The Australian Open was held in Adelaide, Sunday 20th-27th June and was won by Dave Collins (Victoria). Steve Mifsud, a player capable of scoring double centuries, elected to play in the South Pacific Open Snooker Championship which was being held at the same time. The twenty competitors were split into four groups of five players playing league format. The top four from each section qualified from the groups, which meant that only the bottom player in each group would be eliminated, with the finishing positions used to seed the later draw. Joe Minici, Joe Millen, Neil Croft, Tim Walters all emerged undefeated from the groups, Minici having made the highest break to this point with 229. Frank Dewens, better know for his administrative work than his cue work, put in a fine performance to finish second in his group. The top spot in Group D was keenly contested between Tim Walters and George Ganim, with Walters prevailing by just 12 points in the key match between these two players. Play in the groups produced 20 centuries, Neil Croft leading the way with six of them, his highest being 194. Others to do well were George Ganim and Joe Minici, each with five centuries.
Last year's finalist Frank Humphreys had been confidently expected to head his group but surprisingly could only finish third. This gave him a difficult draw against Collins in the last 16 and in a desperately close finish he lost out by just 11 points. Tim Walters, who had performed so well in the groups, also made an exit at this stage, going down by 54 points to A. Hinks.
Abbreviations: NSW - New South Wales, SA - South Australia, Vic - Victoria, WA - Western Australia.
Neil Croft and Joe Minici had comfortable wins to make it through to the semi-finals, Croft scoring two centuries and Minici three. The other two quarter-finals were a lot closer, with Joe Millen beating George Ganim 700-562 and Dave Collins defeating Hinks 930-766. Collins scored just his second century of the tournament in his match with Hinks.
Given their previous performances, Croft and Minici must be a little disappointed they were stopped in the semifinals, going out to Millen and Collins respectively. Minici had made the final twice before, in 1997 when he lost to George Ganim Jnr; and last year when he beat Frank Humphreys. He also made the highest break that year with 323. The record break for the Australian Open being 702, which was made in 1953 by the legendary Bob Marshall. Croft has made the final once, in 1996, when he was beaten by the enigmatic Danik Lucas.
Collins secured his fourth Australian Open Billiards title to add to those he won in 1990, 1991 and 1994. He has also been runner-up four times (1987, 1992, 1993, 1995). Millen has never won the title, but this was his third appearance in the final, the previous occasions having been in 1984 and 1988.