The 2020 Gibraltar Open (officially the 2020 BetVictor Gibraltar 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 13 to 15 March 2020 at the

Europa Point Sports Complex Europa Sports Park is a multi-purpose stadium at Europa Point, Gibraltar. In UEFA matches, the stadium is referred to as Europa Point Stadium. The facility is home to the Gibraltar national rugby union team, as well as other sports such as cric ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

with qualifying rounds occurring on 11 and 12 March 2020. It was the fifteenth

ranking 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 ...

event of the

2019–20 snooker season The 2019–20 snooker season was a series of professional snooker tournaments played between 9 May 2019 and 22 August 2020. In total, 47 events were held during the season: however, the ending of the season was highly disrupted by the ...

, and the final tournament in the ''European Series'', following the

German Masters The German Masters is a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament held at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany since 2011, except for 2021, when it was held at Milton Keynes in England because of the COVID-19 pandemic. An ear ...

, European Masters and

Snooker Shoot Out The Snooker Shoot Out is a professional snooker tournament played under a variation of the standard rules. First staged in 1990 Shoot-Out, 1990 as the Shoot-Out, the event was revived in 2011 Snooker Shoot-Out, 2011 and renamed the Snooker Sho ...

. The event was the fifth

Gibraltar Open The Gibraltar Open was a Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament. In 2015 it was part of the Players Tour Championship. The tournament started in 2015 and was staged at the Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar. Robert Milkins was ...

tournament, first held in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. The event was organized by the

World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in ...

and sponsored by

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 ...

. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, matches were originally limited to a maximum audience of 100. After the first day, all matches were played without any spectators. A number of professional players withdrew from the event, alongside 54 amateur players and a series of referees; in some cases matches were played between players without referees. The defending champion was

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 ...

who defeated Ryan Day 4–1 in the 2019 final. Bingham lost 0–4 to Ben Woollaston in the third round of the event.

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 the championship – his 17th career and sixth ranking title of the season – after a 4–3 defeat of

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 ...

in the final. Winning six events became the record for the most ranking titles in a season with the victory. The tournament featured a total of £251,000 with the winner receiving £50,000. In addition to the winners purse, Trump also secured £150,000 for scoring the most ranking points across the ''European Series''. There was a total of 63

century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...

s made during the event, the highest of which a 144 made by Trump in frame three of the final against Wilson.

Tournament format

The event was the fifth iteration of the

, having been first held in

. It took place from 13 to 15 March 2020 at the

in Gibraltar. The event was the 15th ranking tournament of the 2019–20 snooker season after the Players Championship, and preceding the

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

. The defending champion was

who had defeated Ryan Day 4–1 in the 2019 final. The Gibraltar Open was the final event of the ''2020 BetVictor European Series'', following the 2020 European Masters, 2020 German Masters and 2020 Snooker Shoot Out. The tournament was organised by the

and sponsored by

. Qualifying for the event was held from 11 to 12 March 2020 also at the Europa Point Sports Complex. Qualifying was played as best-of-5 matches, with the main stage of the event played as best-of-7 frames. Due to the

, matches were originally limited to a maximum audience of 100. After the first day, this restriction was tightened and matches were played without crowds. As a number of tour referees were unable to travel to the venue as a result of the pandemic, some matches were played without referees, with players balls for their opponents. The event was broadcast by

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 ...

across Europe.

Prize fund

The event featured a total prize fund of £251,000 with the winner receiving £50,000. This was an increase of £74,000 and £25,000 respectively from the 2019 event. As part of the ''BetVictor European Series'' the player with the highest amount of prize money received from the four events won an additional £150,000. Prior to the event, only

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 ...

and

were in contention for the prize. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: * Winner: £50,000 * Runner-up: £20,000 * Semi-final: £6,000 * Quarter-final: £5,000 * Last 16: £4,000 * Last 32: £3,000 * Last 64: £2,000 * Highest break: £5,000 * Total: £251,000

Summary

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic several players withdrew from the event; Neil Robertson,

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 ...

, Mark Allen, David Gilbert,

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 ...

