| Born | 7 July 2004 County Antrim |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Northern Ireland |
| Professional | 2024–present |
| Highest ranking | 91 (July 2024) |
| Current ranking | 111 (as of 16 December 2024) |
| Best ranking finish | Last 64 (x2) |
Robbie McGuigan (born 7 July 2004) is a professional snooker player from Northern Ireland. In 2023, he became a three-time Northern Ireland Amateur champion, whilst still a teenager.
From County Antrim, McGuigan attended Antrim Grammar School. He hit his first 147 break at thirteen years-old. [1]
In 2019 McGuigan made his debut at a ranking event when he was given a wildcard aged fifteen years-old to the 2019 Northern Ireland Open. [2] He lost to his countryman Patrick Wallace. [3] The following year he lost in the final of the Northern Ireland Amateur snooker final, on a deciding frame, 10–9 to Declan Lavery. [4]
In 2021, McGuigan became the youngest ever Northern Ireland Amateur snooker champion when he defeated Rab McCullough, 10–4 in the final. At 17 years and eleven months he was two and a half months younger than the previous youngest winner Mark Allen had been. [5]
In March 2022, still aged seventeen, he defended his Northern Ireland title, again beating McCullough in the final, but by a 10–6 margin. [6] In that same month, March 2022 he won the final event of the WPBSA Q Tour season with a 5–3 victory over Scotland's Michael Collumb at the event held at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, coming back from 3–0 down. [7]
In October 2022, he defeated compatriot Joel Connelly 4–0 in the preliminary round of the 2022 Northern Ireland Open before losing in the final round of qualifying. [8]
In May 2023, he won the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship title for a third consecutive year, defeating Raymond Fry 10–8 in the final. [9]
McGuigan won the first two amateur tournaments of the 2023–24 season held in Northern Ireland. [10] Awarded a wildcard to the 2023 Northern Ireland Open in October 2023, [11] he defeated Muhammad Asif to qualify for the main stages of the event in Belfast. [12] In the next round, McGuigan faced experienced campaigner Anthony McGill, McGuigan led 3–1 in the best of seven frame match and McGill required three snookers on the colours to stay in the match, before mounting a comeback to win the frame on a re-spotted black and went on to defeat McGuigan 4–3. [13]
Given a wildcard to the 2023 UK Championship as the reigning Northern Ireland champion, [14] he beat veteran Irishman Fergal O'Brien 6–2 in the first qualifying round, before losing by the same score in the following round to Dylan Emery. [15]
In March 2024, he defeated Craig Steadman 5–4 in the final to win the EBSA European Snooker Championship and a tour card for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons. [16]
He made a successful start to his pro career at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024, beating Sanderson Lam 3-0 and qualifying from his round robin group. [17] He reached the third round of the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters with a win over Ma Hailong of China. [18]
The son of Kyla McGuigan, he is a supporter of Manchester United. [19] His sister Harleigh was born in July 2017. His stepfather was snooker player Mark Allen until 2020. [20]
| Tournament | 2019/ 20 | 2020/ 21 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking [nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | ||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| Championship League | NR | A | RR | RR | A | 2R | ||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | LQ | ||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 3R | ||||||||||||
| English Open | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | ||||||||
| British Open | Not Held | A | A | A | LQ | |||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | A | LQ | |||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | LQ | A | A | LQ | 1R | LQ | ||||||||
| International Championship | A | Not Held | A | LQ | ||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||||
| Shoot Out | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | ||||||||
| Scottish Open | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | ||||||||
| German Masters | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | ||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||
| World Open | A | Not Held | A | LQ | ||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||
| Tour Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||
| World Championship | A | LQ | LQ | A | A | |||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| WST Pro Series | NH | RR | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||||
| WST Classic | Not Held | 1R | Not Held | |||||||||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi–finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not held | means an event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-ranking event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking event | means an event is/was now a ranking event | |||
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2019 | Challenge Tour – Event 3 |  Andrew Pagett | 0–3 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2020 | Northern Ireland Amateur Championship | Declan Lavery | 9–10 [4] |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2020 | Northern Ireland Under-21 Championship | Fergal Quinn | 4–5 [21] |
| Winner | 1. | 2021 | Northern Ireland Amateur Championship | Rab McCullagh | 10–4 [22] |
| Winner | 2. | 2022 | Northern Ireland Under-21 Championship | Jamie Gardiner | 5–2 [6] |
| Winner | 3. | 2022 | Northern Ireland Amateur Championship (2) | Rab McCullagh | 10–6 [6] |
| Winner | 4. | 2022 | Q Tour – Event 4 |  Michael Collumb | 5–3 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2023 | Northern Ireland Under-21 Championship (2) | Joel Connolly | 2–5 [9] |
| Winner | 5. | 2023 | Northern Ireland Amateur Championship (3) | Raymond Fry | 10–8 [9] |
| Winner | 6. | 2024 | EBSA European Snooker Championships |  Craig Steadman | 5–4 |
Ryan Day is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is a prolific break-builder, having compiled over 450 century breaks during his career, including four maximum breaks. He is a three-time World Championship quarter-finalist, has been ranked at no. 6 in the world and has won four ranking tournaments.
