2021 English Open (snooker)


The 2021 English Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 1–7 November 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. It was the fourth ranking event of the 2021–22 season, and the second event in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England, although matches involving the top 16 players, and two other matches involving English wildcards, were held over and played at the Marshall Arena. The event was broadcast on Eurosport across the United Kingdom and Europe.
Judd Trump was the defending champion, having defeated Neil Robertson 9–8 in the previous year's final. Trump lost 3–5 to Mark King in the quarter-finals. Robertson faced John Higgins in the final. Although Robertson led 5–3 after the afternoon session, Higgins won the first four frames of the evening session to lead 7–5, and then moved within one frame of victory at 8–6. However, Robertson won the last three frames to defeat Higgins 9–8 and claim the 21st ranking title of his professional career. He became the third player, after Trump and Mark Selby, to win three Home Nations titles, and the first player to win three different tournaments in the series, having previously won the Scottish Open and the Welsh Open.
Higgins sustained his second successive defeat from 8–6 ahead in a best-of-17 ranking final. He had lost the 2021 Northern Ireland Open final to Mark Allen under similar circumstances the previous month.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year 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

Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England. Matches which involved the top 16 players and two wildcard nominations were held over and played at the Marshall Arena. Zhou Yuelong and Zhang Jiankang were withdrawn from the event due to being identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case; they were replaced by Ross Muir and Bai Langning respectively. Separately, Lei Peifan withdrew and was replaced by James Cahill. Cahill won his qualifying match but then he had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. Mark Williams was also withdrawn from the event after testing positive for COVID-19 in October; he was replaced by Mark Lloyd. Teenage amateurs Paul Deaville and Oliver Sykes played in their first professional events after receiving an invite from WST.4–1 4–0 4–2
  • 3–4 4–1 4–1 4–1 4–3 4–2 4–0 4–0
  • 3–4 4–2 4–1 4–1
  • 0–4 4–0 4–2 4–2 4–0 4–1
  • 2–4
  • 2–4 4–0
  • 1–4 4–2 4–0 4–1 4–1 4–0 4–2 4–0 4–1
  • 1–4
  • 2–4 4–2
  • 3–4 4–2 4–0
  • 3–4 4–1 4–1 4–2
  • 1–4
  • 1–4
  • 1–4 4–1 4–3 4–1 4–0
  • 3–4
  • 1–4 4–1
  • 0–4 4–0
  • 3–4
  • 3–4 4–2 4–1 4–1
  • 1–4
  • 3–4 4–0 4–2

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

Total: 45

Qualifying stage centuries

Total: 23