2025 Scottish Open (snooker)


The 2025 Scottish Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 to 21 December 2025 at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Qualifying took place from 14 to 17 October at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan, England. The 10th consecutive edition of the tournament since it was revived in 2016, it was the 11th ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Snooker Shoot Out and preceding the 2026 German Masters. It was the third of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series, following the 2025 English Open and the 2025 Northern Ireland Open and preceding 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.
Lei Peifan was the defending champion, having defeated Wu Yize 9–5 in the 2024 final, but he lost 3–4 to Yuan Sijun in the second round. The final was contested between the world number 17 Chris Wakelin and the world number 70 Chang Bingyu, who reached his maiden ranking final. Wakelin won eight consecutive frames to defeat Chang 9–2, securing his first Scottish Open title and second ranking title. Wakelin advanced to 14th in the world rankings after the event, while Chang advanced to 62nd. The tournament produced 67 century breaks, 18 in the qualifiers in Wigan and 49 at the main stage in Edinburgh, of which the highest was a 146 by Zhao Xintong in his second-round match with Joe O'Connor. The final of the event was the last match officiated by Leo Scullion, who retired from refereeing after 26 years on the professional circuit.

Overview

The tournament originated as the non-ranking 1981 International Open, staged at the Assembly Rooms in Derby, England. Steve Davis won the event, defeating Dennis Taylor 9–0 in the final. The tournament became a ranking event the following year, the first event after the World Snooker Championship to gain ranking status. Staged annually under various names, the tournament moved to Scotland in 1997 and was first branded as the Scottish Open in 1998. It was discontinued after the 2004 edition, apart from one staging in 2012 as a minor-ranking tournament. The tournament was restored to the calendar as a full ranking event in 2016 as part of the newly created Home Nations Series. Marco Fu won the 2016 edition, recovering from 1–4 behind to beat John Higgins 9–4 in the final; he was presented with the newly named Stephen Hendry Trophy by the seven-time World Champion personally.
The 2025 edition of the tournament—the 10th consecutive staging since its 2016 revival—took place from 15 to 21 December at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Qualifying took place from 14 to 17 October at the Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan, England. It was the 11th ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Snooker Shoot Out and preceding the 2026 German Masters. It was also the third of four tournaments in the season's Home Nations Series, following the 2025 English Open and the 2025 Northern Ireland Open and preceding the 2026 Welsh Open. The top 32 players on the one-year ranking list following the tournament qualified for the 2026 World Grand Prix in Hong Kong. Lei Peifan was the defending champion, having defeated Wu Yize 9–5 in the 2024 final to win his maiden ranking title.

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 face the top 32 seeds. All matches were played as 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.
A number of prominent players were absent from the tournament. Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan, and Ding Junhui opted not to enter. Mark Williams, Jak Jones, Neil Robertson, and Robert Milkins all withdrew prior to the main stage, as a result of which their opponents—Ben Mertens, He Guoqiang, Matthew Stevens, and Zhao Xintong—all received walkovers to the last 32.

Broadcasters

The qualifying rounds were broadcast by Discovery+ in the UK, Germany, Austria, and Italy; by HBO Max in other European territories; by Huya Live,, the CBSAWPBSA Academy WeChat Channel and the CBSAWPBSA Academy Douyin in China; and by WST Play in all other territories.
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 won the most cumulative prize money across the season's four Home Nations Series events would 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

made breaks of 104, 122, 74, and 68 as he whitewashed amateur player Umut Dikme in a match that lasted only 59 minutes. Liam Highfield also whitewashed 14-year-old Michał Szubarczyk, making a century break of 131 and three other in the match. Sam Craigie, who had missed the previous season due to injury, made a century of 136 during his 4–1 win over Florian Nüßle. Two female players were whitewashed in the first qualifying round as Haydon Pinhey beat Mink Nutcharut, the number one ranked player on the women's tour, and Jiang Jun beat Reanne Evans, a 12-time World Women's Champion. However, Bai Yulu, the reigning World Women's Champion, won her third professional match of the season as she whitewashed Kreishh Gurbaxani. Liam Pullen, who had recently reached his first ranking quarter-final at the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix, progressed with a 4–1 win over Farakh Ajaib, while Alexander Ursenbacher defeated Bulcsú Révész by the same score.

Second qualifying round

, recently a finalist at the 2025 British Open, made breaks of 85, 54, 89, and 79 during his 4–1 win over Liam Davies. Craigie beat Jamie Jones by the same score, and Ben Mertens defeated Leclercq 4–2. Ben Woollaston made a 91 break in the to beat Highfield, and Amir Sarkhosh made three half-century breaks as he defeated Jordan Brown 4–1. Pullen also made three half-century breaks as he whitewashed Daniel Wells, a recent semi-finalist at the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made a highest break of 144 as he defeated Chatchapong Nasa 4–1, averaging 17.1 seconds per shot in the match. Robbie Williams whitewashed Bai, and Antoni Kowalski defeated David Lilley 4–2. Robert Milkins lost the first three frames against Iulian Boiko but made breaks of 66, 59, and 104 as he won four frames in a row for a 4–3 victory. The 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel failed to appear for his qualifying match, and his opponent Steven Hallworth received a walkover.

Round one (last 64)

The first-round matches were played on 15 and 16 December. John Higgins, twice runner-up at the tournament in 2016 and 2021, led Kowalski 3–1 after making a century of 104 in frame four. Kowalski won the fifth frame on the last, but Higgins took frame six on the for a 4–2 victory. Joe O'Connor, runner-up at the 2022 edition, defeated Stan Moody in a deciding frame, which improved his chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Grand Prix but meant that Moody, at 33rd on the one-year list, would not qualify. "It was a big match for me and my season," O'Connor said afterwards. "There was an extra bit of pressure, but it is the same game whether there is pressure or not. You just need to go out there and perform how you do on the practice table." Shaun Murphy took a 2–1 lead over Liu Hongyu after making a 140 break in the second frame. Liu then made breaks of 117 and 74 to move 3–2 ahead, but Murphy won two lengthy frames to secure a 4–3 victory. Stuart Bingham advanced with a 4–2 win over Artemijs Žižins.
McGill made breaks of 90 and 118 and won frames on the last pink and last black to beat Tom Ford 4–1. "It is the last tournament of the year and my target was just to enjoy it today," he said, adding that: "I have a few off-table things which have distracted me, but going into the New Year my mind is going to be totally on snooker." Mark Selby, recent winner of the 2025 UK Championship, won the opening frame against Robbie McGuigan despite. He then made breaks of 112, 92, and 58 to win the match 4–1. "I'm really happy to have won another Triple Crown title," Selby commented afterwards. "It is really tough with the amount of pressure I put on myself." Kyren Wilson, who claimed he had come close to a "mental breakdown" at the UK Championship over his effort to find a satisfactory cue, used another new cue to defeat Gao Yang 4–1, making a century of 129 in the match. "I'm using a new cue which I picked up last Sunday," commented Wilson, whose old cue had been irreparably damaged during the summer months. "For the first time in three or four months, I've practised with the same cue for a week with no hassle and no worries. Hopefully that is a sign of good things to come." Mark Allen, winner of the 2025 English Open, made breaks of 97, 74, 88, and 84 as he whitewashed Ishpreet Singh Chadha, while Jack Lisowski, winner of the 2025 Northern Ireland Open, lost 1–4 to Wang Yuchen.