Northern Ireland Trophy

Tournament information
Dates	24–31 August 2008 (2008-08-24 – 2008-08-31)
Venue	Waterfront Hall
City	Belfast
Country	Northern Ireland
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£200,500
Winner's share	£30,000
Highest break	Stephen Lee (ENG) (145)
Final
Champion	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Runner-up	Dave Harold (ENG)
Score	9–3
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The 2008 Northern Ireland Trophy was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 24 and 31 August 2008 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed his 21st ranking tournament by defeating surprise finalist Dave Harold 9–3 in the final.^[1]

• Notable comebacks in the qualifiers included: Li Hang coming from 0–4 down to beat Irish prodigy David Morris 5–4, and both Jimmy White and Ian Preece came from 2–4 behind to win their matches 5–4, against Jamie Jones and Paul Davies respectively.
• Jimmy White qualified for the final stage of an event for the first time in over a year, stretching back to the 2007 China Open.
• Long standing top-16 players, Mark Williams, Ken Doherty and Stephen Lee were playing in the qualifiers for the first time in over a decade.
• Last year's runner-up, Fergal O'Brien fell at the first hurdle, losing 3–5 to Michael Holt.
• In his match against Mark Selby, Andrew Higginson was playing in front of the TV cameras for the first time since his run to the final of the 2007 Welsh Open.
• Dominic Dale came from 1–4 down against Mark Allen to level at 4–4, before Allen played superbly to take the decider.
• In beating Ding Junhui 5–4, Mark Davis secured one of the best wins of his career.
• Ronnie O'Sullivan won three quick consecutive frames to oust former world champion Ken Doherty 5–4 in the last 32.
• Stephen Maguire won the last three frames to beat Alan McManus 5–4, a player who had not reached the last 16 of an event the previous season.
• Dave Harold beat Stephen Lee 5–4, a player who had been considered one of the tournaments in-form players, having knocked in three centuries, including a high break of 145.
• Harold increased his head-to-head record to 3–0 over Stephen Maguire by beating him 5–2 in the quarter-finals, afterwards Maguire stated that he never seems to perform against Harold.
• Barry Hawkins produced a brave fightback to recover from 1–4 to level at 4–4 against Ronnie O'Sullivan in their quarter-final match, before the world champion took the decider.
• Dave Harold led John Higgins 5–1, but won only 6–4, to reach his first ranking final since 1994, the gap between those two ranking finals is the longest in snooker history.

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[2]

^[3]

	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
						1	Stephen Maguire	5
	24	Fergal O'Brien	3				Michael Holt	1
											1	Stephen Maguire	5
		Michael Holt	5
												Alan McManus	4
						15	Mark King	3
	17	Matthew Stevens	2				Alan McManus	5
																1	Stephen Maguire	2
		Alan McManus	5
																28	Dave Harold	5
						13	Graeme Dott	3
	28	Dave Harold	5			28	Dave Harold	5
											28	Dave Harold	5
		Ricky Walden	2
											27	Stephen Lee	4
						6	Stephen Hendry	1
	27	Stephen Lee	5			27	Stephen Lee	5
																					28	Dave Harold	6
		Judd Trump	3
																					5	John Higgins	4
						5	John Higgins	5
	30	Michael Judge	4				David Gilbert	2
											5	John Higgins	5
		David Gilbert	5
												Liang Wenbo	1
						9	Peter Ebdon	0
	29	Steve Davis	3				Liang Wenbo	5
																5	John Higgins	5
		Liang Wenbo	5
																25	Ian McCulloch	3
						10	Neil Robertson	2
	25	Ian McCulloch	5			25	Ian McCulloch	5
											25	Ian McCulloch	5
		Mike Dunn	4
											4	Mark Selby	4
						4	Mark Selby	5
	31	Anthony Hamilton	3				Andrew Higginson	1
																										28	Dave Harold	3
		Andrew Higginson	5
																										2	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
						3	Shaun Murphy	2
	22	Mark Williams	5			22	Mark Williams	5
											22	Mark Williams	3
		Marcus Campbell	3
											16	Mark Allen	5
						16	Mark Allen	5
	32	Dominic Dale	5			32	Dominic Dale	4
																16	Mark Allen	2
		Adrian Gunnell	4
																7	Ali Carter	5
						11	Ding Junhui	4
	20	Joe Swail	4				Mark Davis	5
												Mark Davis	2
		Mark Davis	5
											7	Ali Carter	5
						7	Ali Carter	5
	21	Stuart Bingham	4				Rory McLeod	1
																					7	Ali Carter	5
		Rory McLeod	5
																					2	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
						8	Ryan Day	5
	23	Nigel Bond	1				Stuart Pettman	4
											8	Ryan Day	3
		Stuart Pettman	5
											26	Barry Hawkins	5
						14	Marco Fu	2
	26	Barry Hawkins	5			26	Barry Hawkins	5
																26	Barry Hawkins	4
		Jimmy White	3
																2	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
						12	Joe Perry	5
	19	Jamie Cope	5			19	Jamie Cope	2
											12	Joe Perry	3
		David Gray	4
											2	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
						2	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
	18	Ken Doherty	5			18	Ken Doherty	4
		Gerard Greene	2

