2004 Premier League Snooker Explained

Tournament Name:	Betfair Premier League
Country:	United Kingdom
Organisation:	Matchroom Sport
Format:	Non-ranking event
Total Prize Fund:	£180,000
Winners Share:	£45,000
Highest Break:	(146)
Winner:	Stephen Hendry
Runner Up:	John Higgins
Score:	9–6
Previous:	2003
Next:	2005 (May)

The 2004 Betfair Premier League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 10 January to 14 March 2004.

Stephen Hendry won in the final 9–6 against John Higgins.

Prize fund

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

• Winner: £45,000
• Runner-up: £20,000
• Semi-final: £12,500
• Frame-win: £500 (only in league phase)
• Highest break: £6,000
• Total: £180,000

League phase

width=60	Ranking		width=60	HIG !	width=60	HEN !	width=60	WIL !	width=60	FU !	width=60	HUN !	width=60	WHI!	width=60	DAV !	width=60	Frame W-L !	width=60	Match W-D-L !	width=60	Pld-Pts
1	John Higgins	x	2	4	6	6	5	5	28–20	4–1–1	6–9
2	Mark Williams	6	x	4	3	4	6	5	28–20	3–2–1	6–8
3	Stephen Hendry	4	4	x	5	5	3	7	28–20	3–2–1	6–8
4	Marco Fu	2	5	3	x	5	5	6	26–22	4–0–2	6–8
5	Paul Hunter	2	4	3	3	x	4	5	21–27	1–2–3	6–4
6	Jimmy White	3	2	5	3	4	x	3	20–28	1–1–4	6–3
7	Steve Davis	3	3	1	2	3	5	x	17–31	1–0–5	6–2

Top four qualified for the play-offs. If points were level then most frames won determined their positions. If two players had an identical record then the result in their match determined their positions. If that ended 4–4 then the player who got to four first was higher. (Breaks above 50 shown between (parentheses); century breaks are indicated with bold.)^{[2] [3]}

