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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 Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
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 Corp ...
in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, Northern Ireland. Organised by the
World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of about 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. It is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, ...
, it was the fourth
ranking event A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...
of the 2022–23 season, the first tournament in the
Home Nations Series The Home Nations Series, also known as the BetVictor Home Nations Series for sponsorship reasons, 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 tou ...
, 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 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. The tournament was broadcast on
Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. It 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 every nat ...
and
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD 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 Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...
was the defending champion, having defeated
John Higgins John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...
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 2 ...
9–4. The win gave Allen the seventh ranking title of his career and qualified him for the following month's
Champion of Champions Champion of Champions generally refers to a championship tournament in which all participants have won a single event series of the same tournament. It may also refer to: * Champion of Champions (horse race), a stakes race annually held in Califor ...
invitational event.
Lu Ning Lu Ning (; born 1 January 1994 in Jilin) is a former professional snooker player from the People's Republic of China who, in 2023, was banned from professional competition for five years and four months after committing match-fixing offences. ...
made the tournament's highest break of 141 in his last-64 match against
Hammad Miah Hammad Miah (born 6 July 1993) is an English former professional snooker player. In May 2013, Miah qualified for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 professional Main Tour as one of four semi-finalists from the first 2013 Q School event. Hammad Mi ...
.


Format

The Northern Ireland Open was first played in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. 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, also known as the BetVictor Home Nations Series for sponsorship reasons, 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 tou ...
, the third event in the BetVictor Series, and the fourth world ranking tournament of the
2022–23 snooker season The 2022–23 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played from June 2022 to May 2023. Players The World Snooker Tour in the 2022–23 season initially consisted of a field of 131 professional players, but later dropped to 130 w ...
. 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 Corp ...
in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, Northern Ireland. Qualifiers were played from 23 to 28 August 2022 at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
, 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 Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...
, 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 from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...
9–8 in the final. All matches were played as the best of seven frames 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, founded in 1946, is an online gambling company based in Gibraltar, owned by British businessman and racehorse owner Michael Tabor. It provides services such as sports betting and online casinos. History The company was founded ...
sponsored the event, which was broadcast on
Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. It 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 every nat ...
in the United Kingdom; on
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD 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, Superstar online, Migu,
Youku Youku Tudou Inc. (formerly Youku Inc.), doing business as Youku (), is a video streaming service and former video sharing website based in Beijing, China. It operates as a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited. Youku has its headquart ...
and
Huya.com Huya Live ( zh, s=虎牙直播) is a Chinese video live streaming platform under HUYA Inc. (NYSE: HUYA), one of the largest of its kind in China. HUYA Inc. is headquartered in Guangzhou and is a subsidiary of Tencent Holdings Limited. HUYA Inc. ...
in China; on SportsCast in Indonesia; on TAP in the Philippines; on
True Sport True Sports 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 Sports holds exclusi ...
in Thailand; on
Sports Cast Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...
in Taiwan; on Astro SuperSport in Malaysia; on
DAZN DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...
in Canada; and by
Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a UK-based sporting event promotions company founded by Barry Hearn and run by him and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool (cue sports), pool, bowl ...
in all other territories.


