2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Erika
The hurricane dropped light to moderate rainfall along its path, which caused some flooding; in Montemorelos in Nuevo León, two people died after being swept away by floodwaters. Several mudslides were reported, which left numerous highways blocked or impassable. In southern Texas, the hurricane caused light winds and minor damage, with no reports of deaths or injuries in the United States.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Depression Nine
A strong tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 14, and after tracking steadily westward an area of convection began to become better organized on August 18. After it tracked through the Lesser Antilles, it developed into Tropical Depression Nine on August 21 to the south of Puerto Rico. The depression quickly showed signs of organization, and forecasters predicted the depression to intensify to a strong tropical storm. However, strong southwesterly wind shear unexpectedly became established over the system, and the depression degenerated into a tropical wave late on August 22 to the south of the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Depression Nine
The depression caused moderate rainfall in Puerto Rico, where 2 to 3 inches (50 to 75 mm) of precipitation were recorded. The flooding from the rainfall entered 10 houses and left some streets impassable. A mudslide was reported in the eastern portion of the island. A river in northeastern Puerto Rico surpassed its banks from flooding, though it returned to normal levels within hours. Damage in Puerto Rico totaled $20,000 (2003 USD, $28,137 2021 USD). The remnants of the depression dropped light to moderate precipitation in the Dominican Republic, which caused flooding and overflowing rivers. More than 100 houses were flooded, and some crop damage was reported. The rainfall was welcome in the country, as conditions were dry in the preceding months. Flooding was also reported in eastern Jamaica, though damage there, if any, is unknown.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Fabian
On August 25, a tropical wave emerged off the coast of Africa, and two days later developed enough organized convection to develop into Tropical Depression Ten. Tracking through warm waters and low vertical shear, the depression was named Tropical Storm Fabian on August 28. On August 30, the storm intensified into a hurricane, and it quickly strengthened to attain major hurricane status late that day; on September 1 Fabian reached its peak intensity of 145 mph (233 km/h).


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Fabian
The hurricane turned to the north and gradually weakened before passing 14 miles (23 km) west of Bermuda on September 5 with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). The cyclone accelerated northeastward into an environment of unfavorable conditions, becoming an extratropical cyclone on September 8; two days later it merged with another extratropical storm between southern Greenland and Iceland.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Fabian
Strong waves caused extensive damage to the Bermuda coastline, destroying 10 nests of the endangered Bermuda petrel. The storm surge from the hurricane stranded one vehicle with three police officers and another with a resident on the causeway between St. George's Parish and St. David's Island, later washing both vehicles into Castle Harbour; all four were killed. Strong winds left about 25,000 people without power on the island, and also caused severe damage to vegetation. The strong winds damaged or destroyed the roofs of numerous buildings on Bermuda, Damage on the island totaled $300 million (2003 USD). Elsewhere, strong waves from the hurricane killed a surfer in North Carolina and caused three deaths off of Newfoundland when a fishing vessel sank.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Grace
A strong tropical wave accompanied with a low-pressure system moved off the coast of Africa on August 19. It moved quickly westward, failing to organize significantly, and developed a surface low-pressure area on August 29 in the Gulf of Mexico. Convection continued to organize, and the tropical wave developed into Tropical Depression Eleven on August 30 while located 335 miles (539 km) east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. The depression quickly intensified to become Tropical Storm Grace, though further intensification was limited due to a nearby upper-level low. On August 31, Grace moved ashore on Galveston Island, Texas, and it quickly weakened over land. The storm turned northeastward and was absorbed by a cold front over extreme eastern Oklahoma on September 2.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Grace
The storm produced light to moderate precipitation from Texas through the eastern United States, peaking at 10.4 inches (260 mm) in eastern Texas. Near where it made landfall, Grace produced flooding of low-lying areas and light beach erosion. In Oklahoma and southern Missouri, the remnants of the storm caused localized flooding. No deaths were reported, and damage was minimal.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Henri
On August 22, a tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa, and it remained disorganized until reaching the eastern Gulf of Mexico on September 1. A tropical disturbance developed into Tropical Depression Twelve on September 3 about 300 miles (480 km) west of Tampa, Florida. It moved eastward and strengthened into Tropical Storm Henri on September 5, and despite strong wind shear it intensified to reach peak winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) later that day. Subsequently, it quickly weakened, and it struck the western Florida coast as a tropical depression. On September 8 it degenerated into a remnant low-pressure area off the coast of North Carolina, and after moving ashore near Cape Hatteras, it crossed the Mid-Atlantic states and dissipated on September 17 over New England.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Henri
Henri was responsible for locally heavy rainfall across Florida, but damage was minimal. The remnants of Henri caused heavy precipitation in Delaware and Pennsylvania, causing $19.6 million in damage (2003 USD). In Delaware, the rainfall caused record-breaking river flooding, with part of the Red Clay Creek experiencing a 500-year flood, and the system left 109,000 residents without power in Pennsylvania. The impacts of the storm were severely compounded the following week by Hurricane Isabel across the region.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Isabel
A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 1, which developed into Tropical Depression Thirteen early on September 6 to the southwest of the Cape Verde islands. It quickly intensified into Tropical Storm Isabel, and it continued to gradually intensify within an area of light wind shear and warm waters. Isabel strengthened to a hurricane on September 7, and the following day it attained major hurricane status.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Isabel
Its intensity fluctuated over the subsequent days as it passed north of the Lesser Antilles, and it attained peak winds of 165 mph (266 km/h) on September 11, a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. The hurricane oscillated between Category 4 and Category 5 status over the following four days, before weakening due to wind shear. On September 18 Isabel made landfall between Cape Lookout and Ocracoke Island in North Carolina with winds of 105 mph (169 km/h). It continued northwestward, becoming extratropical over western Pennsylvania before being absorbed by a larger storm over Ontario on September 19.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Isabel
Strong winds from Isabel extended from North Carolina to New England and westward to West Virginia. The winds, combined with previous rainfall which moistened the soil, downed many trees and power lines across its path, leaving about 6 million electricity customers without power at some point. Coastal areas suffered from waves and its powerful storm surge, with areas in eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia reporting severe damage from both winds and the storm surge. Throughout its path, Isabel resulted in $3.6 billion in damage (2003 USD) and 47 deaths, of which 16 were directly related to the storm's effects.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Isabel
The governors of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware declared states of emergencies. Isabel was the first major hurricane to threaten the Mid-Atlantic states and the South since Hurricane Floyd in September 1999. Isabel's greatest impact was due to flood damage, the worst in some areas of Virginia since 1972's Hurricane Agnes. More than 60 million people were affected to some degree — a similar number to Floyd but more than any other hurricane in recent memory.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Depression Fourteen
A strong tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 6, and almost immediately it became associated with a broad surface circulation. With favorable upper-level winds the system quickly became better organized, and on September 8, it possessed enough organization to be classified as Tropical Depression Fourteen while located about 290 miles (470 km) southeast of the southernmost Cape Verde islands. Initially the depression failed to maintain an inner core of deep convection, and despite its occurrence with nearby dry air, the depression was forecast to intensify to hurricane status due to anticipated favorable conditions.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Depression Fourteen
In the hours subsequent to formation, the convection near the center decreased as the banding features dissipated. Dry air greatly increased over the depression, and by September 9 the system was not forecast to intensify past minimal tropical storm status. Later that day an upper-level low tracked southward to the west of the depression, which increased wind shear and caused a steady north-northwest motion for the depression. The circulation became elongated and separated from the convection as it passed just west of the Cape Verde Islands, where it brought heavy rainfall, and on September 10 the depression dissipated.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Juan
A large tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 14, and due to unfavorable wind shear it initially remained disorganized. An area of convection increased in association with an upper-level low, and it developed into Tropical Depression Fifteen on September 24 to the southeast of Bermuda. It steadily organized as it tracked northward, intensifying into Tropical Storm Juan on September 25 and attaining hurricane status on September 26. With warm waters and light wind shear, Juan reached peak winds of 105 mph (169 km/h) on September 27 about 635 miles (1,022 km) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It accelerated northward, weakening only slightly before moving ashore near Halifax on September 29 with winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). It quickly weakened while crossing the southern Canadian Maritimes before being absorbed by a large extratropical cyclone over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Juan
The eyewall of Hurricane Juan was the first to directly cross over Halifax since a hurricane in August of 1893; the cyclone became one of the most damaging tropical cyclones in modern history for the city. The hurricane produced a record storm surge of 4.9 feet (1.5 m), which resulted in extensive flooding of the Halifax and Dartmouth waterfront properties. Strong winds caused widespread occurrences of falling trees, downed power lines, and damaged houses, and the hurricane was responsible for four direct deaths and four indirect deaths. More than 800,000 people were left without power. Nearly all wind-related damage occurred to the east of the storm track, and damage amounted to about $200 million (2003 CAD; $150 million 2003 USD).


