2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (2) New Jersey Devils vs. (7) Boston Bruins
The Devils defeated the Bruins in five games. In game one, Jamie Langenbrunner scored both New Jersey goals before Boston came within one goal in the third period. New Jersey hung on for a 2–1 win. Jamie Langenbrunner had a goal and two assists in game two to help the Devils achieve a 4–2 victory and a 2–0 series lead. In game three, goalie Martin Brodeur shut out the Bruins, stopping all 29 shots in a 3–0 victory.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (2) New Jersey Devils vs. (7) Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins forced a fifth game on two goals by Dan McGillis as well as two assists provided by Mike Knuble and Brian Rolston in a 5–1 win. The Devils closed out the series in game five with Jamie Langenbrunner scoring twice and Martin Brodeur stopping all 28 shots he faced in a 3–0 win.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (6) Washington Capitals
The Tampa Bay Lightning entered the playoffs for only the second time in their history as the third seed in the Eastern Conference and won the Southeast Division title with 93 points. The Washington Capitals finished sixth overall in the Eastern Conference with 92 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Washington won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (6) Washington Capitals
The Lightning came back from 2–0 down to defeat the Capitals in six games. Robert Lang provided two goals and Olaf Kolzig stopped all 28 shots to give the Capitals a 3–0 victory in game one. Game two saw Jaromir Jagr score two goals and two assists in a 6–3 win for Washington. The Lightning scored three times in game three; each time though Washington tied the score. Finally in overtime, Vincent Lecavalier scored a power-play goal to give Tampa Bay a 4–3 victory.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (6) Washington Capitals
With a chance to tie the series in game four, Martin St. Louis scored twice to help the Lightning earn a 3–1 victory. In game five, St. Louis contributed a goal and an assist to aid the Lightning in a 2–1 win and took a 3–2 series lead. The Capitals tried to avoid elimination in game six by sending the game into overtime, however, St. Louis' power-play goal at 4:03 of the third overtime ended Washington's season despite putting up 61 shots against goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. The Lightning won the game 2–1.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (4) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (5) Toronto Maple Leafs
The Philadelphia Flyers finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 107 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with 98 points. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Philadelphia winning three of the previous four series. They last met in the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, which Toronto won in six games. The teams split this year's four game regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (4) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (5) Toronto Maple Leafs
The Flyers defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games. In game one, Alexander Mogilny scored a hat trick to give Toronto a 5–3 victory. The Flyers responded to the loss with a 4–1 win in game two with John LeClair, Mark Recchi, and Simon Gagne all contributing a goal and an assist. In game three, Toronto came back from an early two-goal deficit to win the game in double overtime on a goal by Tomas Kaberle, his second of the game. Game four showcased a triple overtime game in which Philadelphia nearly doubled the shots Toronto took.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, (4) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (5) Toronto Maple Leafs
On the 75th shot for the Flyers, at 13:54 of the third overtime Mark Recchi scored his second goal of the game to help the Flyers take a 3–2 win. Sami Kapanen scored two power play goals in game five to assist the Flyers in a 4–1 win and took a 3–2 series lead. In game six, Ed Belfour helped Toronto force a seventh game with 35 saves in a double overtime 2–1 victory. The Flyers routed the Maple Leafs in game seven 6–1 with Mark Recchi scoring two goals and an assist and Justin Williams and Claude Lapointe both scoring a goal and two assists.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (1) Dallas Stars vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers
The Dallas Stars finished first in the Western Conference with 111 points. The Edmonton Oilers finished as the eighth seed in the Western Conference with 92 points. This was the sixth playoff meeting within the last seven years and the eighth overall between these two teams; Dallas won five of the previous seven playoff series. They last met in the 2001 Western Conference Quarterfinals which Dallas won in six games. Dallas won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (1) Dallas Stars vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers
In game one, Edmonton scored two goals in the second period 3:48 apart to take the lead and then win the game 2–1. Dallas controlled game two by allowing only 13 shots on goal, and five different players scored in a 6–1 victory including Scott Young who had two goals and an assist. In game three, Edmonton scored three times within 3:05 to take a 3–2 lead early in the third period to win the game. Eric Brewer assisted on two of the goals.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (1) Dallas Stars vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers
The Stars evened the series in game four by scoring 23 seconds apart in the third period taking a 3–1 victory as a result. In game five, Sergei Zubov scored two goals in a 5–2 win for the Stars. Although Edmonton tied the game in the second period after being down two goals, Mike Modano's goal at 13:08 of the third period proved to be the series-winner.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
The Detroit Red Wings finished as the second seed in the Western Conference, winning the Central Division with 110 points. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim finished as the seventh seed with 95 points (losing the tiebreaker with Minnesota in total wins). This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams with Detroit winning both previous series via four-game sweeps. They last met in the 1999 Western Conference Quarterfinals which Detroit won in four games. Detroit won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
For the first time in their history, Anaheim won a series in a four-game sweep. In game one, the score remained tied 1–1 through three periods of play. In the first overtime, Luc Robitaille appeared to score the game-winner with most Detroit players heading down the locker room when replay actually showed the puck hit the crossbar and post but stayed out. Finally in the third overtime, Paul Kariya scored at 3:18 to end the game; Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 63 saves in the 2–1 win for the Mighty Ducks.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Rob Niedermayer had two assists in the Mighty Ducks' 3–2 victory in game two. Detroit almost tied the game in game three cutting the deficit to one goal late in the third period, however the Mighty Ducks would reign victorious in a 2–1 triumph with J.S. Giguere making 36 saves in the process. Anaheim ended Detroit's season in the first overtime of game four on Steve Rucchin's goal. The Red Wings became only the second defending Stanley Cup champions to be swept in four games the following year in a first round series, the other being the 1952 Toronto Maple Leafs.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Colorado Avalanche vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
The Colorado Avalanche finished as the third seed in the Western Conference, winning the Northwest Division with 105 points. The Minnesota Wild finished as the sixth seed in the Western Conference with 95 points (winning the tiebreaker with Anaheim in total wins). This was the Wild's first playoff appearance since joining the League in 2000. This was also the first time since 1992 that an NHL team from Minnesota made the playoffs. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Colorado won this year's four game regular season series earning six of eight points.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Colorado Avalanche vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild came back from a 3–1 deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. In game one, Minnesota scored three goals in the second period, two on the power play, to win the game 4–2. Colorado vanquished the Wild in game two with defenceman Rob Blake assisting twice in a 3–2 victory. Patrick Roy earned his 23rd and final playoff shutout in game three stopping all 18 shots he faced in a 3–0 win for the Avalanche.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Colorado Avalanche vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
In game four, Minnesota Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire replaced goaltender Dwayne Roloson who had given up two goals, both to Joe Sakic, on four shots with Manny Fernandez. The switch did not help the Wild as they fell to the Avalanche in a 3–1 loss. Minnesota gained a 3–0 lead within the first two periods of game five before they had to withstand a comeback by the Avalanche in the third period notching the score within one goal. The Wild forced a sixth game with a 3–2 victory.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (3) Colorado Avalanche vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
Game six was a scoreless affair until the third period in which both teams each scored twice with Greg de Vries scoring the tying goal for the Avalanche with 1:32 left in the third period. In overtime, Richard Park scored his second goal of the game for the Wild to force a seventh game. In game seven, the Avalanche twice had one goal leads before the Wild tied the game a minute and a half later. Finally in overtime, Minnesota completed the comeback with Andrew Brunette's goal to send the Wild to the conference semifinals. This game was also Patrick Roy's last NHL game as he announced his retirement during the offseason.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (4) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) St. Louis Blues
The Vancouver Canucks finished as the fourth seed in the Western Conference with 104 points. The St. Louis Blues finished as the fifth seed in the Western Conference with 99 points. This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous series was during the 1995 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Vancouver won in seven games. Vancouver won this year's four game regular season series earning five of eight points.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (4) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) St. Louis Blues
The Vancouver Canucks became the first team in league history to come back from a 3–1 series deficit for the third time in team history, defeating St. Louis in seven games. In game one, goaltender Chris Osgood stopped all 20 shots and Alexander Khavanov scored twice for the Blues in a 6–0 win. Game two saw both Trent Klatt and Ed Jovanovski score power-play goals for the Canucks in a 2–1 victory. Doug Weight scored twice and added an assist for the Blues' 3–1 win in game three.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals, Western Conference Quarterfinals, (4) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) St. Louis Blues
In game four, Martin Rucinsky scored twice and recorded an assist for the Blues in their 4–1 win against the Canucks. Five players scored in the Canucks' 5–3 victory in game five. Markus Naslund helped the Canucks force a seventh game by scoring a goal and two assists in a 4–3 win in game six. The Canucks finished the comeback in game seven with help from goaltender Dan Cloutier, who made 33 saves and both Trevor Linden and Brendan Morrison scored a goal and an assist in a 4–1 victory.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Ottawa Senators vs. (4) Philadelphia Flyers
This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second overall between these two teams; Ottawa won in the previous year's Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in five games. The teams split this year's four game regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Ottawa Senators vs. (4) Philadelphia Flyers
The Senators defeated the Flyers in six games. In game one, Ottawa came back from a two-goal deficit in the first period to win 4–2. The Flyers shutout the Senators in game two 2–0; goaltender Roman Cechmanek made 33 saves in the effort. In overtime of game three, Wade Redden scored to give the Senators a 3–2 win over the Flyers. Michal Handzus scored the only goal in the Flyers' 1–0 win in game four with Cechmanek stopping all 28 shots he faced. In game five, Marian Hossa had two assists in the Senators 5–2 victory. In game six, Ottawa limited the Flyers to just one goal while the Senators themselves laid five goals on Philadelphia each from different players. Ottawa won the game 5–1 and advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time in their history.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) New Jersey Devils vs. (3) Tampa Bay Lightning
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's four-game regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) New Jersey Devils vs. (3) Tampa Bay Lightning
The Devils defeated the Lightning in five games. In game one, Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur stopped all 15 shots he faced in a 3–0 win. Although the Lightning led twice in game two, the Devils were able to tie the score twice and in overtime Jamie Langenbrunner's goal at 2:09 gave New Jersey a 3–2 victory. In game three, Tampa Bay built a 3–0 lead in the first period until New Jersey tied it up in the second period. In the third period, Dave Andreychuk scored the game-winning goal for the Lightning; Tampa Bay won 4–3.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) New Jersey Devils vs. (3) Tampa Bay Lightning
Scott Gomez scored a goal and an assist for the Devils in their 3–1 victory over the Lightning in game four. After the teams each scored once in the first period of game five, neither team scored for four consecutive periods, including two overtime periods. Finally at 11:12 of the third overtime, Grant Marshall scored the series winner for the Devils in a 2–1 victory.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (1) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Dallas won three of the five games in this year's regular season series. Game one is the fourth longest playoff game in NHL history.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (1) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
The Mighty Ducks defeated the Stars in six games. In game one, Anaheim gained a 3–1 lead midway through the second period, until Dallas tied the score with 2:47 left in the third period. After four scoreless overtime periods, Petr Sykora scored 48 seconds into the fifth overtime to give the Mighty Ducks a 4–3 victory. Sykora continued his point streak in game two, assisting on all three goals in a 3–2 overtime win for Anaheim. Jere Lehtinen scored twice for Dallas in game three, closing out a 2–1 win on Marty Turco's 31-save performance.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (1) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
In game four, J.S. Giguere stopped all 28 shots he faced and Mike Leclerc scored the only goal in a 1–0 affair for the Mighty Ducks. The Dallas Stars stayed alive in game five, forcing a sixth game with two goals from Niko Kapanen. In game six, the Mighty Ducks closed out the series and were able to move onto the Conference Finals on Sandis Ozolinsh's goal which gave Anaheim a 4–3 lead with 1:06 left in the third period.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (4) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. The teams split this year's five-game regular season series. Both teams had come off of 3–1 comebacks in the first round, and fittingly enough, the same thing happened in this series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (4) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild became the first team in NHL history to come back from being down 3–1 twice in one playoff season to win both series in seven games. In game one, Markus Naslund and Trent Klatt each had a goal an assist in Vancouver's 4–3 victory. Minnesota tied the series in game two via Pascal Dupuis's two assists and Marian Gaborik's goal and assist. In game three, Markus Naslund assisted on two of Vancouver's goals. Brent Sopel scored the game-winner in overtime in game four as the Canucks took a 3–1 series lead.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (4) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Minnesota Wild
Minnesota began their comeback in game five outscoring Vancouver 7–2 with Cliff Ronning scoring two of those goals. Minnesota continued to outscore Vancouver into game six, with Ronning assisting thrice on the Wild's 5–1 effort. In game seven, Vancouver took a 2–0 lead midway through the second period, however, Minnesota's three goals in the third period sealed their fate. Minnesota won the game 4–2 and moved onto the Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Final, (1) Ottawa Senators vs. (2) New Jersey Devils
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous series was during the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals which Ottawa won in six games. Ottawa won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Final, (1) Ottawa Senators vs. (2) New Jersey Devils
The Devils defeated the Senators in seven games after giving up a 3–1 series lead. After giving up a 2–0 lead in game one, the Senators won in overtime on Shaun Van Allen's goal giving Ottawa a 3–2 win. In game two, Jay Pandolfo scored a goal and an assist to help the Devils win 4–1. Game three was a low-scoring affair as Sergei Brylin had the only goal in the Devils' 1–0 victory; Martin Brodeur stopped all 24 shots he faced.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Final, (1) Ottawa Senators vs. (2) New Jersey Devils
New Jersey scored three times in the third period to take game four 5–2 and extend their home winning streak to eight games. Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist during game five in the Senators' 3–1 victory forcing a sixth game. In overtime of game six, both teams were deadlocked at one goal each until Chris Phillips scored the game-winner for the Senators becoming the fourth team this season to force a seventh game after facing a 3–1 series deficit.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Final, (1) Ottawa Senators vs. (2) New Jersey Devils
In game seven, Ottawa scored the first goal, but Jamie Langenbrunner, who did not score a goal in this series up until this game, scored twice in the second period. Ottawa tied it up early in the third period on Radek Bonk's goal. The game looked like it was going into overtime, until Jeff Friesen of the Devils gave New Jersey the lead with 2:14 left in the third period. New Jersey hung on for a 3–2 victory, moving onto the Stanley Cup Finals for the fourth time in franchise history, and avoiding the same fates as St. Louis, Colorado, and Vancouver.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Final, (6) Minnesota Wild vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first Western Conference Final since 1994 to not feature either the Detroit Red Wings or Colorado Avalanche. This was the first Conference Finals appearance for both teams; the Mighty Ducks made the Conference Finals in their tenth season, while the Wild did so in their third season; the teams entered the NHL in 1993 and 2000, respectively. Anaheim won this year's four-game regular season series earning five of eight points.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Final, (6) Minnesota Wild vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Anaheim earned their second four-game sweep this playoffs season. Anaheim also only allowed one goal in the four games they played against Minnesota setting an NHL record for the fewest goals allowed by one team in a playoff series. In game one, Petr Sykora scored the only goal of the game in the second overtime period. Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped all 39 shots he faced. Kurt Sauer and Rob Niedermayer both scored short-handed goals in game two as the Mighty Ducks shut out the Wild again, this time 2–0.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Final, (6) Minnesota Wild vs. (7) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Paul Kariya scored twice in game three, and J.S. Giguere shut out the Wild for the third time this series, stopping 35 shots, bringing his total consecutive shutout time to 213 minutes and 17 seconds. Determined to score, Minnesota got on the board for the first time since game seven of the Conference Semifinals when Andrew Brunette scored on a power-play. However, Anaheim followed up by scoring two power-play goals themselves, both by Adam Oates. The score remained 2–1 as the Mighty Ducks moved onto the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their history.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals
This was the first playoff series between these two teams. New Jersey made their fourth appearance in the Finals, they last made the Finals in 2001, where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Anaheim made their first Finals appearance in their tenth season since entering the league in 1993–94. New Jersey won both games during this year's two-game regular season series.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals
This was only the third time in NHL history and the first time since 1965 that the home team won all the games in the Stanley Cup finals.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Player statistics
There was a tie for the playoff point lead between Jamie Langenbrunner and Scott Niedermayer, both of the New Jersey Devils and both with 18 points. Langenbrunner led the playoffs with 11 goals and Niedermayer led the playoffs with 16 assists. The 18 points to lead the playoffs was the lowest total since the 1968–69 season.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Player statistics, Skaters
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Player statistics, Goaltending
These are the top six goaltenders based on either goals against average or save percentage with at least four games played.


