game with Davis wore him out despite appearing visibly tired, "But from my point of view it was an anti-climax. It was not a great match but Chris was solid and if I left anything sticking out he knocked it in. But I'm delighted for him, he's a lovely lad and he deserves this victory after all he's been through."[52]

Main draw

The numbers in the box to the left of the player is their seeding. Players listed in bold denote a match winner. The draw for the main competition is shown below.[2][6][9]

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
1England Stephen Lee5
31 Ali Carter (ENG)3Wales Ryan Day4
1England Stephen Lee4
 Ryan Day (WAL)5
15Scotland Alan McManus5
15Scotland Alan McManus5
18 John Parrott (ENG)134Pakistan Shokat Ali0
15Scotland Alan McManus5
34 Shokat Ali (PAK)5
19England David Gray3
16Northern Ireland Joe Swail3
30 Nigel Bond (ENG)530England Nigel Bond5
30England Nigel Bond4
42 Brian Morgan (ENG)1
19England David Gray5
8Wales Matthew Stevens1
19 David Gray (ENG)519England David Gray5
15Scotland Alan McManus6
 Atthasit Mahitthi (THA)1
25England Steve Davis4
7Scotland Stephen Hendry5
28 Tony Drago (MLT)528Malta Tony Drago1
7Scotland Stephen Hendry3
46 Gary Wilkinson (ENG)3
9England Paul Hunter5
9England Paul Hunter5
32 James Wattana (THA)532Thailand James Wattana3
9England Paul Hunter4
39 Robin Hull (FIN)4
25England Steve Davis5
10England Jimmy White4
25 Steve Davis (ENG)525England Steve Davis5
25England Steve Davis5
44 Jamie Burnett (SCO)4
4Wales Mark Williams1
4Wales Mark Williams5
24 Michael Judge (IRL)524Republic of Ireland Michael Judge3
15Scotland Alan McManus5
49 Dave Finbow (ENG)0
29Scotland Chris Small9
3England Ronnie O'Sullivan5
17 Anthony Hamilton (ENG)517England Anthony Hamilton2
3England Ronnie O'Sullivan5
43 Ian McCulloch (ENG)4
35England Michael Holt3
14Australia Quinten Hann4
22 Drew Henry (SCO)335England Michael Holt5
3England Ronnie O'Sullivan1
35 Michael Holt (ENG)5
29Scotland Chris Small5
13England Joe Perry2
29 Chris Small (SCO)529Scotland Chris Small5
29Scotland Chris Small5
37 Mark Davis (ENG)2
5Scotland John Higgins1
5Scotland John Higgins5
26 Anthony Davies (WAL)526Wales Anthony Davies0
29Scotland Chris Small6
41 Marcus Campbell (SCO)0
55England Jimmy Michie2
6Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty3
21 Dave Harold (ENG)436Northern Ireland Patrick Wallace5
36Northern Ireland Patrick Wallace4
36 Patrick Wallace (NIR)5
55England Jimmy Michie5
11England Mark King2
27 Marco Fu (HKG)255England Jimmy Michie5
55England Jimmy Michie5
55 Jimmy Michie (ENG)5
63Northern Ireland Gerard Greene4
12Scotland Graeme Dott1
20 Dominic Dale (WAL)363Northern Ireland Gerard Greene5
63Northern Ireland Gerard Greene5
63 Gerard Greene (NIR)5
23Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien4
2England Peter Ebdon4
23 Fergal O'Brien (IRL)523Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien5
62 Nick Dyson (ENG)3

Final

Scores in bold denote all winning frame scores and the winning finalist. Breaks over 50 are shown in brackets.[2][51]

Final: Best of 17 frames.[6] Referee: Paul Collier.
Guild Hall, Preston, England, 13 October 2002.[2][51]
Alan McManus (15)
 Scotland
5–9 Chris Small (29)
 Scotland
Afternoon: 30–81, 94–34, 68–19 (62), 78–15 (73), 6–75 (51), 75–24 (62), 0–69 (69), 52–54
Evening: 0–94 (62), 0–75, 58–55, 48–76, 31–65 (65), 28–63
73 Highest break 69
0 Century breaks 0
3 50+ breaks 4

Qualifying

Players in bold denote a match winner.[6][9]

Round 1

Best of 9 frames

Round 2–4

Round 2
Best of 9 frames
Round 3
Best of 9 frames
Round 4
Best of 9 frames
Wales Ryan Day5Belgium Bjorn Haneveer3England Jonathan Birch4
Canada Alain Robidoux4Wales Ryan Day5Wales Ryan Day5
England Peter Lines2England Andy Hicks1Pakistan Shokat Ali5
England Rod Lawler5England Rod Lawler5England Rod Lawler2
Australia Johl Younger2England Stuart Pettman4England Brian Morgan5
England Jamie Cope5England Jamie Cope5England Jamie Cope4
England Paul Wykes1England Nick Walker4Northern Ireland Terry Murphy2
Thailand Atthasit Mahitthi5Thailand Atthasit Mahitthi5Thailand Atthasit Mahitthi5
England David Gilbert3England Bradley Jones1England Gary Wilkinson5
Republic of Ireland Colm Gilcreest5Republic of Ireland Colm Gilcreest5Republic of Ireland Colm Gilcreest3
Canada Bob Chaperon2Scotland Stephen Maguire2Finland Robin Hull5
Thailand Kwan Poomjang5Thailand Kwan Poomjang5Thailand Kwan Poomjang2
England Shaun Murphy2England Barry Pinches5Scotland Jamie Burnett5
Netherlands Stefan Mazrocis5Netherlands Stefan Mazrocis3England Barry Pinches4
England Paul Davison5England Dave Finbow5England David Roe4
Thailand Phaitoon Phonbun3England Paul Davison4England Dave Finbow5
Iceland Kristján Helgason5England Stuart Bingham5England Ian McCulloch5
China Pang Weiguo2Iceland Kristján Helgason1England Stuart Bingham4
England Jimmy Robertson1England Mike Dunn5England Michael Holt5
England Jason Weston5England Jason Weston3England Mike Dunn2
Scotland Martin Dziewialtowski5England Barry Hawkins4England Mark Davis5
Wales David John2Scotland Martin Dziewialtowski5Scotland Martin Dziewialtowski3
England Simon Bedford1England Mark Selby4Scotland Marcus Campbell5
Scotland David McLellan5Scotland David McLellan5Scotland David McLellan3
England Munraj Pal2Wales Darren Morgan5Northern Ireland Patrick Wallace5
England Wayne Brown5England Wayne Brown3Wales Darren Morgan4
Republic of Ireland Leo Fernandez5England Jimmy Michie5Scotland Billy Snaddon3
England Rory McLeod4Republic of Ireland Leo Fernandez2England Jimmy Michie5
Scotland Euan Henderson2Northern Ireland Gerard Greene5England Robert Milkins4
England Sean Storey5England Sean Storey4Northern Ireland Gerard Greene5
Wales Lee Walker3England Nick Dyson5England Alfie Burden1
England Adrian Gunnell5England Adrian Gunnell2England Nick Dyson5

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