2021 Northern Ireland Open

The 2021 Northern Ireland Open, referred to as the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open for sponsorship purposes, was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1] 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.

2021 Northern Ireland Open
Tournament information
Dates9–17 October 2021 (2021-10-09 – 2021-10-17)
VenueWaterfront Hall
CityBelfast
CountryNorthern Ireland
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£405,000
Winner's share£70,000
Highest break Mark Allen (NIR) (147)
Final
Champion Mark Allen (NIR)
Runner-up John Higgins (SCO)
Score9–8
← 2020

Qualifying for the tournament took place from 23 to 27 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England,[2] although matches involving the top 16 players, and three other matches featuring Northern Irish players, were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall.[3] All of the top 16 players participated except for world number 9 Ding Junhui.[4] Mark Allen made a maximum break in his held over qualifying match against Si Jiahui.[5]

The defending champion was Judd Trump, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 finals by a scoreline of 9–7 each time.[6] Trump lost 3–5 in the quarter-finals to Allen, after having led 3–0.[7]

Allen faced John Higgins in the final, which was tied at 4–4 after the afternoon session. Higgins moved 8–6 ahead in the evening session, but Allen won the last three frames for a 9–8 victory. It was Allen's first Northern Ireland Open title, his second Home Nations win, and the sixth ranking title of his professional career.[8]

Format
The event took place at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Open was first played in 2016, and was won by Mark King.[9][10] The 2021 event was the first of four Home Nations Series events, and the third world ranking tournament of the 2019–20 snooker season.[11] The event took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[12] The event followed the British Open, and preceded the English Open.[11][12]

The defending champion was Judd Trump, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 finals by a scoreline of 9–7 each time.[6] All matches were played as the best of 7 frames in the first four rounds, at which point the number increased: 9 in the quarter-finals; 11 in the semi-finals; and the best of 19 frames in the final.[13] Sports betting company BetVictor sponsored the event,[14] which was broadcast in Europe by Eurosport; CCTV, Rigour, Liaoning TV in China; NowTV in Hong Kong; Astro SuperSports in Malaysia and Brunei; True Vision in Thailand; Sky Sports in New Zealand and Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[15]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:

  • Winner: £70,000
  • Runner-up: £30,000
  • Semi-final: £20,000
  • Quarter-final: £10,000
  • Last 16: £7,500
  • Last 32: £4,000
  • Last 64: £3,000
  • Highest break: £5,000
  • Total: £405,000

Main draw

The results from the event are shown below. Seeded players have their seedings in brackets. Players highlighted in bold denote match winners.[16]

Top half
 
Last 64
Best of 7 frames		Last 32
Best of 7 frames		Last 16
Best of 7 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 Judd Trump (ENG) (1)4
 
 
 
 Gao Yang (CHN)0
 
 Judd Trump (1)4
 
 
 
 Lu Ning2
 
 Lu Ning (CHN)w/o
 
 
 
 Jamie O'Neill (ENG)[17]w/d
 
 Judd Trump (1)4
 
 
 
 Jimmy Robertson3
 
 Jimmy Robertson (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Sunny Akani (THA)3
 
 Jimmy Robertson4
 
 
 
 James Cahill0
 
 James Cahill (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Fergal O'Brien (IRL)0
 
 Judd Trump (1)3
 
 
 
 Mark Allen (9)5
 
 Simon Lichtenberg (GER)3
 
 
 
 Matthew Stevens (WAL)4
 
 Matthew Stevens1
 
 
 
 Mark Allen (9)4
 
 Peter Devlin (ENG)2
 
 
 
 Mark Allen (NIR) (9)4
 
 Mark Allen (9)4
 
 
 
 Stephen Maguire (8)3
 
 Liam Highfield (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Ryan Day (WAL) (25)1
 
 Liam Highfield2
 
 
 
 Stephen Maguire (8)4
 
 Hammad Miah (ENG)3
 
 
 
 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (8)4
 
 Mark Allen (9)6
 
 
 
 Ricky Walden (29)3
 
 Shaun Murphy (ENG) (5)4
 
 
 
 Allan Taylor (ENG)3
 
 Shaun Murphy (5)4
 
 
 
 Tian Pengfei3
 
 Chris Wakelin (ENG)2
 
 
 
 Tian Pengfei (CHN)4
 
 Shaun Murphy (5)4
 
 
 
 Stuart Bingham (12)1
 
 Stuart Bingham (ENG) (12)4
 
 
 
 Sam Craigie (ENG)2
 
 Stuart Bingham (12)4
 
 
 
 Ashley Carty3
 
 Tom Ford (ENG) (21)[18]w/d
 
 
 
 Ashley Carty (ENG)w/o
 
 Shaun Murphy (5)4
 
 
 
 Ricky Walden (29)5
 
 Jackson Page (WAL)4
 
 
 
 Noppon Saengkham (THA)3
 
 Jackson Page4
 
 
 
 Jack Lisowski (13)0
 
 Fan Zhengyi (CHN)2
 
 
 
 Jack Lisowski (ENG) (13)4
 
 Jackson Page3
 
 
 
 Ricky Walden (29)4
 
 Martin O'Donnell (ENG)3
 
 
 
 Ricky Walden (ENG) (29)4
 
 Ricky Walden (29)4
 
 
 
 Neil Robertson (4)1
 
 Xu Si (CHN)0
 
 
 Neil Robertson (AUS) (4)4
 

Bottom half
 
Last 64
Best of 7 frames		Last 32
Best of 7 frames		Last 16
Best of 7 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3)4
 
 
 