2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, Player statistics, Goaltending
GP = Games Played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic
The 2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States that was part of the Tier II category of the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the fourth and last edition of the tournament and ran from February 25 through March 2, 2003. Unseeded Ai Sugiyama won the singles title and earned $93,000 first-prize money.


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic, Finals, Doubles
Kim Clijsters /  Ai Sugiyama defeated  Lindsay Davenport /  Lisa Raymond 6–1, 6–4


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic – Doubles
Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs were the defending champions, but competed this year with different partners.


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic – Doubles
Stubbs teamed up with Meghann Shaughnessy and lost in semifinals to Lindsay Davenport and Lisa Raymond.


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic – Doubles
Raymond teamed up with Lindsay Davenport and lost in the final to champions Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama. The score was 6–1, 6–4.


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic – Singles
Serena Williams was the defending champion, but was forced to withdraw due to a left knee tendonitis.


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic – Singles
Ai Sugiyama won the title by defeating Kim Clijsters 3–6, 7–5, 6–4 in the final.


2003 State Farm Women's Tennis Classic – Singles, Seeds
The first four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2003 State of Origin series
The 2003 State of Origin series was the 22nd year that the annual three-game series between Queensland and New South Wales was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. Queensland's return to a renovated Lang Park was soured when Andrew Johns returned to form for New South Wales in devastating fashion.


2003 State of Origin series
Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in television promotions for the 2003 series. Blues coach Phil Gould sparked controversy before the series had even started when he slammed the form of his champion half-back Johns in his Sun-Herald column. Gould claimed that Johns had lost his "self-confidence" in an attack that caused outrage from all corners, including Johns himself, who had words with Gould at a pre-Origin briefing. But in the end it was psychology that worked, as 2003 was Johns' best ever series performance.


2003 State of Origin series, Game I
In Game I, Andrew Johns spoiled what was supposed to be a party time for the Queenslanders, who returned to their spiritual home of Suncorp Stadium formerly known as Lang Park. The ground was quickly nicknamed the "Sand Pit" as its sandy surface was constantly shifting under the feet of players. Both Maroons centres Justin Hodges and Paul Bowman, were taken from the field with serious knee injuries which were later blamed on the shifting surface.


