John Higgins won the tournament, defeating Stephen Maguire nine frames to six in the all-Scottish final to lift his first ranking-event title since the 2001 edition of this event.

The tournament was the second of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 2004/2005 snooker season, following the Grand Prix in October, which was won by O'Sullivan.

[1][8] O'Sullivan was considered the favourite, with his mentor Ray Reardon saying "Ronnie is in the form of his life and looks very close to being unstoppable at the moment".

[9] The qualifying rounds were played between players ranked lower than 32 for one of 16 places in the final stage, at Pontin's Snooker Centre, Prestatyn, Wales.

Highly regarded 17-year-old Chinese player Ding Junhui, in his professional first season, won his sixth consecutive match when he beat Robin Hull 5–2.

[10][11] The other successful qualifiers included the likes of Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, and Ryan Day.

[11] European Open winner Stephen Maguire defeated Australian Robertson 5–3, while world number 48 Murphy beat McCulloch 5–2.

Michael Holt, in his first season in the top 32, beat Dave Harold 5–2, and Mark King defeated Selby by the same scoreline.

Ali Carter whitewashed Belgian's number one Bjorn Haneveer 5–0 in 76 minutes, while Barry Hawkins prevailed 5–4 over Joe Perry, despite the latter making the highest break so far with a 133.

Ding continued his run, defeating Jimmy White 5–1 to make the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time.

Ding called the win his most satisfying to date and White commended his opponent's performance, saying, "He's dangerous and he's improved a hell of a lot this year".

[15][17] John Higgins, a three-time champion who first won in 1995, beat Drew Henry 5–1, and said he would withdraw from the tournament if his pregnant wife went into labour.

[18][19] Hendry beat Robert Milkins 5–1, and dismissed suggestions that the loss at the Grand Prix had inspired him to play better at this tournament.

[20] Murphy defeated world number four Paul Hunter 5–3 for his second last-16 appearance in a ranking event, and attributed the win to his happiness off the table; Murphy—a Christian since the age of 17—said, "My girlfriend Claire is a wonderful woman.

[16] The other winners were Carter, Andy Hicks, Anthony Hamilton, Hawkins, Barry Pinches, Holt, and Stuart Bingham.

[28] Maguire made three consecutive century breaks from 2–0 up to whitewash Hamilton 5–0, setting up a semi-final clash with O'Sullivan.

[8] The defeat meant that Reardon lost the £100 bet he placed at 150–1 that O'Sullivan would win all eight of the season's ranking events.