 Andy Hicks (ENG)1
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)4
 
 
 
 Alfie Burden1
 
 Yuan Sijun (CHN)2
 
 
 
 Alfie Burden (ENG)4
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)3
 
 
 
 Yan Bingtao (14)4
 
 Yan Bingtao (CHN) (14)4
 
 
 
 Duane Jones (WAL)3
 
 Yan Bingtao (14)4
 
 
 
 Oliver Lines0
 
 Oliver Lines (ENG) 4
 
 
 
 Ben Woollaston (ENG)0
 
 Yan Bingtao (14)5
 
 
 
 Mitchell Mann0
 
 Lyu Haotian (CHN)4
 
 
 
 Ali Carter (ENG) (22)2
 
 Lyu Haotian4
 
 
 
 Mark King1
 
 Mark King (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) (11)0
 
 Lyu Haotian1
 
 
 
 Mitchell Mann4
 
 Mitchell Mann (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Xiao Guodong (CHN) (27)2
 
 Mitchell Mann4
 
 
 
 Kyren Wilson (6)2
 
 Robert Milkins (ENG)1
 
 
 
 Kyren Wilson (ENG) (6)4
 
 Yan Bingtao (14)2
 
 
 
 John Higgins (7)6
 
 John Higgins (SCO) (7)4
 
 
 
 Farakh Ajaib (PAK)2
 
 John Higgins (7)4
 
 
 
 Luca Brecel2
 
 Liang Wenbo (CHN) (26)2
 
 
 
 Luca Brecel (BEL)4
 
 John Higgins (7)4
 
 
 
 Mark Williams (10)3
 
 Mark Williams (WAL) (10)4
 
 
 
 Elliot Slessor (ENG)3
 
 Mark Williams (10)4
 
 
 
 Jak Jones2
 
 Martin Gould (ENG) (23)2
 
 
 
 Jak Jones (WAL)4
 
 John Higgins (7)5
 
 
 
 David Gilbert (18) 3
 
 David Grace (ENG)0
 
 
 
 David Gilbert (ENG) (18)4
 
 David Gilbert (18)4
 
 
 
 Louis Heathcote2
 
 Louis Heathcote (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Lee Walker (WAL)3
 
 David Gilbert (18)4
 
 
 
 Mark Selby (2)2
 
 Rory McLeod (JAM)0
 
 
 
 Gary Wilson (ENG) (31)4
 
 Gary Wilson (31)1
 
 
 
 Mark Selby (2)4
 
 Cao Yupeng (CHN)3
 
 
 Mark Selby (ENG) (2)4
 

Final
Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Olivier Marteel
Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 17 October 2021.
Mark Allen (9)
 Northern Ireland		 9–8 John Higgins (7)
 Scotland
Afternoon: 78–21, 82–1 (82), 0–123 (123), 70–6, 11–68 (68), 70–47, 0–78 (55), 63–64 (Allen 58)
Evening: 76–47 (70), 40–89 (63), 86–0 (85), 40–89 (59), 1–64 (64), 6–144 (136), 51–6, 80–43 (58), 65–31
85 Highest break 136
0 Century breaks 2
5 50+ breaks 7

Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 23 to 27 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. Matches involving the top 16 players — including the defending champion — alongside three other matches involving local players, were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall.[19] Graeme Dott, Anthony Hamilton, Mark Davis and Robbie McGuigan were due to take part in the event, but withdrew and were replaced by James Cahill, Dylan Emery, Mark Lloyd and Robert McCullough respectively.[20][21][22]

Notes
  1. Match held over and played in Belfast.

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

Total: 50[23]

Qualifying stage centuries

Total: 29[23][24]

References
  1. "2021 Northern Ireland Open". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  2. "Updated 2021/22 Calendar" wst.tv. 2021-07-09
  3. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Draw". wst.tv. 2021-08-18
  4. "Trump goes for four in a row - all you need to know about snooker's Northern Ireland Open". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  5. "Allen hits maximum 147 in Belfast win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. "Judd Trump edges out Ronnie O'Sullivan to win Northern Ireland Open". SKY Sports. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  7. "Allen Roars Back From 3–0 Down To Beat Defending Champion Trump In Thriller". Eurosport. 15 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. "Allen beats Higgins in NI Open final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  9. "Northern Ireland Open: Mark King ends 25-year wait for ranking title". BBC Sport. 20 November 2016. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  10. "King Crowned in Belfast". World Snooker. 21 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  11. "Calendar 2021/2022". snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. "2021 Northern Ireland Open". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  13. Årdalen, Hermund. "Results (Northern Ireland Open 2021)". snooker.org. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  14. "The first event prediction, the latest sports news-19 information". 19.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  15. "Tournament Broadcasters 2021/22 - World Snooker". World Snooker. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  16. Årdalen, Hermund. "Results (Northern Ireland Open 2021) - snooker.org". snooker.org. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  17. "O'Neill Withdraws From Northern Ireland Open". World Snooker Tour. 8 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021.
  18. "Ford Out Of Northern Ireland Open". World Snooker Tour. 9 October 2021. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021.
  19. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Draw". World Snooker Tour. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  20. "Dott and Hamilton withdraw from Belfast Qualifiers". World Snooker Tour. 22 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  21. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Updated Draw". World Snooker Tour. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  22. "McGuigan Replaced By McCullough". World Snooker Tour. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  23. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open 2021 | Centuries". World Snooker Tour. 9–17 October 2021.
  24. "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open 2021 Qualifiers | Centuries". World Snooker Tour. 23–27 August 2021.
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