2003 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
The 2003 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship was the 94th staging of the Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1909. The draw for the opening fixtures took place on 8 December 2002. The championship began on 27 April 2003 and ended on 26 October 2003.


2003 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
On 26 October 2003, Bride Rovers won the championship after a 1–15 to 1–05 defeat of Inniscarra in the final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It remains their only championship title in the grade.


2003 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
Youghal's Eoin Coleman was the championship's top scorer with 0-31.


2003 Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
The 2003 Cork Junior A Hurling Championship was the 106th staging of the Cork Junior A Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1895. The championship began on 21 September 2003 and ended on 16 November 2003.


2003 Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
On 16 November 2003, Dromina won the championship following a 2-13 to 0-9 defeat of Argideen Rangers in the final. This was their first championship title in the grade.


2003 Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
Dromina's Martin Finn was the championship's top scorer with 1-23.


2003 Cork Senior Football Championship
The 2003 Cork Senior Football Championship was the 115th staging of the Cork Senior Football Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1887. The draw for the opening fixtures took place on 8 December 2002. The championship began on 12 October 2003 and ended on 19 October 2003.


2003 Cork Senior Football Championship
Nemo Rangers entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Na Piarsaigh in the third round.


2003 Cork Senior Football Championship
On 19 October 2003, Castlehaven won the championship following a 1-09 to 1–07 defeat of Clonakilty in the final. This was their third championship title overall and their first title since 1994.


2003 Cork Senior Football Championship
O'Donovan Rossa's Jurgen Werner was the championship's top scorer with 0-33.


2003 Cork Senior Hurling Championship
The 2004 Cork Senior Hurling Championship was the 115th staging of the Cork Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1887. The draw for the 2003 opening round fixtures took place in December 2002. The championship began on 26 April 2003 and ended on 12 October 2003.


2003 Cork Senior Hurling Championship
On 12 October 2003, Newtownshandrum won the championship following a 0-17 to 1-9 defeat of Blackrock in the final. This was their second championship title overall and their first title since 2000.


2003 Cork Senior Hurling Championship
Newtownshandrum's Ben O'Connor was the championship's top scorer with 2-38.


2003 Cornell Big Red football team
The 2003 Cornell Big Red football team represented Cornell University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by third-year head coach Tim Pendergast and played their home games at Schoellkopf Field in Hamilton, New York, compiling a 1–9 overall record. Cornell finished last in the Ivy League, with a 0–7 mark against conference opponents.


2003 Corsican autonomy referendum
A Corsican autonomy referendum was held on 6 July 2003. Voters were asked whether or not they approved the restructuring of the system of administration on Corsica. Had the referendum been successful, the two départements on the island would have been abolished leaving only the Corsican Assembly which would be granted additional functions including some limited powers on raising and spending taxes. The suggestion was not approved, albeit by a very small margin. 51% voted against the proposal, with 49% supporting it. The difference between the yes and no vote was 2,190 votes.


2003 Corsican autonomy referendum, Results
The question asked was: Do you approve of the proposed suggestions to change the institutional organisation of Corsica represented in law 2003-486 of June 10, 2003?


2003 Cotton Bowl Classic
The 2003 SBC Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season college football bowl game between the Texas Longhorns and the LSU Tigers on January 1, 2003, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. It was the final game of the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season for each team and resulted in a 35–20 Texas victory. Texas represented the Big 12 Conference while LSU represented the Southeastern Conference (SEC).


2003 Cotton Bowl Classic
The University of Texas started out their season strong, and finished well, compiling a 10–2 record:  they lost to Oklahoma, 35–24 and the Texas Tech Red Raiders 42–38 while being ranked number 4.


2003 Cotton Bowl Classic
Louisiana State started off their season 6–1. However, an injury to their starting quarterback Matt Mauck caused them to lose their last few games (to Alabama 0–31, Auburn 7–31, and Arkansas 20–21). They finished with an 8–4 regular season record, a disappointing year.


2003 Country Music Association Awards
The 2003 Country Music Association Awards, 37th Ceremony, was held on November 5, 2003 at the Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville, Tennessee, and hosted by CMA Award Winner, Vince Gill. Toby Keith lead the evening with 7 nominations, including Album of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year. Alan Jackson and Johnny Cash (posthumously) took home the most awards with 3 each.


2003 County Championship
The 2003 County Championship season, known as the Frizzell County Championship, was the 103rd County Championship. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the others in their division both home and away. The top three teams from Division Two were promoted to the first division for the 2004 season, while the bottom three sides from Division 1 were relegated.


2003 County Championship, Division One, Standings
Source: Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd fewest defeatsP = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; Tie = Matches tied; D = Matches drawn; Aban = Matches abandoned; Deduct = Points deducted; Pts = Points


2003 County Championship, Division two, Standings
Source: Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd fewest defeatsP = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; Tie = Matches tied; D = Matches drawn; Aban = Matches abandoned; Deduct = Points deducted; Pts = Points


2003 Coupe Internationale de Nice
The 2003 Coupe Internationale de Nice (English: 2003 International Cup of Nice) was the 9th edition of an annual international figure skating competition held in Nice, France. It was held between November 6th and 9th, 2003. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, and pair skating on the levels of senior, junior, and novice.


2003 Coupe de France Final
The Coupe de France Final 2003 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on May 31, 2003. In it, AJ Auxerre defeated Paris SG 2-1 with goals from Djibril Cissé and Jean-Alain Boumsong.


2003 Coupe de la Ligue Final
The 2003 Coupe de la Ligue Final was a football match played at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on 17 May 2003 that saw AS Monaco FC defeat FC Sochaux-Montbéliard 4-1 thanks to goals by Ludovic Giuly (2), Sébastien Squillaci and Dado Prso.


2003 Coventry City Council election
Elections to Coventry City Council in England were held on 1 May 2003. Nineteen seats were up for election - the usual one third of the council, plus an additional seat in Whoberley ward, which was vacant. The Labour lost majority control of the council, but remained the largest party.


2003 Coventry City Council election, Council Composition
The composition of the council before and after the election can be found in the following table:


2003 Craven District Council election
The 2003 Craven District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Craven District Council in North Yorkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


2003 Craven District Council election, Background
Before the election the Conservatives were the largest group with 13 seats, while there 9 Liberal Democrats and 8 independents. However the council was controlled by an alliance between independents and Liberal Democrats.


2003 Craven District Council election, Background
10 of the 30 seats on the council were elected in 2003, with the Conservatives defending 6, independents 3 and the Liberal Democrats defended 1 seat. Two of the three independents were re-elected without opposition.


2003 Craven District Council election, Election result
Independents gained 2 seats from the Conservatives to mean there were 10 independent councillors on the council. The independent gains from the Conservatives came in Skipton East where Mike Hill was elected, and in West Craven where Robert Mason gained a seat. Meanwhile, another independent, Robert Heseltine, regained a seat on the council 3 years after having been forced to resign his seat due to being convicted of falsifying accounts, after defeating the sitting independent councillor Frances Cook by 217 votes in Skipton South.


2003 Craven District Council election, Election result
Despite losing 2 seats the Conservatives remained the largest group on the council with 11 councillors, after holding another 4 seats. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats stayed on 9 seats, after holding the only seat they had been defending in Skipton West.


2003 Craven District Council election, By-elections between 2003 and 2004
A by-election was held in Bentham on 13 November 2003 after the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor John Pilkington on his being charged by police with child pornography. The seat was gained by an independent Manuel Camacho with a majority of 107 votes over Conservative John Jackson.


2003 Crawley Borough Council election
The 2003 Crawley Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Crawley Borough Council in West Sussex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2003 Cricket World Cup
The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the first to be played in Africa.


2003 Cricket World Cup
The tournament featured 14 teams, the largest number in the World Cup's history at the time, playing a total of 54 matches. It followed the format introduced in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, with the teams divided into two groups, and the top three in each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage.


2003 Cricket World Cup
The tournament saw numerous upsets, with South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies and England all being eliminated at the group stage (South Africa missed by 1 run after misreading the Duckworth-Lewis method rules). England forfeited their match with Zimbabwe, due to the political unrest in the country, which ultimately enabled that team to reach the Super Sixes. Similarly, New Zealand forfeited their match with Kenya, due to security reasons which enabled the latter to reach the semi-finals, the only non-Test playing nation to do so. Another shock wave came two days after the tournament had started, when Shane Warne, at the time one of the game's leading spinners, was sent home in disgrace after testing positive for a banned substance.


