The 2022 Northern Ireland Open (officially the 2022 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open) was a professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in Ind ...
tournament that took place from 16 to 23 October 2022 at the
Waterfront Hall
Belfast Waterfront is a multi-purpose conference and entertainment centre, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. The hall is located in Lanyon Place, the flagship development of the Laganside Co ...
in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...
, Northern Ireland. Organised by the
World Snooker Tour
The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...
, it was the fourth
ranking event of the
2022–23 season, the first tournament in the
Home Nations Series
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 tourname ...
, 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
A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ev ...
and
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...
domestically. The winner received £80,000 from a total prize purse of £427,000.
Mark Allen was the defending champion, having defeated
John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
9–8 in the final of the
previous year's event. He successfully defended his title, winning eight consecutive frames in the final to defeat
Zhou Yuelong
Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) 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.
Career
Between 20 ...
9–4. The win gave Allen the seventh ranking title of his career, and qualified him for the following month's
Champion of Champions invitational event.
Lu Ning made the tournament's highest break of 141 in his last-64 match against
Hammad Miah
Hammad Miah ( bn, হাম্মাদ মিঞা; born 6 July 1993) is a British professional snooker player of Bangladeshi-origin.
In May 2013, Miah qualified for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 professional Main Tour as one of four semi- ...
.
Format

The
Northern Ireland Open was first played in
2016. The 2022 event was the seventh consecutive edition of the tournament. It was the first event in the season's
Home Nations Series
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 tourname ...
, the third event in the
BetVictor Series, and the fourth
world ranking tournament of the
2022–23 snooker season
The 2022–23 snooker season is a professional snooker season with tournaments played between June 2022 and May 2023.
Players
The World Snooker Tour in the 2022–23 season initially consisted of a field of 131 professional players, but later ...
. It was staged from 16 to 23 October 2022 at the
Waterfront Hall
Belfast Waterfront is a multi-purpose conference and entertainment centre, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. The hall is located in Lanyon Place, the flagship development of the Laganside Co ...
in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...
, Northern Ireland. Qualifiers were played from 23 to 28 August 2022 at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
, England, although qualifiers featuring the top 16 seeds were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall.
The defending champion was Northern Irish player
Mark Allen, who had won the
previous year's event by defeating Scottish player
John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
9–8 in the final. All matches were played as the best of seven
frames
A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent.
Frame and FRAME may also refer to:
Physical objects
In building construction
*Framing (co ...
until the quarter-finals, which were played as the best of nine frames. The semi-finals were the best of 11 and the final best of 17 frames. Betting company
BetVictor
BetVictor is an online gambling company headquartered in Gibraltar. Founded in 1946, it offers products such as sports betting and online casino. The company is currently owned by Michael Tabor.
History
The company was founded by William Chan ...
sponsored the event, which was broadcast on
Quest
A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ev ...
in the United Kingdom; on
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...
in the United Kingdom, Europe, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; on
Liaoning TV
Liaoning Radio and Television or LRTV is located in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China. The television was launched on October 1, 1959. And it is one of the earliest launched televisions in People's Republic of China. LRTV now has 6 radio cha ...
,
Superstar online,
Migu,
Youku
Youku Tudou Inc. (formerly Youku Inc.), doing business as Youku (), is a video hosting service based in Beijing, China. It operates as a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited.
Youku has its headquarters in the Sinosteel Plaza in Haid ...
and
Huya.com
Huya Live ( zh, s=虎牙直播, p=Hǔyá Zhíbò) is a Chinese video live streaming service. The site is one of the largest of its kind in China, and also operates globally as Nimo TV. Similar to other streaming services like Loco, the site pri ...
in China; on SportsCast in Indonesia; on
TAP in the Philippines; on
True Sport
True Sport is a Thai group of sport channels operated by cable and satellite pay-TV provider TrueVisions. True Sport channels are available exclusively on TrueVisions. The number of channels are depends on the package.
