Northern Ireland Open (snooker)

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Northern Ireland Open
BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Logo.png
Tournament information
VenueWaterfront Hall
LocationBelfast
CountryNorthern Ireland
Established2016
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£405,000
Recent edition2021
Current champion Mark Allen (NIR)

The Northern Ireland Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament. The players compete for the Alex Higgins trophy.

History[]

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

The 2017 Final made history as Yan Bingtao became the youngest player to reach a ranking final. Yan came close to breaking Ronnie O'Sullivan's record of 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.

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 2018, 2019, and 2020, Judd Trump defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–7 in the final.

In 2021, Mark Allen won the event for the first time, knocking out defending champion Judd Trump in the quarter-finals and eventually beating John Higgins 9–8 in the final, after trailing 6–8.

Winners[]

Year Winner Runner-up Final score Sponsor Venue Season
Northern Ireland Open (ranking)
2016  Mark King (ENG)  Barry Hawkins (ENG) 9–8 Coral Belfast, Northern Ireland 2016/17
2017  Mark Williams (WAL)  Yan Bingtao (CHN) 9–8 Dafabet 2017/18
2018  Judd Trump (ENG)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 9–7 BetVictor 2018/19
2019  Judd Trump (ENG)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 9–7 19.com 2019/20
2020  Judd Trump (ENG)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 9–7 Matchroom.live Milton Keynes, England 2020/21
2021  Mark Allen (NIR)  John Higgins (SCO) 9–8 BetVictor Belfast, Northern Ireland 2021/22

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open". World Snooker.
  2. ^ "Snooker tour to be revamped in 2016" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ^ "Hearn Announces New Five-Year Plan". World Snooker. April 29, 2015.
  4. ^ "World Snooker: Milton Keynes to host first eight events of 2020-21 season". BBC Sport. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.

External links[]

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