, Ali Carter, Graeme Dott,

Noppon Saengkham Noppon Saengkham (; born 15 July 1992) is a Thai professional snooker player. Since turning professional in 2010, he has reached one ranking final (the 2023 Scottish Open) in which he finished as runner-up to Gary Wilson. Career Early years I ...

, Kurt Maflin, Anthony Hamilton, Mike Dunn,

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 ...

and

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 ...

, with some being replaced in the draw by amateur players. Judd Trump May 2015

The first three rounds of the event were played on 13 and 14 March 2020. Ben Woollaston defeated reigning Masters champion Stuart Bingham at the last 32 stage. Woollaston made of 79 and 74 and eventually

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 ...

ed Bingham 4–0. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh won his last 32 stage match 4–0 over Harvey Chandler in just 43 minutes. Three-time world champion Mark Williams defeated Martin Gould, but

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 ...

was defeated by Lyu Haotian.

made breaks of 76, 90 and 107 to defeat Luca Brecel 4–0. Reigning world champion Judd Trump defeated native Gibraltan Lee Prickman, Brazil's Igor Figueiredo and Englishman

Martin O'Donnell Martin O'Donnell (born May 1, 1955) is an American composer, audio director, and sound designer best known for his work on video game developer Bungie's titles, such as the ''Myth'' series, ''Oni'', the ''Halo'' series, and ''Destiny''. O'Don ...

to reach the quarter-finals. Joe Perry was defeated by Jimmy Robertson in the last 32, meaning he did not have enough ranking points to qualify for the following event, the 2020 Tour Championship. Amine Amiri won the only main stage match of his two-year tour card, winning 43 over Adam Ashley. The final four rounds, from the last 16 onwards, were all played on 15 March. Wilson 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 ...

on a before winning over both Un-Nooh in the quarter-finals and Mark Williams in the semi-finals 4–0 each to reach the final. Trump defeated three Chinese players, Li Hang, Liang Wenbo and

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 ...

to meet Wilson in the final. The first frame of the best-of-seven frame final was won by Trump, who made a break of 125, with Wilson winning the second frame with a break of 115. Trump made a in his break of 144, before Wilson tied the score at 2–2. Wilson won frame five, before Trump made his third

of the final, a 123 to force a deciding frame. Trump lead 52–0 but missed a from its , but Wilson was unable to capitalise, allowing Trump to take the title with a break of 63 and win 4–3. In winning the event, Trump gained enough prize money to win the ''BetVictor European Series'', earning a bonus of £150,000. This was also Trump's sixth ranking event win of the season, the most in a single season of any player. Trump commented: "To win six ranking titles in a season, something which no one else has ever done, is an amazing achievement for me... I wasn't thinking about that tonight until it got to 3–3."

Main draw

Below is the full draw for the event. Players in bold denote match winners.

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Finals

Final

Qualifying

Qualifying for the event featuring amateur players took place in Gibraltar on 11 and 12 March 2020. There were a total of four rounds with all matches being played as the best-of-5 frames.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

A total of 63 century breaks were made during the tournament. Judd Trump made the highest break of the event, a 144, in frame three of the final against Kyren Wilson. * 144, 132, 125, 123, 123, 113, 111, 104, 103

* 143

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 ...

* 141, 104

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 ...

* 139, 137, 127

* 139 Sam Craigie * 138, 101

* 137, 116 Ryan Day * 137, 101

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 ...

* 136 Mitchell Mann * 133, 114, 113 Liang Wenbo * 129, 124 Chang Bingyu * 128 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh * 127, 110 Luca Brecel * 126, 125, 103 Elliot Slessor * 123, 118 Rod Lawler * 123, 116, 100, 100

* 122, 120 Zhao Xintong * 118 Zhou Yuelong * 115, 107

* 112 Ian Burns * 110, 109

* 110, 107, 106 Jimmy Robertson * 110 Michael Holt * 108, 107

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, ...

* 108, 105 Mark Joyce * 105 Li Hang * 104, 103, 100 Lyu Haotian * 101 Igor Figueiredo * 101

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

* 101

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibraltar Open, 2020

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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