True Sport holds exclusive ...
in Thailand; on
Sports Cast in Taiwan; on
Astro SuperSport
Astro SuperSport is an English language in-house subscription satellite television network in Malaysia dedicated to broadcasting sports-related content 24 hours a day. It is available on the Astro via Channels 810 & 831 (HD) to subscribers of ...
in Malaysia; on
DAZN
DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet.
The ...
in Canada; and by
Matchroom Sport
Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, golf ...
in all other territories.
Prize fund
The event featured a prize fund of £42,000, of which the winner received £80,000. The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:
* Winner: £80,000
* Runner-up: £35,000
* Semi-final: £17,500
* Quarter-final: £11,000
* Last 16: £7,500
* Last 32: £4,500
* Last 64: £3,000
* Highest break: £5,000
* Total: £427,000
Summary
Qualification round

The qualifying round featured 128 players, with most matches played from 23 to 28 August 2022 at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan.
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...
withdrew from the qualifiers and was replaced in the draw by
Zhao Jianbo.
The reigning women's world champion
Mink Nutcharut secured her first win on the professional tour as she defeated
Mitchell Mann
Mitchell Mann (born 26 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player.
Career Junior
Mann first played snooker aged 9, after being forced to quit football after a diagnosis of Legg–Calvé–Perthes syndrome, a rare disease which ...
4–2. The previous season's European Masters champion
Fan Zhengyi won his first professional match in six months as he completed a
whitewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...
over
Ashley Hugill.
Craig Steadman recovered from 2–3 behind to defeat
Graeme Dott
Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001. He has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship an ...
4–3, while Northern Ireland's
Jordan Brown whitewashed
Andrew Pagett
Andrew Pagett (born 25 April 1982) is a Welsh professional snooker player.
Career Early career
He played on Challenge Tour from 2003 to 2005, and first qualified for the Main Tour in 2008–09, but lost his place after just one season. He ...
. Having recently turned 60,
Jimmy White
James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...
made a 132 break in the deciding frame to defeat
Yuan Sijun 4–3 and win his second qualifying match of the season.
Matches featuring the top-16
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...
s were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall on 16 and 17 October. Defending champion Allen made two centuries as he defeated
Chang Bingyu 4–1, while the reigning world champion and world number one
Ronnie O'Sullivan
Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...
whitewashed
Lukas Kleckers. Three-time champion
Judd Trump
Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...
won four consecutive frames to defeat
Rod Lawler
Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971) is an English professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod".
After turning professional in 1990, Lawler has reached one ranking tournament fin ...
4–1.
Shaun Murphy
Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting.
Born in Harlow, Essex and ra ...
whitewashed
Xu Si
Xu Si (; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player.
Career
Xu Si first started playing snooker aged 12 at his local club in Jieyang during the school holidays. After a few weeks he became determined to become a snooker pla ...
, while
Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...
made breaks of 85, 120, and 55 as he whitewashed
Fraser Patrick
Fraser Patrick (born 8 November 1985) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Glasgow.
Career
Patrick started his professional career in 2002 by playing Challenge Tour, where he spent three seasons without success. In 2007 Patrick earn ...
.
Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the a ...
defeated
Reanne Evans
Reanne Evans (born 25 October 1985) is an English professional snooker player who competes on the World Women's Snooker Tour and the professional World Snooker Tour. She is the number one ranked player on the women's tour, and regularly featur ...
4–2, while the previous year's runner-up Higgins defeated
Fergal O'Brien
Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish professional snooker player who plays on the main professional tour since 1991. Ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1994 to 2022, he has reached his highest position of 9th in the 2000 ...
by the same score, winning two frames on the final black.
Three top-16 seeds failed to reach the round of 64: Seventh seed
Zhao Xintong
Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Long considered one of the brightest talents in the game, he won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Lu ...
lost 1–4 to
Lyu Haotian
Lyu Haotian (, born 29 November 1997) is a snooker player from the People's Republic of China, notable for being one of the youngest snooker players to have played in professional tournaments, aged only 14. He reached the quarter-finals of the ...