2003 Cricket World Cup
The tournament was eventually won by Australia who won all 11 of their matches, beating India in the final played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. This was Australia's third World Cup win, the only team to do so. Pakistani player Shoaib Akhtar also set a world record, becoming the fastest bowler in the history of cricket, delivering a record top speed of 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph) in a pool match against England.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Teams and squads
Fourteen teams played in the 2003 World Cup, the largest number of teams to play in a Cricket World Cup at the time. The 10 Test playing nations automatically qualified for the tournament including the recently appointed member Bangladesh, while Kenya also qualified automatically due to their full One Day International status. The other three spots were filled by the top three teams in the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada, which served as a qualifying tournament. These teams were, respectively, the Netherlands who won the ICC Trophy, Canada and Namibia. This was Namibia's World Cup debut, while the Netherlands and Canada were both appearing in the tournament for the second time, having previously appeared in 1996 and 1979 respectively.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Teams and squads
The format used in the 1999 World Cup was retained, with the 14 teams divided into two groups of seven, and the top three from each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage, carrying forward the results they had achieved against other qualifiers from their group. The top four teams in the Super Sixes qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches contested the final.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Group stage tables and results
The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Super Sixes
Australia, India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and New Zealand advanced to the Super Sixes stage. Points carried forward were calculated as follows: Four points for a win over another qualifier, one for a win over a non-qualifier, two for a tie or no result against another qualifier, 0.5 for a tie or no result against a non-qualifier.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Super Sixes
Teams that advanced to the semi-finals are highlighted in blue.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Semi finals
On a difficult, slow pitch at Port Elizabeth, Australia struggled their way to 212 (7 wickets, 50 overs) against tight Sri Lankan bowling, thanks mainly to a great innings from Andrew Symonds (91* from 118 balls, 7 fours, 1 six), demonstrating again captain Ricky Ponting's faith in him. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took three wickets. Australia's pace attack then ripped through the Sri Lankan top order, with Brett Lee (3/35 in 8 overs) taking three early wickets and Glenn McGrath (1/20 in 7 overs) taking one. By the time rain arrived in the 39th over, continued tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 123 (7 wickets, 38.1 overs), well behind the target given by the Duckworth–Lewis method. This is the match in which Adam Gilchrist famously "walked" despite being given not out.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Semi finals
The fairytale ended for the Kenyan team, the only non-Test-playing nation to ever make a World Cup semi-final. Sachin Tendulkar (83 from 101 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and Sourav Ganguly (111 from 114 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes), batted the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to a total of 270 (4 wickets, 50 overs). Under the Durban lights, the potent Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan (3/14 in 9.2 overs), the experienced Javagal Srinath (1/11 in 7 overs) and Ashish Nehra (2/11 in 5 overs) careered through the Kenyan top order. Kenya were bowled out for 179 (all out, 46.2 overs), with only Steve Tikolo (56 from 83 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes) putting up any significant resistance.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Final
India won the toss, and Ganguly, elected to field, hoping to take advantage of a pitch left damp by dew and rain. On a lively Wanderers Stadium pitch, the Australian openers took advantage of very wayward Indian opening bowlers to get off to a flying start. Adam Gilchrist (57 from 48 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Matthew Hayden (37 from 54 balls, 5 fours) shared an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs, forcing Ganguly to bring on the spinners unusually early.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Final
The change of pace brought wickets with Adam Gilchrist, who had been swinging at everything, holing out off a sweep shot from the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Matthew Hayden, looking somewhat better than he had throughout the tournament, soon followed for 37, leaving Australia at 2/125 Captain Ricky Ponting (140 from 121 balls, 4 fours, 8 sixes) and Damien Martyn (88 from 84 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) (playing with a broken thumb) completing a partnership of 234 runs in 30.1 overs, an Australian record for one-day cricket.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Final
Ponting and Martyn started efficiently, putting away bad balls but mostly keeping the scoring going with good running, then letting loose in the last ten overs, taking 109 from them. Ponting in particular dispatched the bowling over the fence with fearsome regularity in scoring 8 sixes, the most from one batsman in any World Cup match at the time. The final Australian total of 359 (2 wickets, 50 overs), at a run rate of 7.18 runs an over, was their then highest ever in ODI history.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Final
India's run chase was made even more difficult after their trump card, Sachin Tendulkar, was out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn McGrath completing the caught and bowled. Nevertheless, Virender Sehwag's (82 from 81 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes) run-a-ball half century gave India respectability as they maintained a high scoring rate. Their only realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted by rain with India at 3/103 after 17 overs.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Final
However, this rain passed by, and India's hopes were dashed when Sehwag was run out by Darren Lehmann, and again when Rahul Dravid (47 from 57 balls, 2 fours) was bowled by Andy Bichel, ending their partnership of 88 runs in 13.2 overs.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Final
India's batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase as the run rate crept up past 7 an over, and they were finally bowled out for 234 (all out, 39.2 overs) at a run rate of 5.97 runs an over giving Australia an emphatic victory by a record margin (in World Cup finals thus far) of 125 runs, underlining their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named "Man of the Match", and Sachin Tendulkar was named "Player of the Series."


2003 Cricket World Cup, Controversies, Security issues in Zimbabwe and Kenya
The security and political situation in Zimbabwe, and the appropriateness of playing there given the misdeeds of the regime of Robert Mugabe was a point of concern before the tournament. Two Zimbabwean players, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands in their opening game protesting against the nondemocratic rule in Zimbabwe. Both men subsequently retired from Zimbabwean cricket, and began playing overseas. England faced a great deal of domestic pressure to boycott their match in Zimbabwe on political grounds and did not play, citing fears for the players' safety. The boycott proved costly, as Zimbabwe advanced to the Super Sixes, just 2 points ahead of England, from the 4 points they achieved from the walkover. Similarly, New Zealand decided against playing in Kenya because of security fears which would ultimately cost New Zealand a semifinal spot.


2003 Cricket World Cup, Controversies, Shane Warne's drug test
Australian star player Shane Warne was sent home from the cup in embarrassing circumstances, only the day before their opening game, after a positive drug test in a lead-up competition in Australia revealed that he had taken a banned diuretic. The leg spinner claimed that he had taken a 'fluid pill' on the advice of his mother.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final
The 2003 Cricket World Cup Final was a One Day International (ODI) match played on 23 March 2003 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. It marked the culmination of the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the eighth edition of the tournament. It was the first time these two teams had met at this stage of a World Cup. For defending champions Australia it was their fifth World Cup final, while for India it was the second after their 1983 victory. Australia won the match by 125 runs to claim the title for the third time.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final
Both teams had progressed through three stages to reach the final. Australia was unbeaten thus far, while India had lost one game—against Australia in the first stage. Australia—led by Ricky Ponting—entered the game as firm favourites. After winning the toss, India captain Sourav Ganguly decided to field first before a crowd of nearly 32,000. The Australian opening pair, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, added 105 runs in 14 overs. After their dismissals, Ponting (140 not out) and Damien Martyn (88 not out) were involved in a partnership of 234 runs, then an Australian record, and took the total to 359 runs at the end of the innings. Harbhajan Singh took both the Australian wickets, conceding 49 runs.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final
In response, India lost their key batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, at the start of the innings. Despite a brief interruption by rain after the 17th over, no time was lost from the game. Once play resumed, India lost wickets at regular intervals. Virender Sehwag top-scored for India with 82 runs, before the team were bowled out for 234 runs in the 40th over. For Australia, Glenn McGrath took three wickets for 52 runs, while Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds claimed two wickets each.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final
Ponting was named man of the match for his 140, and Tendulkar, the tournament's leading run-scorer (673 runs), was awarded the man of the series. The final was Australia's seventeenth successive ODI win, a record, and they were the first team to win three World Cups. Ganguly's decision to bowl first in the match was criticised by journalists and former cricketers.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Background, Format
The 2003 Cricket World Cup was the eighth World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The competition took place between 9 February and 23 March 2003, lasting 43 days. Co -hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, the tournament was the first World Cup to be played in Africa. There were 14 participating teams, the largest number in a World Cup until then. As well as the 10 Test-playing nations, four associate teams took part. Kenya, by virtue of its ODI status, automatically qualified for the tournament; Canada, Namibia and Netherlands—the top three teams of the 2001 ICC Trophy—formed the rest.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Background, Format
The structure of the tournament was similar to that of the 1999 World Cup. The 14 countries were separated into two groups of seven; each team played the others in its group once. The most successful three from each group qualified for the Super Sixes stage, a format which was introduced in the 1999 tournament. Each qualifier carried forward their points from the first stage and played one game against each of the three teams from the other group. The top four teams from the Super Sixes qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches contested the final. A total of 54 matches were played in the tournament.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Background, Format
The matches were played according to the standard rules of a One Day International (ODI). Each side batted for a maximum of 50 overs, and fielding restrictions applied for the bowling side. For the first 15 overs only two fielders were allowed outside the infield, and for the rest of the innings four fielders (including a bowler and the wicket-keeper) had to be deployed in the infield. No player was allowed to bowl more than 10 overs in an innings.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Background, Squads
The Australian Cricket Board announced their squad for the World Cup on 31 December 2002, but several changes were made to the team before the tournament was completed. In January 2003, Shane Watson was ruled out following a stress fracture and was replaced by Ian Harvey. A day before the tournament started, Australia's key spinner Shane Warne was found guilty of using a prohibited diuretic drug during an ODI series held in Australia before the World Cup. He was sent home after he tested positive, and banned from playing for one year.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Background, Squads
Later, Australia's fast bowler Jason Gillespie was ruled out from the tournament following a tendon injury. Warne and Gillespie were replaced by Nathan Hauritz (on 24 February 2003) and Nathan Bracken (on 5 March 2003), respectively. An ongoing dispute between the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian players over product endorsements ensured a delay in the announcement of a provisional squad for the World Cup. The BCCI announced the final selection of 15 members on 31 December 2002. Sachin Tendulkar made into the final squad despite three ongoing injuries, including a major one on the ankle.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Background, Squads
Having won 15 out of their 18 ODIs leading up the start of the tournament, the defending champions Australia were deemed one of the favourites to reach the semi-finals. They had previously won the 1987 and 1999 tournaments. In contrast, some commentators considered it doubtful whether India would qualify for the Super Sixes stage. They had won the competition once, in 1983, but had recently lost an ODI series against West Indies at home, and were defeated heavily in their tour of New Zealand.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Group stage
Australia and India were both in Pool A of the competition. Australia won all their matches in the group stage. Except for their win against England, when they recovered from 135 for 8 to reach the target of 205 runs, they won all their matches comfortably.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Group stage
India had a shaky start to the tournament. In their opening match against the Netherlands, they were bowled out for 204 runs. Although they won the game by 79 runs, the team was criticised for failing to bat out their 50 overs. After they were dismissed for 125 runs against Australia and lost the match by nine wickets, angry fans in India burned effigies of the players; Mohammad Kaif's house and Rahul Dravid's car were vandalised. India won all the remaining games of the stage—against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Namibia and England.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Group stage
Australia, India and Zimbabwe finished the group as the top three teams and qualified for the Super Sixes from Pool A, while Pool B had Sri Lanka, Kenya and New Zealand progress for the next stage.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Super Sixes
In the first match of the Super Sixes against Sri Lanka, Australia made 319 runs for five wickets. The Australian captain Ricky Ponting and his deputy, Adam Gilchrist, scored 114 not out and 99 respectively. Sri Lanka in reply managed 223 runs in 47.4 overs. Aravinda de Silva top-scored with 92 while Brett Lee captured three wickets for Australia. In the next match against New Zealand, Shane Bond's six wickets for 23 runs reduced Australia to 84 runs for seven wickets in 27 overs before Michael Bevan and Andrew Bichel took the total to 208 runs. Lee's five wickets for 42 runs helped to bowl New Zealand out for 112 runs, their lowest total in World Cup. Australia won their final game by five wickets after bowling out Kenya for 174 runs.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Super Sixes
After losing the toss against Kenya in their first match, India were set a target of 226 runs. Despite an initial collapse, their captain Sourav Ganguly (107 not out) and Yuvraj Singh (58 not out) ensured India's victory. In the next game against Sri Lanka, India made 292 runs; Tendulkar (97) and Sehwag (66) top-scored for the team. Srinath took four wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 109, and India won the match by a margin of 183 runs. In their final match of the stage, India played New Zealand.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Super Sixes
Zaheer Khan returned career-best figures of four wickets for 42 runs, and New Zealand were dismissed for 146 runs. India lost three wickets for 21 runs, before Dravid, their vice-captain, and Kaif added 129 runs for the fourth wicket and ensured a seven-wicket win. The match marked the seventh consecutive victory for India in the tournament.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
The first semi-final was played between Australia and Sri Lanka on 18 March at St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth. Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. They managed 212 runs for the loss of 7 wickets at the end of 50 overs. Symonds top-scored for the team with 91 not out, while Chaminda Vaas picked up three wickets for Sri Lanka. With 213 runs needed for victory, Sri Lanka lost both the openers after which the play was interrupted by rain.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
The target was revised to 172 runs from 38.1 overs using the Duckworth–Lewis method, a mathematical formulation used to calculate revised targets for teams batting second in case of matches being interrupted by bad weather or rain. Kumar Sangakkara and Vaas made 47 runs together for the eighth wicket, the highest partnership of the innings, but the team managed to score only 123 runs in the allotted overs. Australia progressed into the final as Sri Lanka fell 48 runs short of the target.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
The second semi-final was played between India and Kenya on 20 March 2003 at Kingsmead, Durban. Kenya became the first non-Test team to play a World Cup semi-final. India won the toss and made 270 runs for four wickets. Ganguly and Tendulkar made 111 not out and 83 respectively. In reply, Kenya were bowled out for 179 in 46.2 overs. Their captain Steve Tikolo top-scored with 56 runs, while Zaheer Khan took three wickets for 14 runs. Ganguly was adjudged the Man of the match.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Build up
Many journalists considered Australia, undefeated throughout the tournament, to be favourites in the final. The Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya organised special flights, including a few chartered ones, to transport film actors, politicians and businessmen to Johannesburg; most of these people supported India. Some South African airlines also extended their support to India. The air tickets from Mumbai to Johannesburg were completely sold out immediately after India entered the Super Sixes stage. Although most journalists and analysts favoured Australia, former Pakistan captain Imran Khan believed India were favourites. Former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell complimented Brett Lee: he said, except for Lee, no Australian bowler was a serious threat to the Indian batsmen, and also remarked that the "duel" between Lee and Tendulkar would be crucial.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Build up
On the eve of the match, which would be his 100th ODI as India's captain, Ganguly issued a statement saying his team were honoured to play the World Cup final. He cited India's victories at the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 World Championship of Cricket as his inspirations. Although acknowledging Australia as the best side in the world, he said they were not "unbeatable". Australia's main concern was Tendulkar, the tournament's top-scorer, of whom the Indian fans had high expectations. Ponting hinted about the possibility that his bowlers, Lee and Glenn McGrath, had "special" plans to restrict him. He also said that in crucial matches his team "tries to reach another level".


