# 2021 Northern Ireland Open

The 2021 Northern Ireland Open (officially the 2021 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the third ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the first tournament in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. It was the sixth edition of the Northern Ireland Open.
Qualifying for the tournament took place from 23 to 27 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England, although matches involving the top 16 players, and three other matches featuring Northern Irish players, were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall. All of the top 16 players participated except for world number 9 Ding Junhui. Mark Allen made a maximum break in his held over qualifying match against Si Jiahui.
The defending champion was Judd Trump, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 finals by a scoreline of 9–7 each time. Trump lost 3–5 in the quarter-finals to Allen, having led 3–0.
Allen faced John Higgins in the final, which was tied at 4–4 after the afternoon session. Higgins moved 8–6 ahead in the evening session, but Allen won the last three frames for a 9–8 victory. It was Allen's first Northern Ireland Open title, his second Home Nations win, and the sixth ranking title of his professional career.

## Format

The Northern Ireland Open was first played in 2016, and was won by Mark King. The 2021 event was the first of four Home Nations Series events, and the third world ranking tournament of the 2019–20 snooker season. The event took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The event followed the British Open, and preceded the English Open.
The defending champion was Judd Trump, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 finals by a scoreline of 9–7 each time. All matches were played as the best of 7 frames in the first four rounds, at which point the number increased: 9 in the quarter-finals; 11 in the semi-finals; and the best of 19 frames in the final. Sports betting company BetVictor sponsored the event, which was broadcast in Europe by Eurosport; CCTV, Rigour, Liaoning TV in China; NowTV in Hong Kong; Astro SuperSports in Malaysia and Brunei; True Vision in Thailand; Sky Sports in New Zealand and Matchroom Sport in all other territories.

### Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:
* Winner: £70,000
* Runner-up: £30,000
* Semi-final: £20,000
* Quarter-final: £10,000
* Last 16: £7,500
* Last 32: £4,000
* Last 64: £3,000
* Highest break: £5,000
* Total: £405,000

## 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

| Last 64 Best of 7 frames | Last 64 Best of 7 frames | Last 32 Best of 7 frames | Last 32 Best of 7 frames | Last 16 Best of 7 frames | Last 16 Best of 7 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames |
| Judd Trump (ENG) (1) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Gao Yang (CHN) | 0 | | | | | | |
| Gao Yang (CHN) | 0 | Judd Trump (1) | 4 | | | | |
| | | Lu Ning | 2 | | | | |
| Lu Ning (CHN) | w/o | Lu Ning | 2 | | | | |
| Jamie O'Neill (ENG) | w/d | | | | | | |
| Jamie O'Neill (ENG) | w/d | | | Judd Trump (1) | 4 | | |