• 10 January – Legends Sports Centre, Crewe, England^[4]
  • Mark Williams 6–2 John Higgins → 19–91, 0-(143), 62–32, 58–2, (52) 74–0, (103) 114–0, (114)-14, (50) 66–6
  • Stephen Hendry 7–1 Steve Davis → (84)-14, (59) 82–18, (105) 127–7, 5–70 (62), (55) 103–21, 84–0, (62) 63–0, (61) 62–20
• 11 January – Legends Sports Centre, Crewe, England^[4]
  • Marco Fu 5–3 Jimmy White → 69–65, (56) 61–41, 61–46, (62)-61, (85)-32, 56–63, 46–49, 20–72
  • Paul Hunter 5–3 Steve Davis → 77–43, 43–71 (50), 0–108 (102), (52) 73–1, 83–26, 62–50, 11–81 (80), (90)-37
  • Mark Williams 4–4 Stephen Hendry → 51–72, (90)-0, 55–67, 67–42, 58–23, (57)-(69), (84)-0, 24-(106)
• 17 January – Greenock Sports Centre, Renfrew, Scotland^[5]
  • Stephen Hendry 5–3 Paul Hunter → 75–52, 83–0, (64)-(66), 17–96 (65), 70–1, (56) 63–62, 0-(83), 66–23
  • Steve Davis 5–3 Jimmy White → 0-(86), 59–32, 67–24, 63–48, (94)-1, 45–70 (50), (79) 84–0, 30–73 (68)
  • John Higgins 6–2 Marco Fu → (68) 76–1, 64–0, 89–37, 66-(51), 66–54, 32–94, 74–20, 1-(106)
• 18 January – Greenock Sports Centre, Renfrew, Scotland^[5]
  • Mark Williams 4–4 Paul Hunter → 0–60, 70–52, 72–37, (73) 86–11, (91)-0, 34–68, 0-(141), 1-(72)
  • John Higgins 5–3 Steve Davis → 75–14, 1–113 (104), 33–68, 0–66 (58), (65) 73–14, (75)-0, (64) 73–7, 67–66
  • Jimmy White 5–3 Stephen Hendry → (64) 98–15, 66–8, (68) 90–4, (72)-9, 1–117 (116), 2–64, 75–37, 42–65
• 14 February – Civic Hall, Trowbridge, England^[6]
  • Stephen Hendry 5–3 Marco Fu → (76)-0, (92)-12, (72)-60, (73) 80–68, 0-(91), 59–1, 18–66, 28–61 (56)
  • John Higgins 5–3 Jimmy White → 0–89 (62), 12–93 (64), 8–70, (110)-0, (88)-32, 86–34, (53) 58–22, 66–6
• 15 February – Civic Hall, Trowbridge, England^[6]
  • Mark Williams 6–2 Jimmy White → 70–6, 0-(83), 17–86 (63), (53) 99–11, (84)-15, (77) 78–0, (67)-14, (84) 120–0
  • Marco Fu 6–2 Steve Davis → 11–81, (123)-9, 66–1, (140)-0, (74, 56) 130–4, (100)-0, 48–85 (76), (79)-0
  • John Higgins 6–2 Paul Hunter → 5–88 (64), (80)-0, (73)-21, (135)-4, (96)-0, 70-(56), 67–66 (62), 7-(120)
• 21 February – Peterlee Leisure Centre, Peterlee, England^[7]
  • Marco Fu 5–3 Mark Williams → (96) 101–0, (66) 74–53, 56–70, (120)-0, (129) 133–12, 25–66, 43–65 (64), (59) 65–13
  • Paul Hunter 4–4 Jimmy White → 39–72, (51) 88–47, 76-(58), (54)-74 (66), 71–34, 1–116 (109), (94)-0, 9–78
• 22 February – Peterlee Leisure Centre, Peterlee, England^[7]
  • Mark Williams 5–3 Steve Davis → 48–58, 64–56, (94) 123–8, (118) 124–0, 64–61 (52), (75) 99–0, 13–61, 23–58
  • Marco Fu 5–3 Paul Hunter → 0-(135), (73) 81–15, 61–6, 45–79, (70) 81–15, (102)-36, 0-(146), (120)-13
  • Stephen Hendry 4–4 John Higgins → 53–64, (76) 82–24, (53) 77–33, (88)-0, 5–105 (97), 40–76, 0–101 (90), 84- 15

Play-offs

13–14 March – Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre, Colwyn Bay, Wales^{[8] [2] [3]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2004 Betfair Premier Snooker League Event Information. matchroomsport.com. Matchroom Sport. https://web.archive.org/web/20040409112958/http://www.matchroomsport.com/snook1_info.htm. 9 April 2004.
2. Web site: 2004 Matchroom Premier League. Global Snooker Centre. https://web.archive.org/web/20061212202854/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res_03_4/03_4premresults.htm. 12 December 2006.
3. Web site: 2004 Results. premierleaguesnooker.matchroomcms.com. Matchroom Sport. 5 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120227195716/http://premierleaguesnooker.matchroomcms.com/results/2004_results.htm. 27 February 2012.
4. Web site: January 10–11, 2004. matchroomsport.com. Matchroom Sport. https://web.archive.org/web/20040420110432/http://www.matchroomsport.com/snook2_info.htm. 20 April 2004.
5. Web site: January 17–18, 2004. matchroomsport.com. Matchroom Sport. https://web.archive.org/web/20040420110617/http://www.matchroomsport.com/snook3_info.htm. 20 April 2004.
6. Web site: February 14–15, 2004. matchroomsport.com. Matchroom Sport. https://web.archive.org/web/20040420110808/http://www.matchroomsport.com/snook4_info.htm. 20 April 2004.
7. Web site: February 21–22, 2004. matchroomsport.com. Matchroom Sport. https://web.archive.org/web/20040606134918/http://www.matchroomsport.com/snook5_info.htm. 6 June 2004.
8. Web site: March 13–14, 2004. matchroomsport.com. Matchroom Sport. https://web.archive.org/web/20040606174137/http://www.matchroomsport.com/snook6_info.htm. 6 June 2004.