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Kate
Kate developed from a tropical wave in the central tropical Atlantic on September 25. The storm moved northwestward until a weakness in the subtropical ridge forced it eastward. Kate strengthened to a hurricane, turned sharply westward while moving around a mid-level low, and intensified to a 125 mph (201 km/h) major hurricane on October 4. Kate turned sharply northward around the periphery of an anticyclone, weakened, and became extratropical after passing to the east of Newfoundland. The extratropical storm persisted for three days until losing its identity near Scandinavia.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Kate
Kate threatened Atlantic Canada just one week after Hurricane Juan caused severe damage in Nova Scotia. The storm had minimal effects on land, limited to moderately strong winds and heavy rainfall over Newfoundland; St. John's reported 1.8 inches (46 mm) on October 6, a record for the date. The interaction between Kate and a high-pressure area to its north produced 3 to 4 ft (1 m) waves along the coast of North Carolina and New England.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Larry
A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 17, which developed a low-pressure area on September 27 in the western Caribbean. It moved ashore along the Yucatán Peninsula on September 29 and developed into an extratropical cyclone as it interacted with a stationary cold front. Deep convection increased, and it transitioned into Tropical Storm Larry by October 1. The storm drifted generally southward, and after reaching peak winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) it made landfall in the Mexican state of Tabasco on October 5, the first landfall in the region since Hurricane Brenda in 1973. The remnants of Larry crossed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, degenerating into a remnant low-pressure area before dissipating on October 7 in the eastern Pacific Ocean.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Larry
The storm caused flooding and mudslides throughout the region, and coincided with the landfall in southwestern Mexico of two Pacific tropical cyclones, Nora and Olaf, adding to the damage. Overall, the storm resulted in five deaths and $53.4 million in damage (2003 USD).


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Mindy
A tropical wave exited the coast of Africa on October 1 and moved westward. On October 8, thunderstorms spread across the Lesser Antilles, and the wave slowly organized. Rainfall reached 2.98 inches (76 mm) in Christiansted in Saint Croix, and 7.13 inches (181 mm) near Ponce, Puerto Rico. Strong winds left around 29,000 people without power in northeastern Puerto Rico. The rainfall wrecked bridges in Las Piedras and Guayama, and led to flooded streams, downed trees, and rockslides that closed four roads. One car was swept away, and a few houses were flooded. The damage total was at least $46,000 (2003 USD).


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Mindy
It turned northwestward through a weakness in the subtropical ridge, and despite strong wind shear developed into Tropical Storm Mindy late on October 10 over eastern Dominican Republic, with peak winds of 45 mph (72 km/h). It produced 2.63 inches (67 mm) of rain in Santiago Rodríguez, which caused flooding and damaged 320 houses. Although forecast to intensify to 65 mph (105 km/h) winds, the storm weakened due to the wind shear. The center passed near the Turks and Caicos Islands on October 11, and winds reached only 31 mph (50 km/h) at Grand Turk Island.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Mindy
On October 12, Mindy weakened to a tropical depression, and later turned eastward due to an approaching short-wave trough. Devoid of deep convection, the circulation dissipated on October 14 about 445 miles (716 km) south-southwest of Bermuda. Mindy produced 2 to 3 ft (0.6 to 0.9 m) swells along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Florida through North Carolina.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Nicholas
Forming from a tropical wave on October 13 in the central tropical Atlantic Ocean, Nicholas slowly developed due to moderate levels of wind shear throughout its lifetime. Deep convection slowly organized, and Nicholas attained a peak intensity of 70 mph (110 km/h) on October 17. After moving west-northwestward for much of its lifetime, it turned northward and weakened due to increasing shear. The storm again turned to the west and briefly restrengthened, but after turning again to the north Nicholas transitioned to an extratropical cyclone on October 24.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Nicholas
As an extratropical storm, Nicholas executed a large loop to the west, and after moving erratically for a week and organizing into a tropical low, it was absorbed by a non-tropical low. The low continued westward, crossed Florida, and ultimately dissipated over the Gulf Coast of the United States on November 5.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Nicholas
Nicholas had no impact as a tropical cyclone, and impact from the low that absorbed the storm was limited to rainfall, gusty winds, and rough surf. The low that absorbed the storm nearly developed into a tropical cyclone, which would have been called Odette. However, moderate wind shear prevented further development.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Odette
Odette was a rare December tropical storm, the first since Hurricane Lili in 1984, that formed on December 4 in the southwest Caribbean Sea. It became the second December tropical storm on record to form in the Caribbean Sea, after a hurricane in 1822. Odette strengthened and made landfall near Cabo Falso in the Dominican Republic on December 6 as a moderately strong tropical storm. A day later, Odette became extratropical, and eventually merged with a cold front.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Odette
Eight deaths were directly attributed to this tropical storm in the Dominican Republic due to mudslides or flash flooding. In addition, two deaths were indirectly caused by the storm. Approximately 35% of the nation's banana crop was destroyed. Light to moderate rainfall was reported in Puerto Rico.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Peter
By December 5, an extratropical cyclone developed and was moving southward, isolated from the westerlies. Convection developed near the center, and the system organized into a subtropical storm late on December 7, about 835 miles (1,344 km) south-southwest of the Azores. The system moved southwestward over warmer waters, and deep convection continued to organize over the center. Banding features also increased, and the National Hurricane Center declared the system as Tropical Storm Peter on December 9, about 980 miles (1,580 km) northwest of the Cape Verde islands. With the development of Peter and Odette, 2003 became the first year since 1887 that two storms were active in the month of December.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Peter
Initially, the National Hurricane Center did not anticipate strengthening; however, Peter intensified to winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) late on December 9, after an eye feature developed. Usually that would indicate hurricane intensity, but as the eye was short-lived, Peter remained a tropical storm. It turned northward ahead of the same frontal system that absorbed Tropical Storm Odette, and the combination of strong upper-level winds and cooler water temperatures caused quick weakening. By December 10, Peter degenerated into a tropical depression, and after turning northeastward it was absorbed by the cold front the next day.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Storm names
The following names were used for named storms that formed in the North Atlantic in 2003. The names not retired from this list were used again in the 2009 season. This is the same list used for the 1997 season. Storms were named Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, and Peter for the first time in 2003.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Storm names, Retirement
On April 30, 2004, The World Meteorological Organization retired three names: Fabian, Isabel, and Juan. They were replaced in the 2009 season by Fred, Ida, and Joaquin, respectively. However, due to lack of activity in 2009, the name Joaquin was not used until the 2015 season.


2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Season effects
This is a table of all the storms that have formed in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season It includes their duration, names, landfall(s), denoted in parentheses, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all the damage figures are in 2003 USD.


2003 Auburn Tigers football team
The 2003 Auburn Tigers football team  represented Auburn University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. Auburn began the season with high expectations, but stumbled out of the gate before finishing the season with a disappointing 8–5 record, including a 5–3 record in the SEC, good for third place in the conference's Western Division. The Tigers, coached by Tommy Tuberville, began the season ranked #6 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll, but opened with consecutive losses to Southern California and Georgia Tech, dropping out of both polls.


2003 Auburn Tigers football team
The Tigers won their next four games, but remained unranked in either poll until the week after pulling a 10–3 upset win over Arkansas in Fayetteville on October 11, when they re-entered the AP Poll at #19 and the Coaches' Poll at #25. Following a victory over Mississippi State the following week, the Tigers climbed to #17 and #21 in the two polls, but after a 31–7 loss to eventual national champion LSU on October 25, the Tigers did not appear in either poll for the remainder of the season. However, several computer rating systems did include Auburn in their final rankings. The Tigers were ranked #17 by the BCS participating system of The New York Times, #18 by Entropy, and #19 consensus ranking by CollegeTop25.com.


2003 Auburn Tigers football team
After consecutive losses to Ole Miss, led by Eli Manning, and Georgia, the Tigers concluded a disappointing regular season by defeating arch rival Alabama, 28–23. In the postseason, Auburn knocked off Wisconsin 28–14 in the Music City Bowl, in Nashville, Tennessee.


2003 Auburn Tigers football team
The disappointment of the season led university president William Walker, athletic director David Housel, and other trustees to take a plane owned by trustee Bobby Lowder to meet in secret with Louisville Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino about replacing Tuberville. This occurred prior to the Alabama game, but newspapers in Montgomery and Louisville discovered the flight and broke the news. The visit caused controversy and Tuberville was ultimately retained.


2003 Austin mayoral election
The 2003 Austin mayoral election was held on May 3, 2003, to elect the mayor of Austin, Texas, USA. Will Wynn was elected.


2003 Australia Day Honours
The Australia Day Honours 2003 are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2003 by the Governor General of Australia, Peter Hollingworth.


2003 Australia Day Honours
The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, the first announced to coincide with Australia Day (26 January), with the other being the Queen's Birthday Honours, which are announced on the second Monday in June.


2003 Australia national soccer team season
This page summarises the Australia men's national soccer team fixtures and results in 2003.


2003 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
With no competitive fixtures scheduled, it was a relatively quiet year for the Socceroos having only 3 friendly matches, all away from home. However, the fixture in March against England made headlines due to Australia recording a famous 3–1 victory over their hosts. The match was also renowned for England making eleven substitutions at half time.


2003 Australia national soccer team season, Summary
Two friendlies in the latter half of the year saw Ireland come from a goal down to win 2–1 in Dublin in August followed by a September win over Jamaica when Harry Kewell's second half goal gave Australia a 2–1 victory.


2003 Australian Carrera Cup Championship
The 2003 Australian Carrera Cup Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing championship  open to Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 996 cars complying with Australian Carrera Cup regulations. The championship, which was administered by CupCar Australia Pty Ltd, was the inaugural Australian Carrera Cup Championship.


