Stephen Maguire defeated Jimmy White by nine frames to three (9–3) in the final to claim his first ranking-event title, transforming him from "talented underachiever into a world-ranking event winner", according to The Times.

Prior to the 1988/1989 season no ranking tournament had been continuously staged outside of the United Kingdom (although the World Championship had been held twice in Australia).

[4] Held in January, the Welsh Open was won by Ronnie O'Sullivan, who defeated Steve Davis by nine frames to eight (9–8) in the final.

[5] The defending European Open champion was also O'Sullivan, who defeated Stephen Hendry 9–6 in last year's final.

[6] Paul Hunter, who had defeated O'Sullivan in the final of the non-ranking Masters in February, entered the tournament "playing the best snooker of his career", according to Phil Yates of The Times.

In March 2004 Maltese player Tony Drago defeated Adrian Gunnell 5–2 in a match held over from the qualifying stage in November.

[12] Williams refused to answer questions at the post-match press conference, explaining: "I'm not saying anything because if I do I could be in trouble so I'm keeping my mouth shut.

[17] In the sixth frame White led by 41 points before missing an easy red, allowing Hendry to win on the black with a 55 break to level at 3–3.

[20] Maguire defeated Perry 5–4 to reach his first ranking quarter-final,[21] and Hann beat Hamilton 5–1 to claim the final place in the next round.

In the final frame O'Sullivan led 36–0, before Lee made a 46 break and fluked a snooker that enabled him to claim victory.

White led 4–1 and was 56 points ahead in the sixth but missed a straightforward green, allowing Robertson to win on the black with a 67 break.

White—who last won a ranking title 12 years ago prior at this event—said, "Everyone knows I've been in front so many times in the past and tossed it away so I was having nightmares out there".

[24] Drago quickly won the first four frames of his match against Hann, conceding the fifth, before completing a 5–1 victory, after which he said the crowd support helped him.

[27] Maguire said the match was a "battle" and that he was surprised at how badly his opponents had played in the tournament, while Lee said he "just blew up" and that, "When you’re as poor as that you get into such a state of mind that you can’t think straight".

Snookered in the jaws of a corner pocket, White twice attempted to hit the pack of five reds off a side cushion and missed.

[28] After his victory Maguire acknowledged the influence of Terry Griffiths who had been working with him on the mental side of the game: "He's been on the phone just telling me to keep calm and that I can do it if I believe in myself".