Overview
The tournament began in 1980 as the non-ranking British Gold Cup, won by Alex Higgins. [1] Held as the non-ranking Yamaha Organs Trophy in 1981 and the non-ranking Yamaha International Masters from 1982–84, it was renamed the British Open in 1985, when it also gained ranking status. [2] Staged 21 times from 1985 until its discontinuation in 2004, the tournament was revived in 2021. In 2022, the tournament trophy was named the Clive Everton Trophy to honour the longtime commentator and snooker journalist. [3]
Sponsored by online sports betting company Unibet, which also sponsored the 2024 edition, the 2025 edition of the tournament will be the fifth ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 English Open and preceding the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix. [4] [5] Mark Selby is the defending champion, having defeated John Higgins 10–5 in the 2024 final. [6]
Uniquely among all current professional snooker tournaments, the draw will be randomised for every round. [7]
Qualifiers were held from 25 to 28 June 2025 at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. [8] Qualifying matches featuring the top 20 players in the snooker world rankings—with the exception of world number six Ding Junhui, who did not enter the event [a] —were held over to be played in Cheltenham. [9] The 2023 world champion Luca Brecel withdrew and was replaced in the draw by Ashley Carty, the highest available player from the Q School top-up list. [10]
The tournament's main stage will be held from 22 to 28 September 2025 at the Centaur in Cheltenham, England. [5] The tournament will follow a straight knock-out format, with all matches up to the quarter‑finals being played as the best of 7 frames . The quarter‑finals are the best of 9 frames, the semi‑finals are the best of 11 frames, and the final is the best of 19 frames, played over two sessions . [11]
Broadcasters
The qualifying round was broadcast by Discovery+ in Germany, Austria and Italy; by HBO Max in other European territories; by Huya Live, Migu [ zh ], the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel and the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin in China; and by WST Play in the United Kingdom and all other territories worldwide without a broadcast agreement in place. [12]
ITV will broadcast the tournament for the final time as its contract with the World Snooker Tour expires. From February 2026, the three snooker tournaments formerly broadcast by ITV—the Players Championship, Tour Championship and British Open—will be broadcast by Channel 5.
Prize fund
The winner of the event will receive £100,000 from a total prize fund of £502,000. The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below: [7]
- Winner: £100,000
- Runner-up: £45,000
- Semi-final: £20,000
- Quarter-final: £12,000
- Last 16: £9,000
- Last 32: £6,000
- Last 64: £3,000
- Highest break: £5,000
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Mark Selby (ENG)