2003 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Calendar
The championship was contested over a nine-round series with three races per round.


2003 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded at each race on the following basis:


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship
The 2003 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of cars conforming to Formula 4000 regulations. The title was contested over a six-round, twelve race series which was promoted as the 2003 Holden Australian Drivers' Championship for the CAMS Gold Star. It was the 47th Australian Drivers' Championship.


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship
New Zealander Daniel Gaunt won the championship driving three different Reynards for two different teams over the course of the season. Gaunt only won two of the twelve races but achieved a race finishing consistency his rivals lacked and finished eight points ahead of his nearest rivals. Second place was tied between Jonny Reid and Paul Trengove, both driving Reynards.


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship
Apart from the seven wins claimed by Gaunt and Reid, three wins were taken by another New Zealander, Nelson Hartley (Reynard 94D & Reynard 97D), and two wins by Ricky Occhipinti (Reynard 97D and 98D).


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship, Race calendar
The 2003 Australian Drivers' Championship was contested over a six-round series with two races per round.


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first ten positions in each race.


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship, Points system
The round winner for each round was determined by the aggregation of championship points awarded in that round. Where more than one driver had been awarded equal points, the round result was determined by the placings in Race 2.


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship, Results
Note: All cars were required to be fitted with a 3.8-litre Holden V6 engine.


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship, Results, Silver Star
Note: Approved competitors were awarded points towards a Silver Star Trophy based on their finishing positions in each race relative to other such nominated competitors. These points had no reflection on the Australian Drivers' Championship classification.


2003 Australian Drivers' Championship, Results, Yokohama Rookie of the Year Award
The Yokohama Rookie of the Year Award was won by Daniel Gaunt. The award was open to drivers who had contested less than two races for the Australian Drivers' Championship since 1989.


2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship
The 2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing competition open to Formula 3 cars. The championship, which was the third Australian Formula 3 Championship, was contested over an eight-round series organised and administered by Formula 3 Australia Inc. Michael Caruso won the drivers title from Barton Mawer and James Cressy.


2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship, Calendar
The championship was contested over an eight-round series with two races per round.


2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship, Points system
Points towards the Australian Formula 3 Championship were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis at each race. One point was awarded to the driver gaining pole position for each race and one point was awarded to the driver setting the fastest race lap in each race. Points towards the Yokohama Formula 3 Australia Trophy were awarded on a similar basis.


2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship, Points system
Points towards the Australian Formula 3 Engine Manufacturers Championship were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis at each race with the first engine of each manufacturer home scoring the equivalent number of points as per the position of the driver. Points towards the Yokohama Formula 3 Australia Engine Manufacturers Trophy were awarded on a similar basis.


2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship, Results, Yokohama Formula 3 Australia Trophy
The Yokohama Formula 3 Australia Trophy was open to cars constructed prior to 31 December 1996.


2003 Australian Formula Ford Championship
The 2003 Ford Racing Australian Formula Ford Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Formula Ford racing cars. It was managed by the Formula Ford Association Inc. and was recognised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as a National Championship. The title, which was the eleventh Australian Formula Ford Championship, was won by  Neil McFadyen driving a Van Diemen RF94.


2003 Australian Formula Ford Championship, Race calendar
The championship was contested over eight rounds with two races per round.


2003 Australian Formula Ford Championship, Race calendar
Round placings were based on the addition of championship points awarded in both races.


2003 Australian Formula Ford Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first ten finishers in each race.


2003 Australian Formula Ford Championship, Points system
An additional point was awarded to the driver gaining pole position for the first race at each round.


2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship
The 2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for production based cars. Procar Australia was appointed as the category manager for the championship, which was staged as part of the 2003 Procar Championship Series. It was the inaugural Australian GT Performance Car Championship, GT Performance Cars having previously competed in the Australian GT Production Car Championship as a separate class.


2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship
The 2003 Drivers’ Championship was won by Mark King, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII and the Manufacturers’ Trophy was awarded to Mitsubishi.


2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship, Calendar
Rounds were contested over three races  except for the Oran Park round, which was contested over two races.


2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship, Points system
Points towards the Drivers Championship were awarded in each race as per the following table.


2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship, Points system
In addition, three championship points were awarded to the driver who obtained Pole Position for Race 1 at each round.


2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship, Points system
Points towards the Manufacturers' Trophy were awarded on the same scale as applied to the Drivers' Championship.


2003 Australian GT Performance Car Championship, Results, Manufacturers’ Trophy
FTE and FPV models were considered to be Fords for the Manufacturers’ Trophy.


2003 Australian Grand Prix
The 2003 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 9 March 2003 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. The race was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard, who took the 13th and final race victory of his Formula One career.


2003 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Background
There was a lot of speculation about how the new set of rules that debuted in this race would affect Ferrari, which were the ones to cause the changes after their dominant 2002 season.


2003 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Qualifying was an all Ferrari affair, with Schumacher edging out Barrichello. Montoya took third, with Frentzen, Panis and Villeneuve putting in good performances for 4th, 5th and 6th. The McLarens had poor qualifying, with Coulthard in 11th, and Räikkönen making a mistake, and ending up 15th.


2003 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Weather conditions were changeable at the start. Räikkönen stopped for dry tyres at the end of the formation lap. Barrichello jumped the start, and received a drive-through penalty. Schumacher led at the end of lap 1, with Barrichello in close company. Montoya was 6 seconds behind in third, followed by Frentzen and Villeneuve. Panis struggled on dry tyres, with the Renaults, Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard climbing quickly.


2003 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Barrichello took his penalty, and on his in-lap, lost traction on a quickly drying track, crashing at Turn Five on lap five, followed by rookie Ralph Firman, who had climbed to eighth by lap seven on his dry Bridgestones. Da Matta’s debut also came to a premature end when he spun into the gravel at turn 3. Schumacher dropped to eighth, pitting for dry tyres, with the leaders pitting just before a safety car to clear the stranded cars. Mark Webber's Jaguar had climbed to sixth, but his rear suspension broke just after the restart and he stopped in an awkward place, prompting a second appearance of the safety car.


2003 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the halfway point of the race, Montoya was leading, followed by Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher. Renault's Jarno Trulli also fought closely until he went into the pits. Räikkönen had his turn leading the race until he received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. After a wheel-to-wheel dispute with the Finnish driver, Michael Schumacher was forced onto the grass, consequently losing his right deflector, which despite not having great overall impact on the car's aerodynamics, prevented him from closing on Räikkönen again.


2003 Australian Grand Prix, Report, Race
He missed out on the podium for the first time since the 2001 Italian Grand Prix and ending Ferrari's 53 consecutive podium finishes. It was the first time since the 1999 European Grand Prix that neither of the Ferraris finished on the podium. When Williams seemed to have the first victory of the year in their pocket, Montoya spun after entering the first corner too fast, with eight laps from the end and without any pressure from his rivals. Montoya returned to the track, but lost first place to Coulthard, who won what turned out to be his last race victory. Montoya was visibly frustrated on the podium.


2003 Australian Individual Speedway Championship
The 2003 Australian Individual Speedway Championship was the 2003 version of the Australian Individual Speedway Championship organised by Motorcycling Australia. The final was held at the Gosford Speedway in Gosford, New South Wales and was the last time the championship was run under the single meeting format that had been in place since the first championship was run in 1926.


2003 Australian Individual Speedway Championship
Defending champion Leigh Adams of Victoria was unbeaten over his 5 heats and the final to win his 7th Australian senior championship, breaking the record of six wins by Billy Sanders. New South Wales riders Craig Watson, Todd Wiltshire and Mick Poole rounded out the top four point scorers to advance to the final. The Final was won by Adams from Wiltshire, Watson and Poole.


2003 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, 2003 Australian Solo Championship, Final
1 Leigh Adams ()2 Todd Wiltshire ()3 Craig Watson ()4 Mick Poole ()


2003 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, 2003 Australian Solo Championship, Heat by Heat
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance •  t - exclusion for touching the tapes •  x - other exclusion •  e - retired or mechanical failure •  f - fell •  ns - non-starter •  nc - non-classify


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills
Two leadership spills of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the official opposition party in the Parliament of Australia, were held on 16 June 2003 and 2 December 2003, respectively. The Opposition Leader, Simon Crean, won the ballot in June against former opposition leader Kim Beazley, but resigned as leader in late November after losing support from his colleagues and did not contest the December ballot which Mark Latham won against Kim Beazley.


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills, June 2003 spill, Background
Simon Crean had become leader of the Labor Party and opposition leader unopposed at a leadership ballot on 11 November 2001 held to replace Kim Beazley, who fought two elections as Labor leader at the 1998 and 2001 elections. Crean had also been deputy leader between 1998 and 2001 and was succeeded as deputy leader by Jenny Macklin.


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills, June 2003 spill, Background
Despite a successful budget reply and the controversy surrounding Howard-appointed Governor-General Peter Hollingworth,  Crean had a low popularity rating throughout 2003. With constant rumours over a possible challenge plaguing his leadership, Crean called a leadership spill to be held on June 16, 2003.


