The 2024 Northern Ireland Open (officially the 2024 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 20 to 27 October 2024 at the Waterfront Hall 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. It was the seventh ranking event of the 202425 season (following the 2024 Wuhan Open and preceding the 2024 International Championship), the second of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series (following the 2024 English Open and preceding the 2024 Scottish Open and the 2025 Welsh Open). 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 ...

and Discovery+ in Europe and by other broadcasters internationally. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £550,400 and a place in the 2024 Champion of Champions invitational 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 ...

was the defending champion, having defeated Chris Wakelin 93 in the previous year's final. Trump lost 39 to

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. Wilson claimed his first Northern Ireland Open title and the eighth ranking title of his professional career. The event produced 60

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, 22 during the qualifying rounds and 38 at the main stage. Trump and Mark Williams both made breaks of 143, the highest of the tournament.

Format

The event took place from 20 to 27 October 2024 at the Waterfront Hall in

, Northern Ireland. Qualifying took place on 28 and 29 September 2024 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. The WST implemented a new format for the four Home Nations events this season. In qualifying round one, players seeded 6596 face those seeded 97128. In qualifying round two, the 32 round one winners play those seeded 3364. The 32 round two winners then play the top 32 seeds. All matches were played as the best of 7 until the quarterfinals, which were the best of 9. The semifinals were the best of 11, and the final was a best of 17 frame match played over two . The qualifying rounds were broadcast by Discovery+ in Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland) and by the CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin and Huya Live in China. They were available from

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. The main stages were broadcast by

, Discovery+ and DMAX in Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland); by the CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin and Huya Live in China; by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; by TrueVision in Thailand; by TAP in the Philippines; and by Sportcast in Taiwan. It was available from

in all other territories.

Prize fund

The tournament winner received the

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgi ...

trophy. The breakdown of prize money for the event, an increase of £123,400 from the previous event, is shown below: * Winner: £100,000 * Runner-up: £45,000 * Semi-final: £21,000 * Quarter-final: £13,200 * Last 16: £9,000 * Last 32: £5,400 * Last 64: £3,600 * Last 96: £1,000 * Highest break: £5,000 * Total: £550,400

Summary

Qualifying rounds

Round 1

The first round took place on 28 September as the best of 7 . Oliver Lines played in the semi final of the British Open on 28 September, so his match against Joshua Cooper was held over to the main venue in Belfast, where he beat Cooper 42.

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 ...

beat Paul Deaville 43 and Stan Moody beat Dylan Emery 42. Marco Fu withdrew from the event, so reigning women's world champion Bai Yulu was given a

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

to the next round.

Round 2

The second round took place on 29 September as the best of 7 frames. Ricky Walden's match against the winner of the match between Lines and Cooper was held over to the main venue in Belfast, where Lines beat Walden 42.

Final rounds

Last 64

The last 64 matches were played from 20 to 22 October as the best of 7 frames. Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew from the event, giving opponent Long Zehuang a walkover into the last 32. In the afternoon session on 20 October

whitewashed Ishpreet Singh Chadha, Matthew Selt beat Lyu Haotian 41, and Moody recovered from 02 down to beat Ryan Day 43. In the evening session Louis Heathcote beat 5th

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 ...

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 ...

43,

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 ...

recovered from 02 down to beat Jiang Jun 42, and Mark Davis beat 9th seed Gary Wilson 41. In the afternoon session on 21 October Neil Robertson defeated Graeme Dott 43, Jimmy Robertson beat Xiao Guodong 42, and Martin O'Donnell beat 11th seed Zhang Anda 43. Tian Pengfei defeated 12th seed Si Jiahui 42, and White beat Hossein Vafaei also by 42. In the final frame of the match between White and Vafaei, referee Kevin Dabrowski called an unusual on Vafaei when, with , he placed the slightly outside of the . In the evening session Mark Allen whitewashed Liu Hongyu, John Higgins beat Fan Zhengyi 42, and Wang Yuchen defeated

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 ...

43. In the morning session on 22 October Ma Hailong beat 10th seed Ali Carter 41, and Lines beat Wu Yize also by 41. In the afternoon session Chris Wakelin beat Bulcsú Révész 42, and

beat David Grace 43. Noppon Saengkham beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 43 (with Saengkham using Murphy's since his own had not arrived at the airport), and Mark Williams whitewashed Jamie Clarke.

Last 32

The last 32 matches were played on 22 and 23 October as the best of 7 frames. In the evening session on 22 October Murphy recovered from 02 behind to beat Zhou Yuelong 42, Trump defeated Selt 42, Heathcote beat Jimmy Robertson 41, Tian beat

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, ...