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Build up
Australia were making their 5th appearance in a World Cup final. Previously, they won finals in 1987 and 1999, and lost in 1975 and 1996. India was appearing in their second World Cup final. They were successful in their only previous final appearance, in 1983, against the West Indies. Before the match, the two teams had faced each other eight times in World Cups; Australia had won six of them. In the 2003 tournament, Australia won all their matches to that point; India's only defeat came in the group stage against Australia. For all the Indian players it was their first World Cup final, whereas six of the Australians had appeared in at least one previous final.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Build up
India's Sachin Tendulkar was the tournament's top-scorer with 673 runs.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Build up
India captain Sourav Ganguly was the second-highest run scorer in the tournament.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Build up
Australia captain Ricky Ponting scored 415 runs in the tournament.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Build up
Andrew Symonds played two important innings, each against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to lead Australia to victory.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
The final was played on 23 March 2003 at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. This was the fifth match to be played at the ground in the tournament. The match, watched by a crowd of 31,779, began at 10:00 SAST. Simon Wilde, writing for the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, said the venue was one of the "most bountiful" grounds for batsmen. However, on that day the pitch was moist and the outfield was damp as a result of the thunderstorms the previous evening. A short shower that morning forced the ground staff to blow dry air over the pitch. The sky was overcast with a chance of further rainfall. For the umpires—David Shepherd and Steve Bucknor—it was their third World Cup Final. Rudi Koertzen and Billy Bowden were appointed as the third and fourth umpires, respectively. Former Sri Lankan cricketer Ranjan Madugalle served as the match referee.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
India remained unchanged from the side that played the semi-final, while Australia excluded Ian Harvey and brought back Damien Martyn into the side. Ganguly won the toss and elected to field first. Zaheer Khan opened the bowling for India along with Javagal Srinath. The Australian openers scored aggressively from the beginning of the innings as Khan conceded 15 runs in the first over. Gilchrist in particular hit both Khan and Srinath for many runs and reached his 50 from 40 balls. When Ganguly turned to his spin bowlers as early as the tenth over, Gilchrist slowed his scoring rate.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
In the fourteenth over, when Harbhajan Singh was brought back to bowl, Gilchrist (57 off 48 balls) tried to hit him over the mid-wicket, but was beaten by the ball's extra bounce and caught in the deep by Virender Sehwag. The pair had added 105 runs for the first wicket. Harbhajan struck again in the twentieth over when he dismissed Hayden (37 runs off 54 balls), leaving the score at 125 runs.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
After Hayden's departure, Ponting was joined by Martyn, who completed his half-century in 46 balls. Ponting scored at a slower rate, reaching his 50 off 74 balls with one four. After completing his half century, he accelerated; he hit two sixes off Harbhajan and one off Ashish Nehra. The pair added 100 runs off 109 balls for the third wicket. Ponting reached his century quickly—his second fifty came off 29 balls.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
At the end of the innings, Australia had scored 359 runs for two wickets; Ponting had scored 140 not out (off 121 balls; four fours and eight sixes) and Martyn hit 88 not out (off 84 balls; seven fours and one six) respectively. As of the 2015 competition, Ponting's innings remains the highest individual score by a captain in a World Cup final, and Australia's total remains the highest by a team in a World Cup final. The 234-run stand between Ponting and Marytn was a record partnership for Australia in ODIs at that point in time. The Indian bowlers conceded 37 extras. Srinath conceded 87 runs without taking a wicket—the most expensive figures in his career—in what was his last international game.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
India came out to bat with Tendulkar and Sehwag. McGrath opened the bowling for Australia. Tendulkar hit a boundary off the fourth ball of the over but was dismissed off the next delivery. Ganguly joined Sehwag and the pair scored at a run-a-ball before the former was dismissed by Lee in the tenth over. Kaif, the next man, was dismissed in the same over with the score 59 runs for 3 wickets. Dravid and Sehwag scored steadily from then on until the seventeenth over, when rain interrupted play with the score at 103 runs.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
After play resumed, Ponting brought in Australia's spinners, Brad Hogg and Darren Lehmann. Sehwag was more aggressive against both, hitting Lehmann for three consecutive fours and Hogg for a four and six; Dravid played a secondary role to Sehwag, pushing often for singles. They were dismissed in quick succession after making 82 (off 81 balls) and 47 (off 57 balls) respectively. Following that, India began to lose wickets at regular intervals. Except for Yuvraj Singh (24) and Dinesh Mongia (12), the rest of the players were out for single-digit scores.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Summary
India were bowled out for 234 runs in 39.2 overs when Zaheer Khan was dismissed by McGrath. Australia won the match by 125 runs, the largest margin of victory by runs in a World Cup final. It was their second successive World Cup trophy and their third overall. Ponting was declared the Man of the match for his 140 not out.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Scorecard
Fall of wickets: 1–105 (Gilchrist, 13.6 ov), 2–125 (Hayden, 19.5 ov)


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Final, Scorecard
Fall of wickets: 1–4 (Tendulkar, 0.5 ov), 2–58 (Ganguly, 9.5 ov), 3–59 (Kaif, 10.3 ov), 4–147 (Sehwag, 23.5 ov), 5–187 (Dravid, 31.5 ov), 6–208 (Yuvraj Singh, 34.5 ov), 7–209 (Mongia, 35.2 ov), 8–223 (Harbhajan Singh, 37.1 ov), 9–226 (Srinath, 38.2 ov), 10–234 (Khan, 39.2 ov)


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Aftermath
Australia became the first team to win three World Cups, and registered a record 17 consecutive ODI wins. They also became the third team to win all the matches in a World Cup tournament. Writing for the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Simon Wilde remarked that Australia would have beaten a Rest of the World XI had they been asked.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Aftermath
At the post-match press conference, Ponting said the Indian players showed no signs of winning the match at any point in time. On Australia's win he said, "It's not that we think we are ahead of the others. It's just the way we play." Nevertheless, he complimented both teams by saying India and Australia were the two best teams in the tournament, and that the Indian players deserved to be in the final. Ganguly praised the Australian batsmen and said they played like "real champions".