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills, Potential candidates named in the press and elsewhere
The following individuals ruled themselves out as candidates or were the subject of media speculation but did not stand:


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills, Potential candidates named in the press and elsewhere, Results
The ballot was held on 16 June 2003, in which Crean convincingly defeated Beazley 58-34, despite opinion polls showing more public support for Beazley.


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills, December 2003 spill, Background
However, by November, Crean had lost more ground to John Howard as preferred prime minister. On 27 November 2003, a section of Crean's senior colleagues informed him that he had lost support and should step down as leader. Crean said he would "sleep on it", and announced the following day that he would resign as leader. In doing so, Crean became the first Labor leader to have not contested an election since Billy Hughes was expelled from the Labor party in 1916.


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills, Potential candidates named in the press and elsewhere, Results
The ballot was held on Tuesday 2 December in which Latham defeated Beazley by a margin of two votes (47-45).


2003 Australian Labor Party leadership spills, Aftermath
Latham went on to lose the federal election in October 2004. Latham stayed on for a few months as leader until January 2005 when he stood down citing ill health. Beazley then returned to the leadership unopposed and remained leader until December 2006 when he was ousted by Kevin Rudd.


2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship
The 2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title  for drivers of GT sports cars  complying with Group 2E Nations Cup regulations. The championship, which was managed by Procar Australia as part of the 2003 Procar Championship Series, was the fourth Australian Nations Cup Championship. The title was won by Paul Stokell driving a Lamborghini Diablo GTR.


2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship, Calendar
The championship was contested over an eight-round series with three races per round.


2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship, Calendar
Note: ** Race 3 at the Surfers Paradise round was cancelled due to a security issue.


2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 30-20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first 15 finishers in each race. In addition, three points were awarded to the driver earning pole position.


2003 Australian Nations Cup Championship, Manufacturers Trophy
The Manufacturers Trophy was awarded to the manufacturer which attained the highest number of cumulative points over all rounds, inclusive of pole position points. Points were awarded as per the drivers championship to the two highest scoring finishers from each marque in each race.


2003 Australian Open
The 2003 Australian Open was a tennis tournament held in 2003. It was the first Grand Slam event of the 2003 ATP Tour and the 2003 WTA Tour. It was the 91st edition of the event and attracted 512,225 spectators.


2003 Australian Open
Thomas Johansson could not defend his 2002 title due to an injury which would rule him out for all of 2003. Jennifer Capriati was unsuccessful in her title defence, being defeated in the first round by German Marlene Weingärtner. Andre Agassi won his fourth Australian Open and final Grand Slam title, defeating Rainer Schüttler in a lopsided final. Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus in the final in three sets, to win her fourth consecutive Grand Slam title to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once.


2003 Australian Open, Seniors, Men's Doubles
Michaël Llodra /  Fabrice Santoro defeated  Mark Knowles /  Daniel Nestor, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3


2003 Australian Open, Seniors, Women's Doubles
Serena Williams /  Venus Williams defeated  Virginia Ruano Pascual /  Paola Suárez, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3


2003 Australian Open, Seniors, Mixed Doubles
Martina Navratilova /  Leander Paes defeated  Eleni Daniilidou /  Todd Woodbridge, 6–4, 7–5


2003 Australian Open, Juniors, Boys' Doubles
Scott Oudsema /  Phillip Simmonds defeated  Florin Mergea /  Horia Tecău, 6–4, 6–4


2003 Australian Open, Juniors, Girls' Doubles
Casey Dellacqua /  Adriana Szili defeated  Petra Cetkovská /  Barbora Strýcová, 6–3, 4–4, ret.


2003 Australian Open, Seeds
Withdrawn players:  Tim Henman,  Tommy Haas,  Thomas Johansson,  Marcelo Ríos,  Greg Rusedski,  Paul-Henri Mathieu,  Arnaud Clément;  Martina Hingis,  Amélie Mauresmo,  Jelena Dokic.


2003 Australian Open – Boys' Singles
Clément Morel was the defending champion, but did not compete in the Juniors in this year.


2003 Australian Open – Boys' Singles
Marcos Baghdatis defeated Florin Mergea (6–4, 6–4) in the final.


2003 Australian Open – Girls' Singles
Barbora Strýcová was the defending champion and successfully defended her title, defeating Viktoriya Kutuzova (0–6, 6–2, 6–2) in the final.


2003 Australian Open – Men's Doubles
Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor were the defending champions, but lost in the final to Michaël Llodra and Fabrice Santoro.


2003 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Andre Agassi defeated Rainer Schüttler 6–2, 6–2, 6–1 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 2003 Australian Open. It was Agassi's fourth Australian Open title, and his eighth and last major title. Agassi's win in the final was his 21st consecutive match win at the Australian Open, as he won the title in 2000 and 2001 (he initially participated at the 2002 event, but withdrew due to injury).


2003 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Thomas Johansson was the defending champion, but he did not participate this year due to an injury.


2003 Australian Open – Men's Singles
It was notable for the first main-draw major appearance for David Ferrer, who lost to Lee Hyung-taik in the first round; it was also the final major appearance of former world No. 4 Richard Krajicek.


2003 Australian Open – Men's Singles, Seeds
The seeded players are listed below. Andre Agassi is the champion; others show the round in which they were eliminated.


2003 Australian Open – Men's Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw for men's singles at the 2003 Australian Open.


2003 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles
Daniela Hantuchová and Kevin Ullyett were the defending champions, but lost in semifinals to Martina Navratilova and Leander Paes.


2003 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles
Navratilova and Paes won the title, defeating Eleni Daniilidou and Todd Woodbridge 6–4, 7–5 in the final. It was the 1st Australian Open and 8th mixed doubles title for Navratilova, and the 1st Australian Open and 2nd mixed doubles title for Paes, in their respective careers.


2003 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles
By winning this title, Navratilova also completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam, becoming only the fourth female player in history to achieve this, as well as only the third female tennis player in history to complete the "Boxed Set" (Career Grand Slam in singles, doubles and mixed doubles).


2003 Australian Open – Women's Doubles
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Calbow (talk | contribs) at 06:53, 13 August 2020 (fixed ITF website link (via WP:JWB)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2003 Australian Open – Women's Doubles
Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova were the defending champions, but Hingis didn't participate in the tournament. Kournikova partnered up with Chanda Rubin, but they lost in the third round to Conchita Martínez and Nadia Petrova. Serena Williams and Venus Williams won in the final 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, against Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez


2003 Australian Open – Women's Singles
Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus Williams 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–4 in the final to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 2003 Australian Open. It was her fourth consecutive major triumph, completing the "Serena Slam", both a non-calendar year Grand Slam and the career Grand Slam. It was also Venus' record fourth consecutive runner-up finish at a major, losing every final to Serena. Serena saved two match points and was 1–5 down in the third set against Kim Clijsters in the semifinals. This was the first Australian Open final without Martina Hingis since 1996.


2003 Australian Open – Women's Singles
Jennifer Capriati was the two-time defending champion, but lost to Marlene Weingärtner in the first round. Capriati's loss marked the first time that a defending Australian Open champion lost in the first round, and the first time at any major that the defending champion lost in the first round since Steffi Graf at the 1994 Wimbledon Championships.


2003 Australian Open – Women's Singles
This was the first major appearance of two future world No. 1s : five-time major champion Maria Sharapova and Jelena Janković, who lost to Klára Koukalová and Amanda Coetzer in the first and second rounds respectively. It was also the major main draw debut of future US Open champion Flavia Pennetta, who lost to Silvia Farina Elia in the first round.


2003 Australian Open – Women's Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw for women's singles at the 2003 Australian Open.


2003 Australian Production Car Championship
The 2003 Australian Production Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing championship open to Group 3E Series Production Cars. The championship, which was organised by Procar Australia as part of the 2003 PROCAR Champ Series, was the 10th Australian Production Car Championship and the first to be contested since 1995. The Outright Drivers Championship was won by Scott Loadsman, driving a Holden VX Commodore SS.


2003 Australian Production Car Championship, Race Calendar
The 2003 Australian Production Car Championship was contested over a seven-round series.


2003 Australian Production Car Championship, Classes
Car competed in four classes, grouped by performance rather than by engine or vehicle type.


2003 Australian Production Car Championship, Points system
Outright Drivers Championship points were awarded in each race as shown on the following table.


2003 Australian Production Car Championship, Points system
In addition, three championship points were awarded to the driver who obtained pole position for Race 1 from the Qualifying session at each round.


2003 Australian Production Car Championship, Points system
Drivers Class Championship points were awarded on the same basis as Outright Drivers Championship points.


2003 Australian Production Car Championship, Points system
Manufacturers Trophy points were awarded on the same basis as Drivers Class Championship points.


2003 Australian Sports Sedan Championship
The 2003 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title open to Group 3D Sports Sedans. The title, which was the 19th Australian Sports Sedan Championship, was won by Kerry Baily driving a Nissan 300ZX Chevrolet.


2003 Australian Sports Sedan Championship, Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 20-17-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8 basis for 1st through to 10th place in each race and an additional point was awarded to the driver setting the fastest time in Qualifying at each round.


2003 Australian Sports Sedan Championship, Points system
Cars complying with New Zealand Tranzam regulations were eligible to compete in championship races but were not eligible to score championship points.