2003 State of Origin series, Game I
The Blues pack led by interchange prop Luke Bailey, hammered their Maroons counterparts and gave Johns plenty of room to weave his magic. Johns contributed 13 points to the tally while Anthony Minichiello scored a try double.


2003 State of Origin series, Game II
The series was virtually decided by half-time of game II after the Blues raced to a 17–0 lead. Johns was again the catalyst starting the scoring with a brilliant banana kick that rebounded off the cross bar, went through the hands of Michael De Vere and fell to the ground before Ben Kennedy pounced.


2003 State of Origin series, Game II
There was no greater example of the brilliant halfback's influence than the last minute before the break. Johns kicked for touch from a 20-metre restart, then after winning the ensuing scrum, hoisted a bomb high into the air which was contested before being batted back into his hands. Without a second thought and while on the run, he potted a 25-metre field goal with ease.


2003 State of Origin series, Game II
The final score was 27–4 to the Blues who remained unbeaten from seven matches on their home turf of Telstra Stadium.


2003 State of Origin series, Game III
Game III, a "dead rubber", restored some much needed pride for the Maroons who dominated the Blues in every facet of the game. Winger Matt Sing was superb, scoring three tries in a man-of-the match performance.


2003 State of Origin series, Game III
Queensland started with a new-found zest and led 16-0 after just 17 minutes before strangling the Blues out of the contest. Johns was forced to accept the shield in front of an almost empty stadium after Queensland had completed a lap of honour. It was an anticlimactic end to what had been the gifted number seven's best ever series. Queensland's dead rubber win equalled their biggest ever State of Origin victory, which was first equalled in 1989, and then again in 2008, before it was broken in the third game of the 2015 series.


2003 State of Origin series, Teams
A total of twelve players from the 2003 Brisbane Broncos season were selected to play in the series, making them the most heavily represented club. A total of nine players from the 2003 Sydney Roosters season were selected to play in the series, making them the second most heavily represented club.


2003 State of the Union Address
The 2003 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on Tuesday, January 28, 2003, at 9 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 108th United States Congress. It was Bush's second State of the Union Address and his third speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, accompanied by Dick Cheney, the vice president, in his capacity as the president of the Senate.


2003 State of the Union Address
It outlined justifications for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It began his discussion of the "war on terror" by asserting, as he had before September 11, 2001, that "the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons."


2003 State of the Union Address
Saddam Hussein was the worst, and "a brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealth, will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States." In this context, Bush also said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa," a line which became a source of contention in the later Plame affair. The domestic brutality of Hussein and the benefits of liberty and freedom for the Iraqi people were briefly noted near the end of the speech.


2003 State of the Union Address
He began with, "In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be confident. In a whirlwind of change and hope and peril, our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong." In the middle of the speech, he said, "In Afghanistan, we helped liberate an oppressed people. And we will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society, and educate all their children — boys and girls." He ended with, "Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." He spoke to the 108th United States Congress.


2003 State of the Union Address
Just before the President addressed Iraq in the speech, he spent five paragraphs addressing his initiative to fight AIDS in Africa.


2003 State of the Union Address
The Democratic response was given by then Washington Governor Gary Locke, who was appointed to be United States Ambassador to China in 2011.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash
On October 15, 2003, at 3:21 p.m., the Staten Island Ferry vessel Andrew J. Barberi crashed full-speed into a concrete maintenance pier at the St. George Terminal in Upper New York Bay. Eleven people were killed and 70 injured, some critically. Pilot Richard J. Smith and New York City ferry director Patrick Ryan pleaded guilty and were jailed for seaman's manslaughter – Smith was piloting under impairment from painkillers, and Ryan failed to enforce the city rule requiring two pilots in the wheelhouse during docking.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Accident
The 310-foot (94 m) ferry was at the end of its 5-mile (8 km), 25-minute trip from South Ferry, Manhattan to St. George, Staten Island. On board were approximately 1,500 passengers, one-quarter of the maximum capacity of 6,000. Winds were heavy that afternoon, with gusts of more than 40 mph (64 km/h). The water in New York Harbor was described as "very choppy".


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Accident
Instead of docking, the ferry angled away from its berth and collided with a concrete maintenance pier. The pier ripped into the ferry's starboard side and tore into the boat's main deck where many passengers were crowding forward to disembark. The accident left a number of victims trapped in a pile of metal, glass, and splintered wood, while other passengers jumped overboard. The ferry's hull on the Staten Island end sustained significant damage, including the destruction of bulkheads, support frames and support columns along the starboard side.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Fatalities and injuries
Ten people were killed, plus an eleventh person who died two months after the accident from injuries sustained during the collision, and 70 others were injured in the accident, including several who lost limbs. All the fatalities and most of the injuries were to passengers on the main deck; some passengers on the upper decks were injured during the crowd's panic, and many were treated for shock. The deaths included a survivor of the September 11 attacks and a woman who was placed in a drug-induced coma for two months after the accident. Paul Esposito, a 24-year-old waiter, had both legs severed below the knee. His life was saved by Kerry Griffiths, a sightseeing 34-year-old pediatric nurse from England, who applied tourniquets.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
The ferry's pilot, Richard J. Smith, fled the scene and was found shortly afterwards at home. Smith had tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists and shooting himself in the chest twice with a pellet gun. He was taken to the same hospital where victims of the accident were being treated.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
It was later determined that Smith had lost consciousness while at the ship's controls. He had taken the painkillers tramadol and Tylenol PM, both of which can cause drowsiness as a side effect. The city rules required two pilots to be present during docking, but this rule had not been enforced by the management of the ferry service, and Smith was the only pilot in the wheelhouse at the time.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
A total of five people were charged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Smith was charged with eleven counts of seaman's manslaughter as well as making false statements in his medical report when applying to the U.S. Coast Guard for a renewal of his pilot's license. His doctor, William Tursi, was charged for lying on the same report. The city's ferry director, Patrick Ryan, was also charged with seaman's manslaughter and making false statements arising from his failure to enforce the two-pilot rule. Michael J. Gansas, the ferry's captain, was charged with lying to investigators. John Mauldin, the port captain, was charged with obstruction of justice and lying to investigators; he falsely claimed that information regarding the two-pilot rule had been distributed to employees.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
On August 4, 2004, Smith pleaded guilty to seaman's manslaughter. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison on January 10, 2006. New York's former city ferry director, Patrick Ryan, who had also pleaded guilty to seaman's manslaughter, was sentenced to a year and a day.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
The accident resulted in 191 civil lawsuits against the City, leading to more than $90 million in settlements to victims and their families. Structural repairs cost $6.9 million for the boat and $1.4 million for the pier.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
The crash was at first said by New York City to be an Act of God, with attorneys arguing that the Department of Transportation should not be held responsible for the crash, an argument that disturbed many survivors and New York City residents. City attorneys, citing a 19th-century maritime law, would later argue that the total amount of damages sought against the city should not exceed the $14.4 million value of the ferryboat.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
On February 26, 2007, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman rejected this argument and held that the city could not cap damages, writing: "The city's failure to provide a second pilot or otherwise adopt a reasonable practice that addresses the issue of pilot incapacitation was plainly a substantial factor in causing the disaster."


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
Despite these rulings and a similar, independent federal probation report by officer Tony Garoppolo into the culpability of the ferry service's upper management, in which he viewed "the lion's share of culpability in this case as resting with the high level management of the Ferry Service", no other employees of the New York City Department of Transportation were prosecuted.


2003 Staten Island Ferry crash, Aftermath
On May 8, 2010, the same boat was involved in another crash, due to a mechanical failure. The impact caused 37 injuries, one of which was serious.


2003 Stavropol train bombing
The 2003 Stavropol train bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on 5 December 2003, in Yessentuki, Stavropol Krai, Russia, when an explosion on a commuter train killed at least 46 people and injured over 170 more.


2003 Stavropol train bombing
A regional electric train in Stavropol Krai was commuting from Kislovodsk to Mineralnye Vody in Stavropol Krai, when a suicide bomber armed with explosives equivalent to an estimated 7 kilograms (15 pounds) worth of TNT detonated as the train departed from the station in Yessentuki.


2003 Stavropol train bombing
Responsibility for the attack was immediately pointed at Chechen terrorists, who had committed previous attacks on trains on the line shortly before, including one on September 3, 2003, killing 7 and injuring more than 80. Ibragim Israpilov, a former local official from Chechnya, was convicted in 2004 for organizing the September blast and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. He is sometimes erroneously reported as being behind the December 5 bombing. Another series of suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks in and around Chechnya and Moscow also occurred in 2003, which added to suspicion.


2003 Stavropol train bombing
As of December 2009, there were no arrests or convictions for the Yessentuki attack.


2003 Stella Artois Championships
The 2003 Stella Artois Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Queen's Club in London in the United Kingdom. The event was part of the International Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. It was the 101st edition of the tournament and was held from 9 June until 15 June 2003. Third-seeded Andy Roddick won the singles title.


2003 Stella Artois Championships, Finals, Doubles
Mark Knowles /  Daniel Nestor defeated  Mahesh Bhupathi /  Max Mirnyi 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)


2003 Stella Artois Championships – Doubles
Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett were the defending champions but lost in the second round to Xavier Malisse and André Sá.


