We all know the justifiable reasons why every tournament is based in Milton Keynes so far. But having the English city host the Northern Ireland Open is very sad. It will be as sad when it hosts the 2020 Scottish Open as well.
The Best Home Nations Event
The Northern Ireland Open is the best Home Nations event for me. I’m not saying this because Judd Trump won the tournament in 2018 and 2019 and will be defending his crown here. It is because it has produced the best finals since the Home Nations series was born in 2016. Some of you might have read my countdown on the best Home Nations finals and noticed that three finals are from the Northern Ireland Open. If the countdown was a Top 6 instead of a Top 5, all previous four finals would be on the list.
The Northern Ireland Open happened to be the place where certain players started their resurgence in their careers. Mark Williams won his first ranking title since 2011 by defeating Yan Bingtao 9-8 in 2017 and went on to win three more within a year, including the 2018 World Championship. Trump was suffering under a weight of high expectations until he won the 2018 Northern Ireland Open, his first title in over a year. He hasn’t looked back since, let’s be honest!
I should’ve made joint first winners in my original countdown. You would choose the 2019 final for its quality: 16 +50 breaks, including 6 centuries in total between both Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan! Or you would choose the most memorable and emotional final when Mark King lifted his first ranking title in 2016. He beat Barry Hawkins 9-8 and his post-match conference is a joy to watch. I urge you to watch it if you haven’t already!
Last thing I would note is that the crowds seem more energetic, passionate and raucous in Northern Ireland. That makes any event feel more special, especially since their trophy is named after their local legend Alex Higgins.
Trump Aiming for a Hat-Trick
Trump will look for his third Northern Ireland Open victory in a row this season. He will face a tricky tie against veteran Gerard Greene, though Trump may be thankful he won’t be playing against Greene’s home crowd. O’Sullivan will hope to go one better than his two previous finals to win this event. He faces Jamie O’Neill, who pushed him to a decider in the 2019 English Open. What will be more interesting is who the Rocket might face in the L64. He could face Elliot Slessor, who has beaten Ronnie in both of their meetings so far.
It would be nice for someone outside of the Top 16 to win a ranking event. The last one was Michael Holt in the 2020 Snooker Shoot-Out. But for those people who don’t see the Shoot-Out as a ranking event, it would be Yan Bingtao in the 2019 Riga Masters. But the Home Nations is surprisingly tricky for an outsider to win. No one else has won a Home Nations event apart from King (2016 NI Open) and Liang Wenbo (2016 English Open).
Draw
All rounds are BO7 matches, except the BO9 quarter-final, the BO11 semi-finals and the final, which is a BO17.
Section 1
Judd Trump (1) vs. Gerard Greene
Mitchell Mann vs. Gao Yang
Luca Brecel (32) vs. Kacper Filipiak
Simon Lichtenberg vs. Rod Lawler
Jack Lisowski (16) vs. Ashley Carty
Paul S Davison (a) vs. Andy Hicks
Gary Wilson (17) vs. Rory McLeod
Martin Gould vs. Jamie Clarke
Quarter-final winner: Judd Trump vs. Martin Gould
Section 2
Tian Pengfei vs. Noppon Saengkham
Zhou Yuelong (24) vs. Jimmy White
Alexander Ursenbacher vs. Lei Peifan
Stephen Maguire (9) vs. Alex Borg
Chen Zifan vs. Xu Si
Scott Donaldson (25) vs. Sean Maddocks
Fan Zhengyi vs. Robert Milkins
Mark Allen (8) vs. Anthony Hamilton
Quarter-final winner: Zhou Yuelong vs. Mark Allen
Section 3
Kyren Wilson (5) vs. David Lilley
Ken Doherty vs. Chris Wakelin
Michael Holt (28) vs. Sohail Vahedi
Brandon Sargeant vs. Louis Heathcote
David Gilbert (12) vs. David Grace
Sam Craigie vs. Amine Amiri
Barry Hawkins (21) vs. Alan McManus
Iulian Boiko vs. Michael White (a)
Quarter-final winner: Kyren Wilson vs. Barry Hawkins
Section 4
Barry Pinches vs. Liam Highfield
Anthony McGill (19) vs. Riley Parsons
Jamie Wilson vs. Nigel Bond
Yan Bingtao (13) vs. Peter Lines
Mark King vs. Zak Surety
Zhao Xintong (29) vs. Si Jiahui
Lukas Kleckers vs. Chang Bingyu
Mark Selby (4) vs. Andrew Higginson
Quarter-final winner: Nigel Bond vs. Mark Selby
Section 5
Neil Robertson (3) vs. Declan Lavery (WC)
Ben Woollaston vs. Ricky Walden
Liang Wenbo (30) vs. Steven Hallworth
Pang Junxu vs. Jak Jones
Mark Williams (14) vs. Jamie Jones
Mark Joyce vs. Dominic Dale
Ali Carter (20) vs. Ben Hancorn
Xiao Guodong vs. Duane Jones
Quarter-final winner: Neil Robertson vs. Xiao Guodong
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Section 6
Sunny Akani vs. Jordan Brown
Graeme Dott (22) vs. Igor Figueiredo
Zhao Jianbo vs. Brian Ochoiski (a)
Stuart Bingham (11) vs. Oliver Lines
Aaron Hill vs. Jackson Page
Kurt Maflin (27) vs. Fraser Patrick
James Cahill vs. Lyu Haotian
Shaun Murphy (6) vs. Ryan Day
Quarter-final winner: Stuart Bingham vs. Shaun Murphy
Section 7
John Higgins (7) vs. Daniel Wells
Patrick Wallace (WC) vs. Farakh Ajaib
Matthew Selt (26) vs. Joe O’Connor
Stuart Carrington vs. Billy Joe Castle
Ding Junhui (10) vs. Eden Sharav
Martin O’Donnell vs. Lu Ning
Tom Ford (23) vs. Lee Walker
Yuan Sijun vs. Luo Honghao
Quarter-final winner: Stuart Carrington vs. Luo Honghao
Section 8
Allan Taylor vs. Hossein Vafaei
Joe Perry (18) vs. Robbie Williams
Fergal O’Brien vs. Ashley Hugill
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (15) vs. Peter Devlin
Mark Davis vs. Ian Burns
Matthew Stevens (31) vs. Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor vs. Li Hang
Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) vs. Jamie O’Neill
Quarter-final winner: Joe Perry vs. Matthew Stevens
Winner: Mark Allen vs. Joe Perry
The 2020 Northern Ireland Open will take place at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England on 16th and 22nd November 2020.