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Aftermath
Ganguly's decision to bowl first was criticised by the media: The New York Times, for instance, said it "backfired horribly". Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, while denouncing Ganguly's decision, also criticised his idea of going into the match with an unchanged side. He said India should have played their leg spinner Anil Kumble as the ball was "gripping [in] the surface". The journalist and former England cricketer Mike Selvey believed Ganguly may have been influenced by the possibility of the Duckworth–Lewis method affecting the result.


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Aftermath
Indian journalist Boria Majumdar in his book, Cricketing Cultures in Conflict (2004), remarked about the possibility of Australia losing the rain-interrupted final, if the result were to be decided by this method. Ganguly defended his decision, saying the overcast conditions and moisture in the pitch meant it was favourable to the bowlers, but they failed to use it properly. Ponting said he would have opted to bat first had they won the toss. His teammate Symonds, in an interview later, recalled that India's decision to bowl first gave them an impression that they were not "confident enough to take the fight".


2003 Cricket World Cup Final, Aftermath
Australia were rewarded with prize money totaling US$2,000,000, while India received $800,000. Tendulkar's aggregate of 673 runs in the tournament fetched him the Man of the series accolade. Ponting's innings of 140 not out was placed among the best innings of the tournament by Rediff, and among the top 10 performances in a World Cup final by the ICC. Tendulkar and Hayden were included among the "Highest impact World XI", a World Cup team released by the Wisden India owned website Impact Index, in February 2015. Srinath, who was then India's leading wicket-taker in ODIs, retired a few months after the competition. The match also marked the end of India coach John Wright's contract. On his request the Board of Control for Cricket in India retained his position in which he continued to serve until 2005.


2003 Cricket World Cup squads
This is a list of squads named for the seventh edition of Cricket World Cup (2003 Cricket World Cup), held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya between 9 February and 23 March 2003. The tournament saw 14 teams selected and placed in two groups. Each country was required to submit a final list of 15 players by 31 December 2002. An injured player could be replaced at any time up until the end of the tournament. Replacement players who were not in the original 15-man squad are indicated in italics.


2003 Cricket World Cup squads, Group A, Australia
Australia announced its squad for the 2003 World Cup on 31 December 2002. Australia made three replacements in the squad - Ian Harvey replacing Shane Watson on 25 January 2003, Nathan Hauritz replacing Shane Warne on 24 February 2003, and Nathan Bracken replacing Jason Gillespie on 5 March 2003. Coach: John Buchanan


2003 Cricket World Cup squads, Group A, England
The English squad for the 2003 Cricket World Cup was announced on 31 December 2002.Coach: Duncan Fletcher


2003 Cricket World Cup squads, Group A, India
The India squad for the tournament was announced on 30 December 2002.Coach: John Wright


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics
2004 Cricket World Cup statistics lists all the major statistics and records for the 2003 Cricket World Cup held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 24 March 2003.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics
Talha Jubair became the youngest player to participate in Cricket World Cup. Sri Lanka's clinical demolition of Canada for 36 runs created a new World Cup record for the lowest innings score, a dubious distinction that was, at the time, the lowest score in ODI history. Records tumbled when defending champions Australia took on minnows Namibia, with Glenn McGrath claiming the World Cup's best bowling figures (7/15), a performance that helped Australia defeat Namibia by 256 runs. Team-mate Adam Gilchrist created a new wicket-keeping dismissal record in the same match, with 6.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics
Against Namibia, Indian players Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly recorded the second highest partnership in World Cup cricket (244 runs). India and Australia clashed in a one-sided battle in the final, with Australia creating multiple records (highest World Cup final score, highest score by a captain in a World Cup final – Ricky Ponting, most sixes by a batsman – Ponting) in a match; with Australia winning by 125 runs.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics
Tendulkar's 673 runs, the most runs scored in a single World Cup history to date, was the consolation for India as he won the 2003 Cricket World Cup Man of the Series award. The World Cup also saw fielding records in an innings (Mohammad Kaif) and tournament (Ponting). The World Cup broke the record for most sixes in the tournament (with 266), but this was easily surpassed in the 2007 edition (with 373).


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics, Team totals, Highest team totals
The highest score of the 2003 Cricket World Cup came in the finals when Australia scored 359 runs against India in 50 overs. This represents the highest score made in the finals of Cricket World Cup.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics, Team totals, Lowest team totals
Canada were bowled out for the lowest ever total in World Cup history against Sri Lanka; which was also, at the time, the lowest ever total in ODI history.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics, Bowling, Most wickets in the tournament
Vaas's haul of 23 wickets in the tournament was, at the time, the record in World Cup history. His record was equalled or bettered by three bowlers in the 2007 edition of the World Cup (Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shaun Tait).


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics, Batting, Most runs in the tournament
The 2003 Cricket World Cup had four cricketers scoring over 400 runs in the tournament (two Indians and two Australians), a record that has been bettered when ten cricketers scored more than 400 runs in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Sachin's 673 runs in the 2003 Cricket World Cup is the current record for most runs scored in a single edition in World Cup history.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics, Batting, Highest individual scores
Twenty one individual centuries were scored in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the highest across all editions.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics, Batting, Highest partnerships of the tournament
There were 25 century partnerships in the tournament, in comparison to 28 century partnerships in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. The top ten partnerships have been listed below. The 244 run partnership between Ganguly and Tendulkar is currently the second highest partnership in World Cup history.


2003 Cricket World Cup statistics, Tied matches
After the tied semifinal match in the 1999 Cricket World cup that eliminated them South Africa were held to another tie when they scored 229 in 45 overs, needing 230 to win by the Duckworth–Lewis method, against Sri Lanka. South Africa needed a win to progress to the "Super-6" stage, but were ultimately eliminated from the tournament.


2003 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
The 2003 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré was the 55th edition of the cycle race and was held from 8 June to 15 June 2003. The race started in Villard-de-Lans and finished in Grenoble. The race has no overall winner. Although Lance Armstrong originally won the event, he was stripped of the title due to violating anti-doping regulations. In 2012, the United States Anti- Doping Agency disqualified him from his results after 1 August 1998. The verdict was confirmed by the Union Cycliste Internationale.


2003 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Teams
Fifteen teams, containing a total of 120 riders, participated in the race:


2003 Croatia Open
The 2003 Croatia Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the ITC Stella Maris in Umag in Croatia and was part of the International Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. The tournament ran from July 21 through July 27, 2003.


2003 Croatia Open, Winners, Men's Doubles
Álex López Morón /  Rafael Nadal defeated  Todd Perry /  Thomas Shimada 6–1, 6–3


2003 Croatia Open – Doubles
František Čermák and Julian Knowle were the defending champions but only Knowle competed that year with Lovro Zovko.


2003 Croatia Open – Doubles
Knowle and Zovko lost in the quarterfinals to Álex López Morón and Rafael Nadal


2003 Croatia Open – Doubles
López Moron and Nadal won in the final 6–1, 6–3 against Todd Perry and Thomas Shimada.


2003 Croatia Open – Doubles, Seeds
Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.


2003 Croatia Open – Singles
Carlos Moyá was the defending champion and won in the final 6–4, 3–6, 7–5 against Filippo Volandri.


2003 Croatia Open – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open
The 2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Bol, Croatia and was part of the Tier III category of the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the tenth edition of the tournament and was held from 28 April until 4 May 2003. Third-seeded Vera Zvonareva won the singles title and earned $27,000 first-prize money.


2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open, Finals, Doubles
Petra Mandula /  Patricia Wartusch defeated  Emmanuelle Gagliardi /  Patty Schnyder 6–3, 6–2


2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open – Doubles
Tathiana Garbin and Angelique Widjaja were the defending champions, but Widjaja did not compete this year. Garbin teamed up with Caroline Schneider and lost in quarterfinals to tournament winners Petra Mandula and Patricia Wartusch.


2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open – Doubles
Petra Mandula and Patricia Wartusch won the title by defeating Emmanuelle Gagliardi and Patty Schnyder 6–3, 6–2 in the final.


2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open – Singles
Åsa Svensson was the defending champion, but did not compete this year.


2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open – Singles
Vera Zvonareva won the title by defeating Conchita Martínez Granados 6–1, 6–3 in the final.


2003 Croatian Bol Ladies Open – Singles, Seeds
The first two seeds received a bye into the second round.


2003 Croatian Figure Skating Championships
The 2003 Croatian Figure Skating Championships (Croatian: Prvenstvo Hrvatske za 2003) took place between December 21 and 23. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles.


2003 Croatian Football Cup Final
The 2003 Croatian Cup Final was a two-legged affair played between Uljanik Pula and Hajduk Split. The first leg was played in Pula on 21 May 2003, while the second leg on 4 June 2003 in Split.


2003 Croatian Football Cup Final
Hajduk Split won the trophy with an aggregate result of 5–0.


2003 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections
2003 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections took place on 18 May. 2003 elections were the first minorities councils and representatives elections after the introduction of the new Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia in late 2002. Elections took place both at local (municipalities and towns/cities) and regional (county) level with different numbers of electorate at two levels due to the specific provisions of the law.