2003 Stella Artois Championships – Doubles
Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor won in the final 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(7–3) against Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi.


2003 Stella Artois Championships – Doubles, Seeds
All eight seeded teams received byes into the second round.


2003 Stella Artois Championships – Singles
Lleyton Hewitt was the defending champion but lost in the quarterfinals to Sébastien Grosjean.


2003 Stella Artois Championships – Singles
Andy Roddick won in the final 6–3, 6–4 against Grosjean.


2003 Stella Artois Championships – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds received a bye to the second round.


2003 Stevenage Borough Council election
Elections to Stevenage Council in Hertfordshire, England were held on 1 May 2003. One third of the council was up for election; the seats of the candidates who finished first in each ward in the all-out election of 1999. The Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council, as had been predicted before the election. Overall turnout was 52.2%.


2003 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
The 26th Stinkers Bad Movie Awards were released by the Hastings Bad Cinema Society in 2004 to honour the worst films the film industry had to offer in 2003. The Cat in the Hat received the most nominations with twelve. All nominees and winners, with respective percentages of votes for each category, are listed below. Dishonourable mentions are also featured for Worst Picture (56 total).


2003 Stock Car Brasil season
The 2003 Stock Car Brasil was the 27th Stock Car Brasil season. It began on March 23 at the Curitiba and ended on November 30 at Interlagos, after twelve rounds.


2003 Stock Car Brasil season, Teams and drivers
All cars used Chevrolet Vectra Stock Car chassis. All drivers were Brazilian-registered.


2003 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council election
Elections to Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 1 May 2003. One third of the council was up for election. The council remained in no overall control and this was the last Stockport local elections before the ward boundary changes came into effect for the 2004 local elections.


2003 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election
The 2003 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Stratford-on-Avon District Council in Warwickshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.


2003 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election, Campaign
Before the election the Conservatives were one seats short of having a majority on the council with 26 seats, as compared to 22 for the Liberal Democrats, 2 Labour and 3 independents. 16 seats were contested in the election with the Liberal Democrats defending the most seats.


2003 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election, Campaign
Council tax levels were the major issue in the election with the Liberal Democrats attacking plans for a 58% increase, which they said was mostly due to waste and poor decisions by the council. However the Conservatives defended the rise, blaming it on an insufficient grant from the national government and on the previous Liberal Democrat administration for using cash balances to keep levels artificially low. The election also saw four independent candidates standing in Stratford wards in opposition to the council tax rise.


2003 Stratford-on-Avon District Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives regain control of the council, after the election saw 5 seats changes hands. They made a net gain of 1 seat at the expense of Labour who were reduced to only 1 seat on the council after losing in Southam ward. The election in Stratford Avenue and New Town saw the closest result with independent Keith Lloyd, standing in protest at council tax levels, defeating Liberal Democrat Bill Lowe by 1 vote. However the Liberal Democrats ended with the same number of seats, with their 2 gains including a surprise win in Stockton and Napton. Turnout in the election varied from a low of 27% to a high of 51%, but overall fell from 45% in 2002 to only 35%. This was despite including 3,000 voters who had used a trial e-voting internet system.


2003 Stroud District Council election
The 2003 Stroud Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Stroud District Council in Gloucestershire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.


2003 Subway 400
The 2003 Subway 400 was the second stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on February 23, in Rockingham, North Carolina at North Carolina Speedway. 40,000 spectators attended the event. Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett won the 393-lap race starting from the ninth position. Kurt Busch of Roush Racing finished in second, and his teammate Matt Kenseth third.


2003 Subway 400
Dave Blaney won the first pole position of his career by posting the fastest lap in qualifying. He led the first eight laps before Mark Martin passed him on lap nine. Ricky Craven took the lead eight laps later, which he lost to Rusty Wallace on lap 27. Wallace led four times for a total of 182 laps, more than any other driver. On lap 220, Busch became the leader, holding the position for a total of four times over 149 laps. He was passed by Jarrett on the 384th lap. Busch retook the position five laps later before Jarrett reclaimed first place on lap 390. He maintained it for the rest of the race to win. There were seven yellow caution flags and twenty lead changes among eleven different drivers.


2003 Subway 400
It was Jarrett's second victory at North Carolina Speedway, and the 31st of his career. The result advanced him from tenth to second in the Drivers' Championship, 31 points behind Busch. The latter took the points lead after Michael Waltrip finished in 19th place; this dropped Waltrip to fifth, 15 points behind Martin. The lead of the Manufacturers' Championship changed from Chevrolet to Ford. Pontiac passed Dodge for third with 34 races left in the season.


2003 Subway 400, Background
The 2003 Subway 400 was the second of thirty-six scheduled stock car races of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on February 23, in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway. The Winston Cup Series first came to North Carolina Speedway late in the 1965 season and it hosted two events on the series calendar. The track at North Carolina Speedway is a 1.017 mi (1.637 km) four-turn D-shaped oval. Its turns are banked between 22 and 25 degrees; both the front stretch and the back stretch are banked at eight degrees.


2003 Subway 400, Background
Before the race, Michael Waltrip led the Drivers' Championship with 185 points, with Kurt Busch in second place with 170 points. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick were third and fourth with 170 and 160 points respectively. Mark Martin in fifth had 155 points. Rounding out the top ten were Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Wallace, and Dale Jarrett. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet led with nine points, three points ahead of Ford in the second position. Third-placed Dodge, with four points, was one point ahead of Pontiac in fourth. Matt Kenseth was the race's defending champion.


2003 Subway 400, Background
The Subway 400 was the first round of the 2003 season to be held without the use of restrictor plates. NASCAR retained a regulation it instituted at the season-opening Daytona 500 held one week earlier. A race slowed by a yellow caution flag with five or fewer laps to run would not recommence.


2003 Subway 400, Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were scheduled before the Sunday race—one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 120 minutes, and the final two sessions were due to run for 45 and 40 minutes, respectively. Wind, rain and a tornado alert cancelled the Saturday morning practice sessions. In the first practice session, Ryan Newman was the fastest driver with a lap of 23.525 seconds. Ken Schrader, Joe Nemechek, Martin, Busch, Jerry Nadeau, Mike Skinner, Ward Burton, Mayfield and Jamie McMurray were in positions two to ten. A forecast of rain later on Friday caused teams to concentrate on race setup during practice.


2003 Subway 400, Practice and qualifying
A total of 43 drivers entered the qualifying session on Friday afternoon. Each driver ran two timed laps to determine pole position to 36th. The remainder of the field qualified through the use of provisionals. Rain delayed qualifying for an hour and 15 minutes; because some teams concentrated on car setups, it created a mixed starting order. In his 113th race, Dave Blaney took his first career pole position, with a time of 23.669 seconds, and Jasper Motorsports' first since the 1994 season. He was joined on the grid's front row by Johnny Benson Jr., who was two-hundredths of a second slower. Martin qualified third, Sterling Marlin fourth, and Bill Elliott fifth. Ricky Craven, McMurray, Wallace, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top ten qualifiers.


2003 Subway 400, Practice and qualifying
During the session, a fuel line detached from Newman's carburetor on his first lap. Nadeau lost control of his car during his second lap. Jeff Burton set no qualifying lap due to a pirouette after he spun his rear tires, and had an accident against a barrier. Once qualifying had concluded, Blaney said, "This was a new type of car and we hadn't done any testing with it. We didn't know what to expect. But it was really good from the start. Winning the pole only made it better."


2003 Subway 400, Race
The 393-lap race commenced at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and was televised live in the United States on Fox. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny and cold with blustery winds; the ambient temperature ranged between 54–55 °F (12–13 °C) and the track temperature at 78 °F (26 °C). Jim Ritter, pastor of the Marston Baptist Church in Marston, North Carolina, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Members of the ECU and the Carolina Marching Band performed the national anthem, and the race's sponsor spokesperson Clay Henry commanded the drivers to start their engines. Jet dryers were deployed to clean the track and remove paper debris. NASCAR announced a competition caution would occur on lap 45 due to the previous day's rainfall, meaning drivers would be required to make mandatory pit stops to evaluate their car's performance.


2003 Subway 400, Race
Blaney led the opening eight laps before Martin passed him on the ninth lap. Jeff Gordon made contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car on the 12th lap, pushing a chunk of sheet metal into Earnhardt's front-left tire, and causing it to rub onto it. On lap 17, Craven passed Martin to take the lead. McMurray and Nemechek made contact with each other around the 23rd lap, causing the latter's right front fender to detach, possibly from the collision. Craven lost the first position to Rusty Wallace on the 27th lap.


2003 Subway 400, Race
Six laps later, Tony Raines cut a tire and collided with a wall; series officials did not wave a yellow caution flag. It later came on the 44th lap as Earnhardt's left-rear tire burst. During the caution, Earnhardt made five pit stops since his vehicle had a rubber strip lodged in its front left rotor and possibly the suspension. Additionally, Gordon damaged his car's right-front corner against the pit barrier. Rusty Wallace continued to lead the field at the lap 55 restart. Todd Bodine cut his right front tire on lap 88, and collided with a barrier exiting turn two, bringing out the second caution.


2003 Subway 400, Race
The caution remained out for five laps. Kyle Petty and Martin led one and three laps, respectively. Rusty Wallace led the field back to racing speeds at the restart on the 93rd lap. On lap 107, Jack Sprague hit the rear of Kenny Wallace's vehicle leaving the second turn. Kenny Wallace spun towards the outside pit road wall, and damaged the right front of his car, prompting the third caution.


