Tournament information | |
---|---|
Venue | Waterfront Hall |
Location | Belfast |
Country | Northern Ireland |
Established | 2016 |
Organisation(s) | World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association |
Format | Ranking event |
Total prize fund | £555,400 |
Recent edition | 2024 |
Current champion | Kyren Wilson (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 Kyren Wilson.
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]
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Final score | Venue | City | Season |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 [11] | Mark King (ENG) | Barry Hawkins (ENG) | 9–8 | Titanic Exhibition Centre | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 2016/17 |
2017 [12] | Mark Williams (WAL) | Yan Bingtao (CHN) | 9–8 | Waterfront Hall | 2017/18 | |
2018 [13] | Judd Trump (ENG) | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) | 9–7 | 2018/19 | ||
2019 [14] | Judd Trump (ENG) | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) | 9–7 | 2019/20 | ||
2020 [15] | Judd Trump (ENG) | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) | 9–7 | Marshall Arena | Milton Keynes, England | 2020/21 |
2021 [16] | Mark Allen (NIR) | John Higgins (SCO) | 9–8 | Waterfront Hall | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 2021/22 |
2022 [17] | Mark Allen (NIR) | Zhou Yuelong (CHN) | 9–4 | 2022/23 | ||
2023 [18] | Judd Trump (ENG) | Chris Wakelin (ENG) | 9–3 | 2023/24 | ||
2024 [19] | Kyren Wilson (ENG) | Judd Trump (ENG) | 9–3 | 2024/25 |
Judd Trump is an English professional snooker player who is a former world champion and the current world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently in fourth place on the list of all-time ranking event winners, having won 29 ranking titles. He has also won four Triple Crown titles.
Mark Allen is a Northern Irish professional snooker player from Antrim. After winning the World Amateur Championship in 2004, he turned professional in 2005 and entered the top 16 after three seasons on the tour. He won his first ranking title at the 2012 World Open, defeating Stephen Lee 10–1 in the final; he has since won a career total of 11 ranking titles. He has won two Triple Crown titles—he defeated Kyren Wilson 10–7 to win the 2018 Masters and Ding Junhui by the same score to win the 2022 UK Championship—and has twice reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, in 2009 and 2023.
Kyren James Wilson is an English professional snooker player from Kettering. He has won eight ranking titles and is the reigning world champion.
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The 2018 Scottish Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that took place from 10 to 16 December 2018 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the tenth ranking event of the 2018/2019 season and a part of the Home Nations Series.
The 2019 Northern Ireland Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 11 to 17 November 2019 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The fourth edition of the Northern Ireland Open, it was the sixth ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season, the second tournament of the Home Nations Series. Featuring a prize fund of £405,000, the winner received £70,000. The event was broadcast on Eurosport and Quest domestically and was sponsored by betting company 19.com.
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The 2022 Northern Ireland Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 to 23 October 2022 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the fourth ranking event of the 2022–23 season, the first tournament in the Home Nations Series, and the third tournament in the BetVictor Series. It was the seventh edition of the Northern Ireland Open since the event was first staged in 2016. The tournament was broadcast on Quest and Eurosport domestically. The winner received £80,000 from a total prize purse of £427,000.
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