Prize fund

The event featured a prize fund of £427,000, 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 retired professional snooker player and a current Sports commentator, commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, ag ...
withdrew from the qualifiers and was replaced in the draw by
Zhao Jianbo Zhao Jianbo (, born 27 August 2003) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. The WPBSA suspended Zhao from World Snooker Tour events in January 2023, amid a match-fixing investigation, and subsequently charged him with fixing a match. ...
. The reigning women's world champion
Mink Nutcharut Nutcharut Wongharuthai (, ; born 7 November 1999), better known as Mink Nutcharut, is a Thai snooker player who competes on both the professional World Snooker Tour and the World Women's Snooker Tour. She is the only woman known to have made a ...
secured her first win on the professional tour as she defeated
Mitchell Mann Mitchell Dennis 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 ...
4–2. The previous season's European Masters champion
Fan Zhengyi Fan Zhengyi (; born 27 January 2001) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship in 2017, and turned professional in 2018. He had a breakthrough season in 2021–22 when he reached his first ra ...
won his first professional match in six months as he completed a
whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis 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 ...
over
Ashley Hugill Ashley Hugill (born 28 September 1994 in York, Yorkshire) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Hugill came through the 2017 Q School by winning six matches to earn a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2017– ...
.
Craig Steadman Craig Steadman (born 14 July 1982) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Early career Steadman began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2001, at the time the second-level professional tour. He reached the ...
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 ...
4–3, while Northern Ireland's Jordan Brown whitewashed
Andrew Pagett Andrew Pagett (born 25 April 1982) is a Welsh former 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 seas ...
. Having recently turned 60,
Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...
made a 132 break in the deciding frame to defeat
Yuan Sijun Yuan Sijun (; born 29 May 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Career Yuan started to play snooker at the age of 10 and played as a wildcard in many professional tournaments between ages of 13 and 16. Yuan first drew attention in 201 ...
4–3 and win his second qualifying match of the season. Matches featuring the top-16
seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
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. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in snooker history, he has won the World Snooker Championship seven times, a m ...
whitewashed
Lukas Kleckers Lukas Kleckers (born 18 May 1996 in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former professional snooker player. Career Kleckers first drew attention in 2013 when, at the age of 17, he captured the highest ranking and most prestigious amateur ...
. Three-time champion
Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and the current List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He is currently in ...
won four consecutive frames to defeat
Rod Lawler Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971) is an English retired 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 tourna ...
4–1.
Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship and has completed the Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murp ...
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 Alexander Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and former List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He ...
made breaks of 85, 120, and 55 as he whitewashed
Fraser Patrick Fraser Patrick (born 8 November 1985) is a Scottish former 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 Patric ...
.
Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player. Ranked List of world number one snooker players, world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 24 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the all ...
defeated
Reanne Evans Reanne Evans (born 25 October 1985) is an English professional snooker player and regular pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. Widely recognised as the most successful female player in the sport's history, she has won the World Women's Sno ...
4–2, while the previous year's runner-up Higgins defeated
Fergal O'Brien Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish retired professional snooker player who competed on the World Snooker Tour from 1991 to 2024. He won one ranking title during his career, defeating Anthony Hamilton 9–7 in the final of the 1999 ...
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 and the reigning World Snooker Champion. He first turned professional in the 2016–17 season, aged 19, having previously recorded wins against a number of top p ...
lost 1–4 to
Lyu Haotian Lyu Haotian (; born 29 November 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player, 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 2012 Internatio ...
, 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. He won his first ranking event 17 years after first turning professional at the 202 ...
, and 12th seed
Jack Lisowski Jack 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 International Open Series, PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he ...
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, 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 consecutive ...
but regained his professional status through Q School. World number 108
David Lilley David William Lilley (born 31 October 1977) 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 Athletic in the Scottish Junior Foo ...
whitewashed the number 14 seed
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his pro ...
. 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 professio ...
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 the first snooker player from Switzerland to have competed professionally (former professional Darren Paris represented England, in the mid ...
, 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 players ...
, 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. A four-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, Brecel is a former World Snooker Championship, World Snooker Champion, having won the 2023 World Snooker Champ ...
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 15 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005 ...
lost in a deciding frame to Michael White.
Jackson Page Jackson Page (born 8 August 2001) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He was born in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, and is a former European U-21 champion and the former Under-18 World Snooker Champion and in 2017 also became the Under-18 Europ ...
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 James Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering. He has won 10 ranking titles. Wilson made his professional tour debut in the 2010–11 snooker season, 2010–11 season after finishing fif ...
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 known for quick play. Milkins has been a member of snooker's main tour since regaining a tour card in 1998. Milkins reached a career high rank of 12 in 2014 and 2023, ...
, 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 2 ...
, while the 15th seed and 2017 runner-up
Yan Bingtao Yan Bingtao (; born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese former professional snooker player who is currently serving a five-year ban from professional competition after committing a range of match-fixing offences. He rose to prominence by winning th ...
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 ...
. Neil Robertson defeated John Astley 4–1, while Li whitewashed Brown, Williams beat Jimmy Robertson 4–2, and Xiao defeated
Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei (; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first ranking title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mark Williams 1–0 (71–0) in the final. ...
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 Championship, ...
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 Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...
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 former 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 o ...
, 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, who 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 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. They cited 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 Champion of Champions generally refers to a championship tournament in which all participants have won a single event series of the same tournament. It may also refer to: * Champion of Champions (horse race), a stakes race annually held in Califor ...
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 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 town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
, 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 ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
.