2003 Subway 400, Race
The five-lap caution had Rusty Wallace retain the first position; he continued to pace the field as Earnhardt, on lap 122, hit the left rear of Nadeau's vehicle and caused the latter to spin. Mayfield slowed in response and John Andretti struck his car, triggering the fourth caution. Martin led from the 124th to 126th laps. Green flag racing resumed on the 127th lap with Rusty Wallace leading; he maintained it for the next 48 laps. A fifth caution came out when Earnhardt spun on lap 174; Stewart hit the rear of Petty's slower car, causing damage to both of Stewart's front fenders.


2003 Subway 400, Race
Martin took the lead on lap 175 and held it at the resumption of racing on lap 178. Rusty Wallace overtook Martin for first place on lap 179. Busch passed Rusty Wallace for the first position on the 220th lap. During laps 240 and 252, several teams elected to make green-flag pit stops. Busch maintained the first position during this period and at the lap 253 restart. Kenseth took the lead on lap 255. He held it until Marlin took the position and led laps 258 to 260 before Busch returned to first place. On lap 275, the sixth caution came out as Earnhardt spun again. Mayfield was possibly hit by Jeff Burton and stalled after contact with a wall. Kurt Busch maintained the first position at the lap 292 restart and the next seven laps.


2003 Subway 400, Race
On lap 298, Gordon hit the rear of Earnhardt's car, sending him spinning into the frontstretch grass, and causing the final caution. The majority of drivers made pit stops during the caution. Labonte moved into the lead on lap 300 and led at the lap 303 restart. Jeff Burton passed Labonte to assume the lead on the next lap. Six laps later, Busch got ahead of Jeff Burton to retake the first position.


2003 Subway 400, Race
During the last 30 laps, Busch and second-placed Jarrett negotiated slower traffic, as Busch led for much of that period in time and Jarrett was close by him. On lap 383, Jarrett drew alongside Busch and provided him with little space between his car and the backstretch wall. Busch lost control of his car and Jarrett advanced to first place on the 384th lap. Jarrett was delayed by Sprague's lapped car on lap 387. Busch then overtook Jarrett to move into first place on the outside two laps later.


2003 Subway 400, Race
Jarrett retook the lead on lap 390, making the pass on the approach to turn four. Busch was unable to continue the challenge for the victory because he had worn out his rear tires in the process. Jarrett held the first position through slower traffic during the last four laps to claim his second win at North Carolina Speedway, and the 31st of his career. This extended Jarrett's run of winning at least one race every year to eleven. Busch finished second, Kenseth third, Craven fourth, and McMurray fifth.


2003 Subway 400, Race
Rusty Wallace, Martin, Johnson, Elliott Sadler and Blaney rounded out the top ten finishers. There were a total of seven yellow caution flags, lasting a cumulative total of 46 laps. There were 20 lead changes; 11 drivers lead at least one lap during the race. Rusty Wallace's 182 laps lead was the most of any competitor. Jarrett led twice for a total of nine laps.


2003 Subway 400, Race, Post-race
Jarrett appeared in Victory Lane to celebrate his 31st career win in front of the crowd of 40,000 people; the win earned him $167,050. Sadler tested at the track beforehand and provided Jarrett with a suspension setup for his teammate's car. Jarrett's crew chief Brad Parrott stated the close collaboration between the two would help Robert Yates Racing achieve more success during the year. Jarrett also dedicated the victory to the "older generation" and said he was confident he could challenge them, "Those [young] guys are really talented and are getting some well-deserved attention.


2003 Subway 400, Race, Post-race
But [the veterans are] giving them a race, and I think that we can." Busch commented on his second consecutive second-place finish of 2003: "This one is much more difficult to swallow than the [Daytona] race. We had a great run today. I'm real upset we didn't win. I would have loved to have gotten off to Victory Lane so early in the year." Third-placed Kenseth said he was happy with the work his team put in for the event and hailed his car's performance, "I'm real happy finishing third. I think we had a car that definitely could have contended for the win, we were just a little too far behind on the last restart and was a little too loose that last run to be able to get up there, but it was a great day for us."


2003 Subway 400, Race, Post-race
Rusty Wallace described his car as "a damn bullet" when he was leading and said, "About three-quarters of the way through the race, I could see the track getting real black. I had the thing really turning good. It just got too free on me. It got so loose you could hardly touch the throttle." Earnhardt said he acknowledged Jeff Gordon's car hitting him was unintentional; he described his car's handling afterward as causing tire damage and rubbing that caused its failure, "The car would just get loose, really loose.


2003 Subway 400, Race, Post-race
It would just snap out from under me, and that's why I spun a couple of times. It felt to me like it was going to crash or spin out on every lap." McMurray said he believed his fifth-place result increased his confidence with his crew chief Donnie Wingo, "I think it makes me feel good. I had to work with three crew chiefs last year. Coming in I didn't even know Donnie (Wingo). I was a little bit nervous about that, and (journalists) would just tear me up if I didn't do well."


2003 Subway 400, Race, Post-race
The result promoted Busch to the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 345 points. Jarrett's victory advanced him from tenth to second as he had a total of 314 points. Johnson maintained the third position with 312 points, as Martin moved to fourth with 306 points. Waltrip dropped to fifth, and Kenseth stood in sixth place. Burton, Craven, Stewart were seventh to ninth. Harvick, Rusty Wallace, and Rudd tied for tenth position. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford took the lead with 15 points, three points ahead of Chevrolet in the second position. Pontiac, with nine points, was one point in front of Dodge in fourth place with thirty-four races left in the season. The race took three hours, 23 minutes and 29 seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 0.966 seconds.


2003 Sudirman Cup
The 2003 Sudirman Cup was the 8th tournament of the World Mixed Team Badminton Championships of Sudirman Cup. It was held from March 18 to March 23, 2003 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. South Korea won in this eighth edition of the championship against China in the final 3–1.


2003 Sudirman Cup, Host city selection
International Badminton Federation decided to split the IBF World Championships and the Sudirman Cup as separate tournaments starting from 2003. Canada, China, England, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands were the countries interested in hosting the tournaments. Netherlands later announced as host for the first standalone Sudirman Cup tournament.


2003 Suffolk Coastal District Council election
All of the 55 Councillor seats for Suffolk Coastal were up for election on Thursday 3 May 2003. This was held on the same day as other local council elections across England. The elections were held after boundary changes.


2003 Sugar Bowl
The 2003 Sugar Bowl, a 2002–03 BCS game, was played on January 1, 2003. This 69th edition to the Sugar Bowl featured the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Florida State Seminoles. Georgia came into the game 12–1 and ranked 3rd in the BCS, whereas Florida State came into the game 9–4 and ranked 14th in the BCS.


2003 Sugar Bowl
Kicker Billy Bennett kicked a 23-yard field goal with 10 minutes left in the opening quarter to account for the quarter's only points. In the second quarter, FSU quarterback Fabian Walker threw a 5-yard slant pass to Anquan Boldin as FSU took a 7–3 lead. Florida State was driving again in the second quarter before cornerback Bruce Thornton stepped in front of a Walker pass and raced 73 yards to the opposite end zone, to give Georgia a 10–7 lead. Quarterback D.J. Shockley threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Edwards before halftime to give the Bulldogs a 17–7 half time lead.


2003 Sugar Bowl
Billy Bennett accounted for two more Georgia field goals in the third quarter, as Georgia posted a 23–7 lead. On the final play of the third quarter, wide receiver Anquan Boldin (who had replaced quarterback Fabian Walker) threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Craphonso Thorpe. The ensuing two-point conversion failed, and the lead was 23–13. Billy Bennett kicked another field goal in the fourth quarter, as Georgia held off Florida State. Georgia's running back Musa Smith won the MVP award.


2003 Sugar Bowl
The Seminoles defensive tackle Darnell Dockett was suspended from the game after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge.


2003 Sugar Bowl, Aftermath
Georgia completed the season 13–1. They ranked #3 in both major polls. Florida State finished the season 9–5 and #21/#24 in the polls.


2003 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
The 2003 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was the 12th edition of field hockey tournament the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.


2003 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 48 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 4 goals per match.


2003 Sultan of Selangor Cup
The 2003 Sultan of Selangor Cup was played on 29 March 2003, at Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor.


2003 Sultan of Selangor Cup, Veterans
A match between veterans of two teams are also held in the same day before the real match starts as a curtain raiser.


2003 Summer Universiade
The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea.


2003 Summer Universiade, Sports
Events in a total of twelve sports were contested at this Universiade.


2003 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2003 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 7–11 at E. A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky.


2003 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The top-seed in the East division Western Kentucky defeated West division #2 seed Middle Tennessee in the championship game, 64–52, to win their fifth Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.


2003 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The Hilltoppers, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Tournament as the #13 seed in the West region. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.


2003 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
All eleven participating Sun Belt members were seeded based on regular season conference records, with the five highest-seeded teams were awarded byes into the quarterfinal round while the six lowest-seeded teams entered the bracket in the preliminary first round.


2003 Sun Belt Conference football season
The 2003 Sun Belt Conference football season was an NCAA football season that was played from August 28, 2003, to January 6, 2003.


2003 Sun Bowl
The 2003 Wells Fargo Sun Bowl featured the Oregon Ducks, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a rematch of the 1999 Sun Bowl.


