2025 Northern Ireland Open
| Part of the Home Nations Series | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19–26 October 2025 |
| Venue | Waterfront Hall |
| City | Belfast |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £550,400 |
| Winner's share | £100,000 |
| Defending champion |  Kyren Wilson (ENG) |
← 2024 | |
The 2025 Northern Ireland Open (officially the 2025 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open) is an upcoming professional snooker tournament that will take place from 19 to 26 October 2025 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Qualifiers are taking place from 4 to 7 September at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. The 10th consecutive edition of the tournament since it was first staged in 2016, it will be the seventh ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix and preceding the 2025 International Championship. It will be the second of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series, following the 2025 English Open and preceding the 2025 Scottish Open and the 2026 Welsh Open.
Kyren Wilson will be the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 9–3 in the 2024 final.
Overview
[edit]The 10th consecutive edition of the Northern Ireland Open since it was first staged in 2016, the tournament will take place from 19 to 26 October 2025 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1] Qualifying is taking place from 4 to 7 September at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England.[2] It will be the seventh ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix and preceding the 2025 International Championship.[3] Kyren Wilson will be the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 9–3 in the 2024 final.[4]
Format
[edit]The tournament uses a tiered format first implemented for the Home Nations Series in the 2024–25 snooker season. In the first qualifying round, players seeded 65–96 face those seeded 97–128. In the second qualifying round, the 32 winners from the first qualifying round face players seeded 33–64. At the last-64 stage, the 32 winners from the qualifying rounds will face the top 32 seeds.[5] All matches will be played as best of seven frames until the quarter‑finals, which will be the best of nine. The semi‑finals will be the best of 11, and the final will be a best‑of‑17 frame match played over two sessions.
Broadcasters
[edit]The qualifying round is being broadcast in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Austria by Discovery+ and in other European territories by HBO Max. It is being broadcast in mainland China by the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin, Huya Live and Migu [zh]. In all other territories, it is being broadcast by WST Play.[6]
Prize fund
[edit]- Winner: £100,000
- Runner-up: £45,000
- Semi-final: £21,000
- Quarter-final: £13,200
- Last 16: £9,000
- Last 32: £5,400
- Last 64: £3,600
- Last 96: £1,000
- Highest break: £5,000
- Total: £550,400
Summary
[edit]First qualifying round
[edit]The 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty failed to get past the first qualifying round, losing 1–4 to tour debutant Yao Pengcheng. Marco Fu began his match against Amir Sarkhosh with back-to-back century breaks of 104 and 114 and went on to secure a 4–2 victory. Farakh Ajaib won a deciding frame on the colours to defeat Oliver Brown, and Ian Burns made a century break of 130 as he recorded a whitewash over Haydon Pinhey. Reanne Evans, a 12-time World Women's Champion, received a walkover after her opponent, Mohamed Shehab, withdrew from the event.[7][8]
Main draw
[edit]The results of the main draw are shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seeding and players in bold denote match winners.[9]
Top half
[edit]| 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 | ||||||||||||||
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) (1)
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| Matthew Selt (ENG) (31)
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 Wu Yize (CHN) (16)
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| David Gilbert (ENG) (21)
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| Joe O'Connor (ENG) (24)
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| Zhang Anda (CHN) (10)
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| Jack Lisowski (ENG) (25)
