 The 2004 British Open was the 2004 edition of the British Open snooker tournament , held from 8 to 14 November 2004 at Brighton Centre , Brighton , England . 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 . In the semi @-@ finals , Higgins defeated Shaun Murphy 6 – 0 and Maguire defeated Ronnie O 'Sullivan 6 – 1 . The defending champion Stephen Hendry lost in the quarter @-@ finals . Higgins made the highest tournament break with his two breaks of 144 . The tournament , which has not been held since , 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 . It preceded the third ranking event of the season , the UK Championship . 
