2021 English Open (snooker)
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1–7 November 2021 | 
| Venue | Marshall Arena | 
| City | Milton Keynes | 
| Country | England | 
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour | 
| Format | Ranking event | 
| Total prize fund | £405,000 | 
| Winner's share | £70,000 | 
| Highest break |  Barry Hawkins (ENG) (146) | 
| Final | |
| Champion | .svg.png) Neil Robertson (AUS) | 
| Runner-up |  John Higgins (SCO) | 
| Score | 9–8 | 
| ← 2020  2022 →  | |
The 2021 English Open (officially the 2021 BetVictor English Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 1–7 November 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England.[1][2] It was the fourth ranking event of the 2021–22 season, and the second event in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England,[3] although matches involving the top 16 players, and two other matches involving English wildcards, were held over and played at the Marshall Arena.[4] The event was broadcast on Eurosport across the United Kingdom and Europe.
Judd Trump was the defending champion, having defeated Neil Robertson 9–8 in the previous year's final.[5] Trump lost 3–5 to Mark King in the quarter-finals.[6] Robertson faced John Higgins in the final. Although Robertson led 5–3 after the afternoon session, Higgins won the first four frames of the evening session to lead 7–5, and then moved within one frame of victory at 8–6. However, Robertson won the last three frames to defeat Higgins 9–8 and claim the 21st ranking title of his professional career. He became the third player, after Trump and Mark Selby, to win three Home Nations titles, and the first player to win three different tournaments in the series, having previously won the Scottish Open and the Welsh Open.[7][8]
Higgins sustained his second successive defeat from 8–6 ahead in a best-of-17 ranking final. He had lost the 2021 Northern Ireland Open final to Mark Allen under similar circumstances the previous month.[9]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:
- Winner: £70,000
- Runner-up: £30,000
- Semi-final: £20,000
- Quarter-final: £10,000
- Last 16: £7,500
- Last 32: £4,000
- Last 64: £3,000
- Highest break: £5,000
- Total: £405,000
Main draw
Top half
Bottom half
Final
| Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Rob Spencer Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England, 7 November 2021 | ||
| Neil Robertson (4) .svg.png) Australia | 9–8 | John Higgins (7)  Scotland | 
| Afternoon: 72–0, 80–24, 0–90, 51–66, 140–0 (140), 65–2, 16–68, 123–1 (123) Evening: 39–68, 0–89, 37–71, 43–74, 87–7, 18–71, 79–9, 121–1 (120), 74–22 | ||
| 140 | Highest break | 90 | 
| 3 | Century breaks | 0 | 
Qualifying