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 Corp ...
.
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 2 ...
'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 Lu Ning (; born 1 January 1994 in Jilin) is a former professional snooker player from the People's Republic of China who, in 2023, was banned from professional competition for five years and four months after committing match-fixing offences. ...
* 139, 128, 111 Mark Williams * 139
Gerard Greene Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success ...
* 138, 103
Yan Bingtao Yan Bingtao (; born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese former professional snooker player who is currently serving a five-year ban from professional competition after committing a range of match-fixing offences. He rose to prominence by winning th ...
* 136, 123, 109, 108, 102, 100
Mark Allen Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...
* 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 2 ...
* 135, 120, 114, 107, 102
Neil Robertson Neil Alexander Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and former List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He ...
* 134, 132, 132, 103 David Gilbert * 134, 123, 104
Lyu Haotian Lyu Haotian (; born 29 November 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player, 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 2012 Internatio ...
* 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 ...
* 132
Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player. Ranked List of world number one snooker players, world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 24 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the all ...
* 128
Jackson Page Jackson Page (born 8 August 2001) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He was born in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, and is a former European U-21 champion and the former Under-18 World Snooker Champion and in 2017 also became the Under-18 Europ ...
* 127
Martin Gould Martin Gould (born 14 September 1981) is an English former 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 ...
* 127
Jack Lisowski Jack 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 International Open Series, PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he ...
* 127 Pang Junxu * 126
Kyren Wilson Kyren James Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering. He has won 10 ranking titles. Wilson made his professional tour debut in the 2010–11 snooker season, 2010–11 season after finishing fif ...
* 124
John Higgins John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...
* 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 the first snooker player from Switzerland to have competed professionally (former professional Darren Paris represented England, in the mid ...
* 115 David Grace * 114, 109
Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and the current List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He is currently in ...
* 111, 106
Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (; born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. A four-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, Brecel is a former World Snooker Championship, World Snooker Champion, having won the 2023 World Snooker Champ ...
* 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 15 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005 ...
* 110, 100
Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...
* 110
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his pro ...
* 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 Championship, ...
* 102
Fan Zhengyi Fan Zhengyi (; born 27 January 2001) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship in 2017, and turned professional in 2018. He had a breakthrough season in 2021–22 when he reached his first ra ...
* 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. He won his first ranking event 17 years after first turning professional at the 202 ...
* 101
Craig Steadman Craig Steadman (born 14 July 1982) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Early career Steadman began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2001, at the time the second-level professional tour. He reached the ...
* 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 Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Event 3, third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. W ...


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 former 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 on ...
* 134
Si Jiahui Si Jiahui ( ; born 11 July 2002) is a Chinese professional snooker player. After training at the Wiraka Billiard Academy in Foshan, he moved to the United Kingdom aged 16 and earned a two-year tour card through the 2019 Q School for the 2019 ...
* 134
Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei (; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first ranking title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mark Williams 1–0 (71–0) in the final. ...
* 132
Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...
* 125, 104 David Gilbert * 118
Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player known for quick play. Milkins has been a member of snooker's main tour since regaining a tour card in 1998. Milkins reached a career high rank of 12 in 2014 and 2023, ...
* 115 Dean Young * 112
Jak Jones Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is from Cwmbran, Torfaen, in South Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16 after winning the 2010 European Under-19 Snooker Championship in Malta. As a ...
* 110 Ryan Day * 107
Jackson Page Jackson Page (born 8 August 2001) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He was born in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, and is a former European U-21 champion and the former Under-18 World Snooker Champion and in 2017 also became the Under-18 Europ ...
* 102
Craig Steadman Craig Steadman (born 14 July 1982) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Early career Steadman began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2001, at the time the second-level professional tour. He reached the ...
* 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 Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Event 3, third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. W ...
* 101 Louis Heathcote


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Ireland Open, 2022 Home Nations Series
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
Northern Ireland Open October 2022 sports events in the United Kingdom Sports competitions in Belfast Snooker competitions in Northern Ireland European Series