, 16th seed
Ricky Walden
Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester.
Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...
lost by the same score to
Xiao Guodong
Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships.
Career 2007–2010
Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat t ...
, and 12th seed
Jack Lisowski
Jack Adam Lisowski (born 25 June 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his att ...
lost 2–4 to
Li Hang, despite making a 127 break in the fourth frame.
Early rounds

The round of 64 was played from 17 to 19 October. The top two players in the world rankings exited the tournament at this stage. O'Sullivan won the first two frames against world number 49
David Grace
David Grace (born 1949 in Rugby, Warwickshire, England) is a British racing driver and businessman. He was the CEO at Rockingham Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2002, and oversaw the opening of the track and the return, after many years, of CART ...
, but Grace took the next three with breaks of 57, 94, and 64, helped by a fluke in the fifth frame. O'Sullivan won the sixth frame after Grace missed a black off the spot to tie the scores at 3–3, but Grace made a 51 break in the decider and then clinched the match 4–3 after O'Sullivan went .
O'Sullivan commented afterwards that he no longer had "passion and desire" for snooker, and that it had "become like an emotionless-type job". World number two Trump suffered a 1–4 defeat to world number 95
Aaron Hill, who had lost his tour card after the
2022 World Snooker Championship
The 2022 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2022 Betfred World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2022 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 46th conse ...
but regained his professional status through
Q School.
World number 108
David Lilley
David William Lilley (born 31 October 1977 in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former professional footballer who usually plays at centre back but has also played at right back. Lilley was most recently the manager of Bellshill ...
whitewashed the number 14 seed
Stuart Bingham
Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...
.
Allen made breaks including 102, 85, and 92 as he whitewashed
Chen Zifan
Chen Zifan (, born 17 September 1995) is a Chinese professional snooker player who, in 2023, received a five-year ban from professional competition after committing match-fixing offences.
In December 2022, Chen was suspended from the profess ...
in the round of 64. Neil Robertson defeated Fan, Selby defeated
Sam Craigie
Sam Craigie (born 29 December 1993) is an English professional snooker player from Newcastle. He enjoyed a successful junior career before turning professional in 2011.
Career
Early career
Craigie qualified for the 2011/2012 Main Tour after ...
,
Mark Williams made a 139 break as he defeated
Alexander Ursenbacher
Alexander Ursenbacher (born 26 April 1996) is a Swiss professional snooker player from Rheinfelden. He is Switzerland's first professional snooker player (former professional Darren Paris represented England, in the mid-1990s, before moving to S ...
, and Brown defeated
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (, ; born 18 April 1985) is a Thai professional snooker player.
He has won one ranking event, the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out, and finished as runner-up in the 2019 World Open. He is regarded as one of the fastest snooker player ...
, all by 4–2 scorelines.
Polish referee Monika Sulkowska was criticised for calling a foul against Craigie when he played a off the in the fourth frame. Sulkowska stated that the cue ball had not hit the yellow, although replays showed the balls making contact.
Luca Brecel
Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made hi ...
whitewashed Jimmy White, who received a warning during the fourth frame for "gesticulating" after appearing to stick his finger up at referee Ben Williams.
Speaking in commentary, Ronnie O'Sullivan said he believed the warning was "uncalled for".
Ding Junhui
Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (200 ...
lost in a deciding frame to
Michael White Michael or Mike White may refer to:
Academics
* Michael J. D. White (1910–1983), British zoologist
* Michael White (psychotherapist) (1948–2008), inventor of narrative therapy
* L. Michael White, American theologian
* Michael White (criminolog ...
.