Qualification for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England.[10] Matches which involved the top 16 players and two wildcard nominations were held over and played at the Marshall Arena. Zhou Yuelong and Zhang Jiankang were withdrawn from the event due to being identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case; they were replaced by Ross Muir and Bai Langning respectively.[11] Separately, Lei Peifan withdrew and was replaced by James Cahill. Cahill won his qualifying match but then he had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.[12] Mark Williams was also withdrawn from the event after testing positive for COVID-19 in October; he was replaced by Mark Lloyd.[13] Teenage amateurs Paul Deaville and Oliver Sykes played in their first professional events after receiving an invite from WST.[14]
 Judd Trump (ENG) (1) 4–1 Judd Trump (ENG) (1) 4–1 Matthew Selt (ENG)[nb 1] Matthew Selt (ENG)[nb 1]
 Jimmy Robertson (ENG) 4–0 Jimmy Robertson (ENG) 4–0 Yuan Sijun (CHN) Yuan Sijun (CHN)
 Xiao Guodong (CHN) 4–2 Xiao Guodong (CHN) 4–2 Alfie Burden (ENG) Alfie Burden (ENG)
 Sam Craigie (ENG) 3–4 Sam Craigie (ENG) 3–4 Steven Hallworth (ENG) Steven Hallworth (ENG)
 Anthony McGill (SCO) 4–1 Anthony McGill (SCO) 4–1 Gao Yang (CHN)[nb 1] Gao Yang (CHN)[nb 1]
.svg.png) Gerard Greene (NIR) 4–1 Gerard Greene (NIR) 4–1 Liam Highfield (ENG) Liam Highfield (ENG)
 Ross Muir (SCO) 4–1 Ross Muir (SCO) 4–1 Dean Young (SCO) Dean Young (SCO)
 Wu Yize (CHN) 4–3 Wu Yize (CHN) 4–3 Ashley Hugill (ENG) Ashley Hugill (ENG)
.svg.png) Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI) 4–2 Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI) 4–2 Ben Hancorn (ENG) Ben Hancorn (ENG)
 Tom Ford (ENG) 4–0 Tom Ford (ENG) 4–0 Sean Maddocks (ENG) Sean Maddocks (ENG)
 Cao Yupeng (CHN) 4–0 Cao Yupeng (CHN) 4–0 Mitchell Mann (ENG) Mitchell Mann (ENG)
 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (9) 3–4 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (9) 3–4 Mark King (ENG)[nb 1] Mark King (ENG)[nb 1]
 Xu Si (CHN) 4–2 Xu Si (CHN) 4–2 Jamie Jones (WAL) Jamie Jones (WAL)
 Zhao Xintong (CHN) 4–1 Zhao Xintong (CHN) 4–1 Jimmy White (ENG) Jimmy White (ENG)
 Chang Bingyu (CHN) 4–1 Chang Bingyu (CHN) 4–1 Dominic Dale (WAL) Dominic Dale (WAL)
 Mark Lloyd (ENG) 0–4 Mark Lloyd (ENG) 0–4 Paul Deaville (ENG)[nb 1] Paul Deaville (ENG)[nb 1]
 Kyren Wilson (ENG) (5) 4–0 Kyren Wilson (ENG) (5) 4–0 Noppon Saengkham (THA)[nb 1] Noppon Saengkham (THA)[nb 1]
 Ashley Carty (ENG) 4–2 Ashley Carty (ENG) 4–2.svg.png) Jordan Brown (NIR) Jordan Brown (NIR)
 Gary Wilson (ENG) 4–2 Gary Wilson (ENG) 4–2 Craig Steadman (ENG) Craig Steadman (ENG)
 Ben Woollaston (ENG) 4–0 Ben Woollaston (ENG) 4–0 Jackson Page (WAL) Jackson Page (WAL)
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) 4–1 Barry Hawkins (ENG) 4–1 Reanne Evans (ENG)[nb 1] Reanne Evans (ENG)[nb 1]
 Bai Langning (CHN) 2–4 Bai Langning (CHN) 2–4 Jak Jones (WAL) Jak Jones (WAL)
 Joe Perry (ENG) 2–4 Joe Perry (ENG) 2–4 Soheil Vahedi (IRN) Soheil Vahedi (IRN)
 Robbie Williams (ENG) 4–0 Robbie Williams (ENG) 4–0 Peter Lines (ENG) Peter Lines (ENG)
 Lukas Kleckers (GER) 1–4 Lukas Kleckers (GER) 1–4 Mark Davis (ENG) Mark Davis (ENG)
 Graeme Dott (SCO) 4–2 Graeme Dott (SCO) 4–2 Farakh Ajaib (PAK) Farakh Ajaib (PAK)
 Fergal O'Brien (IRL) 4–0 Fergal O'Brien (IRL) 4–0 Iulian Boiko (UKR) Iulian Boiko (UKR)
 Stuart Bingham (ENG) 4–1 Stuart Bingham (ENG) 4–1 Ng On-yee (HKG)[nb 1] Ng On-yee (HKG)[nb 1]