2003 Sun Bowl
After a scoreless first quarter, Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens passed to wide receiver Dante Rosario for a 19-yard touchdown pass, giving Oregon an early 7-0 lead. Minnesota used its power running game to answer back, as they pounded the ball down the field, and capped off the drive with a yard run by fullback Thomas Tapeh, knotting the game at 7-7. Samie Parker, who had a monster game with over 200 yards receiving, caught an 18-yarder from Clemens, putting Oregon up 14-7.


2003 Sun Bowl
Minnesota continued to use its running game, and Tapeh rushed for his second 1-yarder of the game again tying the game at 14. Jared Siegel's 30-yard field goal before halftime gave the Ducks a 17-14 half time lead. In the third quarter Tapeh recorded his third rushing touchdown of the game, with a 6-yarder, giving Minnesota its first lead at 21-17.


2003 Sun Bowl
Oregon responded by Samie Parker catching his second touchdown reception of the game, a 40-yarder from Clemens, his third touchdown pass of the game, and Oregon reclaimed the lead 24-21. Lawrence Maroney rushed for a 22-yard touchdown later in the quarter giving Minnesota a 28-24 lead.


2003 Sun Bowl
In the fourth quarter, Jared Siegel connected on a 32-yard field goal to pull Oregon to within 28-27. His last field goal, a 47-yarder with less than 5 minutes left in the game, gave Oregon a 30-28 lead. Minnesota's kicker, Rhys Lloyd kicked a 42-yard field goal, with 23 seconds left, giving Minnesota a 31-30 win.


2003 Sundance Film Festival
The 2003 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16 to January 26, 2003. American Splendor, a biopic of comic-book author Harvey Pekar, won the grand-jury prize. Steve Zahn and Maggie Gyllenhaal presented the awards in a ceremony televised live on the Sundance Channel.


2003 Sundance Film Festival
Unseasonably warm weather attracted record numbers of attendees, among them musician Bob Dylan.


2003 Sunderland City Council election
The 2003 Sunderland Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


2003 Sunderland City Council election, Campaign
25 seats were contested in the election by a total of 92 candidates, with the Labour party, Conservative party and British National Party contesting every seat. With the British National Party contesting every seat the issue of asylum seekers was important in the election, with the British National Party saying that Sunderland had seen a "palpable invasion of asylum-seekers". However Labour, who were defending 21 of the 25 seats, said that in the previous 2 years only 1,800 had been temporarily housed in the city of a population of 289,000. During the campaign a number of prominent people from the North East including the Bishop of Durham Michael Turnbull and the chairman of Sunderland Football Club Bob Murray issued a statement calling on voters to reject the British National Party.


2003 Sunderland City Council election, Campaign
Labour defended their record pointing to an excellent rating in government league tables, having the second lowest council tax in the north east despite a 7.7% rise and to regeneration projects. They targeted the Conservative wards of Hendon and St Peters, but the Conservatives attacked the management of the council for being bloated and said they could bring more efficiency. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats contested 13 seats and said there needed to be more opposition councillors to challenge Labour.


2003 Sunderland City Council election, Campaign
The election in Sunderland saw a trial of all postal voting in an attempt to increase turnout. This helped lead to turnout being over double that seen at the 2002 election at 46%.


2003 Sunderland City Council election, Election result
The results saw Labour hold control of the council with 63 seats after gaining 2 seats from the Conservatives who were reduced to 9 seats. One of the 2 gains saw the former leader of council, Bryn Sidaway, win Hendon by 39 votes after a recount, regaining the seat that he had lost in the 1999 election. However Labour did lose 1 seat in Eppleton to an independent Colin Wakefield who had stood to represent a Residents Against Toxic Site campaign.


2003 Sunderland City Council election, Election result
The British National Party failed to win any seats, but did win 13,652 votes, 13.75% of the total and came second in 5 wards. The failure of the British National Party was partly attributed to the increase in turnout due to the all-postal voting.


2003 Super 12 season
The 2003 Super 12 season was the eighth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2003, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals, with the first placed team playing the fourth and the second placed team playing the third. The winner of each semi final qualified for the final, which was contested by the Blues and the Crusaders at Eden Park, Auckland. The Blues won 21 – 17 to win their third Super 12 title.


2003 Super Fours
The 2003 Super Fours was the 2nd cricket Super Fours tournament. It took place in May and June and saw 4 teams made up of the top players in the county compete in a 50 over league. Knight Riders were the winners of the competition, achieving their first title.


2003 Super Fours, Competition format
Teams played each other twice in a round-robin format, with the winners of the group winning the tournament. Matches were played using a one day format with 50 overs per side.


2003 Super Fours, Competition format
The group worked on a points system with positions within the divisions being based on the total points. 12 points were awarded for a win.


2003 Super League Grand Final
The 2003 Super League Grand Final was the 6th official Grand Final conclusive and premiership-deciding match of Super League VIII. Held on Saturday 18 October 2003 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors. The match was refereed Karl Kirkpatrick and watched by a crowd of 65,537, with Bradford winning 25 - 12.


2003 Super League Grand Final, Background, Route to the Final, Bradford Bulls
Bradford finished top of the table so qualified straight to the play-off semi-final. They were drawn at home to Leeds Rhinos and won 30–14 to qualify for the grand final.


2003 Super League Grand Final, Background, Route to the Final, Wigan Warriors
Wigan finished third in the table so had to play their way through three rounds of play-off matches. In the elimination play-off they beat Warrington 25–12, the semi-final saw them beat St Helens 40–24 and then in the elimination final they beat Leeds Rhinos 23–22 to set up the final against Bradford.


2003 Super League Grand Final, World Club Challenge
Having won the championship, the Bradford Bulls were to play 2003 NRL season premiers, the Penrith Panthers in the following February's World Club Challenge.


2003 Superbike World Championship
The 2003 Superbike World Championship was the sixteenth FIM Superbike World Championship season. The season started on 2 March at Valencia and finished on 19 October at Magny-Cours after 12 rounds.


2003 Superbike World Championship
Rule changes for 2003 allowed 1000cc machines (either twins, triples or four-cylinder) to race. The rule changes in MotoGP which allowed 4-stroke engines starting from 2002 meant that the Japanese manufacturers had focused their resources there; as a result the Superbike World Championship was left with limited factory involvement, with Ducati, Suzuki and the new-for-2003 Carl Fogarty's Foggy Petronas as the only factory teams. As a result of most of the field being formed of Ducati motorcycles, the championship was given the derogatory label of the "Ducati Cup" in some quarters.


2003 Superbike World Championship
The factory Ducati Team entered the only two Ducati 999s in the field, taking 20 wins from 24 races in a season where all races were won by Ducati. Neil Hodgson won the riders' championship and Ducati won the manufacturers' championship.


2003 Supercopa de España
The 2003 Supercopa de España was two-leg Spanish football matches played on 24 August and 27 August 2003. It contested by Mallorca, who won the 2002–03 Copa del Rey, and Real Madrid, who won the 2002–03 La Liga. Real Madrid won 4–2 on aggregate.


2003 Supercoppa Italiana
The 2003 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the 2002–03 Serie A champions, and Milan, the 2002–03 Coppa Italia winner. It was the sixth appearance for Juventus (3 victories in 1995, 1997 and 2002) and the seventh for Milan (victories in 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994). The match was played in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the United States, the home pitch of the Major League Soccer club New York/New Jersey MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls), with a heavily Italian heritage in the region. Both teams were touring the USA at the time as part of the ChampionsWorld Series, which this game also formed part of.


2003 Supercoppa Italiana
Juventus beat Milan on penalties, three months after losing to the same opposition in a shootout in the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final.


2003 Supercupa României
The 2003 Supercupa României was the 7th edition of Romania's season opener cup competition. The match was played in Bucharest at Stadionul Naţional on 2 August 2003, and was contested between Divizia A title holders, Rapid and Cupa României champions, Dinamo. Rapid won the trophy in extra time after a golden goal by substitute Robert Niţă.


2003 Superettan, Overview
It was contested by 16 teams, and Kalmar FF won the championship.


2003 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
The 2003 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira was the 25th edition of the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, the annual Portuguese football season-opening match contested by the winners of the previous season's top league and cup competitions (or cup runner-up in case the league- and cup-winning club is the same). The match took place on the 10 August 2003 at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimarães, and was contested between 2002–03 Primeira Liga and 2002–03 Taça de Portugal winners Porto, and cup runners-up União de Leiria.


2003 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
Porto would defeat União de Leiria 1–0 with an illegal goal. A 53rd minute headed goal from midfielder Costinha was sufficient for the Dragões to defeat Os Lis and claim the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira for a 13th time in their history.


2003 Suwon Samsung Bluewings season
The 2003 Suwon Samsung Bluewings season was Suwon Samsung Bluewings's eighth season in the K-League in Republic of Korea. Suwon Samsung Bluewings is competing in K-League and Korean FA Cup.


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


2003 Svenska Cupen
Svenska Cupen 2003 was the forty-eighth season of the main Swedish football Cup. The competition started on 27 March 2003 and concluded on 1 November 2003 with the Final, held at Råsunda Stadium, Solna Municipality in Stockholms län. IF Elfsborg won the final 2-0 against Assyriska Föreningen.


2003 Svenska Cupen, First round
There were 34 matches played between 27 March and 18 April 2003. There were 68 teams in the first round from Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3, but also including a few teams from Division 4 and Division 5.