2003 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections
Specifically, 319 141 registered voters fulfilled individual and collective conditions on the county, 130 730 on the town/city level and 88 085 on municipal level. Individual requirement was that voter is registered as a member of national minority at the time of last census. Collective condition required the Government of Croatia to organize councils elections only in those counties or local units in which certain minority constitute required proportion of population in relative (1,5% of the entire population) or absolute (200 individuals in town or municipality or 500 in county) numbers. If those conditions are not fulfilled Government organizes representatives elections in those units where there are at least 100 members of a certain minority.


2003 Croatian national minorities councils and representatives elections
National minorities were entitled to elect 471 councils in 17 counties, 38 cities or towns and 80 municipalities. Candidate lists were proposed for 220 of them (46,91%) while in remaining units elections were not organized due to the absence of candidate lists. National minorities were entitled to elect 140 individual representatives while candidate lists were proposed for just 40 of them (28,57%). Elections were observed by 21 members of the mobile team of the GONG, a non-governmental organization from Croatia that oversees elections in Croatia.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections to elect all 151 members of the Croatian Parliament were held on November 23, 2003. They were the 5th parliamentary elections to take place since the first multi-party elections in 1990. Turnout was 61.7%. The result was a victory for the opposition Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ) which won a plurality of 66 seats, but fell short of the 76 needed to form a government.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election
HDZ chairman Ivo Sanader was named the 8th Prime Minister of Croatia on 23 December 2003, after parliament passed a confidence motion in his government cabinet, with 88 Members of Parliament voting in favor, 29 against and 14 abstaining. The ruling coalition, consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Croatian People's Party (HNS), Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party (LS) did not contest the elections as a single bloc. Namely, the SDP ran with the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), the Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party (LS), HNS ran with the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar (PGS) and the Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party (SBHS), while HSS ran on its own.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, General information
There are 10 electoral units based on geography and population. In each unit, 14 candidates are elected on proportional electoral system. The election threshold is 5%.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, General information
In addition, 8 candidates are elected to represent national minorities.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, General information
The citizens that live outside Croatian borders vote in a separate electoral unit. The number of representatives elected from this unit will be determined after the elections, based on how many people actually vote in Croatia, so that there is equal value of votes both inside and outside Croatia. For reference, the number of diaspora seats in the 2000-2003 Sabor was six.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, General information
Total: 140 domestic seats + 8 minority seats + 4 diaspora seats.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, Results
The number of diaspora mandates is reduced  by 2 compared to previous elections due to somewhat lower diaspora turnout. Due to distribution according to the d'Hondt method, the independent lists for diaspora won't be allocated seats, even though they received over 5% of total votes.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, Results
National minorities elected 8 representatives through a separate election system: Vojislav Stanimirović (22,2% of votes), Milorad Pupovac (21,7%) and Ratko Gajica (13,8%) for the Serb national minority, Jene Adam (42%) for the Hungarian minority, Furio Radin (79,8%) for the Italian minority, Zdenka Čuhnil (39,2%) for the Czech and Slovak minorities, Nikola Mak (14,3%) for the Austrian, Bulgarian, German, Jewish, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Rusyn, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vlach minorities and Šemso Tanković (59,1%) for the Albanian, Bosniak, Macedonian, Montenegrin and Slovene minorities.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, Results
Ivo Sanader of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was appointed as Prime Minister by the President and confirmed by the Croatian Parliament.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election, Results
The new Government was formed of 13 HDZ ministers and 1 of Democratic Centre.


2003 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season
The 2003 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season was the 37th in the club's history. Coached by Chris Anderson and captained by David Peachey and Brett Kimmorley, they competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership. The Sharks finished the regular season 12th (out of 15), failing to make the play-offs for the first time since 1998.


2003 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season, Season summary
Cronulla, hoping to build on its past four seasons in which it made the finals, suffered a season of unrelenting disappointment which culminated in the dismissal of head coach Chris Anderson.


2003 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season, Season summary
The Sharks' 2003 season lowlight was the 74-4 thumping received at the hands of the Parramatta Eels at Parramatta Stadium on 23 August 2003 (round 24). Despite scoring first through Paul Gallen in the 18th minute, and only trailing 24–4 at halftime, the Sharks put in their worst ever performance which just got worse with captain David Peachey and Dale Newton taking the walk of shame and Danny Nutley being sin binned for pulling the leg of a Parramatta opponent. It would not be until Round 11, 2011 that the Sharks would again leave Parramatta Stadium on the back of a hiding; but this time the Sharks had a 40–6 defeat.


2003 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season, Season summary
Highlights were few and far between in 2003; notable wins included a big 40–16 win over Manly in what was their first win for the season (also a big one) backed up with a 30–14 win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs, both at home and then a 30–24 away win over the 2001 premiers Newcastle in Newcastle in which Paul Gallen was sent off. It appeared as though those hat-trick of wins would get the Sharks going in 2003, but the Sharks were never in the finals hunt throughout the year.


2003 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season, Season summary
Other notable wins included a 34–28 win over the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville, a comeback 20–10 win over the Brisbane Broncos after trailing 10–2 at halftime, a 25–16 win over bitter rivals St. George Illawarra at home and then a 54–34 win over the Rabbitohs in a bottom-of-the-table clash (this match occurring the week after the humiliating defeat against Parramatta).


2003 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season, Season summary
Anderson was replaced during the off-season by Stuart Raper who had previous coaching experience with the Wigan Warriors. His term at the Sharks would only last three full seasons.


2003 Cross River State gubernatorial election
The 2003 Cross River State gubernatorial election occurred on April 19, 2003, in Nigeria. Incumbent Governor, PDP's Donald Duke won election for a second term, defeating his immediate past deputy John Oyom Okpa of the ANPP and three other candidates.


2003 Cross River State gubernatorial election
Donald Duke emerged winner in the PDP gubernatorial primary election. His running mate was Walter Eneji.


2003 Cross River State gubernatorial election, Electoral system
The Governor of Cross River State is elected using the plurality voting system.


2003 Cross River State gubernatorial election, Results
A total of five candidates registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to contest in the election. Incumbent Governor, PDP's Donald Duke won election for a second term, defeating four other candidates.


2003 Cross River State gubernatorial election, Results
The total number of registered voters in the state was 1,289,192. However, only 83.32% (i.e. 1,074,132) of registered voters participated in the excerise.


2003 Crystal Skate of Romania
The 2003 Crystal Skate of Romania was the 5th edition of an annual senior-level international figure skating competition held in Romania. It was held between November 21 and 23, 2003 in Miercurea Ciuc. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles.


2003 Cuban parliamentary election
Legislative elections were held for the National Assembly of People's Power, Cuba's national legislature, on 19 January 2003. The vote is an endorsement of pre-selected candidates rather than a choice between rivals. Half of the candidates are nominated at public meetings before gaining approval from electoral committees, while the other half are nominated by official mass organisations (such as trade unions, farmers organisations and Students' unions).


2003 Cuban parliamentary election
The government claims that the election represents a show of popular support, but its critics have attributed the result instead to fear or apathy on the part of those who do not support the government. They suspect that the result may reflect electoral engineering (in constituencies known to have a high proportion of voters who are more inclined to express dissatisfaction by registering blank or spoiled votes, the candidates offered tend to be highly respected local figures not associated closely with the government), the lack of independent supervision of the count or the barrage of propaganda. They also point out that the system of selection of candidates effectively excludes any truly independent voices.


2003 Cuban parliamentary election
In the run-up to the election, U.S. President George W. Bush described the process as "a fraud and a sham" adding "If Cuba's government takes all the necessary steps to ensure that the 2003 elections are certifiably free and fair, and if Cuba also begins to adopt meaningful market-based reforms, then, and only then, will I work with the United States Congress to ease the ban on trade and travel".


2003 Cup of China
The 2003 Cup of China was third event of six in the 2003–04 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. It was held at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing on November 6–9. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2003–04 Grand Prix Final. The compulsory dance was the Yankee Polka.


2003 Cup of Russia
The 2003 Cup of Russia was the fifth event of six in the 2003–04 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Luzhniki Palace of Sports in Moscow on November 20–23. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2003–04 Grand Prix Final. The compulsory dance was the Ravensburger Waltz.


2003 Cupa României Final
The 2003 Cupa României Final was the 65th final of Romania's most prestigious cup competition. The final was played at the Stadionul Naţional in Bucharest on 31 May 2003 and was contested between Divizia A sides Dinamo București and Naţional București. The cup was won by Dinamo.


2003 Currie Cup
The 2003 Currie Cup was the 2003 season of the South African domestic rugby union competition, the Absa Currie Cup premier division, played from 26 July 2003 - 1 November 2003. The 2003 Currie Cup saw the implementation of a new format for the tournament with the Cup being split into 2 divisions, the Premier Division and a lower division. The Premier Division consisting of the 6 top provincial teams and the lower division consisting of 8 teams for a total of 14 teams participating in the Currie Cup.


2003 Currie Cup
The teams in the divisions played matches among themselves with top teams progressing to the finals. The finals were played at Securicor Loftus Stadium where the Blue Bulls beat the  Sharks 40–19 to win the Cup. This would be the second win for the Blue Bulls in a streak of 3 consecutive Currie Cup wins from 2002 to 2004. The Blue Bull's Ettienne Botha scored two tries in the final. This equaled the record for tries scored in a Currie Cup final at the time.