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Eirian Williams. Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 31 August 2008.[3]
Dave Harold  England	3–9	Ronnie O'Sullivan  England
Afternoon: 63–14, 44–68 (68), 17–127 (103), 0–84 (84), 44–87, 13–84, 60–76 (76) Evening: 76–41, 19–73 (64), 54–61, 88–0 (81), 22–80 (50)
81	Highest break	103
0	Century breaks	1
1	50+ breaks	6

Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales between 15 and 17 August 2008.^[4]

	Round 1 Best of 9 frames					Round 2 Best of 9 frames					Round 3 Best of 9 frames
	Rodney Goggins		5			Rod Lawler		5			Michael Holt		5
	Declan Hughes		2			Rodney Goggins		0			Rod Lawler		2
	Paul Davison		0			Andy Hicks		5			Alan McManus		5
	Andrew Pagett		5			Andrew Pagett		4			Andy Hicks		2
	Daniel Wells		5			Barry Pinches		5			Ricky Walden		5
	Jin Long		3			Daniel Wells		1			Barry Pinches		3
	Patrick Wallace		5			Mark Joyce		5			Judd Trump		5
	Bye		0			Patrick Wallace		0			Mark Joyce		0
	Supoj Saenla		2			Robert Milkins		3			David Gilbert		5
	Liu Chuang		5			Liu Chuang		5			Liu Chuang		3
	Peter Lines		5			David Roe		5			Liang Wenbo		5
	Andy Lee		0			Peter Lines		2			David Roe		0
	Matthew Couch		5			Andrew Norman		5			Mike Dunn		5
	Vincent Muldoon		3			Matthew Couch		3			Andrew Norman		1
	Robert Stephen		1			David Morris		4			A. Higginson		5
	Li Hang		5			Li Hang		5			Li Hang		2
	Lee Spick		5			Joe Delaney		5			Marcus Campbell		5
	Aditya Mehta		2			Lee Spick		0			Joe Delaney		1
	Jamie Jones		5			Ian Preece		5			Adrian Gunnell		5
	Stephen Craigie		2			Jamie Jones		4			Ian Preece		2
	Kuldesh Johal		5			Mark Davis		5			Jamie Burnett		2
	Michael Georgiou		3			Kuldesh Johal		1			Mark Davis		5
	Matthew Selt		5			Liu Song		5			Rory McLeod		5
	Chris McBreen		1			Matthew Selt		1			Liu Song		2
	James McBain		5			Stuart Pettman		5			John Parrott		4
	Stefan Mazrocis		1			James McBain		3			Stuart Pettman		5
	Jimmy White		5			Paul Davies		4			Tom Ford		2
	Atthasit Mahitthi		4			Jimmy White		5			Jimmy White		5
	Simon Bedford		5			David Gray		5			Jimmy Michie		3
	David Grace		1			Simon Bedford		4			David Gray		5
	Lewis Roberts		1			Martin Gould		5			Gerard Greene		5
	Wayne Cooper		5			Wayne Cooper		3			Martin Gould		3

^[4]

^[3]