Welsh Open (snooker)

The Welsh Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament, a part of the Home Nations Series. It replaced the Welsh Professional Championship, which started in 1980 and was only open to Welsh players.

Welsh Open
Tournament information
VenueMotorpoint Arena
LocationCardiff
CountryWales
Established1992
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£405,000
Current champion(s) Shaun Murphy

Since the tournament's creation in 1992, Mark Williams has been the only Welsh player to win the championship (in 1996 and 1999). John Higgins holds the record for the most wins, with five Welsh Open titles. Ronnie O'Sullivan has won four titles, while Stephen Hendry has won the tournament three times.

Shaun Murphy is the reigning champion.

History

The tournament began as a ranking tournament in 1992 initially in February after the Masters, but later took the spot of the Classic in January. The event was sponsored by Regal until 2003 (known as the Regal Welsh Open), but UK restrictions on tobacco advertising meant that it was without a sponsor until 2009.[1] The tournament was sponsored by Totesport.com in 2010,[2] by Wyldecrest Park Homes in 2011,[3] by 888真人 in 2012,[4] and by BetVictor from to 2013 to 2016.[5][6] In 2017 the tournament will be sponsored by Coral.

In 1996 at the age of 17 years and 111 days Paul Hunter reached the semi-finals and became the youngest player to reach this stage of a ranking tournament.[1]

John Higgins hold the record for the most Welsh Open titles – 5, Ronnie O'Sullivan having won the event on 4 occasions.

Like the Welsh Professional Championship, it was played at the Newport Centre in Newport, before moving to the Cardiff International Arena in 1999. It was moved back to Newport in 2005,[1] where it remained until 2014.[7] In January 2014, World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn announced that the 2014 tournament would be the last held in Newport, and that he would open negotiations to move the event to a larger venue, most likely in Cardiff.[8] In June 2014, it was then announced that the 2015 event will be held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.[9] The tournament currently takes place after the German Masters, and is broadcast by BBC Wales, Eurosport, CCTV, SMG, Now TV and Showtime Arabia.

There have been nine maximum breaks in the history of the tournament. The first was made by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1999 against James Wattana. The second was made at the qualifying stage of the 2000 event by Barry Pinches against Joe Johnson. The third was made by Andrew Higginson in 2007 against Ali Carter. The fourth 147 was made in 2011 by Hendry against Stephen Maguire.[10] This was Hendry's 10th 147 break and with this he equalled the record for most maximums with Ronnie O'Sullivan.[11] He also became the oldest player to compile a maximum break at the age of 42 years and 35 days.[12] The fifth was made by O'Sullivan in 2014 against Ding Junhui. This was O'Sullivan's 12th 147 break, it was the last visit to the table in the tournament - beating Ding Junhui 9-3 - before the event moved to Cardiff, and with it he set the record for most maximums.[13] Ding Junhui made the sixth at the quarter-finals of the 2016 tournament, against Neil Robertson.[14] Two maximum breaks were made at the 2019 event, one by Neil Robertson in the first round match against Jordan Brown[15] and one by Noppon Saengkham in the third round against Mark Selby.[16] The most recent maximum break was made in 2020 by Kyren Wilson on his first visit to the table in the first round match against Jackson Page.[17][18]

Winners

[1][19][20][21]