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| Mark Selby (ENG) (8)
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 Mark Williams (WAL) (5)
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| Yuan Sijun (CHN) (27)
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| Chris Wakelin (ENG) (11)
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| Tom Ford (ENG) (17)
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| Stuart Bingham (ENG) (18)
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| Ali Carter (ENG) (14)
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| Zhou Yuelong (CHN) (29)
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 Neil Robertson (AUS) (4)
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- Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walkover
Bottom half
[edit]| 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) (3)
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| Jackson Page (WAL) (32)
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| Gary Wilson (ENG) (15)
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| Jak Jones (WAL) (19)
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 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (23)
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| Si Jiahui (CHN) (12)
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| Pang Junxu (CHN) (26)
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| John Higgins (SCO) (6)
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| Barry Hawkins (ENG) (7)
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| Lei Peifan (CHN) (28)
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 Mark Allen (NIR) (9)
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 Hossein Vafaei (IRN) (22)
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| Elliot Slessor (ENG) (20)
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| Shaun Murphy (ENG) (13)
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 Noppon Saengkham (THA) (30)
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| Zhao Xintong (CHN) (2)
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- Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walkover
Qualifying rounds
[edit]The results of the early rounds are shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seeding, an "a" indicates amateur players who were not on the main World Snooker Tour, and players in bold denote match winners.[2][10]
| Round 1 (Last 128) Best of 7 frames | Round 2 (Last 96) Best of 7 frames | |||||
 Ken Doherty (IRL) (87) | 1 | Oliver Lines (ENG) (61) | ||||
| Yao Pengcheng (CHN) (114) | 4 | Yao Pengcheng (CHN) (114) | ||||
| Allan Taylor (ENG) (69) | 4 | Ryan Day (WAL) (34) | ||||
| Chatchapong Nasa (THA) (97) | 1 | Allan Taylor (ENG) (69) | ||||
 Antoni Kowalski (POL) (66) | 4 | Scott Donaldson (SCO) (54) | ||||
| Zak Sheldon (NIR) (a) | 0 | Antoni Kowalski (POL) (66) | ||||
| Chris Totten (SCO) (84) | 0 | He Guoqiang (CHN) (43) | ||||
| Liam Graham (SCO) (104) | 4 | Liam Graham (SCO) (104) | ||||
 Julien Leclercq (BEL) (73) | 4 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) (41) | ||||
 Florian Nüßle (AUT) (118) | 2 | Julien Leclercq (BEL) (73) | ||||
 Farakh Ajaib (PAK) (71) | 4 | Mark Davis (ENG) (53) | ||||
| Oliver Brown (ENG) (100) | 3 | Farakh Ajaib (PAK) (71) | ||||
| Haris Tahir (PAK) (81) | 4 | Lyu Haotian (CHN) (36) | ||||
| Connor Benzey (ENG) (111) | 0 | Haris Tahir (PAK) (81) | ||||
| Haydon Pinhey (ENG) (77) | 0 | Sanderson Lam (ENG) (57) | ||||
| Ian Burns (ENG) (116) | 4 | Ian Burns (ENG) (116) | ||||
| Ben Mertens (BEL) (65) | 0 | Long Zehuang (CHN) (51) | ||||
| Liam Pullen (ENG) (105) | 4 | Liam Pullen (ENG) (105) | ||||
| Sunny Akani (THA) (67) | 4 | Daniel Wells (WAL) (42) | ||||
| Xu Yichen (CHN) (120) | 2 | Sunny Akani (THA) (67) | ||||
| Lan Yuhao (CHN) (89) | 4 | Michael Holt (ENG) (62) | ||||
 Mahmoud El Hareedy (EGY) (123) | 2 | Lan Yuhao (CHN) (89) | ||||
| Amir Sarkhosh (IRN) (70) | 2 | Jamie Jones (WAL) (45) | ||||
 Marco Fu (HKG) (121) | 4 | Marco Fu (HKG) (121) | ||||
 Jonas Luz (BRA) (93) | 4 | Jimmy Robertson (ENG) (33) | ||||
 Kreishh Gurbaxani (IND) (102) | 3 | Jonas Luz (BRA) (93) | ||||
| Reanne Evans (ENG) (95) | w/o | Stan Moody (ENG) (58) | ||||
 Mohammed Shehab (UAE) (98)[a] | w/d | Reanne Evans (ENG) (95) | ||||
