2025 Northern Ireland Open


The 2025 Northern Ireland Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 19 to 26 October 2025 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Qualifiers took place from 4 to 7 September at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. The 10th consecutive edition of the tournament since it was first staged in 2016, it was the seventh ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix and preceding the 2025 International Championship. It was the second of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series, following the 2025 English Open and preceding the 2025 Scottish Open and the 2026 Welsh Open. The tournament was broadcast by TNT Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland, by Eurosport in mainland Europe, by local channels in China and elsewhere in Asia, and by WST Play in all other territories. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £550,400.
Kyren Wilson was the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 9–3 in the 2024 final, but he lost 3–5 to Jack Lisowski in the quarter-finals. The final was contested between Lisowski and Trump, who reached the 50th ranking final of his career; it took place before 1,435 spectators, a record audience at a UK snooker event outside of the Masters. Lisowski defeated Trump 9–8 to win the first ranking title of his 15-year professional career, having previously lost six ranking finals. He dedicated the title to his parents, following the death of his father in March. The event produced 64 century breaks, 26 during the qualifiers in Leicester and 38 during the main stage in Belfast. Liam Pullen made the highest break of the tournament, a 143, while playing Long Zehuang in the second qualifying round.

Overview

The Northern Ireland Open was first staged in 2016 at the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The inaugural winner was Mark King, who defeated Barry Hawkins 9–8 in the final to win his maiden ranking title. The tournament winner receives the Alex Higgins Trophy, named in honour of the two-time world champion, who died in 2010. At the inaugural edition of the tournament, the trophy was presented by Higgins's daughter Lauren.
The 2025 edition of the tournament—the 10th consecutive staging of the event—took place from 19 to 26 October at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. Qualifying took place from 4 to 7 September at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. It was the seventh ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix and preceding the 2025 International Championship. It was also the second of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series, following the 2025 English Open and preceding the 2025 Scottish Open and the 2026 Welsh Open. Kyren Wilson was the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 9–3 in the 2024 final.

Format

The tournament used a tiered format first implemented for the Home Nations Series in the 2024–25 snooker season. In the first qualifying round, players seeded 6596 faced those seeded 97 and under, including selected amateurs. In the second qualifying round, the 32 winners from the first qualifying round faced players seeded 3364. At the last-64 stage, the 32 winners from the second qualifying round faced the top 32 seeds. All matches were played as the best of seven until the quarterfinals, which were the best of nine. The semifinals were the best of 11, and the final was a bestof17 frame match played over two.
Mark Williams withdrew from the main stage of the tournament. Marco Fu withdrew due to injury, and Neil Robertson withdrew for health reasons. Their respective opponents Long Zehuang, Tom Ford, and David Grace all received byes to the last 32.

Broadcasters

The qualifying rounds were broadcast in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Austria by Discovery+ and in other European territories by HBO Max. They were broadcast in mainland China by the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin, Huya Live and. In all other territories, they were broadcast by WST Play.
The main stage was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland by TNT Sports, Discovery+, and DMAX. It was broadcast in mainland Europe by Eurosport, with streaming coverage on Discovery+ in Germany, Italy, and Austria and on HBO Max in other European territories. It was broadcast in mainland China by the same broadcasters as the qualifying rounds, in Hong Kong by Now TV, in Malaysia and Brunei by Astro SuperSport, in Thailand by TrueSports, in Taiwan by Sportcast, and in the Philippines by TAP Sports. In territories where no other coverage was available, the tournament was streamed via WST Play.

Prize fund

The prize fund for the tournament is detailed below. In addition, the player who wins the most cumulative prize money across the season's four Home Nations Series events will receive a bonus of £150,000.
  • 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

First qualifying round (last 128)

, the 1997 World Champion, failed to get past the first qualifying round, losing 1–4 to tour debutant Yao Pengcheng. Marco Fu began his match against Amir Sarkhosh with back-to-back century breaks of 104 and 114 and went on to secure a 4–2 victory. Farakh Ajaib won a on the to defeat Oliver Brown, and Ian Burns made a century of 130 as he recorded a whitewash over Haydon Pinhey. Reanne Evans, a 12-time World Women's Champion, received a walkover after her opponent, Mohamed Shehab, withdrew from the event. Robbie McGuigan lost the first two frames against fellow Northern Irish player Fergal Quinn but then won three in a row to take the lead at 3–2. Quinn, playing in his first season on the professional tour, recovered to win the match in a deciding frame. Mateusz Baranowski came from 0–3 behind to beat Wang Yuchen in a decider, and Liam Pullen made breaks of 89, 96, and 100 as he whitewashed Ben Mertens.