Jackson Page
Jackson Page (born 8 August 2001 in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is a former European U-21 champion and the former Under-18 World Snooker Champion and in 2017 also became the Under-18 European Snooker Ch ...
took a 3–2 lead over Higgins and made a 64 break in the sixth frame, but Higgins responded with a 69 clearance to tie the scores, and then made a 124 break in the decider to win 4–3. Higgins praised Page afterwards, calling him a "great talent". Ninth seed
Kyren Wilson
Kyren Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering and a five-time ranking event winner. He has been a runner-up at two of the three Triple Crown events, having reached the final at both the 2018 M ...
also fell 2–3 behind against
Sean O’Sullivan but recovered to win the match in a deciding frame.
The round of 32 was played on 19 and 20 October. Sixth seed Higgins lost 1–4 to
Robert Milkins
Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998.
Milkins ...
, who took a 3–1 lead by winning the fourth frame on a respotted black, before clinching the match with a 63 break in the fifth. Murphy, the 11th seed, lost 2–4 to
Zhou Yuelong
Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) 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.
Career
Between 20 ...
, while the 15th seed and 2017 runner-up
Yan Bingtao
Yan Bingtao (, born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the youngest player to win the Amateur World Snooker Championship after defeating Muhammad Sajjad 8–7.
Having qualified to compete on the main tour for ...
lost in a deciding frame to
Anthony McGill
Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus.
McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He wo ...
. Neil Robertson defeated
John Astley 4–1, while Li whitewashed Brown, Williams beat Jimmy Robertson 4–2, and Xiao defeated
Hossein Vafaei
Hossein Vafaei ( fa, حسین وفایی ایوری; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first professional title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mar ...
in a decider.
Allen lost the first two frames against world number 105
Andy Lee Andy Lee may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Sportspeople
* Andy Lee (American football) (born 1982), American football punter
* Andy Lee (boxer) (born 1984), Irish boxer
* Andy Lee (footballer, born 1982), English footballer for Bradford City
* Andy Lee (footb ...
, but won the next three to lead 3–2. Lee tied the scores with a 91 break in frame six, but missed a key pot on the black in the decider, allowing Allen to clinch a 4–3 win. Michael White defeated 13th seed
Barry Hawkins
Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championsh ...
4–2.
David Gilbert made two centuries as he defeated Lilley, while
Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...
defeated Kyren Wilson, and
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and dire ...
defeated Hill, all by 4–1 scorelines.
The round of 16 was played on 20 October. Selby and Michael White were tied at 2–2, but Selby produced a 132 break in the fifth frame and clinched a 4–2 win in the sixth. Williams made a 111 break in the first frame of his match against Maguire, who tied the scores with a 90 clearance in the second. Williams won the third frame, but Maguire produced back-to-back centuries of 123 and 107 to take a 3–2 lead. However, Williams won the last two frames with breaks of 77 and 69 to clinch a 4–3 win. Gilbert also defeated Ford 4–3, making a highest break of 132. Five other matches in the round of 16 ended in 4–0 whitewash victories for Neil Robertson over Li, Allen over Xiao, Zhou over Milkins, McGill over
Tian Pengfei
Tian Pengfei (, born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed on the Wo ...
, and Lyu over 10th seed Brecel.
Quarter-finals
The quarter-finals were played on 21 October as the best of nine frames. Facing Selby, Neil Robertson took the first frame with a 73 break, but Selby won the next two, making a 95 break in the third. Robertson made a 97 in the fourth to tie the scores at 2–2 at the mid-session interval. Robertson won the fifth frame with an 84 break, and made a break of 63 in the sixth. Selby had an opportunity to steal the sixth frame with a clearance, but opted to lay a snooker on the final red due to the difficulty of gaining position on the black. However, Robertson escaped from the snooker, won the frame, and made breaks of 73 and 53 in the seventh to clinch a 5–2 victory. It was Robertson's sixth consecutive win over Selby.