2003 Cypriot presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Cyprus on 16 February 2003. The election was dominated by the ongoing negotiations over the Annan Plan for Cyprus. Incumbent President Glafkos Klerides was largely in favour of the plan, while leading opposition candidate Tassos Papadopoulos wanted substantial amendments before he would accept it. Papadopoulos won the election in the first round after winning over 51% of the vote. Voter turnout was 90.5%.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Candidates
On 3 January 2003 the incumbent President Glafkos Klerides said that he would be standing for re-election in the upcoming presidential election, after previously saying he would not stand again. Klerides, from the Democratic Rally party, had been elected in 1993 and 1998 and called for Cypriots to elect him for a further limited 16 months as president to give him time to try to reach a deal with Turkish Northern Cyprus on reunifying the island. He wanted other candidates to unite behind him and agree to form a national unity government to try to reach a settlement; however, this was not agreed to by his opponents.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Candidates
Klerides' main opponent was expected to be Tassos Papadopoulos, leader of the Democratic Party. Papadopoulos was seen as being more hardline in negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots and had previously accused Klerides of selling out the interests of Greek Cypriots in negotiations. Papadopoulos was backed by the biggest party in Cyprus, the communist Progressive Party of Working People and had been clear favourite in the election until Klerides announced he would stand again.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Candidates
Klerides' campaign was hurt by the decision of his close aide and attorney general Alecos Markides to also stand in the election as an independent. Markides was standing as he believed Cyprus needed a younger, more modern, leader than the 83-year-old Klerides. His candidacy however was seen as likely to split the support of centre-right voters and thus assist Papadopoulos in the election.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Candidates
A further seven candidates stood in the election including one, Costas Kyriacou, calling for free love.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Campaign
Opinion polls during the campaign showed Papadopoulos with a significant lead over Klerides. The ongoing negotiations over the Annan Plan for Cyprus dominated the campaign with Klerides being seen as more favourable to the plan than many voters and this contributed to the more sceptical Papadopoulos pulling ahead. Papadopoulos called for the Annan plan to be amended and said that Klerides was giving away too much in negotiations. However Papadopoulos emphasized that he would negotiate for a deal if he was elected and ran television adverts which attempted to reduce voter concerns over his previous nationalist stance.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Campaign
The election campaign was low key with Klerides refusing to campaign for the election. On the day before the election the final polls showed Papadopoulos with a 12% lead over Klerides, with a reasonable chance of winning over 50% of the vote and avoiding the need for a second round.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Results
The results saw Papadopoulos winning over 51% of the vote compared to almost 39% for Klerides, meaning that he was elected in the first round. Markides trailed in third place with 6.6% of the vote, while Kyriakou won 0.44% but claimed that he really won 73%. Voting was compulsory and so voter turnout was high at over 90%.


2003 Cypriot presidential election, Results
The leader of Turkish North Cyprus Rauf Denktash described the result as disappointing but Papadopoulos said he would begin talks on the United Nations plan within a few days of the election.


2003 Czech European Union membership referendum
A referendum on joining the European Union was held in the Czech Republic on 13 and 14 June 2003. The proposal was supported by 77.3% of voters, with a turnout of 55.2%. The Czech Republic joined the EU on 1 May 2004.


2003 Czech European Union membership referendum, Campaign
Opinion polls in the run-up to the referendum showed support for joining from 63% to over 70%, with the highest support among younger, wealthier and better educated people.


2003 Czech European Union membership referendum, Party policies
The table lists the political parties which were represented in the parliament at the time of the referendum.


2003 Czech Figure Skating Championships
The 2003 Czech Figure Skating Championships were held in Brno between December 20 and 22, 2003. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


2003 Czech Lion Awards
2002 Czech Lion Awards ceremony was held on 8 March 2004.


2003 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2003 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 2003 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 August 2003 at the Masaryk Circuit located in Brno, Czech Republic.


2003 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix
Chris Burns, riding a ROC Yamaha, would become the last rider to start a race in Grand Prix motorcycle racing's premier class with a 2-stroke 500cc bike. His teammate, José David de Gea, also entered the race riding the Sabre V4 500cc bike, but he did not take the start.


2003 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (motoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round ten has concluded.


2003 Czech Senate by-elections
By-elections for Strakonice and Brno-City District Senate seats were held in the Czech Republic in October and November 2003. Election in Strakonice was held on 30 October-1 November and 7–8 November. Election in Brno-City was held on 7–8 November and 14–15 November. Elections were won by Josef Kalbáč in Strakonice and by Karel Jarůšek in Brno-City. Elections were held after incumbent Senators were appointed Judges of Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic.


2003 Czech Senate by-elections, Strakonice
Main candidates were Pavel Pavel and Josef Kalbáč who faced each other in second round. Kalbáč won the second round.


2003 Czech Senate by-elections, Brno-City
Candidates included football manager Karel Jarůšek, Brno Councillor Rostislav Slavotínek, Minister of Health Marie Součková, Daniel Borecký and Journalist Petr Cibulka. Karel Jarůšek won the election when he defeated Rostislav Slavotínek in the second round. Minister Součková was eliminated in the first round when she received only 7.5% of votes which she blamed on strong campaign against her.


2003 Czech Social Democratic Party leadership election
The Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) leadership election of 2003 was held on 30 March 2003. The incumbent leader Vladimír Špidla was re-elected.


2003 Czech Social Democratic Party leadership election
His rivals were Jiří Rusnok, Jana Volfová and Josef Dobrý. Volfová and Dobrý withdrew from election before the voting started and endorsed Rusnok.


2003 Czech presidential election
Indirect presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January and February 2003 to elect a new President. The Parliament of the Czech Republic failed to elect a candidate on the first two ballots on the 15 and 24 January. However, on the third round of the third ballot on 28 February, Václav Klaus was elected.


2003 Czech presidential election, Background and procedure
In 2003 Václav Havel had served the maximum 2 consecutive terms as President of the Czech Republic, with his second term ending on 2 February 2003. A joint session of the Parliament of the Czech Republic was held on the 15 January 2003 to elect his successor.


2003 Czech presidential election, Background and procedure
Before the constitution was amended in 2012 to establish direct presidential election, the President of the Czech Republic was elected indirectly by a joint session of the Czech Parliament. Each ballot had 3 rounds, with a candidate needing an absolute majority of both the 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 81 members of the Senate in order to be elected in the first round.


2003 Czech presidential election, Background and procedure
When no candidate achieved a majority in both houses of parliament in the first round, then a second round was held between the best-placed candidate in the Chamber vote and the best-placed candidate in the Senate vote, again with an absolute majority needed to get in both houses, but only among the members who were present at the election.


2003 Czech presidential election, Background and procedure
If the second round was also unsuccessful, then in the third round a candidate needed to win a majority of all present members of parliament, but with votes of both chambers being taken together. So if all the members of parliament were present a candidate would need 141 votes, from a combination of deputies and senators, in order to be elected in the third round. When no candidate is elected in all 3 rounds, the process would be repeated at further joint sessions until a candidate was elected.


2003 Czech presidential election, First ballot, Initial candidates
The leading party in the government coalition, the Social Democratic Party, nominated a former justice minister Jaroslav Bureš. He defeated a former leader of his party and Prime Minister, Miloš Zeman, for the nomination, despite Zeman winning a party primary, causing splits in the party. Zeman was a rival of the Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Vladimír Špidla and Bureš was an attempted compromise candidate for the party.


2003 Czech presidential election, First ballot, Initial candidates
The junior party in the coalition, the Christian Democratic Party, meanwhile nominated the chairman of the Senate and former Prime Minister between 1990 and 1992, Petr Pithart as their candidate. He was also supported by the Freedom Union party, another party in the governing coalition.


2003 Czech presidential election, First ballot, Initial candidates
The main opposition party, the Civic Democratic Party, chose the former leader of the party and Prime Minister, Václav Klaus, as their candidate. Klaus declared his candidacy in October 2002 and stepped down as leader of his party in December, after having led his party to defeat at the 2002 parliamentary election.


2003 Czech presidential election, First ballot, Initial candidates
The final candidate in the election was Miroslav Kříženecký, a former military prosecutor, who was supported by the Communist Party.


2003 Czech presidential election, First ballot, Voting
Reports before the election had Petr Pithart and Václav Klaus as the favourites for the election, due to disunity in the Social Democrats, with the Social Democrats and some Communists expected to support Pithart on the second round against Václav Klaus. However, there was scepticism that any candidate would be able to be elected in the first ballot on the 15 January 2003. Before the votes the outgoing President Václav Havel delivered a farewell speech for which he received a standing ovation, after urging legislators to follow their conscience.


2003 Czech presidential election, First ballot, Voting
The first vote saw no candidate elected, but with the Social Democrat candidate, Jaroslav Bureš, and the Communist candidate, Miroslav Kříženecký being eliminated with both receiving 46 votes from deputies and senators. Almost half of the Social Democrats lawmakers did not vote for Bureš, highlighting the divisions within the party. Very surprising was low support for Petr Pithart. He received only 20 votes in Chamber of Deputies even though KDU-ČSL that nominated him had 21 Members of the Chamber.


2003 Czech presidential election, First ballot, Voting
Václav Klaus and Petr Pithart competed in the next two rounds but neither was able to be elected, with Klaus getting the most votes in the Chamber of Deputies, while Pethart received the most votes in the Senate in all three election rounds. Klaus led throughout and in the third round received 113 votes to 89 for Pithart, but as 84 legislators submitted empty ballots neither was able to reach the required 141 votes. The first ballot showed disunity of ČSSD during the election. It also showed that Klaus has much higher support than it was expected.


2003 Czech presidential election, Second ballot
Following the first ballot the five parties in parliament agreed to try again on the 24 January. Václav Klaus, after leading in the first ballot, was renominated by the Civic Democrats, but no other party again supported the candidates they had nominated in the first ballot.


2003 Czech presidential election, Second ballot
On the 18 January the Social Democrats nominated the former Prime Minister Miloš Zeman as their candidate in the next ballot. The party leadership was reported to have given him an "overwhelming majority" in the vote on the party's candidate. However Zeman was a rival of the Social Democrat leader and Prime Minister, Vladimír Špidla, and his election was seen as possibly furthering divisions in the party.