2003 Australian Under-21 Individual Speedway Championship
The 2003 Australian Under-21 Individual Speedway Championship was the 17th running of the Australian Under-21 Individual Speedway Championship organised by Motorcycling Australia. The final was held at the Oakburn Park Speedway in Tamworth, New South Wales.


2003 Australian Under-21 Individual Speedway Championship, 2003 Australian Under-21 Solo Championship, Final
1 Rory Schlein ()2 Cameron Woodward ()3 Jaye Stevens ()4 Scott James


2003 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2003 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the 2003 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 17–19 October 2003 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. The MotoGP race was famous after Valentino Rossi won the world title after getting a 10-second penalty after overtaking under yellow flags after Troy Bayliss had crashed.


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


2003 Austrian Figure Skating Championships
The 2003 Austrian Figure Skating Championships (German: Österreichischen Staatsmeisterschaften im Eiskunstlauf 2003) took place between 13 and 15 December 2002 in Dornbirn. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dancing. The results were used to choose the Austrian teams to the 2003 World Championships and the 2003 European Championships.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix
The 2003 Austrian Grand Prix (formally known as A1 Grand Prix von Österreich 2003) was a Formula One motor race held on 18 May 2003 at the A1-Ring. It was the sixth round of the 2003 Formula One season and the 27th Austrian Grand Prix. The 69-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari car after starting from pole position. Kimi Räikkönen finished second driving for McLaren with Rubens Barrichello third in the other Ferrari. It was the last Austrian Grand Prix to be held until it returned to the renamed Red Bull Ring in 2014.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Background
The Grand Prix was contested by ten teams with two drivers each. The teams (also known as constructors) were Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Renault, Sauber, Jordan, Jaguar, BAR, Minardi and Toyota. It was announced in January 2003 that the Austrian Grand Prix would be dropped from the Formula One calendar in 2004, three years before the contract for the race was due to expire. This was because an exit clause was enabled in response to the European Union pushing forward a ban on tobacco advertising to 1 October 2005.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Before the race, McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen led the Drivers' Championship with 32 points, ahead of Michael Schumacher (28) and Fernando Alonso (25). Rubens Barrichello was fourth with 20 points, while David Coulthard was a close fifth with 19 points. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren was leading with 51 points, three points ahead of their rival Ferrari. Renault (34 points) and Williams (32 points) contended for fourth place and Jordan was fifth with 11 points.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Qualifying was interesting, as there was no knowledge of what the weather would be for the race, making tyre and fuel strategy critical. Michael Schumacher qualified on pole despite a huge slide on his best qualifying lap. Championship leader Kimi Räikkönen qualified second, and was given special dispensation from the FIA to change his cracked valve, without incurring the usual penalty for changing an engine.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Fernando Alonso chose to start from the pitlane in the spare car, and Mark Webber chose to start from the pitlane in his regular car. This meant Webber could not change tyres or add fuel until the race started, whereas Alonso could. His Jaguar broke this rule, and so Webber received a 10-second stop/go penalty.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Cristiano da Matta had a faulty launch control, which caused 2 aborted starts, reducing the race to 69 laps. On the third (and final) formation lap, Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Sauber did not start, and he did not have time to set up the team car.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the start, Jos Verstappen's launch control broke, and he retired. This caused the safety car to be deployed. Michael eventually led Montoya and Räikkönen when the green flag came out at the end of lap 4. The field remained relatively stable for the next several laps.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
After 11 laps, it started to rain lightly, although it was not enough to force cars into the pits. Moments later, Jarno Trulli's Renault spun at turn one and he rejoined without problems. On lap 23, Michael pitted and there was a problem with his fuel filler, possibly caused by the fact that the team had used it to fill up Rubens Barrichello's car, which had a very slow first stop. Some of the fuel that actually did come out of the nozzle hit the bodywork on the sidepods, causing a small fire. The fire was extinguished quickly, and Michael continued in the race, losing about 12 seconds and was now running in third position.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
On lap 32, everything turned into Michael's favour. Räikkönen was having engine-related performance problems, and this allowed Schumacher to catch and eventually pass him. On the straight between turns two and three, leader Juan Pablo Montoya's engine blew up. He made it back to the garage, and Michael was back in the lead. Alonso was on a good run despite starting from the pit lane, and was running in the top five when he spun off course at turn one, on what turned out to be his own oil caused by a blown engine in his Renault. Michael eventually set the fastest lap of the day, at an average speed of 227.894 km/h.


2003 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
After the second round of stops, Barrichello closed up on second-place Räikkönen, but was unable to pass him due to some good defensive moves by Kimi, despite his car being clearly faster. Michael eventually went on to win the race, his third successive of the season. Jenson Button finished fourth for BAR despite being disappointed in qualifying, and David Coulthard's race was uneventful in fifth place. Ralf Schumacher was sixth, Webber finished a brilliant seventh despite his penalties, and Trulli was eighth for the final point. Despite causing the aborted starts earlier in the day, da Matta finished the race, a lap down in tenth position.


2003 Auto Club 500
The 2003 Auto Club 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held on April 27, 2003, at California Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps on the 2-mile (3.23 km) asphalt D-shaped oval, it was the tenth race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Steve Park of DEI won the pole. Kurt Busch of Roush Racing won the race. This was also the last race for Jerry Nadeau. His career ended with an injury during practice at Richmond


2003 Auto Club 500, Background
The track, California Speedway, is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The track's turns are banked from fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. Unlike the front stretch, the backstraightaway is banked at three degrees.


2003 Aylesbury Vale District Council election
Elections to Aylesbury Vale District Council were held on 1 May 2003. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1999 increasing the number of councillors by 1. The Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.


2003 Azerbaijani presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on 15 October 2003. As expected, Ilham Aliyev, son of the outgoing president, Heydar Aliyev, was officially elected with an overwhelming majority in an election which international observers held not to be free or fair.


2003 Azerbaijani presidential election, Conduct
Human Rights Watch stated that the "election campaign... from the beginning was heavily manipulated by the government to favor Prime Minister Ilham Aliev, son of President Heidar Aliev. The government ensured that election commissions would be stacked to favor Aliev, and banned nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from monitoring the vote. As the election drew nearer, government officials openly sided with Ilham Aliev, obstructed opposition rallies, and sought to limit participation in them. Police have beaten and arbitrarily detained hundreds of opposition activists, including a 73-year-old woman."


2003 Azerbaijani presidential election, Conduct
The Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe provided 188 election observers. The mission, requested by the United States government, formed part of a larger group of observers monitoring under the auspices of the OSCE. The IDEE observers observed more than 1,000 voting precincts and Constituency Election Centers where votes were tabulated, and collectively issued a "Votum Separatum," which expressed their outrage at election fraud, intimidation and political repression they witnessed during their observation mission and their disagreement with the OSCE's mild preliminary report calling the elections "generally well administered."


2003 Azerbaijani protests
The 2003 Azerbaijani protests was a series of opposition demonstrations and a violent crackdown against protesters and the 2003 Azerbaijani presidential election results. On the evening of 15 October, anti-government protests erupted, killing 2 when police opened fire with rubber bullets in an attempt to dispel the peaceful sit-ins. These protests were the biggest since the 1998 Azerbaijani presidential election protests.


2003 Azerbaijani protests, Background
In Azerbaijan elections have always been rigged, in favour of the president or alleged voter/ballot box fraud is discovered during the elections. Since the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has been plagued by internal scandals, corruption, violence and other issues which have angered many. The Azerbaijani opposition led demonstrations against the government in 1998, after the 1998 Azerbaijani presidential election but after the results of the 2003 Azerbaijani presidential election and the re-election of president Heydar Aliyev, the opposition had enough.


2003 Azerbaijani protests, Protests
On the evening of 15 October, mass demonstrations erupted nationwide after the announcement of the results but the epicentre was Baku, where most of the opposition unrest was taking place. Anti -government protests by hundreds took place in town squares and main parks. Thousands of riot police was deployed to clamp down on the demonstrators. Anti -presidential chants were heard and the response came quickly and violently, as tear gas and beatings was deployed. Hundreds were arrested after calling for the annulment of the elections.


2003 Azerbaijani protests, Protests
On 16 October, mass civil unrest continued; thousands continued to rally. Popular demonstrations erupted nationwide with large-scale unrest met with a police crackdown. Military forces and security officials were sent to quell mass strikes and lay-offs, labour unrest and anti-government demonstrations.


2003 Azerbaijani protests, Protests
Small rallies went on for a couple of days after, demanding democratic reforms and free elections. They were met with violence and attacks by police. Azerbaijan's parliament stripped an opposition lawmaker of immunity.


2003 Azerbaijani protests, Aftermath
The violence has been investigated and that police forces will be charged over the police brutality and the severe violence, crackdown that followed the post-election uprising. According to some sources, two died in the violence by security forces and the protests.


2003 BC Lions season
The 2003 BC Lions finished in fourth place in the West Division with an 11–7 record, but they made the playoffs because of the "cross-over" rule. They appeared in the East-Semi Final. The Lions wore orange alternate uniforms c. 1954 to celebrate the team's 50th season.


2003 BCR Open Romania
The 2003 BCR Open Romania was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Arenele BNR in Bucharest in Romania and was part of the International Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. The tournament ran from 8 September through 14 September 2003. Fourth-seeded David Sánchez won the singles title.