Mark Allen is a Northern Irish professional snooker player from Antrim. He won the European and World Amateur Championship in 2004 and turned professional in 2005. Allen entered the world top 16 after only three seasons. He lifted 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.
In snooker, a century break is a break of 100 points or more, compiled in one visit to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a mark of the highest skill in snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan has described a player's first century break as the "ultimate milestone for any snooker player". Joe Davis made the first televised century break in 1962.
Jordan Brown is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. After winning back-to-back Northern Ireland Amateur Championships in 2008 and 2009, he made his debut on the professional tour in 2009–10 but lost his tour card after one season. He rejoined the tour via the 2018 Q School.
Zhou Yuelong is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open.
Yan Bingtao is a Chinese former professional snooker player who is currently serving a five-year ban from professional competition after committing a range of match-fixing offences. He rose to prominence by winning the ISBF World Snooker Championship, the sport's world amateur title, in 2014 at age 14, which made him the tournament's youngest ever winner. He turned professional in 2016.
The Northern Ireland Amateur Championship is an annual snooker competition. It is the most prestigious amateur event in Northern Ireland.
The Home Nations Series is a snooker tournament series in the four home nations of the United Kingdom. It began in the 2016–17 snooker season, combining two existing tournaments, the Scottish Open and Welsh Open, with two newly created tournaments, the English Open and Northern Ireland Open.
Wu Yize is a Chinese professional snooker player. In May 2022 he was named the World Snooker Tour’s ‘Rookie of the Year’.
The 2021 Northern Ireland Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the third ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the first tournament in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. It was the sixth edition of the Northern Ireland Open.
The 2021–22 Q Tour was a series of snooker tournaments that took place during the 2021–22 snooker season. The Q Tour is the second-tier tour, run by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, for players not on the main World Snooker Tour. Initially announced in July 2020, the tour was delayed by a year and started in late 2021.
The 2022–23 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played from June 2022 to May 2023.
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.
Liam Graham is a Scottish snooker player. He won the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championship in March 2023. He was also runner-up in the 2024 Shoot Out.
Xing Zihao is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has achieved a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour, starting with the 2023-24 snooker season.
He Guoqiang is a Chinese professional snooker player. The IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship winner in 2018, Guoqiang has earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour from the 2023–24 snooker season.
The 2023 Northern Ireland Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 22 to 29 October 2023 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Organised by the World Snooker Tour (WST), it was the sixth ranking event of the 2023–24 season, the second of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series, and the fourth of eight tournaments in the season's European Series. Qualifying for the event took place from 17 to 20 October 2023 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England, although qualifiers featuring the top 16 seeds and two local wildcard players were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall. The winner received the Alex Higgins trophy and £80,000 from a total prize fund of £427,000.
Bulcsú Révész is a Hungarian professional snooker player. He is the first ever professional snooker player from Hungary
Antoni Kowalski is a Polish professional snooker player. He has earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour from the 2024–25 snooker season.
The 2024 Northern Ireland Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 to 27 October 2024 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the seventh ranking event of the 2024–25 season, the second of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series. The event was broadcast by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe and by other broadcasters internationally. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £550,400 and a place in the 2024 Champion of Champions invitational event.