2003 Czech presidential election, Second ballot
Meanwhile, the 2 junior parties in the governing coalition, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union, nominated senator and former diplomat Jaroslava Moserová, who would have been the first female Czech president if she had won the election. It was expected that second ballot will be duel between Klaus and Zeman. This was nicknamed "Clash of Titans."


2003 Czech presidential election, Second ballot
In the first round Miloš Zeman was surprisingly eliminated after winning 78 votes from deputies and 5 from senators. His elimination came after Klaus came first among deputies with 89 votes, while Moserová came first among the senators with 43 votes. Zeman was reported to have been opposed by some Social Democratic legislators in order to prevent him from getting into a position to challenge Prime Minister Špidla. In the second round the deputies again supported Klaus, but the senate voted 42-33 in favour of Moserová. This led to a third round being held, which Klaus won by 127 votes to 65, but with 85 blank votes Klaus failed to reach the required 141 votes.


2003 Czech presidential election, Between the second and third ballots
The presidential term of Václav Havel finished on the 2 February, which meant that legislators had 30 days to elect a successor according to the constitution. During the period in which there was no president, the powers of the president were assumed jointly by the Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Lubomír Zaorálek. This was the first time the Czech Republic had been without a President.


2003 Czech presidential election, Between the second and third ballots
Opinion polls showed the population strongly supported changing the constitution to allow the direct election of the president by popular vote, with political leaders indicating they would attempt to make this change if a third attempt to elect a president was unsuccessful. On the 5 February a popular Czech singer, Karel Gott, indicated he would be interested in standing if direct popular election was introduced.


2003 Czech presidential election, Between the second and third ballots
Following his defeat in the first round of the second ballot Social Democrat Milos Zeman announced he would not run in a third ballot. However the leader of the opposition Civic Democrats, Mirek Topolánek, restated his party's support for Václav Klaus on the 3 February and called for a new election date to be set. The Speaker Lubomír Zaorálek said on the 7 February that the third ballot would be held on the 28 February.


2003 Czech presidential election, Third ballot
Since the failed second ballot the 3 parties in the governing coalition, the Social Democrats, Christian Democrats and Freedom Union, had held talks in an attempt to agree on a candidate. On the 19 February 2003 the 3 parties nominated Jan Sokol, the Dean of Charles University in Prague, who formerly had for a short time been education minister in a caretaker government. Sokol had been unanimously backed by the 63 Social Democratic deputies present at a party meeting earlier and if all the legislators from the governing coalition backed Sokol they would be able to elect him as president. By the 25 February a total of 97 legislators from the governing coalition in the Chamber of Deputies signed a declaration to officially nominate Sokol.


2003 Czech presidential election, Third ballot
At the third ballot on the 28 February 2003, Václav Klaus led on the first 2 votes against Jan Sokol, but failed to reach the necessary majority, as deputies voted in favour of Klaus, but senators favored Sokol. However, on the third vote Klaus won the support of 142 legislators, narrowly achieving the necessary 141 votes to defeat Sokol who won 124 votes, while 14 legislators abstained and one was absent. Klaus was sworn in as President on the 8 March.


2003 Czech presidential election, Aftermath
After the election the Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla called a vote of confidence, as the coalition had failed to elect the candidate they had backed. This showed that some legislators from the coalition must have voted for Klaus, however the government won a vote of confidence on the 11 March after all 101 government deputies voted in favour in the 200 member Chamber of Deputies, while the whole opposition voted against. Spidla then fired the minister of trade and industry, Jiri Rusnok, due to "personal differences", but Rusnok said he thought it was because he had backed Klaus in the presidential vote.


2003 Czech presidential election, Aftermath
Klaus was elected for second term in 2008 and left the office in 2013 when he wasn't eligible to reelection. He endorsed his former rival Miloš Zeman during 2013 presidential election. Zeman previously endorsed Klaus during 2008 presidential election.


2003 Czech presidential election, Aftermath
Zeman's defeat is considered to have strong impact on Czech politics. It is stated that he distanced himself from ČSSD since the election. He later left the party and founded Party of Civic Rights (SPO). He became SPO's presidential candidate in 2013 presidential election and became first directly elected Czech president. His presidency is influenced by his conflicts with leadership of ČSSD.


2003 D.C. United season
The 2003 D.C. United season was the clubs' ninth year of existence, as well as their seventh season in Major League Soccer.


2003 D.C. United season
Led by Ray Hudson, D.C. United's 2003 campaign was highlighted by the club's return to the MLS Cup Playoffs, their first postseason appearance since 1999. In the playoffs, United who didn't qualify for the playoffs until the final day of the regular season, took on the Eastern Conference regular season champions, Chicago Fire. The Fire defeated United 4–0 on aggregates in the conference semifinals, winning each leg by a 2–0 margin of victory.


2003 D.C. United season, Review, November
On November 1, 2003, D.C. United played their first playoff match in nearly four years, entering the 2003 MLS Cup Playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. In the Conference semifinals, United faced the Eastern Conference regular season champions, Chicago Fire. The two-match, aggregate series  was first contested at United's RFK Stadium. The match ended in a 2–0 defeat thanks to goals from the Fire's Andy Williams and Ante Razov in the 4th and 94th minutes, respectively.


2003 D.C. United season, Review, November
A week later, on November 9, 2003, the second leg was played at Chicago Fire's Soldier Field, where the Fire defeated United by the same 2–0 scoreline, thus ultimately winning the series 4–0 on aggregate, and advancing to the Eastern Conference championship. The defeat ended United's playoff campaign and their season altogether.


2003 D.C. United season, Transfers, MLS SuperDraft picks
D.C. United made a total of seven selections in the 2003 MLS Draft. Five of the draft picks were ultimately signed for the 2003 season.


2003 D1 Grand Prix series, 2003 Schedules, 2003 D1 Grand Prix Point Series
Round 1 - February 2 - Tsukuba Circuit, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan - Nobushige Kumakubo (S15)Round 2 - March 8/9 - Bihoku Highland Circuit, Okayama Prefecture, Japan - Kazuhiro Tanaka (S15)Round 3 - April 19/20 - Sports Land SUGO, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan - Nobushige Kumakubo (S15)Round 4 - July 6 - Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan - Youichi Imamura (FD3S)Round 5 - August 9/10 - Ebisu South Course, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan - Youichi Imamura (FD3S)Round 6 - October 4/5 - Sekia Hills, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan - Katsuhiro Ueo (AE85)Round 7 - November 26/27 - Tsukuba Circuit, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan - Nobuteru Taniguchi (S15)


2003 D1 Grand Prix series, 2003 Schedules, 2003 D1 Grand Prix Exhibition Matches
D1 US Exhibition - August 31 - Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, California, United States - Katsuhiro Ueo (AE86)


2003 DFB-Ligapokal
The 2003 DFB-Ligapokal was the seventh edition of the DFB-Ligapokal. It was won by Hamburger SV, who beat Borussia Dortmund 4–2 in the final, securing their first title.


2003 DFB-Ligapokal, Participating clubs
A total of six teams qualified for the competition. The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:


2003 DFB-Ligapokal Final
The 2003 DFB-Ligapokal Final decided the winner of the 2003 DFB-Ligapokal, the 7th edition of the reiterated DFB-Ligapokal, a knockout football cup competition.


2003 DFB-Ligapokal Final
The match was played on 28 July 2003 at the Bruchwegstadion in Mainz. Hamburger SV won the match 4–2 against Borussia Dortmund for their 1st title of the reiterated competition, and 2nd title including the 1972–73 edition.


2003 DFB-Ligapokal Final, Route to the final
The DFB-Ligapokal is a six team single-elimination knockout cup competition. There are a total of two rounds leading up to the final. Four teams enter the preliminary round, with the two winners advancing to the semi-finals, where they will be joined by two additional clubs who were given a bye. For all matches, the winner after 90 minutes advances. If still tied, extra time, and if necessary penalties are used to determine the winner.


2003 DFB-Pokal Final
The 2003 DFB-Pokal Final decided the winner of the 2002–03 DFB-Pokal, the 60th season of Germany's premier knockout football cup competition. It was played on 31 May 2003 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Bayern Munich won the match 3–1 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern to claim their 11th cup title.


2003 DFB-Pokal Final, Route to the final
The DFB-Pokal began with 64 teams in a single-elimination knockout cup competition. There were a total of five rounds leading up to the final. Teams were drawn against each other, and the winner after 90 minutes would advance. If still tied, 30 minutes of extra time was played. If the score was still level, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.


2003 DFB-Pokal Final, Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).


2003 DFS Classic
The 2003 DFS Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham in the United Kingdom that was part of Tier III of the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the 22nd edition of the tournament and was held from 9 June until 15 June 2003. Third-seeded Magdalena Maleeva won the singles title.


2003 DFS Classic, Finals, Doubles
Els Callens /  Meilen Tu defeated  Alicia Molik /  Martina Navratilova 7–5, 6–4


2003 DFS Classic – Doubles
Shinobu Asagoe and Els Callens were the defending champions but they competed with different partners that year, Asagoe with Nana Miyagi and Callens with Meilen Tu.


2003 DFS Classic – Doubles
Asagoe and Miyagi lost in the quarterfinals to Rika Fujiwara and Roberta Vinci.


2003 DFS Classic – Doubles
Callens and Tu won in the final 7–5, 6–4 against Alicia Molik and Martina Navratilova.


2003 DFS Classic – Doubles, Seeds
Text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.


2003 DFS Classic – Singles
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by WikiCleanerBot (talk | contribs) at 22:56, 14 June 2020 (v2.02b - Special:LintError/missing-end-tag - WP:WCW project (Missing end bold/italic)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2003 DFS Classic – Singles
Jelena Dokić was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year.