2003 BCR Open Romania, Finals, Doubles
Karsten Braasch /  Sargis Sargsian defeated  Simon Aspelin /  Jeff Coetzee 7–6(9–7), 6–2


2003 BCR Open Romania – Doubles
Jens Knippschild and Peter Nyborg were the defending champions but did not compete that year.


2003 BCR Open Romania – Doubles
Karsten Braasch and Sargis Sargsian won in the final 7–6(9–7), 6–2 against Simon Aspelin and Jeff Coetzee.


2003 BCR Open Romania – Singles
David Ferrer was the defending champion but lost in the first round to Galo Blanco.


2003 BCR Open Romania – Singles
David Sánchez won in the final 6–2, 6–2 against Nicolás Massú.


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


2003 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2003 BDO World Darts Championship was a professional darts tournament held from 4 to 12 January 2003 at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. It was the 26th staging of the competition since the 1978 edition and the 18th time it took place at the Lakeside Country Club. The competition was the first of 14 British Darts Organisation (BDO) tournaments in 2003 and featured a women's world championship for the third time. It was broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom and was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship
Two-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld defeated Ritchie Davies six sets to three (6–3) in the final. He joined Eric Bristow and John Lowe as the third player to win three or more BDO world titles in their career. Van Barneveld defeated Matt Clark, John Burton, Erik Clarys and Mervyn King en route to the final. Clarys achieved a 170 checkout, the highest of the tournament, in the final set of his quarter-final round match against Van Barneveld. The women's championship was won by Trina Gulliver for the third consecutive year, defeating Dawn Standley, Mieke de Boer and Anne Kirk en route to victory.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Background, Men's tournament
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was formed in 1973 by the managing director Olly Croft; the BDO World Darts Championship was first held in 1978. As of 2020, it is one of two world championships in the game of darts: the other being the PDC World Darts Championship. The 2003 tournament was held between 4 and 12 January, in Frimley Green, Surrey, and was the first of 14 BDO-sanctioned events that year. It was the 26th edition of the tournament and featured a 32-player main draw played at the Lakeside Country Club.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Background, Men's tournament
A total of 27 players automatically qualified for the main draw with the top 8 seeded according to their final position in the BDO rankings. The tournament's defending champion and world number one Tony David was seeded first and Raymond van Barneveld was seeded second. The remaining five places were decided by an international play-off round held at Bridlington Spa, Bridlington, on 31 October 2002. John Burton, Dennis Harbour. Martin Phillips, Brian Sorensen and Robert Wagner were the five players who progressed from qualifying to the main draw.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Background, Men's tournament
The maximum number of sets in a match increased from five in the first and second rounds to nine in the quarter- and semi-finals, leading up to the final which was played as best-of-11 frames. Sponsored by the cigarette brand Embassy, it had a total prize fund of £205,000, and was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Background, Men's tournament
In the lead up to the 2002 BDO world championship, David was seen by The Times correspondent Mel Webb as the favourite to retain his title due to his performances during the 2002 season. Conversely, The Racing Post's Steve Davies reported bookmakers considered Van Barneveld the most likely player to win the tournament, which would be his third BDO world championship victory. Embassy Darts guest writer Marcus Stead opined the progress of John Walton, the 2001 champion, would be observed carefully.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Background, Women's tournament
The BDO women's world championship was the third edition of the tournament, and took place from 4 to 11 January, at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey. A total of four players automatically qualified for the main draw and were seeded according to their final position in the BDO rankings. Francis Hoenselaar was seeded first and the competition's defending champion Trina Gulliver  was the second seed. Mieke de Boer was seeded third and the final seed was Anne Kirk. Karin Krappen was the only automatic non-seeded participant. The remaining three places were decided by an international play-off round held at Bridlington Spa, Bridlington on 31 October 2002. Linda Rogers-Pickett, Dawn Standley and Gaynor Williams were the trio who advanced from qualifying to the main draw. All matches were played to the best-of-three sets.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, First round
The draw for the first round of the championship was conducted by Peter Ebdon, the 2002 world snooker champion, and the two-time women's world darts champion Trina Gulliver at Bridlington Spa on 3 November 2002. It was televised live on the BBC sport programme Sunday Grandstand. The first round of the competition, in which 32 players participated, took place from 4 to 6 January and was held as best-of-five sets.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, First round
In this round Vincent van der Voort defeated Jarkko Komula 3–1. Komula moved 2–0 ahead in the first set until Van Der Voort produced an 11-dart finish to win set one. Van Der Voort won the game with a 117 checkout. David, who has the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia, lost the first set in his match against Sorensen due to several darts landing outside the board's targets before taking three sets in a row in a 3–1 victory. Against Phillips, Walton claimed set one before Phillips took six successive legs to lead 2–1.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, First round
Two double one ring finishes gave Walton the fourth set and took the fifth to win 3–2. Walton said he had received treatment for a trapped nerve in his neck before the match. Ritchie Davies, in his seventh consecutive BDO World Championship appearance, defeated Albertino Essers 3–1, a match which saw Davies claim the opening set unchallenged. Gary Anderson defeated Peter Johnstone 3–2 after he converted a 2–0 deficit to win the first set 3–2. Both players twice equalled the game before Anderson took three legs in a row to win. Four-time semi-finalist Andy Fordham compiled high scores and struck the double rings to whitewash Stefan Nagy 3–0.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, First round
Bob Taylor progressed past the first round for the second year in a row with a 3–0 whitewash of Peter Hunt from set victories of 3–2 and 3–1×2. In their maiden television appearances, Darryl Fitton defeated Burton 3–1 with set victories of 3–0, 3–2 and 3–1. Martin Adams, the number four seed and England captain, claimed the opening set against Co Stompé. He beat Stompé in the second set and won 3–1 with a 138 checkout. Wagner won the opening set against Gary Robson 3–2. Robson took set two after Wagner missed multiple chances to hit the double ten ring.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, First round
Wagner took two more sets from six consecutive legs for a 3–1 victory. In the match between Van Barneveld and Matt Clark, the latter began with a maximum before the former took the first set. He then claimed six legs in a row to win 3–1. Erik Clarys defeated the seventh seed Tony Eccles 3–1 after a minor challenge from Eccles in set three. Sub-par play from Shaun Greatbatch saw him whitewashed 3–0 by Colin Monk; Greatbatch was able to force the second set to conclude with a final leg decider before he missed the double rings in the following set.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, First round
Sixth seed Tony O'Shea beat Ted Hankey, the 2000 champion, 3–2 in a closely contested match. Hankey won the first set unchallenged before a 118 checkout gave O'Shea the next set. The score was level until O'Shea defeated Hankey on the double 16 ring. Harbour defeated teenager James Wade 3–2. Coming from 2–1 behind Harbour produced checkouts of 145, 115 and 60 in the fifth set to go through to the next round after Wade was unable to convert ten opportunities to win the match.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, First round
The final first round match was played between the number three seed Mervyn King and Steve Coote. After King compiled a 138 checkout, Coote won the first set 3–2 on a 101 checkout. King moved ahead by winning sets two and three 3–1, and a 116 checkout gave him a 3–1 win.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Second round
The second round was held from 7 to 8 January. The first second round match, which was played between Adams and Taylor, began with Adams winning the first set on the double 20 ring and led by two legs in set two. A 116 checkout allowed Taylor to tie and then won the third set 3–1. After Adams failed to hit the bullseye ring Taylor won by 3–1. David came from one set behind Van Der Voort early on to win 3–1 with a 114 checkout and a finish of 99 points.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Second round
He said afterwards: "I was a bit slow coming out in the first set but I picked it up and I'm very happy with how I played." Davies whitewashed Walton 3–0 with two 12-dart finishes and ended on the double 20 ring; Walton missed multiple opportunities to strike a double ring. In the match between Anderson and Fordham, Anderson won the first set on the bullseye ring and Fordham won three legs in a row without reply to level the score. Anderson then claimed the next two sets and finished on the double six ring to win the match 3–1.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Second round
Van Barneveld whitewashed Burton 3–0 with a 12-dart finish; Burton won a single leg in each of the three sets played. Clarys came from two legs behind Wagner to win the first set 3–2 and then whitewashed his opponent 3–0. Monk overcame O'Shea 3–2 in a narrowly fought match that the press positively reviewed. Both players tied at 2–2 and the match concluded with a final set decider. The score went to 5–5 when the referee confirmed a sudden death leg, which Monk won with a 102 checkout by striking the treble 20, single 10 and double 16 rings.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Second round
Monk said post-match he was exhausted and O'Shea praised his opponent's form. The final second round match saw King defeat Harbour 3–1. Two 12-dart finishes and three maximum scores won King set one. King prevented Harbour from winning the second by hitting the double eight ring. Harbour took the third set before King won the match in the fourth.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Quarter-finals
The four quarter-finals were played to the best-of-nine sets between 9 and 10 January. Davies averaged 32.73 points per dart thrown in whitewashing David 5–0. He won the opening two sets 3–0 and 3–2. Davies further extended his lead through dart throw accuracy and after David could not strike the double 20 ring in the third set. After the mid-session interval, both players tied the fifth set 2–2 until Davies achieved a 121 checkout to win the match. He entered the semi-finals of the championship for the first time in seven attempts.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Quarter-finals
Post-match David said Davies had outperformed him and the latter expressed a surprise over whitewashing his opponent. Another whitewash occurred when Anderson defeated Taylor 5–0 in an all-Scottish fixture. He compiled checkouts of 161 and 140 and a 13-dart finish en route to victory. Anderson commented on his form: "I thought I'd win tonight but I thought it would be a lot closer than that. I was fine against Andy Fordham but I felt a little bit nervous tonight. However, I'm through and I've got nothing to lose."