| Dylan Emery (WAL) (91) | 4 | Xu Si (CHN) (39) | ||||
| Liam Highfield (ENG) (99) | 1 | Dylan Emery (WAL) (91) | ||||
| Bai Yulu (CHN) (90) | 2 | Gong Chenzhi (CHN) (63) | ||||
| David Grace (ENG) (107) | 4 | David Grace (ENG) (107) | ||||
| Round 1 (Last 128) Best of 7 frames | Round 2 (Last 96) Best of 7 frames | |||||
 Iulian Boiko (UKR) (83) | 2 | Anthony McGill (SCO) (55) | ||||
 Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI) (108) | 4 | Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI) (108) | ||||
| Steven Hallworth (ENG) (82) | 4 | Matthew Stevens (WAL) (47) | ||||
| Ross Muir (SCO) (103) | 0 | Steven Hallworth (ENG) (82) | ||||
| Chang Bingyu (CHN) (75) | 4 | Ishpreet Singh Chadha (IND) (59) | ||||
| Jiang Jun (CHN) (117) | 0 | Chang Bingyu (CHN) (75) | ||||
| Sam Craigie (ENG) (86) | 4 | Martin O'Donnell (ENG) (40) | ||||
| Joel Connolly (NIR) (a) | 1 | Sam Craigie (ENG) (86) | ||||
| Liam Davies (WAL) (74) | 4 | Luca Brecel (BEL) (37) | ||||
| Ng On-yee (HKG) (106) | 1 | Liam Davies (WAL) (74) | ||||
| Cheung Ka Wai (HKG) (78) | 4 | Liu Hongyu (CHN) (52) | ||||
| Mink Nutcharut (THA) (101) | 1 | Cheung Ka Wai (HKG) (78) | ||||
| Huang Jiahao (CHN) (80) | 4 | Robbie Williams (ENG) (46) | ||||
| Jimmy White (ENG) (122) | 2 | Huang Jiahao (CHN) (80) | ||||
| Louis Heathcote (ENG) (88) | 4 | Duane Jones (WAL) (64) | ||||
 Sahil Nayyar (CAN) (113) | 0 | Louis Heathcote (ENG) (88) | ||||
| Robbie McGuigan (NIR) (79) | 3 | Zak Surety (ENG) (60) | ||||
| Fergal Quinn (NIR) (110) | 4 | Fergal Quinn (NIR) (110) | ||||
| Gao Yang (CHN) (92) | 4 | Aaron Hill (IRL) (44) | ||||
| Liu Wenwei (CHN) (115) | 1 | Gao Yang (CHN) (92) | ||||
| Michał Szubarczyk (POL) (96) | 1 | Robert Milkins (ENG) (50) | ||||
| Patrick Whelan (ENG) (a) | 4 | Patrick Whelan (ENG) (a) | ||||
| Wang Yuchen (HKG) (68) | 3 | Ben Woollaston (ENG) (35) | ||||
| Mateusz Baranowski (POL) (119) | 4 | Mateusz Baranowski (POL) (119) | ||||
 Artemijs Žižins (LAT) (72) | 4 | Fan Zhengyi (CHN) (48) | ||||
| Zhao Hanyang (CHN) (109) | 2 | Artemijs Žižins (LAT) (72) | ||||
 Bulcsú Révész (HUN) (76) | 2 | David Lilley (ENG) (56) | ||||
| Leone Crowley (IRL) (112) | 4 | Leone Crowley (IRL) (112) | ||||
| Hatem Yassen (EGY) (94) | 1 | Ricky Walden (ENG) (38) | ||||
| Ashley Hugill (ENG) (a) | 4 | Ashley Hugill (ENG) (a) | ||||
| Mitchell Mann (ENG) (85) | 4 | Jordan Brown (NIR) (49) | ||||
 Umut Dikme (GER) (a) | 3 | Mitchell Mann (ENG) (85) | ||||
- Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walkover
Century breaks
[edit]Qualifying stage centuries
[edit]A total of 9 century breaks have been made during the qualifying stage of the tournament in Leicester.[11]
- 130 – Ian Burns
- 122 – Chang Bingyu
- 114, 104 – Marco Fu
- 106 – Mahmoud El Hareedy
- 103 – Sam Craigie
- 103 – Lan Yuhao
- 102 – Steven Hallworth
- 100 – Liam Pullen
Notes
[edit]- ^ Mohammed Shehab withdrew and so Reanne Evans was given a walkover.
References
[edit]- ^ "Tournaments 2025–26". World Snooker Tour. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
- ^ a b "Northern Ireland Open Qualifiers 2025". snooker.org. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
- ^ "Calendar 2025/2026 - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Open: Kyren Wilson hammers Judd Trump in Belfast final". BBC Sport. 27 October 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
- ^ "Tiered format for Home Nations and German Masters in 2024/25". World Snooker Tour. 5 April 2024. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "How To Watch The Xi'an Grand Prix And BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Qualifiers". World Snooker Tour. 29 August 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
- ^ "Pengcheng floors Ken". World Snooker Tour. 4 September 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
- ^ Day, Michael (4 September 2025). "Marco Fu continues strong start to season in Northern Ireland Open qualifiers". Totally Snookered. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Open: Flowchart". snooker.org. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
- ^ "BetVictor Northern Ireland Open 2025 qualifiers matches". World Snooker Tour. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
- ^ "Centuries: Northern Ireland Open qualifiers". snookerinfo.co.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2025.