41, and Stuart Bingham whitewashed Davis. In the morning session on 23 October Pang Junxu beat 6th seed Luca Brecel 41, and Lei Peifan beat 13th seed Tom Ford also by 41. In the afternoon session Lines beat 3rd seed Allen 43, O'Donnell defeated White 42, and Elliot Slessor beat Long 42. Ma defeated Wakelin 41, and Barry Hawkins beat Higgins 42. In the 23 October evening session Moody whitewashed Jak Jones, Kyren Wilson beat

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 ...

43, Neil Robertson whitewashed Wang, and Williams defeated Saengkham 41, making a 143 in the third frame, the highest break of the tournament, which was later equalled by Trump.

Last 16

The last 16 matches were played on 24 October as the best of 7 frames. In the afternoon session Murphy beat Bingham 43, and Pang whitewashed O'Donnell. Williams defeated Ma 42, and Kyren Wilson beat Moody 41. In the evening session Neil Robertson beat Lines and Slessor beat Lei, both by 41. Trump defeated Hawkins 41, and Heathcote beat Tian 42.

Quarter finals

The quarter-finals were played on 25 October as the best of 9 frames. In the afternoon session Pang beat Neil Robertson 54, making a 129 total clearance in the . Kyren Wilson defeated Williams 51, making a 135 break in the 4th frame. In the evening session Trump beat Murphy 51, making breaks of 128 and 125 in the 4th and 5th frames, and Slessor beat Heathcote, also by 51.

Semi finals

The semi-finals were played on 26 October as the best of 11 frames. In the afternoon session Kyren Wilson beat Pang 64. After the match Wilson said: "I showed a little bit of emotion at the end, because I've never managed to make the one table setup here at the Waterfront. As soon as I walked out today I thought, wow, what an arena and what a crowd. This is definitely one of the best venues I've ever played in. I was desperate to make the final so I'm delighted to do that." In the evening session Trump whitewashed Slessor. After the match Trump said: "One of the best arenas you can play in, I had plenty left in the tank. I felt very relaxed out there. The table is a good test for everyone. The table conditions play so good here. I love playing here. The table is so reactive."

Final

The final was played on 27 October as the best of 17 frames, played over two . World number one Trump faced world number two Wilson. At the end of the afternoon session Wilson led Trump 71, having taken the first seven frames. Wilson went on to win the match 93. After the match Wilson said: "We all know Judd rumpis capable of reeling frames off in a row. It was about doing the right things. I turned up an hour before this evening's session when nobody would have blamed me for turning up ten minutes before thinking it was won. You can't allow that to happen against Judd." Trump said: "I want to thank everyone for their support tonight. It was always going to be difficult to come back from 71 down, but I got an amazing reception. Kyren ilsonwas too good today. The way he has bounced back after winning the World Championship is inspiring. I hope we can have many more battles."

Main draw

The results of the main draw are shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seeding and players in bold denote match winners.

Top half

:Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=

Bottom half

Final

Qualifying rounds

The results of the early rounds are shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seeding, an "a" indicates amateur players who were not on the main World Snooker Tour, and players in bold denote match winners.

:Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

A total of 38 century breaks were made during the main stage of the tournament in

. * 143, 141, 128, 125, 112, 105

* 143 Mark Williams * 139 John Higgins * 137 Ma Hailong * 135, 119, 110

* 131, 112

* 129, 129, 118 Pang Junxu * 121, 101 Stuart Bingham * 119 Long Zehuang * 118, 104, 103

* 117 He Guoqiang * 115 Lei Peifan * 113 David Gilbert * 112 Rory Thor * 111 Zhou Yuelong * 110

* 108, 105, 103 Stan Moody * 107, 105, 100 Neil Robertson * 103, 103 Martin O'Donnell * 103 Elliot Slessor

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 22 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament in

. * 142 Yuan Sijun * 134 Louis Heathcote * 133 Ben Woollaston * 130 David Lilley * 128 Long Zehuang * 127 David Grace * 117, 114 Fan Zhengyi * 113, 109 Rory Thor * 113 Jordan Brown * 108 Antoni Kowalski * 107 Stuart Carrington * 105 Jiang Jun * 104 Alfie Burden * 104 Liam Davies * 102 Duane Jones * 101 Lei Peifan * 101 Bulcsú Révész * 101 Matthew Stevens * 100 Wang Yuchen * 100 Daniel Womersley

Notes

References

External links

World Snooker Tour – Home
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Ireland Open, 2024

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

2024 in snooker October 2024 sports events in the United Kingdom Home Nations Series