Northern Ireland Open (snooker)

For the previous tournament held in Belfast, see Northern Ireland Trophy. For the previous tournament held in Tallaght, see Irish Open (snooker).

Northern Ireland Open

Part of the Home Nations Series
Tournament information
Venue	Waterfront Hall
Location	Belfast
Country	Northern Ireland
Established	2016
Organisation(s)	World Snooker Tour
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£550,400
Winner's share	£100,000
Recent edition	2025
Current champion	Jack Lisowski  (ENG)

The Northern Ireland Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament held in Belfast as part of the four-event Home Nations Series. The players compete for the Alex Higgins Trophy, named for the late two-time world champion who was born and raised in Belfast. The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 2016 and was won by Mark King. The reigning champion is Jack Lisowski.

History

Professional snooker competition was first contested in Northern Ireland in the name of Northern Ireland Classic in 1981; subsequent ranking events were held from 2006 to 2008 but have been discontinued since.

On 29 April 2015, World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn announced that the Northern Ireland Open at a Belfast venue would be added to the main tour in 2016, ^[1] as part of a new Home Nations Series with the existing Welsh Open and Scottish Open, and the new English Open tournaments. ^{[2] [3]}

In 2017, Yan Bingtao became the youngest player to reach a ranking final. Yan came close to breaking Ronnie O'Sullivan's record of being the youngest player to win a ranking event, which had stood for 24 years, but he narrowly lost to Mark Williams 8–9 after having led 8–7. This final also featured one of the biggest age gaps between finalists as Williams was almost 25 years older than Yan. Additionally, Yan also became the first player born in the 2000s to reach the final of a ranking tournament.

In 2018, 2019 and 2020, Judd Trump defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–7 in each final. The 2020 tournament was staged outside Northern Ireland, at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom on the 2020–21 snooker season. ^[4]

In 2021, Mark Allen became the first Northern Irish player to win the event, knocking out defending champion Judd Trump in the quarter-finals and beating John Higgins 9–8 in the final, after trailing 6–8. ^[5] In 2022, Allen successfully defended the title, coming from 1–4 down to beat Zhou Yuelong 9–4. ^{[6] [7]}

In 2023, Judd Trump regained the title for a record-extending fourth time, beating Chris Wakelin 9–3 in the final. ^[8] Trump reached the final again in 2024 but lost 3–9 to reigning World Champion Kyren Wilson who became the first right-handed player to win the event. ^{[9] [10]}

Venue

The Waterfront Hall in Belfast

Other than the first edition in 2016, where it was held at the Titanic Belfast complex, and in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has been regularly held at the Waterfront Hall, an auditorium adjacent to the River Lagan; it is the only venue within the Home Nation Series to have a multi-level balcony seating, which contributes to its unique atmosphere and is praised by players such as Kyren Wilson. The final of the 2025 event was attended by 1,435 spectators, a record UK attendance number only outside of The Masters, which is held in London. ^[11]

Winners

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Venue	City	Season
2016 [12]	Mark King  (ENG)	Barry Hawkins  (ENG)	9–8	Titanic Exhibition Centre	Belfast, Northern Ireland	2016/17
2017 [13]	Mark Williams  (WAL)	Yan Bingtao  (CHN)	9–8	Waterfront Hall		2017/18
2018 [14]	Judd Trump  (ENG)	Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG)	9–7			2018/19
2019 [15]	Judd Trump  (ENG)	Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG)	9–7			2019/20
2020 [16]	Judd Trump  (ENG)	Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG)	9–7	Marshall Arena	Milton Keynes, England	2020/21
2021 [17]	Mark Allen  (NIR)	John Higgins  (SCO)	9–8	Waterfront Hall	Belfast, Northern Ireland	2021/22
2022 [18]	Mark Allen  (NIR)	Zhou Yuelong  (CHN)	9–4			2022/23
2023 [19]	Judd Trump  (ENG)	Chris Wakelin  (ENG)	9–3			2023/24
2024 [20]	Kyren Wilson  (ENG)	Judd Trump  (ENG)	9–3			2024/25
2025	Jack Lisowski  (ENG)	Judd Trump  (ENG)	9–8			2025/26

See also

• Northern Ireland Trophy
• Irish Open (renamed to European Masters)
• Irish Masters
• Irish Professional Championship
• 2011 Alex Higgins International Trophy

References

1. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020.
2. "Snooker tour to be revamped in 2016". BBC Sport. 29 April 2015.
3. "Hearn Announces New Five-Year Plan". World Snooker. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020.
4. "World Snooker: Milton Keynes to host first eight events of 2020-21 season". BBC Sport. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
5. "Northern Ireland Open: Mark Allen fights back to beat John Higgins 9-8 in epic final". BBC Sport . Retrieved 28 October 2024.
6. "Allen Triumphs Again In Belfast". World Snooker Tour . 23 October 2022. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
7. "Mark Allen retains title with 9-4 win over Zhou Yuelong". BBC Sport . Retrieved 28 October 2024.
8. "Northern Ireland Open: Judd Trump wins Alex Higgins trophy with victory against Chris Wakelin". BBC Sport . 29 October 2023. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
9. "Wilson hammers Trump to win Northern Ireland Open". BBC Sport . 27 October 2024. Archived from the original on 28 October 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
10. "Wilson claims maiden Belfast triumph". World Snooker Tour . 27 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
11. "Official attendance for last Sunday's final is the largest for a UK snooker event except the Masters". Belfast News Letter. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
12. "Coral Northern Ireland Open (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
13. "Dafabet Northern Ireland Open (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
14. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open (2018)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
15. "19.com Northern Ireland Open (2019)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
16. "Matchroom.live Northern Ireland Open (2020)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
17. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open (2021)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
18. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open (2022)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
19. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open (2023)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
20. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open (2024)". snooker.org. 27 October 2024. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.

External links

• Chris Turner's Snooker Archive: Major European Tournaments