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Quarter-finals
In the other quarter-finals Van Barneveld achieved a three-dart average of 100.83 and a finish percentage of 59.25 in his 5–1 defeat of Clarys. The match included a tournament-high checkout of 170 from Clarys in the final set. Van Barneveld won the first two sets and Clarys took the third 3–1. Van Barneveld produced a 124 checkout in set four to restore a two set advantage. He took the following two sets 3–0 and 3–2 to qualify for the semi-finals. King whitewashed Monk 5–0 in a repeat of their semi-final game from the 2002 tournament.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Quarter-finals
Both players shared the first four legs of the first set. King hit the double six ring to take a lead he retained for the rest of the game and took the last semi-final spot. He commented on what he needed to defeat Van Barneveld, "I've got to be looking for a 99 to 100 average against Raymond. As you all know, it's not beyond me. But I'm just looking for the win at the end of day, because the Embassy is what you play for."


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Semi-finals
Both of the semi-finals were played on 11 January. Davies defeated Anderson 5–2 to enter the final. The two players began the match by sharing the first two sets each. Davies subsequently produced a 140 checkout to move in front and he further extended his advantage by winning the fourth set with a finish on the double five ring. After the mid-session interval Anderson won the fifth set. Davies responded by claiming the next set 3–2; a 15-dart finish and Davies finishing on the double ten ring in the eighth set won him the match.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Semi-finals
Davies said he began slower than before and was eager to participate in the final, "If anyone would have told me at the start of the week that I would be in the final, I'd have laughed. But I've got nothing to lose in this tournament. I've just come here to do as well as I can."


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Semi-finals
The other semi-final saw Van Barneveld enter the final with a 5–2 defeat of King and requited a loss to his opponent from the 2002 competition. Both players shared the first four legs of the first set which went to a fifth leg won by Van Barneveld on the double eight ring. Van Barneveld produced a 110 checkout to lead by two sets. Both players attempted a nine-dart finish in the first leg of set three: King missed the triple 20 ring and Van Barneveld the triple 19 on his eighth throw.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Semi-finals
Van Barneveld converted two 12-dart finishes to lead 3–0. King clinched two sets in a row to be 3–2 behind before Van Barneveld struck the double eight ring and made a 161 checkout to win the match. Post-game, King inculpated his defeat on the trajectory of his darts being affected by the activation of an air conditioning system, something the BDO denied. He commented: "Under the conditions, I thought I played exceptionally well – but to beat a player like Raymond, everything has to be right and fair."


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Final
The final played between Davies and Van Barneveld on 12 January was held to the best-of-11 sets. Both players missed hitting the double rings before Van Barneveld produced a 132 checkout completed on the double one ring to take the first set 3–1 after twelve dart throws in leg four. He further extended his lead to 4–0 with three consecutive scores of 3–2 achieved from respective finishes on the double 11 ring in the second set, a 116 checkout in the third and finishing in eleven darts in the final leg of the fourth set.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Final
Finishes on the double 16 and 11 rings and a 121 checkout secured Davies the fifth set 3–1 and took set five 3–2. During the seventh set Davies won three successive legs from finishes on the double 20 and 10 rings and a 98 checkout. Van Barneveld won the eighth set 3–2 from two checkouts of 76 points and striking the double 18 ring in its fifth leg. Davies claimed the first leg of set nine after Van Barneveld was unable to convert an 84 finish. Van Barneveld made finishes of 96 and 72 points to win the match 6–3.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Final
Van Barneveld took his third BDO world title after he had won the tournament in 1998 and 1999. He joined Eric Bristow and John Lowe as the third player to win three or more BDO world championships, and earned £50,000 prize money. Van Barneveld commented on the victory: "When you the win the title for the first time it's very good. After 2000 when I lost in the first round I did not believe in myself. I've had to work hard to get on this level again.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Men's tournament, Final
Mentally, the fight came back in my life and I started to believe in myself again." Davies said he would return to participate at the 2004 event and that the loss of the opening four sets altered his strategy: "I knew with such a long format I had time to settle down but I gave Raymond too many chances. I was very nervous and, at the start, the darts just would not seem to fall the way they have been doing all week. I was trying and trying but Raymond was always coming up with the big score when he needed it. It is hard to play Raymond because once he gets into a rhythm it is very difficult to stop him. I hit too many single 20s tonight which was also disappointing."


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Women's tournament
The four quarter-finals of the women's tournament took place between 4 and 5 January. Pre -tournament favourite Hoensellar and Krappen played the first quarter-final match. Krappen took the first set 3–0 before Hoensellar won the match 2–1 with set victories of 3–0 and 3–1. Kirk and Williams tied at 2–2 in the first set of their match before Kirk took the fifth leg to claim it. Kirk then won three legs in a row to whitewash Williams 2–0. Gulliver defeated Standley 2–1. Gulliver won the first set 3–0 before Standley won the next set 3–1. Gulliver completed the victory by winning set three. The final quarter-final match saw De Boer whitewash Rogers-Pickett 2–0; Rogers-Pickett tied the second set 2–2 before De Boer struck the double eight ring to win.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Women's tournament
Both of the semi-finals were held on 9 January. Kirk overcame Hoenselaar in the first set and the latter commenced the second by claiming its first leg. Kirk took three consecutive legs to win 2–0 and earned a berth in the final. The other semi-final match saw Gulliver whitewash De Boer 2–0. De Boer took the match's first leg to which Gulliver replied with high scores for three successive leg victories to win the first set. Gulliver took set two to secure the second final spot.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Women's tournament
The final was played between Gulliver and Kirk on 11 January. Gulliver took the first leg on the double nine ring and the next two legs to win the first set 3–0. Kirk claimed the first two legs of the second set after Gulliver failed to complete a 121 checkout on the bullseye ring. Gulliver took the next two legs to equal the score and compiled a maximum in the fifth. She won her third BDO world championship by completing a 93 checkout on the double 12 ring.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Women's tournament
She said of her achievement, "It hasn't really sunk in yet, but when I think about it, I just think wow! It's unbelievable. Mine's still the only name on the trophy and I never want to give it back! I had a lot of pressure on me, admittedly a lot of it I'd put on myself, but I was able to handle it and hold it together."


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for 2003 is shown below.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Draw, Men's draw
Numbers given to the left of players' names show the seedings for the top eight players in the men's tournament. The five qualifiers are indicated by a (Q). The figures in brackets to the right of a competitor's name state their three-dart averages in a match. Players in bold denote match winners.


2003 BDO World Darts Championship, Draw, Women's draw
Numbers given to the left of players' names show the seedings for the top eight players in the women's competition. The three qualifiers are indicated by a (Q). The figures in brackets to the right of a competitor's name state their three-dart averages in a match. Players in bold denote match winners.


2003 BFL season
The 2003 season of the Belgian Football League (BFL) is the regular season played in the Belgium. In the Belgian Bowl XVI, the Antwerp Diamonds were disqualified giving the title to the Brussels Black Angels.


2003 BFL season, Regular season, Regular Season overview
The FFL schedules two games at one location for saving on transportationcosts for referees and the costs of renting an ambulance and first aid responders. Half of the time, teams are playing virtually at home but actually play at the hosting team's homefield due to these costsaving measures.


2003 BFL season, Regular season, Regular season standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against


2003 BMW Open
The 2003 BMW Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Munich, Germany and was part of the International Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. The tournament ran from 28 April through 4 May 2003. First-seeded Roger Federer won the singles title.


2003 BMW Open, Finals, Doubles
Wayne Black /  Kevin Ullyett defeated  Joshua Eagle /  Jared Palmer 6–3, 7–5


2003 BMW Open – Doubles
The 2003 BMW Open tennis tournament was played in Munich, Germany as part of the International Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. The tournament ran from April 28 through May 4, 2003.


2003 BMW Open – Doubles
Petr Luxa and Radek Štěpánek were the defending doubles champions, but lost in the first round to Tomáš Cibulec and Pavel Vízner.


2003 BMW Open – Doubles
Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett won in the final 6–3, 7–5 against Joshua Eagle and Jared Palmer.


2003 BMW Open – Singles
Younes El Aynaoui was the defending champion but did not compete that year.


2003 BMW Open – Singles
Roger Federer won in the final 6–1, 6–4 against Jarkko Nieminen.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2003 BNP Paribas Masters was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 31st edition of the Paris Masters and was part of the Tennis Masters Series of the 2003 ATP Tour. It took place at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris in France from 27 October through 2 November 2003. Unseeded Tim Henman  won the singles  title.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters, Tournament review
Tim Henman won the men's singles title to claim his debut Masters Series title, and what ultimately proved to be the last of 11 titles Henman won during his career. He beat Nikolay Davydenko, Sébastien Grosjean, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer, and Andy Roddick en route to victory against Andrei Pavel in the final.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters, Tournament review
Andy Roddick's performance in reaching the semi-finals lifted him to No. 1 in the rankings. Despite his loss to Henman he gained the top spot from Juan Carlos Ferrero, who lost to Jiří Novák earlier in the competition. He became the fourth youngest male player to reach number one.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters, Tournament review
David Nalbandian secured the final place in the Tennis Masters Cup even though he did not play at the event. Paradorn Srichaphan, the only player who could beat him to eighth place in the rankings, lost in the third round.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters, Finals, Doubles
Wayne Arthurs /  Paul Hanley defeated  Michaël Llodra /  Fabrice Santoro 6–3, 1–6, 6–3


2003 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles
Nicolas Escudé and Fabrice Santoro were the defending champions but only Santoro competed that year with Michaël Llodra.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles
Llodra and Santoro lost in the final 6–3, 1–6, 6–3 against Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley.