| | | | | Jimmy Robertson | 3 | | |
| Jimmy Robertson (ENG) | 4 | | | Jimmy Robertson | 3 | | |
| Sunny Akani (THA) | 3 | | | | | | |
| Sunny Akani (THA) | 3 | Jimmy Robertson | 4 | | | | |
| | | James Cahill | 0 | | | | |
| James Cahill (ENG) | 4 | James Cahill | 0 | | | | |
| Fergal O'Brien (IRL) | 0 | | | | | | |
| Fergal O'Brien (IRL) | 0 | | | | | Judd Trump (1) | 3 |
| | | | | | | Mark Allen (9) | 5 |
| Simon Lichtenberg (GER) | 3 | | | | | Mark Allen (9) | 5 |
| Matthew Stevens (WAL) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Matthew Stevens (WAL) | 4 | Matthew Stevens | 1 | | | | |
| | | Mark Allen (9) | 4 | | | | |
| Peter Devlin (ENG) | 2 | Mark Allen (9) | 4 | | | | |
| Mark Allen (NIR) (9) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Mark Allen (NIR) (9) | 4 | | | Mark Allen (9) | 4 | | |
| | | | | Stephen Maguire (8) | 3 | | |
| Liam Highfield (ENG) | 4 | | | Stephen Maguire (8) | 3 | | |
| Ryan Day (WAL) (25) | 1 | | | | | | |
| Ryan Day (WAL) (25) | 1 | Liam Highfield | 2 | | | | |
| | | Stephen Maguire (8) | 4 | | | | |
| Hammad Miah (ENG) | 3 | Stephen Maguire (8) | 4 | | | | |
| Stephen Maguire (SCO) (8) | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Stephen Maguire (SCO) (8) | 4 | | | | | | | Mark Allen (9) | 6 |
| | | | | | | | | Ricky Walden (29) | 3 |
| Shaun Murphy (ENG) (5) | 4 | | | | | | | Ricky Walden (29) | 3 |
| Allan Taylor (ENG) | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Allan Taylor (ENG) | 3 | Shaun Murphy (5) | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | Tian Pengfei | 3 | | | | | | |
| Chris Wakelin (ENG) | 2 | Tian Pengfei | 3 | | | | | | |
| Tian Pengfei (CHN) | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Tian Pengfei (CHN) | 4 | | | Shaun Murphy (5) | 4 | | | | |
| | | | | Stuart Bingham (12) | 1 | | | | |
| Stuart Bingham (ENG) (12) | 4 | | | Stuart Bingham (12) | 1 | | | | |
| Sam Craigie (ENG) | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| Sam Craigie (ENG) | 2 | Stuart Bingham (12) | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | Ashley Carty | 3 | | | | | | |
| Tom Ford (ENG) (21) | w/d | Ashley Carty | 3 | | | | | | |
| Ashley Carty (ENG) | w/o | | | | | | | | |
| Ashley Carty (ENG) | w/o | | | | | Shaun Murphy (5) | 4 | | |
| | | | | | | Ricky Walden (29) | 5 |
| Jackson Page (WAL) | 4 | | | | | Ricky Walden (29) | 5 |
| Noppon Saengkham (THA) | 3 | | | | | | |
| Noppon Saengkham (THA) | 3 | Jackson Page | 4 | | | | |
| | | Jack Lisowski (13) | 0 | | | | |
| Fan Zhengyi (CHN) | 2 | Jack Lisowski (13) | 0 | | | | |
| Jack Lisowski (ENG) (13) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Jack Lisowski (ENG) (13) | 4 | | | Jackson Page | 3 | | |
| | | | | Ricky Walden (29) | 4 | | |
| Martin O'Donnell (ENG) | 3 | | | Ricky Walden (29) | 4 | | |
| Ricky Walden (ENG) (29) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Ricky Walden (ENG) (29) | 4 | Ricky Walden (29) | 4 | | | | |
| | | Neil Robertson (4) | 1 | | | | |
| Xu Si (CHN) | 0 | Neil Robertson (4) | 1 | | | | |
| Neil Robertson (AUS) (4) | 4 | | | | | | |