Facing Allen, Williams won the first two frames with breaks of 62 and 70. Allen then won four frames in a row to take a 4–2 lead, with Williams scoring just 11 points in those frames. However, Williams won two 30-minute frames to tie the scores at 4–4 and take the match to a deciding frame. Allen led in the decider, but Williams had a chance to steal the frame with a clearance. However, he missed a shot on the black along the top cushion, allowing Allen to win the frame and match. Allen stated afterwards that he was having flashbacks to the
2018 China Open, when Williams had come from 60 points behind to defeat him in a deciding frame, but said he was fortunate to have had the support of his home crowd.
In the other quarter-finals, Zhou faced Gilbert while McGill faced Lyu. Gilbert made breaks of 84, 71, 60, and 55 as he moved into a 4–2 lead. However, he missed several opportunities to close out the match and Zhou made breaks of 63 and 54 to draw level at 4–4. Zhou made a 130 break in the decider to win 5–4 and reach the fifth ranking semi-final of his career.
McGill made breaks of 56, 95, 85, and 112 as he established a 4–3 lead. Lyu almost managed to take the match to a decider, as McGill required two snookers in the eighth frame. However, McGill secured the required points from snookers and won the frame for a 5–3 victory.
Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 22 October as the best of 11 frames. Allen faced Neil Robertson and took a 3–1 lead at the mid-session interval, making a 100 break in the fourth frame. After the interval, Allen made a second consecutive century of 136 to move 4–1 ahead. Robertson won the sixth frame with a 68 break, but Allen responded with a 60 break to win the seventh. In the eighth frame, Allen came from behind to clear the colours and force a respotted black. After a lengthy safety duel on the black ball, Allen made a long pot into the yellow pocket to win the match 6–2 and reach his second consecutive Northern Ireland Open final as well as a second consecutive ranking final, having been runner-up to
Ryan Day at the
2022 British Open
The 2022 British Open (officially the 2022 Cazoo British Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 26 September to 2 October 2022 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The third ranking tournament of the 2022 ...
three weeks previously. "It was special winning the last frame the way I did as the atmosphere in those last few shots was phenomenal", Allen stated afterwards.
In the other semi-final, Zhou faced McGill. The first four frames were shared, with Zhou making a 100 break in the second frame. After the mid-session interval, Zhou made a 132 break to move into a 3–2 lead. However, McGill responded with a 73 break in the sixth after Zhou missed a red, and made a 101 break in the seventh to move 4–3 ahead. Zhou won the eighth frame and snookered McGill at the beginning of the ninth, making a 127 break after McGill left a red available. Trailing 4–5, McGill had the chance to force a decider in the tenth, but missed a shot on the blue. Zhou made a 110 break, clinched a 6–4 victory, and reached the third ranking final of his career. In all, the match featured five century breaks, four from Zhou and one from McGill.
"If I win
he tournament I will be happy to have made my dream come true", said Zhou, but added "It is important to not get under pressure, this is no good. You have to not think about the trophy and just play".
Final

The final was played on 23 October as the best of 17 frames, held over two sessions, between world number 10 Allen and world number 23 Zhou. In the afternoon session, Allen won the first frame with a 57 break, but Zhou made breaks including 56 and 135 as he won the next four frames. In frame four, Zhou ran out of position and was warned by referee
Leo Scullion
Leo Scullion (born 10 April 1958) is a professional snooker referee from Glasgow, Scotland, who has been officiating on the main tour since 1999.
Career
After spending many years of his life as a taxi driver, and later a policeman, Scullion qu ...
after he spent more than two minutes considering his options for a safety shot. Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan criticised the warning in commentary, noting that other players had spent significantly longer over shots without the referee intervening, including a previous incident involving Scullion at the
2019 event, when Selby spent over six minutes on a shot without being warned. From 1–4 behind, Allen made breaks including 68 and 55 as he won the last three frames of the session to tie the scores at 4–4.