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


2003 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Marat Safin was the defending champion but did not compete that year.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Tim Henman won in the final 6–2, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–2) against Andrei Pavel.


2003 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. All sixteen seeds received a bye into the second round.


2003 BR47
2003 BR47 is a sub-kilometer asteroid classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group. It was discovered on 31 January 2003 by the LINEAR program. As of 19 March 2013, its orbit is based on 170 observations spanning a data-arc of 939 days.


2003 BR47
It comes to within 0.05 AU of Earth periodically. It is also an Earth crosser and a Mars crosser.


2003 BYU Cougars football team
The 2003 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season.


2003 BYU Cougars football team, Schedule
•SportsWest Productions (SWP) games were shown locally on KSL 5.


2003 BYU Cougars football team, BYU Cougars Radio Network
The BYU Cougars radio network carried every game on radio using the broadcast trio of Greg Wrubell (pxp), Marc Lyons (analyst), and Bill Riley (sidelines). KSL 1160 AM served as the flagship station for BYU Football.


2003 Babergh District Council election
Elections to Babergh Council were held on 1 May 2003. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 1999. The council stayed under no overall control.


2003 Babergh District Council election, Election result
3 Independent, 3 Conservative and 2 Liberal Democrat councillors were unopposed.


2003 Bachu earthquake
The 2003 Bachu earthquake occurred on 24 February at 10:03 local time in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in northwest China. The epicentre was located near to the town of Jiashi and Bachu County, approximately 105 km east of Kashgar and 310 km west of Aksu. At least 261 people died as a result of the earthquake, and more than 4,000 were injured. Most of the casualties occurred in Bachu county. Almost 10,000 homes were levelled by the earthquake. A further 5 people were killed in powerful aftershocks which occurred on 26 February 2003.


2003 Bachu earthquake, Tectonic setting
Seismic activity is common in the Bachu and the surrounding area. It occurs as a result of movement on fault systems that bound the Tien Shan mountain belt. The Tien Shan is actively evolving, as a result of far-field stresses associated with the collision of India and Eurasia. According to the moment tensor solution, the earthquake occurred on a thrust fault that dips 6° to the north, and strikes approximately east–west. Such a gentle dip angle implies that the earthquake may have occurred on or just above the basal detachment of the neighbouring fold-thrust belts. There is no evidence of oblique-slip or strike-slip movement.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident
On 22 November 2003, shortly after takeoff from Baghdad, Iraq, an Airbus A300B4-200F cargo plane, registered OO-DLL and owned by European Air Transport (doing business as DHL Express), was struck on the left wing by a surface-to-air missile while on a scheduled flight to Muharraq, Bahrain. Severe wing damage resulted in a fire and complete loss of hydraulic flight control systems. Because outboard left wing fuel tank 1A was full at takeoff, there was no fuel-air vapour explosion. Liquid jet fuel dropped away as 1A disintegrated. Inboard fuel tank 1 was pierced and leaking.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident
Returning to Baghdad, the three-man crew made an injury-free landing of the seriously damaged A300, using differential engine thrust as the only pilot input. This is despite major damage to a wing, total loss of hydraulic control, a faster than safe landing speed and a ground path which veered off the runway surface and onto unprepared ground.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident
Paris Match reporter Claudine Vernier-Palliez accompanied a Fedayeen unit on their strike mission against the DHL aircraft.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident
Sara Daniel, a French weekly newsmagazine journalist, claimed receipt, from an unknown source, of a video that showed insurgents, faces concealed, firing a missile at the DHL A300. Daniel was researching a feature about Iraqi resistance groups but she denied any specific knowledge of the people who carried out the attack, despite being present at the moment of attack.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Background
The aircraft took off from Baghdad International Airport en route to Bahrain International Airport at 06:30 UTC with an experienced crew of three: two Belgians, 38-year-old Captain Éric Gennotte and 29-year-old First Officer Steeve Michielsen, and a Scotsman, 54-year-old flight engineer Mario Rofail. The captain had 3,300 total flight hours, more than half of them logged in the A300. The first officer had 1,275 hours of flight experience and the flight engineer had 13,400 hours of flight experience.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Moments following the strike
To reduce exposure to ground attack, the aircraft was executing a rapid climbout. At about 8,000 ft (2,400 m), a 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14 Gremlin) surface-to-air missile struck the rear of the left wing between the engine and the wing tip. The warhead damaged trailing-edge surfaces of the wing structure and caused a fire. All three hydraulic systems lost pressure, and flight controls were disabled. The aircraft pitched rapidly up and down in a roller-coaster phugoid, oscillating between a nose-up and a nose-down position.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Moments following the strike
As in the case of the 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 disaster in the United States, Captain Genotte could only use thrust to modify pitch, speed and altitude and vary throttles asymmetrically to control yaw and turn the aircraft. Flight engineer Mario Rofail executed a gravity drop to extend the landing gear, a procedure normally accomplished with hydraulic power. Early deployment of the gear was critical to a safe outcome because increased drag helped reduce speed and stabilize the aircraft.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Moments following the strike
In about 10 minutes of experimentation, the crew learned to manage turns, climbs and descents. After a meandering trajectory, they executed a right turn and initiated a descent path to Baghdad International Airport.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Final approach and emergency landing
Because of left wing damage and fuel loss, Rofail had to monitor the engine closely – if fuel flow was lost from the left side, he would have to feed fuel from a right tank to maintain thrust. Survival was dependent on accurate power control of each jet engine.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Final approach and emergency landing
Genotte and Michielsen set up for a final approach to runway 33R. The aircraft drifted to the right of the intended course, so Genotte chose the shorter 33L runway. Visibility was excellent and the pilots managed a controlled descent. They knew that, counter-intuitively, they could not retard throttles before touchdown without risking the nose or a wing smashing disastrously into the ground.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Final approach and emergency landing
At about 400 ft (120 m) turbulence upset the aircraft balance and the right wing dipped. With thrust adjustments, the roll was controlled but the aircraft touched down off the runway centerline. Rofail immediately deployed full reverse thrust but the aircraft veered off the paved runway. The aircraft ran through rough soft ground, throwing up a plume of sand and dragging a razor wire barrier, and halted after about 3,300 feet (1,000 m).


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Awards and aftermath
The Honourable Company of Air Pilots jointly honoured crewmembers with the Hugh Gordon-Burge Memorial Award. This is awarded to flight crew whose action contributed outstandingly by saving their aircraft or passengers, or made a significant contribution to future air safety. This annual award is made only if a nomination is considered to be of significant merit.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Awards and aftermath
The Flight Safety Foundation's FSF Professionalism Award in Flight Safety was presented to the crewmembers for their "extraordinary piloting skills in flying their aircraft to a safe landing after a missile strike following takeoff from Baghdad, Iraq".


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Awards and aftermath
In May 2006, Captain Éric Genotte, together with Armand Jacob, an Airbus experimental test pilot, gave a presentation to the Toulouse branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society titled "Landing an A300 Successfully Without Flight Controls".


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, Awards and aftermath
In addition to severe wing and undercarriage damage, both jet engines suffered ruinous abuse by ingesting debris. In November 2004 the aircraft was repaired and re-registered as N1452, and put up for sale but not sold in 2005. However, the already aging aircraft did not fly again. The aircraft has since been scrapped.


2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, In popular culture
The incident was featured in "Attack over Baghdad", a Season 3 (2005) episode of the Canadian TV series Mayday (called Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the U.S. and Air Crash Investigation in the UK and elsewhere around the world).


2003 Bahrain Prime Minister's Cup
The 2003 Prime Minister's Cup  was an international friendly soccer tournament . Matches were held from 12 – 18 December 2003 in Manama.


2003 Bahraini Crown Prince Cup
The 2003 Bahraini Crown Prince Cup was the 3rd edition of the cup tournament in men's football (soccer). This edition featured the top four sides from the Bahraini Premier League 2002-03 season.


2003 Balearic regional election
The 2003 Balearic regional election was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 6th Parliament of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. All 59 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.


2003 Balearic regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The Parliament of the Balearic Islands was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Balearic Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Government. Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Balearic Islands and in full enjoyment of their political rights.


2003 Balearic regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The 59 members of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 33 for Mallorca, 13 for Menorca, 12 for Ibiza and 1 for Formentera.


2003 Balearic regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.


2003 Balearic regional election, Overview, Election date
The term of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 13 June 1999, setting the election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 25 May 2003.


2003 Balearic regional election, Overview, Election date
The Parliament of the Balearic Islands could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a sixty-day period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.