2003 DFS Classic – Singles
Magdalena Maleeva won the title, defeating Shinobu Asagoe in the final 6–1, 6–4.


2003 DFS Classic – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. The top eight seeds received a bye to the second round.


2003 DPR Korea Football League
Statistics of DPR Korea Football League in the 2003 season.


2003 Dacorum Borough Council election
Elections to Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England were held on 1 May 2003. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control after previously relying on the mayor's casting vote for control. Overall turnout was 32.87%.


2003 Daegu FC season
The 2003 season was Daegu F.C. 's first season in the South Korean K-League.


2003 Daegu FC season, Season summary
For its first season, Kim Hak-Cheol was the designated captain, and Daegu brought in two Czech players, Roman Gibala and Jan Kraus for the season. Another import was Turkish player Rahim Zafer, a former Turkish international defender who was in the twilight of his career. Indio transferred in midseason to Daegu from Brazilian club Esporte Clube Santo André. Some of the key Korean foundation players included Lee Sang-il, who had played domestic football in Belgium, and Park Jong-jin who has played all his domestic football with Daegu, bar a two-year spell with Gwangju Sangmu when undertaking his military service.


2003 Daegu FC season, Season summary
Many of the Korean foundation players came to the club via University Football clubs, which meant that Daegu was their first experience of professional football. The K-League structure for 2003 required each team to play 44 matches, making for a long drawn out season. Daegu ultimately finished their first season 11th (out of 12 teams) in the league, winning 7 games, and drawing 16.


2003 Daegu FC season, Season summary
In the 2003 Korean FA Cup, Daegu FC, as participants in the K-League, automatically qualified to the playoff phase (round of 32). However, their wins at this stage of the competition were against National League sides and university club teams. In their quarterfinal match, against their first serious opponent, and fellow K-League club Ulsan Hyundai Horangi, they were knocked out in a 1-nil result.


2003 Daegu FC season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2003 Dakar Rally
The 2003 Dakar Rally, also known as the 2003 Telefónica-Dakar Rally, was the 25th running of the Dakar Rally event. The rally began on 1 January 2003 at Marseille in France and finished at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on 19 January, with the course crossing North Africa.


2003 Dakar Rally
Kenjiro Shinozuka, who won the event in 1997, suffered serious injury in an accident between Ghat and Sabha in Libya. Former world rally champion and four times winner of the Dakar Rally, Ari Vatanen, returned to take part in the rally, and won the ninth, thirteen and fifteen stages French co-driver, Bruno Cauvy died in an accident on the tenth stage when his car went out of control and overturned in sand dunes. Stephane Peterhansel took an early lead in the rally, but was forced out in the penultimate stage by mechanical problems. The rally was won for the second time in succession by Japanese driver, Hiroshi Masuoka. The motorcycle category was won for the third time by Richard Sainct.


2003 Dallas Burn season
The 2003 Dallas Burn season was the eighth season of the Major League Soccer team. It still stands as the worst season in franchise history. It was the only season where the team had the worst record in the entire league. The team's average attendance of 7,906 still stands as the lowest in franchise history. The season saw team management fire head coach Mike Jeffries in September. Colin Clarke took over as interim head coach for the rest of the season.


2003 Dallas Burn season
The 2003 season was played at Dragon Stadium in Southlake, Texas, home of the Southlake Carroll high school football team, featuring black, purple, white and yellow field lines for 5 different sports, on artificial turf. At the Cotton Bowl, the Dallas Burn were known throughout the western hemisphere for having the best pitch in soccer. The inexplicable stadium move decimated the team and their fans. Crowds dwindled below 1000 and the team finished the season with a -29 goal differential.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season
The 2003 Dallas Cowboys season was the 44th season for the team in the National Football League. Coming off three consecutive 5–11 seasons, Dallas hired former New York Giants, New York Jets, and New England Patriots coach Bill Parcells. In a scheduling coincidence, the Cowboys faced all three said teams in the 2003 regular season.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Regular season
Despite the release of team legend Emmitt Smith, the Cowboys' fortunes began to change with the introduction of Parcells as head coach. Parcells began to reshape the team, particularly on offense, with an overhaul of the coaching staff, including former New York Giants offensive coordinator Sean Payton. Parcells retained much of the defensive staff, including defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, and maintained the team's basic 4-3 defense instead of immediately installing the 3-4 defense which was a trademark of all Parcells's prior teams. This proved a wise decision, as the Cowboys finished the season with the top-ranked overall defense.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Regular season
As in his previous stops, Parcells started to rebuild his team through the draft. In his first year in Dallas, Parcells picked future Pro Bowl players cornerback Terence Newman, tight end Jason Witten and future Cowboys defensive captain linebacker Bradie James. One of the biggest rookie acquisitions came via free agency when the team signed undrafted rookie and future franchise quarterback Tony Romo (although that move got little attention for a few years). Also typical of his prior teams, Parcells brought in veteran players who had played for him at his previous coaching stops, signing fullback Richie Anderson and speedy wide receiver Terry Glenn with whom Parcells had a checkered history.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Regular season
Though the Cowboys opened the season with a loss, a dramatic come-from-behind victory the next week against the Giants at New York spurred the team's confidence, particularly in third-year quarterback Quincy Carter. This would be followed by a reunion with Emmitt Smith (now with the Arizona Cardinals) in Dallas. Smith would injure his shoulder early in the game and not return. After starting with a 7–2 record, the Cowboys went 3–4 in the second half of the season including a loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in Foxboro.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Regular season
The game received a lot of hype due to Bill Parcells and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick seemingly strained relationship due to the events following their final season coaching together with the New York Jets. Though the Cowboys finished 10–6 and earned a playoff berth, they lost in the first round to the eventual NFC champions, the Carolina Panthers.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Regular season
The Cowboys ranked first in total defense (253.5 yards per game), third in rushing defense, and second in scoring (16.3 points per game), which helped the team qualify for the playoffs for the first time in the decade. In October, the Cowboys snapped a six-game losing streak to the Philadelphia Eagles (at halftime of the Eagles game, Tex Schramm was posthumously inducted into the club's Ring of Honor).


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Regular season
This turned out to be the final season for long-time (and often Pro Bowl) Cowboys safety Darren Woodson. Woodson represented the last player link to the Jimmy Johnson Cowboys (and to all three Super Bowl teams of the 1990s). Woodson was on the roster the following season (2004) but never saw action due to injury.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 1 vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Parcells era of the Cowboys began inauspiciously in a 27-13 loss to the Falcons at Texas Stadium. With Michael Vick out with injury Doug Johnson started for the Falcons and had two passing touchdowns and a rushing score. Quincy Carter had a touchdown to Joey Galloway and an interception.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 2 at New York Giants
On Monday Night Football Parcells returned to Giants Stadium for the first time since his final year as NY Jets coach and the ensuing game against the NY Giants became a memorable struggle. The Cowboys raced to a 23-7 lead as kicker Billy Cundiff proceeded through a huge day, but the Giants behind Kerry Collins erupted, outscoring the Cowboys 25-12 in the second half; the go-ahead Giants score (a 30-yard Matt Bryant field goal) came with eleven seconds left.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 2 at New York Giants
A penalty on the ensuing kickoff gave Dallas the ball at its own 40 and a 26-yard catch by Antonio Bryant set up Cundiff's sixth field goal of the game, a 52-yarder with no time left. In overtime both teams traded punts before Quincy Carter led the Cowboys to the Giants 6-yard line and Cundiff connected on a seventh field goal and 35-32 win; in that process Cundiff tied Chris Boniol's record from Dallas' 1996 win over the Packers.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 4 at New York Jets
Following their bye week the Cowboys returned to the Meadowlands, this time to face the Jets. The Cowboys rushed for 202 yards and Troy Hambrick and Antonio Bryant touchdowns in the second quarter were enough as the Cowboys won 17-6.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 5 vs. Arizona Cardinals
The Cowboys hosted former NFC East foe Arizona; they limited the Cardinals to 151 total yards and sacked Jeff Blake twice in the endzone for a safety, ultimately winning 24-7. Quincy Carter had 277 yards and two touchdowns.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 6 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles opened with an onside kick and Randal Williams ran it back for a Dallas touchdown, and became the quickest player to score a touchdown in NFL history, in only 3 seconds. From there the Cowboys raced to a 17-7 lead in the third quarter. But by late in the fourth quarter Duce Staley's 52-yard catch from Donovan McNabb and a Correll Buckhalter score put the Eagles up 21-20. Quincy Carter then completed a 19-yard pass to Joey Galloway; two Troy Hambrick runs set up the go-ahead Cowboys field goal with 1:14 to go; the Cowboys then sacked McNabb and he fumbled to Dallas, ending the game a 23-21 Dallas win.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 7 at Detroit Lions
The Cowboys embarrassed the Lions by scoring the game's final 38 points, with a monster day for Quincy Carter and Terry Glenn, who both hooked up for three touchdowns; Mario Edwards then intercepted Joey Harrington and scored. In the end the Cowboys were 38-7 winners and stood at 5-1.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 8 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The embattled Bucs shut out the Cowboys 16-0 as Keyshawn Johnson caught a touchdown while Quincy Carter was intercepted twice.


2003 Dallas Cowboys season, Season summary, Week 10 vs. Buffalo Bills
Bill Parcells faced his once and future quarterback Drew Bledsoe as the 4-4 Bills came to Dallas. Bledsoe managed only two drives ending in field goals while the Cowboys were only slightly better, managing a two-yard Quincy Carter touchdown for the 10-6 Cowboys win.