In the evening session, Allen made breaks of 53, 85, 50, and 51 to move 8–4 ahead, before making a 109 clearance to win his eighth consecutive frame and clinch the title with a 9–4 victory. "You know how proud a Northern Irishman I am and how much I want to do well here for the fans. To win two years in a row is something. I just didn't think this day was ever going to happen", Allen commented afterwards. In addition to winning the seventh ranking title of his career, Allen secured the last remaining place at the following month's
Champion of Champions invitational event. Zhou's defeat meant that he had lost all three of the ranking finals he had reached, having previously been runner-up at the
January 2020 European Masters
January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the y ...
and the
2020 Snooker Shoot Out
The 2020 Shoot Out (officially the 2020 BetVictor Snooker Shoot Out) was a professional ranking snooker tournament held from 20 to 23 February 2020 at the Watford Colosseum in Watford, England. It was the 13th ranking event of the 2019–20 sno ...
.
Main draw
The results from the event are shown below. Seeded players have their seedings in brackets. Players highlighted in bold denote match winners.
Top half
Bottom half
Final
Qualifying
Qualification for the tournament took place from 23 to 28 August 2022 at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
, England.
Qualifying matches were played as the best of 7 frames. Players highlighted in bold denote match winners.
[
]
Wildcard Round
* 0–4 [Match held over and played in ]Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...
.
Qualifying
* 4–1
* 1–4
* 4–1
* 2–4
* 4–0
* 3–4
* 4–1
* 4–2
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 4–3
* 0–4
* 4–0
* 1–4
* 3–4
* 4–3
* 4–0
* 2–4
* 4–2
* 1–4
* 4–2
* 2–4
* 4–3
* 3–4
* 4–0
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 4–3
* 4–3
* 4–0
* 4–0
* 4–2
* 4–2
* 4–1
* 2–4
* 3–4
* 4–3
* 0–4
* 3–4
* 4–1
* 2–4
* 1–4
* 4–1
* 4–2
* 0–4
* 4–0
* 4–2
Held-over Matches: Round One
Matches involving the top 16 players — including the defending champion — alongside a wildcard match involving local players, were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall
Belfast Waterfront is a multi-purpose conference and entertainment centre, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. The hall is located in Lanyon Place, the flagship development of the Laganside Co ...
. Zhou Yuelong
Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) 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.
Career
Between 20 ...
's match was also held over as he faced the winner of the wildcard match.
* 4–1
* 1–4
* 4–0
* 4–2
* 4–0
* 2–4
* w/o–w/d
* 4–2
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 4–0
* 4–2
* 4–0
* 1–4
* 4–2
* 4–0
Notes
Century breaks
Main stage centuries
During the event 69 century breaks were made.
* 141 Lu Ning
* 139, 128, 111 Mark Williams
* 139 Gerard Greene
Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast.
Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his ...
* 138, 103 Yan Bingtao
Yan Bingtao (, born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the youngest player to win the Amateur World Snooker Championship after defeating Muhammad Sajjad 8–7.
Having qualified to compete on the main tour for ...
* 136, 123, 109, 108, 102, 100 Mark Allen
* 135, 132, 130, 130, 127, 121, 110, 100 Zhou Yuelong
Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) 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.
Career
Between 20 ...
* 135, 120, 114, 107, 102 Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...
* 134, 132, 132, 103 David Gilbert
* 134, 123, 104 Lyu Haotian
Lyu Haotian (, born 29 November 1997) is a snooker player from the People's Republic of China, notable for being one of the youngest snooker players to have played in professional tournaments, aged only 14. He reached the quarter-finals of the ...
* 133, 132, 113, 112, 105, 101 Anthony McGill
Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus.
McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He wo ...
* 132 Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the a ...
* 128 Jackson Page
Jackson Page (born 8 August 2001 in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is a former European U-21 champion and the former Under-18 World Snooker Champion and in 2017 also became the Under-18 European Snooker Ch ...