 Sunny Akani (THA) 4–1 Sunny Akani (THA) 4–1 Ken Doherty (IRL) Ken Doherty (IRL)
 Ricky Walden (ENG) 4–0 Ricky Walden (ENG) 4–0 Michael Judge (IRL) Michael Judge (IRL)
 James Cahill (ENG) 4–2 James Cahill (ENG) 4–2 Lee Walker (WAL) Lee Walker (WAL)
.svg.png) Neil Robertson (AUS) (4) 4–0 Neil Robertson (AUS) (4) 4–0 Andy Hicks (ENG)[nb 1] Andy Hicks (ENG)[nb 1]
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 4–1 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 4–1 David Lilley (ENG)[nb 1] David Lilley (ENG)[nb 1]
 Elliot Slessor (ENG) 1–4 Elliot Slessor (ENG) 1–4 Michael Georgiou (CYP) Michael Georgiou (CYP)
 Liang Wenbo (CHN) 2–4 Liang Wenbo (CHN) 2–4 Rory McLeod (JAM) Rory McLeod (JAM)
 Anthony Hamilton (ENG) 4–2 Anthony Hamilton (ENG) 4–2 Louis Heathcote (ENG) Louis Heathcote (ENG)
 Jack Lisowski (ENG) 3–4 Jack Lisowski (ENG) 3–4 Mark Joyce (ENG)[nb 1] Mark Joyce (ENG)[nb 1]
 Jamie Clarke (WAL) 4–2 Jamie Clarke (WAL) 4–2 Zak Surety (ENG) Zak Surety (ENG)
 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) 4–0 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) 4–0 Jamie O'Neill (ENG) Jamie O'Neill (ENG)
 Matthew Stevens (WAL) 3–4 Matthew Stevens (WAL) 3–4 Peter Devlin (ENG) Peter Devlin (ENG)
 Li Hang (CHN) 4–1 Li Hang (CHN) 4–1 Si Jiahui (CHN) Si Jiahui (CHN)
 Ali Carter (ENG) 4–1 Ali Carter (ENG) 4–1 Fan Zhengyi (CHN) Fan Zhengyi (CHN)
 Stuart Carrington (ENG) 4–2 Stuart Carrington (ENG) 4–2 Hammad Miah (ENG) Hammad Miah (ENG)
.svg.png) Mark Allen (NIR) 1–4 Mark Allen (NIR) 1–4.svg.png) Luca Brecel (BEL)[nb 1] Luca Brecel (BEL)[nb 1]
 Simon Lichtenberg (GER) 1–4 Simon Lichtenberg (GER) 1–4 Fraser Patrick (SCO) Fraser Patrick (SCO)
 Kurt Maflin (NOR) 1–4 Kurt Maflin (NOR) 1–4 Hossein Vafaei (IRN) Hossein Vafaei (IRN)
 Joe O'Connor (ENG) 4–1 Joe O'Connor (ENG) 4–1 Pang Junxu (CHN) Pang Junxu (CHN)
 Shaun Murphy (ENG) (6) 4–3 Shaun Murphy (ENG) (6) 4–3 Duane Jones (WAL)[nb 1] Duane Jones (WAL)[nb 1]
 John Higgins (SCO) (7) 4–1 John Higgins (SCO) (7) 4–1 Zhao Jianbo (CHN)[nb 1] Zhao Jianbo (CHN)[nb 1]
 Oliver Lines (ENG) 4–0 Oliver Lines (ENG) 4–0 Zhang Anda (CHN) Zhang Anda (CHN)
 Ryan Day (WAL) 3–4 Ryan Day (WAL) 3–4 Lu Ning (CHN) Lu Ning (CHN)
 Oliver Sykes (ENG) 1–4 Oliver Sykes (ENG) 1–4 Allan Taylor (ENG)[nb 1] Allan Taylor (ENG)[nb 1]
 Ding Junhui (CHN) 4–1 Ding Junhui (CHN) 4–1 Andrew Pagett (WAL)[nb 1] Andrew Pagett (WAL)[nb 1]
 Barry Pinches (ENG) 0–4 Barry Pinches (ENG) 0–4 Tian Pengfei (CHN) Tian Pengfei (CHN)
 Martin Gould (ENG) 4–0 Martin Gould (ENG) 4–0 Andrew Higginson (ENG) Andrew Higginson (ENG)
 Ian Burns (ENG) 3–4 Ian Burns (ENG) 3–4 Scott Donaldson (SCO) Scott Donaldson (SCO)
 Lyu Haotian (CHN) 3–4 Lyu Haotian (CHN) 3–4 Martin O'Donnell (ENG) Martin O'Donnell (ENG)
 David Gilbert (ENG) 4–2 David Gilbert (ENG) 4–2 David Grace (ENG) David Grace (ENG)
 Nigel Bond (ENG) 4–1 Nigel Bond (ENG) 4–1 Chen Zifan (CHN) Chen Zifan (CHN)
 Yan Bingtao (CHN) 4–1 Yan Bingtao (CHN) 4–1 Aaron Hill (IRL)[nb 1] Aaron Hill (IRL)[nb 1]
 Michael White (WAL) 1–4 Michael White (WAL) 1–4 Stephen Hendry (SCO) Stephen Hendry (SCO)
 Michael Holt (ENG) 3–4 Michael Holt (ENG) 3–4 Chris Wakelin (ENG) Chris Wakelin (ENG)