Second qualifying round (last 96)

, who had recently reached the last 16 of the 2025 Wuhan Open, took a 3–1 lead over Julien Leclercq. Leclercq tied the scores at 3–3 and led by 59 points in the deciding frame, but Un-Nooh produced a 71 break and went on to win the match on the last. Dylan Emery defeated Xu Si in a deciding frame, while Stan Moody whitewashed Evans. Lan Yuhao, aged 17, made breaks of 115, 53, 80, and 50 as he defeated Michael Holt 4–2. Fu defeated Jamie Jones in a deciding frame, but subsequently withdrew from the main stage after suffering a fractured elbow. The world number 83 Haris Tahir defeated the world number 39 Lyu Haotian, also in a decider. Luca Brecel, the 2023 World Champion, won his first match of the season by whitewashing Liam Davies. Steven Hallworth trailed Matthew Stevens 2–3 but made a century of 136 to tie the scores and then a 64 break to win the decider. Anthony McGill advanced with a 4–1 victory over Alexander Ursenbacher, and Robert Milkins also reached the final stages with a 4–2 win over amateur player Patrick Whelan. Pullen lost 2–4 to Long Zehuang but made a century of 143 in the match, the highest break of the tournament and his highest in professional competition. Competing as an amateur, Ashley Hugill made breaks of 132 and 67 in the last two frames to beat Ricky Walden 4–3. Zak Surety defeated Quinn in a deciding frame.

Round one (last 64)

Local Antrim player Jordan Brown, the world number 55, whitewashed the reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong and reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time in 20 months. "It has been very difficult over the last couple of seasons," Brown said afterwards. "It's just confidence. I am a confidence player and when that goes, everything goes." Zhao, who scored only 52 points in the match, stated that he had felt unfocused and dizzy due to illness. Mark Selby made a century of 129 as he defeated Burns 4–1, and Chris Wakelin, runner-up at the 2023 edition, beat Lan by the same score. Hugill defeated Noppon Saengkham 4–2, and Wu Yize beat Scott Donaldson in a deciding frame. Four-time champion Judd Trump lost the first frame against McGill but then won three consecutive frames with breaks of 62, 68, and 67. McGill took frame five on the last, but Trump won the sixth with a of 82 for a 4–2 victory. "It's just a matter of time before I have a deep run," said the world number one Trump, who had not won a ranking title since the 2024 UK Championship. "You have to be patient." John Higgins made breaks of 84, 95, and 61 as he whitewashed Louis Heathcote. Jackson Page whitewashed Hallworth, and Jack Lisowski made a century of 112 as he whitewashed Tahir in 47 minutes. He Guoqiang advanced with a 4–2 win over David Gilbert.
Cork player Aaron Hill, who had recently reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 English Open, lost the first frame against Lei Peifan but then made breaks of 84, 109, 54, and 134 as he won four frames in a row for a 4–1 victory. "It has been a long time coming but I am getting consistent results now," said 23-year-old Hill. "Experience is massive in this game and I have five years behind me." Shaun Murphy, who had recently won the 2025 British Open and been runner-up at the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix, made breaks of 73, 69, 115, and 67 as he whitewashed David Lilley. "Earlier in this season I had to keep the faith and I felt it would come good at some stage," said Murphy afterwards. "I'm just trying to enjoy this while it lasts." Elliot Slessor made an 87 break in the deciding frame to beat Fan Zhengyi, while Barry Hawkins whitewashed Surety. Zhou Yuelong, runner-up at the English Open, defeated Emery 4–2.
Two-time champion Mark Allen, recent winner of the English Open, trailed Milkins 1–2 but came from 51 points behind to take frame four with a 52 clearance. Milkins won frame five, but Allen made a century of 104 to tie the scores at 3–3 and force a deciding frame. On a break of 14 in the decider, Milkins missed a to a, and Allen produced another century of 113 to secure victory. "It was nice to finish the match off well because I was getting a lot of support and they didn't have much to cheer about until the end," said Allen afterwards. Chang Bingyu lost the first three frames against Gary Wilson but recovered to tie the scores at 3–3. In the decider, Chang led by 17 points with four colours remaining but twice missed, the last, and Wilson cleared to win. "From 3–0 it all went a bit silly," said Wilson. "Thankfully I held myself together to pot the last few balls because they weren't easy." Martin O'Donnell came from 1–3 behind against Jak Jones to win the three-and-a-half-hour match in a deciding frame. Un-Nooh lost the first two frames against Joe O'Connor but then won four in a row for a 4–2 victory. Jimmy Robertson defeated Stuart Bingham by the same score.
Facing Ali Carter, Moody won the first two frames, but Carter made back-to-back centuries of 137 and 100 to tie the scores at 2–2. Moody won the fifth frame with a 72 break but missed a red to a centre pocket in frame six that allowed Carter to level again at 3–3. Carter made a 43 break in the decider. Moody had a scoring opportunity but missed a on the while on a 42 break, giving Carter the opportunity to secure victory. "It was experience which got me over the line," said Carter afterwards. The defending champion Kyren Wilson made a century of 133 as he took a 2–1 lead over Oliver Lines, but Lines won two consecutive frames to lead 3–2. Wilson tied the scores at 3–3 with a 61 break and was 42 points ahead in the decider when he missed a red. Lines had an opportunity to clear, but he missed the while playing with the long, and Wilson secured victory. "It was a very difficult first-round match. has been in good form this season," said Wilson afterwards. Stephen Maguire made breaks of 75 and 63 as he defeated Brecel 4–1. Mark Davis lost the first frame against Zhang Anda but then won four consecutive frames, making a 118 century in frame four, to win 4–1. Si Jiahui whitewashed Cheung Ka Wai, and Ryan Day advanced with a 4–2 win over Matthew Selt.