### Bottom half

| Last 64 Best of 7 frames | Last 64 Best of 7 frames | Last 32 Best of 7 frames | Last 32 Best of 7 frames | Last 16 Best of 7 frames | Last 16 Best of 7 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Andy Hicks (ENG) | 1 | | | | | | |
| Andy Hicks (ENG) | 1 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (3) | 4 | | | | |
| | | Alfie Burden | 1 | | | | |
| Yuan Sijun (CHN) | 2 | Alfie Burden | 1 | | | | |
| Alfie Burden (ENG) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Alfie Burden (ENG) | 4 | | | Ronnie O'Sullivan (3) | 3 | | |
| | | | | Yan Bingtao (14) | 4 | | |
| Yan Bingtao (CHN) (14) | 4 | | | Yan Bingtao (14) | 4 | | |
| Duane Jones (WAL) | 3 | | | | | | |
| Duane Jones (WAL) | 3 | Yan Bingtao (14) | 4 | | | | |
| | | Oliver Lines | 0 | | | | |
| Oliver Lines (ENG) | 4 | Oliver Lines | 0 | | | | |
| Ben Woollaston (ENG) | 0 | | | | | | |
| Ben Woollaston (ENG) | 0 | | | | | Yan Bingtao (14) | 5 |
| | | | | | | Mitchell Mann | 0 |
| Lyu Haotian (CHN) | 4 | | | | | Mitchell Mann | 0 |
| Ali Carter (ENG) (22) | 2 | | | | | | |
| Ali Carter (ENG) (22) | 2 | Lyu Haotian | 4 | | | | |
| | | Mark King | 1 | | | | |
| Mark King (ENG) | 4 | Mark King | 1 | | | | |
| Barry Hawkins (ENG) (11) | 0 | | | | | | |
| Barry Hawkins (ENG) (11) | 0 | | | Lyu Haotian | 1 | | |
| | | | | Mitchell Mann | 4 | | |
| Mitchell Mann (ENG) | 4 | | | Mitchell Mann | 4 | | |
| Xiao Guodong (CHN) (27) | 2 | | | | | | |
| Xiao Guodong (CHN) (27) | 2 | Mitchell Mann | 4 | | | | |
| | | Kyren Wilson (6) | 2 | | | | |
| Robert Milkins (ENG) | 1 | Kyren Wilson (6) | 2 | | | | |
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) (6) | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) (6) | 4 | | | | | | | Yan Bingtao (14) | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | John Higgins (7) | 6 |
| John Higgins (SCO) (7) | 4 | | | | | | | John Higgins (7) | 6 |
| Farakh Ajaib (PAK) | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| Farakh Ajaib (PAK) | 2 | John Higgins (7) | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | Luca Brecel | 2 | | | | | | |
| Liang Wenbo (CHN) (26) | 2 | Luca Brecel | 2 | | | | | | |
| Luca Brecel (BEL) | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Luca Brecel (BEL) | 4 | | | John Higgins (7) | 4 | | | | |
| | | | | Mark Williams (10) | 3 | | | | |
| Mark Williams (WAL) (10) | 4 | | | Mark Williams (10) | 3 | | | | |
| Elliot Slessor (ENG) | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Elliot Slessor (ENG) | 3 | Mark Williams (10) | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | Jak Jones | 2 | | | | | | |
| Martin Gould (ENG) (23) | 2 | Jak Jones | 2 | | | | | | |
| Jak Jones (WAL) | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Jak Jones (WAL) | 4 | | | | | John Higgins (7) | 5 | | |
| | | | | | | David Gilbert (18) | 3 |
| David Grace (ENG) | 0 | | | | | David Gilbert (18) | 3 |
| David Gilbert (ENG) (18) | 4 | | | | | | |
| David Gilbert (ENG) (18) | 4 | David Gilbert (18) | 4 | | | | |
| | | Louis Heathcote | 2 | | | | |
| Louis Heathcote (ENG) | 4 | Louis Heathcote | 2 | | | | |
| Lee Walker (WAL) | 3 | | | | | | |
| Lee Walker (WAL) | 3 | | | David Gilbert (18) | 4 | | |
| | | | | Mark Selby (2) | 2 | | |
| Rory McLeod (JAM) | 0 | | | Mark Selby (2) | 2 | | |
| Gary Wilson (ENG) (31) | 4 | | | | | | |
| Gary Wilson (ENG) (31) | 4 | Gary Wilson (31) | 1 | | | | |
| | | Mark Selby (2) | 4 | | | | |
| Cao Yupeng (CHN) | 3 | Mark Selby (2) | 4 | | | | |
| Mark Selby (ENG) (2) | 4 | | | | | | |

### Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Olivier Marteel Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 17 October 2021. :
| Mark Allen (9) Northern Ireland | 9–8 | John Higgins (7) Scotland |
| Afternoon: 78–21, 82–1, 0–123 (123), 70–6, 11–68, 70–47, 0–78, 63–64 Evening: 76–47, 40–89, 86–0, 40–89, 1–64, 6–144 (136), 51–6, 80–43, 65–31 |||
| 85 | Highest break | 136 |
| 0 | Century breaks | 2 |

## Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 23 to 27 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. Matches involving the top 16 players — including the defending champion — alongside three other matches involving local players, were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall. Graeme Dott, Anthony Hamilton, Mark Davis and Robbie McGuigan were due to take part in the event, but withdrew and were replaced by James Cahill, Dylan Emery, Mark Lloyd and Robert McCullough respectively.
An incident took place in the players lounge after the Peter Lines v Xiao Guodong match. Lines confronted Xiao in the players' lounge after the match, accused him of cheating. Lines also swore at Xiao, and challenged him to a fight, leading to security personnel removing Lines from the lounge. The incident was in relation to perceived inaccuracies in ball placement by the referee after a foul and a miss was called during a frame of their match. The incident was reported to the WPBSA and Lines was found guilty at a subsequent hearing after the tournament of; breaching the code of conduct for members of the WPBSA, bringing the WPBSA into disrepute, bringing the game of snooker into disrepute, and for engaging in conduct likely to cause an opponent to be unduly influenced so as to affect the outcome of a match or event. Lines was ordered to pay a fine and costs. Lines subsequently apologised for his conduct to Xiao.
* Judd Trump (ENG) (1) 4–1 Andrew Pagett (WAL)
* Christopher Clifford (NIR) 0–4 Gao Yang (CHN)
* Scott Donaldson (SCO) 3–4 Lu Ning (CHN)
* Michael Judge (IRL) 2–4 Jamie O'Neill (ENG)
* Zhou Yuelong (CHN) 2–4 Jimmy Robertson (ENG)
* Gerard Greene (NIR) 2–4 Sunny Akani (THA)
* James Cahill (ENG) 4–2 Chang Bingyu (CHN)
* Zhang Anda (CHN) 2–4 Fergal O'Brien (IRL)
* Wu Yize (CHN) 2–4 Simon Lichtenberg (GER)
* Zhao Xintong (CHN) 3–4 Matthew Stevens (WAL)
* Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI) 2–4 Peter Devlin (ENG)
* Mark Allen (NIR) (9) 4–1 Si Jiahui (CHN)
* Liam Highfield (ENG) 4–1 Reanne Evans (ENG)
* Ryan Day (WAL) 4–1 Igor Figueiredo (BRA)
* Dean Young (SCO) 1–4 Hammad Miah (ENG)
* Stephen Maguire (SCO) (8) 4–2 Steven Hallworth (ENG)
* Shaun Murphy (ENG) (5) 4–2 Bai Langning (CHN)
* John Astley (ENG) 2–4 Allan Taylor (ENG)
* Michael Holt (ENG) 3–4 Chris Wakelin (ENG)
* Sean Maddocks (ENG) 3–4 Tian Pengfei (CHN)
* Stuart Bingham (ENG) 4–1 Ben Hancorn (ENG)
* Robert McCullough (NIR) 1–4 Sam Craigie (ENG)
* Tom Ford (ENG) 4–3 Zak Surety (ENG)
* Ashley Carty (ENG) 4–2 Jamie Jones (WAL)
* Lei Peifan (CHN) 3–4 Jackson Page (WAL)
* Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) 3–4 Noppon Saengkham (THA)
* Fan Zhengyi (CHN) 4–2 David Lilley (ENG)
* Jack Lisowski (ENG) 4–3 Ashley Hugill (ENG)
* Martin O'Donnell (ENG) 4–2 Jamie Wilson (ENG)
* Ricky Walden (ENG) 4–1 Fraser Patrick (SCO)
* Michael Georgiou (CYP) 2–4 Xu Si (CHN)
* Neil Robertson (AUS) (4) 4–0 Barry Pinches (ENG)
* Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 4–0 Stuart Carrington (ENG)
* Aaron Hill (IRL) 2–4 Andy Hicks (ENG)
* Matthew Selt (ENG) 1–4 Yuan Sijun (CHN)
* Alfie Burden (ENG) 4–1 Chen Zifan (CHN)
* Yan Bingtao (CHN) 4–0 Hossein Vafaei (IRN)
* Zhang Jiankang (CHN) 3–4 Duane Jones (WAL)
* Joe Perry (ENG) 2–4 Oliver Lines (ENG)
* Lukas Kleckers (GER) 0–4 Ben Woollaston (ENG)
* Lyu Haotian (CHN) 4–2 Zhao Jianbo (CHN)
* Ali Carter (ENG) 4–1 Dylan Emery (WAL)
* Li Hang (CHN) 2–4 Mark King (ENG)
* Barry Hawkins (ENG) 4–1 Iulian Boiko (UKR)
* Sanderson Lam (ENG) 1–4 Mitchell Mann (ENG)
* Xiao Guodong (CHN) 4–3 Peter Lines (ENG)
* Robert Milkins (ENG) 4–0 Nigel Bond (ENG)
* Kyren Wilson (ENG) (6) 4–0 Jamie Clarke (WAL)
* John Higgins (SCO) (7) 4–2 Joe O'Connor (ENG)
* Andrew Higginson (ENG) 3–4 Farakh Ajaib (PAK)
* Liang Wenbo (CHN) 4–1 Pang Junxu (CHN)
* Luca Brecel (BEL) 4–0 Michael White (WAL)
* Mark Williams (WAL) 4–1 Mark Joyce (ENG)
* Ross Muir (SCO) 3–4 Elliot Slessor (ENG)
* Martin Gould (ENG) 4–2 Ken Doherty (IRL)
* Soheil Vahedi (IRN) 2–4 Jak Jones (WAL)
* Jimmy White (ENG) 0–4 David Grace (ENG)
* David Gilbert (ENG) 4–0 Ian Burns (ENG)
* Craig Steadman (ENG) 3–4 Louis Heathcote (ENG)
* Anthony McGill (SCO) 3–4 Lee Walker (WAL)
* Rory McLeod (JAM) 4–0 Dominic Dale (WAL)
* Gary Wilson (ENG) 4–0 Jordan Brown (NIR)
* Robbie Williams (ENG) 3–4 Cao Yupeng (CHN)
* Mark Selby (ENG) (2) 4–1 Mark Lloyd (ENG)