2003 Svenska Cupen, Second round
In this round the 34 winning teams from the previous round were joined by 30 teams from Allsvenskan and Superettan. The 32 matches were played between 29 April and 7 May 2003.


2003 Svenska Cupen, Third round
The 16 matches in this round were played between 20 May and 5 June 2003.


2003 Svenska Cupen, Fourth round
The 8 matches in this round were played between 18 June and 7 August 2003.


2003 Svenska Cupen, Quarter-finals
The 4 matches in this round were played between 7 August and 2 October 2003.


2003 Svenska Cupen, Semi-finals
The semi-finals were played on 25 September and 16 October 2003.


2003 Svenska Cupen, Final
The final was played on 1 November 2003 at the Råsunda Stadium.


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


2003 Swazi general election
General elections were held in Swaziland on 19–20 September and 18–19 October 2003. Fifty-five independent candidates were elected to the Parliament. Voter turnout was only 18.4% of the 213,947 registered voters.


2003 Swazi general election, Background
Prior to the 2003 elections, there was a public debate over whether general elections should be held prior to a planned constitutional referendum on a draft of a new constitution, which was published in March 2003. However, the government chose not to delay the elections, as the draft constitution had not been through a public inquiry.


2003 Swazi general election, Electoral system
The 55 elected members of the House of Assembly were elected in a two-round system. A primary election was held in each chiefdom to choose a candidate for the secondary election. In the secondary election, the country was divided into 55 constituencies. Each winner of the primary election then stood in the constituency that covers their chiefdom. Both rounds operate on a first-past-the-post basis. A further 10 members were appointed by the King.


2003 Swazi general election, Electoral system
Polls were designated to be open at 07:00 and close at 18:00. Before the polls opened, to ensure transparency and accuracy, the ballot boxes were shown to all voters and the candidates' agents. Polling officers used ultra-violet devices to check for a trace of special dye used to show whether a voter had already voted in the secondary elections.


2003 Swazi general election, Electoral system
The Chief Election Officer declared 18 October a public holiday. However, the Federation of Swaziland Employers and Chamber of Commerce (FSECC) responded by declaring that employers were not required to pay their employees for the holiday, if they cited taking a day off to vote.


2003 Swazi general election, Results
A total of 1,500 candidates contested the primary elections, 50 of whom were incumbent MPs. 333 candidates progressed to the second round, including only 20 of the incumbent MPs.


2003 Swedish Football Division 3
Statistics of Swedish football Division 3 for the 2003 season.


2003 Swedish Golf Tour
The 2003 Swedish Golf Tour, known as the Telia Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th season of the Swedish Golf Tour, a series of professional golf tournaments held in Sweden.


2003 Swedish Golf Tour
A number of the tournaments also featured on the Challenge Tour (CHA) and the Nordic Golf League (NGL).


2003 Swedish Golf Tour, Schedule
The season consisted of 11 events played between May and September.


2003 Swedish Golf Tour (women)
The 2003 Swedish Golf Tour, known as the Telia Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 18th season of the Swedish Golf Tour, a series of professional golf tournaments for women held in Sweden and Finland.


2003 Swedish Golf Tour (women)
Linda Wessberg and Maria Bodén each won two events and Wessberg narrowly won the Order of Merit ahead of Nina Reis.


2003 Swedish Golf Tour (women), Schedule
The season consisted of 12 tournaments played between May and September, where one event was held in Finland.


2003 Swedish Touring Car Championship
The 2003 Swedish Touring Car Championship season was the 8th Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) season. In total eight racing weekends at four different circuits were held; each round comprising two races, making a sixteen-round competition in total.


2003 Swedish euro referendum
A non-binding referendum on introduction of the euro was held in Sweden on 14 September 2003. The majority voted not to adopt the euro, and thus Sweden decided in 2003 not to adopt the euro for the time being. Had they voted in favour, the plan was that Sweden would have adopted the euro on 1 January 2006.


2003 Swedish euro referendum
The ballot text was "Do you think that Sweden should introduce the euro as currency?" (Swedish: Anser du att Sverige skall införa euron som valuta?). Sweden in Europe was the main umbrella group campaigning for a Yes vote. The No vote campaign was led by two organisations, representing left (Folkrörelsen Nej till EU) and right wing politicians respectively. The political parties were divided. The Centre Party, Left Party and Green Party were against. The Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberal People's Party were for. The Social Democrats did not take a position due to internal disagreements.


2003 Swedish euro referendum, Background
Sweden joined the European Union in 1995 and its accession treaty has since obliged it to join the euro. However, one of the requirements for eurozone membership is two years' membership of ERM II, and Sweden has chosen not to join this mechanism and as a consequence tie its exchange rate to the euro ±2.25%. While there is government support for membership, all parties have pledged not to join without a referendum in favour of doing so.


2003 Swedish euro referendum, Results
The voter turnout was 82.6%, and the result was 55.9% against and 42.0% in favour. A majority of voters in Stockholm voted in favour of adopting the euro (54.7% "yes", 43.2% "no"). In Scania and Stockholm counties the "yes" votes (49.3%) outnumbered the "no" votes (48.5%), although the invalid and blank votes resulted in no majority for either option. In all other parts of Sweden, the majority voted no. Among municipalities, a majority of those in western Scania, and in Stockholm, voted yes. Kungsbacka and Haparanda also voted "yes". All other municipalities voted "no".


2003 Swedish football Division 2
The following are the statistics of the Swedish football Division 2 for the 2003 season.


2003 Swindon Borough Council election
The 2003 Swindon Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Swindon Unitary Council in Wiltshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


2003 Swindon Borough Council election, Voting trial
Swindon was one of 3 councils which trialed voting by television in 2003 for the first time anywhere in the world. Voters in Swindon also had 8 electronic information kiosks in the town centre where they could vote, telephone and internet voting. These trials, which were open for voting in the week before the election, followed a trial of electronic voting in the 2002 election which saw turnout increase by 3.5%.


2003 Swindon Borough Council election, Voting trial
Overall turnout in the election was 29.82%, lower than in 2002. However the number of electronic votes increased by 75% from 2002 to 11,055, including 349 cast by television.


2003 Swiss Federal Council election
Elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held on 10 December 2003 to elect all seven of Switzerland's Federal Council. The 246 members of the United Federal Assembly elect the seven members individually by an absolute majority of votes, with the members serving for four years, beginning on 1 January 2004, or until resigning.


2003 Swiss Federal Council election
Six of the seven incumbents were running for re-election. Five were re-elected, but Ruth Metzler lost in her re-election bid: the first time an incumbent Federal Councillor had failed to be re-elected since 1872. In her place was elected Christoph Blocher of the Swiss People's Party (SVP). This ended the magic formula, by which the four largest parties had shared power on the Federal Council by a set formula since 1959; Metzler's Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP) was reduced from two seats to one, and Blocher's SVP increased from one to two.


2003 Swiss Figure Skating Championships
The 2003 Swiss Figure Skating Championships (officially named German: Schweizermeisterschaften Elite Kunstlaufen und Eistanzen and French: Championnats Suisses Elite Patinage Artistique et Danse sur Glace) were held in Zug from December 20 through 21st, 2002. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.


2003 Swiss federal election
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 19 October 2003. Although in Switzerland's political system, in which all four major parties form a coalition, it is very difficult to achieve a change of government, this election produced an upset with the strong showing of the right-wing, anti-European Union and anti-immigration Swiss People's Party. The left-wing parties, the Social Democrats and the Greens, also improved their positions. The losers were the parties of the centre and centre-right, the Christian Democratic People's Party and the Free Democratic Party.


2003 Swiss federal election
In the aftermath of the elections Ruth Metzler-Arnold, one of the two Christian Democrats in the Federal Council was replaced by Christoph Blocher, the most influential politician in the Swiss People's Party.


2003 Swiss federal election, Electoral system
Switzerland has a bicameral legislature, the Federal Assembly (Assemblée Fédérale / Bundesversammlung / Asamblea Federale / Assemblea Federala).


2003 Swiss federal election, Electoral system
These elections were to the National Council and for most of the members of the Council of States.


2003 Swiss federal election, Electoral system
All parties in Switzerland have different names in French, German and Italian, and conduct separate campaigns in the different language areas.


2003 Swiss referendums
Eleven referendums were held in Switzerland during 2003. The first two were held on 9 February on federal resolutions on reforming the referendum process and changing the cantonal contribution to financing hospital medication. Both were approved.


2003 Swiss referendums
The last nine were all held on 18 May on two federal laws on the Swiss army and civil defence, and seven popular initiatives; "yes to fair rents", "for one Sunday a season free from motor vehicles–a test for four years", "health has to be affordable", "equal rights for the disabled", "electricity without nuclear power", "for prolonging the ban on new nuclear power stations" and "for a sufficient provision of vocational education". Whilst the two laws were approved, all nine initiatives were rejected by voters.


2003 Swisscom Challenge
The 2003 Swisscom Challenge, also known as the Zurich Open, was a women's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts that was part of the Tier I Series of the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the 20th edition of the tournament and took place at the Schluefweg in Zürich, Switzerland, from 13 October until 19 October 2003. Second-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne won the singles title and earned $189,000 first-prize money. With this victory Henin-Hardenne became the new world No. 1 ranked singles player.


