Bringing back the British Open was one of the first actions made during Steve Dawson’s reign. There was a lot of excitement to see a classic ranking event back from the dead. I was ambivalent about this simply because I wasn’t a snooker fan back then. Apologies. Now, it’s time for me to write the history of why the British Open struck a chord with many fans. Especially with the traditionalists.
History of the British Open
The British Open originated in 1980 when it was called British Gold Cup, with Alex Higgins winning the inaugural event by beating Ray Reardon 5-1 in the final. Over the next few years, it underwent several guises such as Yamaha Organs Trophy and the International Masters before settling for the British Open in 1985.
Even back in 1985, most of the preliminary rounds were either a BO9 or a BO11. But the finals were much longer, with some being a BO23 or a BO25. The British Open stuck with its format from 1994-2004. This format was BO9 matches until the semi-finals (BO11) and then the final (BO17). The British lived true to its name by moving about throughout the land to places like Derby, Plymouth, Newcastle, Telford and Brighton.
There are a lot of famous names on the trophy as you might expect. Stephen Hendry; Steve Davis, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Nigel Bond, Fergal O’Brien, Jimmy White, Silvino Francisco, Paul Hunter – just to name a few! John Higgins won the last British Open in 2004, defeating Stephen Maguire 9-6 in the final. The organisers pulled the plug and the British Open hasn’t been on the calendar since then until this year.
Reintroduction of the British Open
One thing that World Snooker Tour do a great job at is promoting the event. Placing the British Open in Leicester is a fantastic call, considering the important Malcolm and Willie Thorne links. Several current tour players are from that city, including Mark Selby, Ben Woollaston, Tom Ford, Louis Heathcote and Joe O’Connor. WST conducted interviews with Selby and Woollaston about playing in front of the Leicester crowds. WST also released a British Open quiz, a compilation of its best finals and an interview with Nigel Bond reminiscing his 9-8 over John Higgins in 1996. I am also slightly biased towards that city as I went to university there. Though it isn’t the prettiest city, it’s a great place with lovely people and wonderful memories.
The price to watch the British Open looks incredibly tasty. All-day sessions at the British Open are seriously cheap in Leicester. An opportunity to see so many players perform over so many matches in one day is an amazing prospect. This is ‘proper snooker’ too, not under Snooker Shoot-Out conditions. You can get the tickets here. Almost every tour player is participating in the event, including Judd Trump, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Jimmy White and Shaun Murphy. Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson aren’t involved however and O’Sullivan’s absence after the draw won’t help the event’s revival.
Format of the British Open
But the biggest thing that got people talking is the format of the draw. It is completely unrecognisable to the British Open’s previous formats. This tournament seems to me like it’s the British Open only by name but not by nature.
Every round is drawn completely at random regardless of ranking, with the first few rounds being just a BO5. This carries on until the quarter-finals, where it is a BO7 and finally the final, which is a BO11. It is supposed to feel like the FA Cup, but I’m not sure. Maybe this is one way to making snooker slick and unpredictable. Worryingly, there has been no explanation from WST as to why they chose this format in the first place. Does this event allow time for players to show off their skill or does it rely too much on the luck of the draw?
I love the variety of formats in snooker. But this feels like a merging of too many ideas slapped together. Whereas the Snooker Shoot-Out is fun to watch with the boisterous round, high stakes and unpredictability, this feels flat. Indeed, we will see a lot of players performing within a single day and it opens up the playing field hugely. There will be plenty of shocks and there is little room for error.
I also don’t understand why the winner receives £100,000. One plays more frames in the Gibraltar Open and any events in the Home Nations series and wins less money! Players are realising they need just one good run to stay on tour rather than consistency because the ranking points system is so top-heavy. Peter Devlin mentioned this idea to me in our recent interview together. The allocation of ranking points of the British Open certainly proves his point.
Draw of the British Open
When we have the draw itself. Oh boy.
I was really excited to see the live first-round draw on Youtube. As I was watching it, I was really disappointed to know that the “live” draw wasn’t live at all. It was pre-recorded. World Snooker Tour actually published the full draw at 11:00AM, which was the same time when the “live” draw started. That was really poor.
There are plenty of tasty ties. This includes Barry Hawkins vs. Luca Brecel; John Higgins vs. Alexander Ursenbacher; Zhou Yuelong vs. Tom Ford; David Gilbert vs. Matthew Stevens. But neither of these matches can be topped by Mark Selby vs. Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen vs. Reanne Evans. Unfortunately, those particular draws aroused suspicions among some fans, claiming that those ties are fixed to promote the event. Aaarrgghhh…
The last time Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy played either other was the final of the 2021 World Snooker Championship. If there is any tie to get the fans drooling, it is this one. Indeed, this BO5 match is not quite the same as the BO35 mammoth match at the Crucible but never mind.
Oh no…..
Unfortunately, I have to talk about the match between Mark Allen and Reanne Evans. If there is one draw I hoped to never see happen, it’s that one. Everyone is aware that Allen and Evans were in a relationship, had a daughter and aren’t on good terms at the moment for numerous reasons. Whatever tensions there were already weren’t helped when Allen claimed Evans, who was working as a pundit, was a “distraction” and asked her to leave while practising at the 2021 World Championship. Alongside those issues, Allen announced a break away from snooker after the World Championship due to personal issues. Since then, he declared himself bankrupt and he and his wife are going through divorce proceedings.
Fans will be taking sides based on the stories above and more. Normally grudge matches and rivalries are fun to watch but this won’t be for me. Let’s be more thoughtful about this match. We have to be aware that there is a lot behind the scenes we don’t know. Neither player wouldn’t want this draw. Quite honestly, I would want to see one of these players withdraw just to avoid unnecessary and relentless attention that will be focussed on their personal lives. I’m sure both will be professional about it all but let’s just hope it will all be as civil.
Draw according to snooker.org: http://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=1154
I agree with you that the name ‘British Open’ is just a way to get snooker fans talking about history instead of the best-of-5 matches, which was something that was not announced (it was a footnote in the ticket info). We snooker fans are often too concerned with ‘history’ and ‘record books’, and I am speaking as a 49-year old statistics guy, who remembers vividly snooker’s ‘Golden Age’.
Basically, the best-of-5 format is to allow them to stage a 1-week tournament with 4 tables. Everything else (the name, the draws) is just a diversion from the real issue. We shouldn’t be duped.
Hello I don’t mean to be to critical, but I have seen better snooker at a wee town club,
There has been more mistakes in this tournament that all of the others combined.
I have not watch all matches so I can only go on what I have witnessed.