 Jamie Wilson (ENG) 4–0 Jamie Wilson (ENG) 4–0 Robert Milkins (ENG) Robert Milkins (ENG)
 Mark Selby (ENG) (2) 4–2 Mark Selby (ENG) (2) 4–2 Sanderson Lam (ENG)[nb 1] Sanderson Lam (ENG)[nb 1]
Notes
Century breaks
Main stage centuries
Total: 45[15]
- 141, 135 – Chris Wakelin
- 140, 126, 123, 120, 111, 106, 104, 101 – Neil Robertson
- 138 – Shaun Murphy
- 138 – Zhao Xintong
- 136 – Mark Davis
- 135, 117, 110, 102, 100 – Kyren Wilson
- 129, 127, 123, 120, 119, 108, 108, 103 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 128 – Gary Wilson
- 127 – Ali Carter
- 120 – Xiao Guodong
- 119, 104, 103 – John Higgins
- 115, 105 – Martin Gould
- 114 – Tom Ford
- 111, 104 – Judd Trump
- 111 – Ben Woollaston
- 109, 101 – David Gilbert
- 105 – Chang Bingyu
- 103 – Jamie Clarke
- 102 – Mark Selby
- 101 – Luca Brecel
- 100 – Ross Muir
Qualifying stage centuries
- 146 – Barry Hawkins
- 139, 123, 105 – Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
- 135 – John Higgins
- 129 – Kyren Wilson
- 126 – Ricky Walden
- 125 – Cao Yupeng
- 113 – Mark Joyce
- 113 – Mark Selby
- 111 – Chang Bingyu
- 111 – Alexander Ursenbacher
- 109 – Anthony McGill
- 109 – Judd Trump
- 108 – Jimmy Robertson
- 107 – David Gilbert
- 106 – Tom Ford
- 106 – Chris Wakelin
- 104 – Stuart Carrington
- 104 – Anthony Hamilton
- 101 – Robbie Williams
- 101 – Gary Wilson
- 100 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
References
- ^ "BetVictor extends involvement with WST". wst.tv. 2021-06-28.
- ^ "Tickets for UK events on sale". wst.tv. 2021-05-28.
- ^ "Updated 2021/22 Calendar" wst.tv. 2021-08-18
- ^ "BetVictor English Open Draw". wst.tv. 2021-08-25
- ^ "Trump beats Robertson in fantastic final". wst.tv. 2010-10-18.
- ^ "King Stuns World Number One Trump". World Snooker Tour. 5 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-11-05.
- ^ "Robertson Downs Higgins In Classic Clash". World Snooker Tour. 8 November 2021. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021.
- ^ Davies, Jonathan (17 October 2022). ""Extra incentive" as Neil Robertson eyes Home Nations grand slam". livesnooker.com.
- ^ "Neil Robertson rallies against John Higgins to win English Open". RTE. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ "English Open Qualifiers (2021)". snooker.org.
- ^ "Zhou and Zhang Withdrawn From English Open". World Snooker Tour. 17 September 2021. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Cahill Pulls Out of BetVictor English Open". November 2021. Archived from the original on November 2, 2021.
- ^ "Williams Withdraws From European Masters And English Open". World Snooker Tour. 27 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27.
- ^ "Deaville And Sykes Earn English Open Spots". World Snooker Tour. 23 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-08-28.
- ^ a b "BetVictor English Open 2021 | Centuries". World Snooker Tour. 1–7 November 2021. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ "BetVictor English Open 2021 Qualifiers | Centuries". World Snooker Tour. 17–22 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-09-17.