2003 Swisscom Challenge, Finals, Doubles
Kim Clijsters /  Ai Sugiyama defeated  Virginia Ruano Pascual /  Paola Suárez 7–6(7–3), 6–2


2003 Swisscom Challenge – Doubles
Elena Bovina and Justine Henin-Hardenne were the defending champions but none competed this year, as both players decided to priorize the singles competition.


2003 Swisscom Challenge – Doubles
Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama won the title by defeating Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez 7–6(7–3), 6–2 in the final.


2003 Swisscom Challenge – Singles
Patty Schnyder was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Jelena Dokic.


2003 Swisscom Challenge – Singles
Justine Henin-Hardenne won the title, defeating Dokic in the final, 6–0, 6–4. By winning the title, Henin-Hardenne replaced Kim Clijsters as the World No. 1 tennis player.


2003 Swisscom Challenge – Singles, Seeds
The first four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2003 Sydney Roosters season
The 2003 Sydney Roosters season was the 96th in the club's history. Coached by Ricky Stuart and captained by Brad Fittler, the Roosters competed in the National Rugby League's 2003 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 2nd (out of 15) before going on to reach the 2003 NRL grand final which they lost to the Penrith Panthers.


2003 Sydney Roosters season
A total of four Roosters players, Shannon Hegarty, Anthony Minichiello, Luke Ricketson and Michael Crocker, were selected to make their Test match  débuts for the Australian national team in 2003.


2003 Sydney Roosters season
Nine Roosters players were selected to play in the mid-season 2003 State of Origin series: Craig Fitzgibbon, Craig Wing, Luke Ricketson, Bryan Fletcher and Anthony Minichiello for New South Wales; and Shannon Hegarty, Chris Flannery, Justin Hodges and Michael Crocker for Queensland.


2003 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The 2003 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sponsored by Rolex, was the 59th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. As in past editions of the race, it was hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia based in Sydney, New South Wales.


2003 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
As with previous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races, the 2003 edition began on Sydney Harbour, at Noon on Boxing Day (26 December 2003), before heading south for 630 nautical miles (1,170 km) through the Tasman Sea, past Bass Strait, into Storm Bay and up the River Derwent, to cross the finish line in Hobart, Tasmania.


2003 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The 2003 fleet comprised 56 starters of which 52 completed the race and 4 yachts retired.


2003 Sylvania 300
The 2003 Sylvania 300 was an NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on September 14, 2003 at New Hampshire International Speedway, in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 300 laps on the 1.058 mile (1.702 km) speedway, it was the 27th race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.


2003 Sylvania 300, Background
New Hampshire International Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703 km) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) road course, which includes much of the oval. The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.


2003 Sylvania 300, Summary
This race marked the last time that the long-standing NASCAR rule of racing back to a yellow caution flag was in place. During the race, Dale Jarrett spun and hit the wall in turn 4 and came to rest in the middle of the racetrack's front stretch. Leaders slowed down except Michael Waltrip, who attempted to put several cars a lap down; he and others raced past Jarrett's immobilized car at full speed and some barely avoided contact with him.


2003 Sylvania 300, Summary
Beginning with the next race, the MBNA America 400 at Dover, in addition to other rule changes for the Cup, Busch, and Truck series, NASCAR outlawed racing back to the caution.


2003 Sylvania 300, Summary
Instead, NASCAR froze the field immediately at the caution and allowed the first car one lap down (or multiple laps down, if there were no cars one lap down) to rejoin the lead lap; this is officially called the "free pass" by NASCAR but is widely known by fans and journalists as the "lucky dog" rule, due to Aaron's sponsoring the free pass on television broadcasts for a number of years.


2003 Synsam Swedish Open
The 2003 Synsam Swedish Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Båstad, Sweden and was part of the International Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. It was the 56th edition of the tournament and ran from 7 July until 13 July 2003. Fifth-seeded Mariano Zabaleta won the singles title.


2003 Synsam Swedish Open, Finals, Doubles
Simon Aspelin /  Massimo Bertolini defeated  Lucas Arnold /  Mariano Hood 6–7(3–7), 6–0, 6–4


2003 Synsam Swedish Open – Doubles
Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge were the defending champions but only Björkman competed that year with Jared Palmer.


2003 Synsam Swedish Open – Doubles
Björkman and Palmer lost in the semifinals to Simon Aspelin and Massimo Bertolini.


2003 Synsam Swedish Open – Doubles
Aspelin and Bertolini won in the final 6–7(3–7), 6–0, 6–4 against Lucas Arnold and Mariano Hood.


2003 Synsam Swedish Open – Singles
Carlos Moyá was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to Mariano Zabaleta.


2003 Synsam Swedish Open – Singles
Zabaleta won in the final 6–3, 6–4 against Nicolás Lapentti.


2003 Synsam Swedish 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 Syracuse Orangemen football team
The 2003 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented  Syracuse University during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Orangemen were coached by Paul Pasqualoni and played their home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The Orangemen posted a two-win improvement over the previous season.


2003 Syracuse Orangemen football team
This was the last season in which Syracuse used the "Orangemen" nickname. Beginning with the 2004–05 school year, the school adopted its current nickname of Orange.


2003 Syrian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Syria on 5 March 2003. The number of seats reserved for the parties in the National Progressive Front was 167, and that reserved for independents 83.


2003 Syrian parliamentary election, Results
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2003 Syrian parliamentary election, Results
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2003 São Paulo FC season
The 2003 season was São Paulo's 74th season since club's existence. In this year São Paulo became a runner-up of Campeonato Paulista, being defeated by rival Corinthians in finals. At the Copa do Brasil, national cup, reached the quarterfinals falling in front of Goiás due Away goal rule with 0–0 (away); 1–1 (home). The club arrived in third place final in the first time when Série A was disputed in accumulated points system.


2003 São Paulo FC season
In his first participation in Copa Sudamericana reached semifinals losing to Argentine club River Plate in penalty shootouts for 2–4 in a match that had fights and aggressions between players of both teams. The featured of year was the striker Luís Fabiano which scored 46 goals in whole season, 29 only in league.


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


2003 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état attempt
The 2003 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état attempt was an attempted military coup in São Tomé and Príncipe on July 16, 2003. The coup was launched against the government of President Fradique de Menezes, and was led by Major Fernando Pereira. The coup leaders claimed that they had tried to overthrow the government to help stop poverty in the region.


2003 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état attempt, Background
The island nation experienced political instability previously. Just months before the 2003 coup attempt, President Menezes dissolved Parliament over disagreements related to issues of presidential power. The situation was resolved after negotiations between both sides which produced an agreement to carry out reforms by 2006.


2003 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état attempt, Coup details
President Menezes was out of the country, on a private trip to Nigeria when the coup began on July 16. The coup was led by members of the Christian Democratic Front, (a political party without seats in Parliament). It had included many volunteers in the South African 32 Buffalo Battalion. The coup started with soldiers taking control of strategic sites and arresting Prime Minister Maria das Neves and the Oil Minister, the Prime Minister having suffered a heart attack from the gunfight in his home. Although the coup had affected São Tomé, it had not affected the island of Príncipe. In a press conference, Pereira claimed the poor living conditions of those in the military drove him to rebel.


2003 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état attempt, Aftermath
Negotiations between the government and the coup leaders began on the second day of the coup. The rebels accepted to relinquish control provided that they received amnesty from the government and that an election be held and a new government take office. South African diplomats were involved in the negotiations with the 32 Buffalo Battalion involved in the coup.


2003 TAC Cup season
The 2003 TAC Cup season was the 12th season of the TAC Cup competition. Calder Cannons have won there 2nd premiership title after defeating the Murray Bushrangers in the grand final by 92 points.


2003 TCU Horned Frogs football team
The 2003 TCU Horned Frogs football team represented Texas Christian University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. TCU finished with an 11–2 (7–1 C-USA) record. The team was coached by Gary Patterson and played their home games at Amon G. Carter Stadium, which is located on campus in Fort Worth.


2003 TD Waterhouse Cup
The 2003 TD Waterhouse Cup was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Hamlet Golf and Country Club in Jericho, New York in the United States and was part of the International Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. The tournament ran from August 18 through August 24, 2003. Paradorn Srichaphan won the singles title.


2003 TD Waterhouse Cup, Champions, Men's Doubles
Robbie Koenig /  Martín Rodríguez defeated  Martin Damm /  Cyril Suk 6–3, 7–6(7–4)


2003 TD Waterhouse Cup – Doubles
Mahesh Bhupathi and Mike Bryan were the defending champions but did not compete that year.


2003 TD Waterhouse Cup – Doubles
Robbie Koenig and Martín Rodríguez won in the final 6–3, 7–6 (7–4) against Martin Damm and Cyril Suk.


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


2003 TD Waterhouse Cup – Singles
Paradorn Srichaphan was the defending champion and won in the final 6–2, 6–4 against James Blake.


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


2003 TNA Super X Cup Tournament
The 2003 Super X Cup Tournament was an X Cup professional wrestling X Division tournament and pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which took place on August 20, 2003 at the TNA Asylum in Nashville, Tennessee. It was aired on September 3 via tape delay.


2003 TNA Super X Cup Tournament
The event featured the first-ever eight-man Super X Cup Tournament, which was won by Chris Sabin, who defeated Juventud Guerrera in the tournament final. Aside from the tournament, the event featured the first-ever Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday match as the main event, in which the team of D-Lo Brown, Jeff Jarrett, Raven and America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) defeated AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Johnny Swinger, Shane Douglas and Simon Diamond, with Erik Watts serving as the special guest referee.