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" 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.
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.
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
See also
Malta Cup
Irish Masters
Irish Professional Championship
Northern Ireland Trophy
2011 Alex Higgins International Trophy
Home Nations Series
References
External links
Chris Turner's Snooker Archive: Major European Tournaments
* Category:2016 establishments in Northern Ireland Category:Snooker ranking tournaments Category:Snooker competitions in Northern Ireland Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2016