Year Winner Runner-up Final score Venue Season
1992 Stephen Hendry Darren Morgan 9–3 Newport Centre 1991/92
1993 Ken Doherty Alan McManus 9–7 1992/93
1994 Steve Davis Alan McManus 9–6 1993/94
1995 Steve Davis John Higgins 9–3 1994/95
1996 Mark Williams John Parrott 9–3 1995/96
1997 Stephen Hendry Mark King 9–2 1996/97
1998 Paul Hunter John Higgins 9–5 1997/98
1999 Mark Williams Stephen Hendry 9–8 Cardiff International Arena 1998/99
2000 John Higgins Stephen Lee 9–8 1999/00
2001 Ken Doherty Paul Hunter 9–2 2000/01
2002 Paul Hunter Ken Doherty 9–7 2001/02
2003 Stephen Hendry Mark Williams 9–5 2002/03
2004 Ronnie O'Sullivan Steve Davis 9–8 Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff 2003/04
2005 Ronnie O'Sullivan Stephen Hendry 9–8 Newport Centre 2004/05
2006 Stephen Lee Shaun Murphy 9–4 2005/06
2007 Neil Robertson Andrew Higginson 9–8 2006/07
2008 Mark Selby Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8 2007/08
2009 Ali Carter Joe Swail 9–5 2008/09
2010 John Higgins Ali Carter 9–4 2009/10
2011 John Higgins Stephen Maguire 9–6 2010/11
2012[22] Ding Junhui Mark Selby 9–6 2011/12
2013[23] Stephen Maguire Stuart Bingham 9–8 2012/13
2014[24] Ronnie O'Sullivan Ding Junhui 9–3 2013/14
2015[25] John Higgins Ben Woollaston 9–3 Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff 2014/15
2016[26] Ronnie O'Sullivan Neil Robertson 9–5 2015/16
2017[27] Stuart Bingham Judd Trump 9–8 2016/17
2018[28] John Higgins Barry Hawkins 9–7 2017/18
2019[29] Neil Robertson Stuart Bingham 9–7 2018/19
2020[30] Shaun Murphy Kyren Wilson 9–1 2019/20

Statistics

Finalists
Name Nationality Winner Runner-up
John Higgins  Scotland 5 2
Ronnie O'Sullivan  England 4 1
Stephen Hendry  Scotland 3 2
Steve Davis  England 2 1
Ken Doherty  Ireland 2 1
Paul Hunter  England 2 1
Mark Williams  Wales 2 1
Neil Robertson  Australia 2 1
Stuart Bingham  England 1 2
Ali Carter  England 1 1
Ding Junhui  China 1 1
Stephen Lee  England 1 1
Stephen Maguire  Scotland 1 1
Mark Selby  England 1 1
Shaun Murphy  England 1 1
Alan McManus  Scotland 0 2
Barry Hawkins  England 0 1
Andrew Higginson  England 0 1
Mark King  England 0 1
Darren Morgan  Wales 0 1
John Parrott  England 0 1
Joe Swail  Northern Ireland 0 1
Judd Trump  England 0 1
Ben Woollaston  England 0 1
Kyren Wilson  England 0 1
  • 2020 competitors are shown in bold.

Champions by country
Country Players Total First title Last title
 England 8 13 1994 2020
 Scotland 3 9 1992 2018
 Wales 1 2 1996 1999
 Ireland 1 2 1993 2001
 Australia 1 2 2007 2019
 China 1 1 2012 2012
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See also

References
  1. Turner, Chris. "Welsh Open". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  2. "Totesport.com Named Sponsor For Snooker's Welsh Open". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  3. "Wyldecrest Park Homes To Sponsor Snooker's Welsh Open". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  4. "888真人Sponsor Welsh Open". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  5. "BetVictor Sponsor Welsh Open". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  6. "BetVictor Renew Sponsorship of Welsh Open". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 6 January 2014. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  7. "Newport secures Welsh Open deal for next three years". BBC Sport. 10 November 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  8. "Welsh Open snooker tournament to leave Newport Centre". BBC News. 17 January 2014. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  9. "Welsh Open Set For Cardiff". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  10. Turner, Chris. "Maximum Breaks". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  11. "Hendry Out Despite Maximum". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  12. Turner, Chris. "Various Snooker Records". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  13. "Magical Maximum Seals Rocket Triumph". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 2 March 2014. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  14. "Robertson wins despite Ding Maximum". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 19 February 2016. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  15. "Robertson Makes Motorpoint Maximum". World Snooker. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  16. "Saengkham Makes Cardiff 147". World Snooker. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  17. "Wilson Fires 147 In Cardiff". World Snooker. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  18. "Wilson Turns Over Page With Maximum". World Snooker. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  19. "Welsh Open". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  20. "Roll of Honour". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  21. "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  22. "888真人 Welsh Open (2012)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  23. "BetVictor Welsh Open (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  24. "BetVictor Welsh Open (2014)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  25. "BetVictor Welsh Open (2015)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  26. "BetVictor Welsh Open (2016)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  27. "Coral Welsh Open (2017)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  28. "Welsh Open (2018)". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  29. "ManBetX Welsh Open 2019". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  30. "ManBetX Welsh Open 2020". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
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