* 127 Martin Gould
Martin Gould (born 14 September 1981) is an English professional snooker player from Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow. He has appeared in four ranking finals and won one ranking title, the 2016 German Masters.
Career
Gould began his profe ...
* 127 Jack Lisowski
Jack Adam Lisowski (born 25 June 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his att ...
* 127 Pang Junxu
Pang Junxu (, born 15 February 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He was awarded the "Rookie of the Year" Award in 2021.
Career
As a result of Pang's performances on the CBSA Tour, he was awarded a two-year card on the World Snook ...
* 126 Kyren Wilson
Kyren Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering and a five-time ranking event winner. He has been a runner-up at two of the three Triple Crown events, having reached the final at both the 2018 M ...
* 124 John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
* 123, 107, 107, 102 Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...
* 118 Alexander Ursenbacher
Alexander Ursenbacher (born 26 April 1996) is a Swiss professional snooker player from Rheinfelden. He is Switzerland's first professional snooker player (former professional Darren Paris represented England, in the mid-1990s, before moving to S ...
* 115 David Grace
David Grace (born 1949 in Rugby, Warwickshire, England) is a British racing driver and businessman. He was the CEO at Rockingham Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2002, and oversaw the opening of the track and the return, after many years, of CART ...
* 114, 109 Judd Trump
Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...
* 111, 106 Luca Brecel
Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made hi ...
* 111 Sam Craigie
Sam Craigie (born 29 December 1993) is an English professional snooker player from Newcastle. He enjoyed a successful junior career before turning professional in 2011.
Career
Early career
Craigie qualified for the 2011/2012 Main Tour after ...
* 111 Ding Junhui
Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 14 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (200 ...
* 110, 100 Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and dire ...
* 110 Stuart Bingham
Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...
* 108 Jimmy Robertson
* 106, 100 Barry Hawkins
Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championsh ...
* 102 Fan Zhengyi
* 101, 100 Xiao Guodong
Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships.
Career 2007–2010
Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat t ...
* 101 Craig Steadman
* 100 Ben Woollaston
Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. Woollaston's only ranking event final came at th ...
Qualifying stage centuries
During the qualification round, 15 century breaks were made. The highest was a 138 made by Maguire.
* 138 Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...
* 136 Stuart Carrington
Stuart Carrington (born 14 May 1990) is an English professional snooker player. He practises frequently with Steven Hallworth and Ian Glover in Grimsby.
In May 2011, Carrington qualified for the 2011–12 professional Main Tour as one of fo ...
* 134 Si Jiahui
Si Jiahui (; born 11 July 2002) is a Chinese professional snooker player.
Career
In May 2019, Si qualified for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 professional Main Tour as Q School, as the highest ranked player on the Q School ranking list who didn' ...
* 134 Hossein Vafaei
Hossein Vafaei ( fa, حسین وفایی ایوری; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first professional title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mar ...
* 132 Jimmy White
James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...
* 125, 104 David Gilbert
* 118 Robert Milkins
Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998.
Milkins ...
* 115 Dean Young
* 112 Jak Jones
Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player.
Jones was born in Cwmbran, Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16, by winning the 2010 European Under 19 Snooker Championship in Malta.
Career Professi ...
* 110 Ryan Day
* 107 Jackson Page
Jackson Page (born 8 August 2001 in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is a former European U-21 champion and the former Under-18 World Snooker Champion and in 2017 also became the Under-18 European Snooker Ch ...
* 102 Craig Steadman
* 102 Ben Woollaston
Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. Woollaston's only ranking event final came at th ...
* 101 Louis Heathcote
Louis Heathcote (born 3 July 1997) is an English professional snooker player.
Career
In May 2019, Heathcote came through Q-School - Event 2 by winning six matches to earn a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2019–20 and 2020–2 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Ireland Open, 2022
Home Nations Series
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
Northern Ireland Open
October 2022 sports events in the United Kingdom
Sport in Belfast
Snooker competitions in Northern Ireland
European Series