There is another bumper week of snooker on the main tour to look forward to with the 2025 Northern Ireland Open beginning on Sunday.
It marks the second of four tournaments on the Home Nations Series with Mark Allen having won the first at the English Open a month ago.
Once again, there is a top prize worth £100,000 up for grabs and the players involved will be bidding to capture the Alex Higgins Trophy in Belfast.
2025 Northern Ireland Open prize money
Champion: £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
Who are the former champions?
The Northern Ireland Open was launched in 2016 as part of the Home Nations Series, so it’s incredible to think that this is already its tenth edition.
Mark King was the inaugural champion, the Englishman winning his sole ranking title in dramatic circumstances courtesy of a 9-8 defeat of Barry Hawkins.
Since then, only four more players have etched their names onto the trophy with Mark Williams emerging with the title in 2017 and Kyren Wilson at the Waterfront Hall a year ago.
In between, Judd Trump and Mark Allen dominated the weeks of snooker at the Northern Ireland Open – sharing six successes in the event between them.
Trump, who is the outright favourite again in the sport betting markets despite an indifferent run of form, won three in a row from 2018 to 2020 where he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-7 in three consecutive finals, and last year’s runner-up also triumphed in 2023.
Allen was a popular back-to-back home champion in both 2021 and 2022 when he outclassed John Higgins and Zhou Yuelong respectively.
How does the 2025 Northern Ireland Open draw work?
The top 32 seeds in the competition enter the fray in the round of 64, joined by 32 others who have already negotiated a couple of qualifying rounds.
There are some interesting ties in the first round of the venue stages, most notably Judd Trump’s clash with recent British Open runner-up Anthony McGill.
There is a bruising battle between Championship League Snooker winner Stephen Maguire and former world champion Luca Brecel.
World champion Zhao Xintong meets Jordan Brown, one of only two home players still in the Northern Ireland Open draw, while world number eight Mark Allen entertains Robert Milkins.
Reigning champion Kyren Wilson takes on Oliver Lines, Mark Selby is in action against Ian Burns, and Shaun Murphy plays David Lilley.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui, and recent Xi’an Grand Prix champion Mark Williams are among the marquee names who either didn’t enter or have withdrawn from the competition.
The full draw for the 2025 Northern Ireland Open, which is one of the last opportunities for players to secure an invitation to the upcoming Champion of Champions, is below.
2025 Northern Ireland Open Draw
Qualifying Results
Round of 128 (bo7)
Ken Doherty 1-4 Yao Pengcheng
Allan Taylor 4-1 Chatchapong Nasa
Antoni Kowalski 4-0 Zak Sheldon
Chris Totten 0-4 Liam Graham
Julien Leclercq 4-2 Florian Nuessle
Farakh Ajaib 4-3 Oliver Brown
Haris Tahir 4-0 Connor Benzey
Haydon Pinhey 0-4 Ian Burns
Ben Mertens 0-4 Liam Pullen
Sunny Akani 4-2 Xu Yichen
Lan Yuhao 4-2 Mahmoud El Hareedy
Amir Sarkhosh 2-4 Marco Fu
Jonas Luz 4-3 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Reanne Evans w/o Mohammed Shehab
Dylan Emery 4-1 Liam Highfield
Bai Yulu 2-4 David Grace
Iulian Boiko 2-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
Steven Hallworth 4-0 Ross Muir
Chang Bingyu 4-0 Jiang Jun
Sam Craigie 4-1 Joel Connolly
Liam Davies 4-1 Ng On Yee
Cheung Ka Wai 4-1 Mink Nutcharut
Huang Jiahao 4-2 Jimmy White
Louis Heathcote 4-0 Sahil Nayyar
Robbie McGuigan 3-4 Fergal Quinn
Gao Yang 4-1 Liu Wenwei
Michal Szubarczyk 1-4 Patrick Whelan
Wang Yuchen 3-4 Mateusz Baranowski
Artemijs Zizins 4-2 Zhao Hanyang
Bulcsu Revesz 2-4 Leone Crowley
Hatem Yassen 1-4 Ashley Hugill
Mitchell Mann 3-4 Umut Dikme
Round of 96 (bo7)
Oliver Lines 4-2 Yao Pengcheng
Ryan Day 4-1 Allan Taylor
Scott Donaldson 4-2 Antoni Kowalski
He Guoqiang 4-0 Liam Graham
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-3 Julien Leclercq
Mark Davis 4-0 Farakh Ajaib
Lyu Haotian 3-4 Haris Tahir
Sanderson Lam 2-4 Ian Burns
Long Zehuang 4-2 Liam Pullen
Daniel Wells 4-3 Sunny Akani
Michael Holt 2-4 Lan Yuhao
Jamie Jones 2-4 Marco Fu
Jimmy Robertson 4-0 Jonas Luz
Stan Moody 4-0 Reanne Evans
Xu Si 3-4 Dylan Emery
Gong Chenzhi 0-4 David Grace
Anthony McGill 4-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Matthew Stevens 3-4 Steven Hallworth
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 0-4 Chang Bingyu
Martin O’Donnell 4-2 Sam Craigie
Luca Brecel 4-0 Liam Davies
Liu Hongyu 1-4 Cheung Ka Wai
Robbie Williams 4-1 Huang Jiahao
Duane Jones 2-4 Louis Heathcote
Zak Surety 4-3 Fergal Quinn
Aaron Hill 4-1 Gao Yang
Robert Milkins 4-2 Patrick Whelan
Ben Woollaston 4-0 Mateusz Baranowski
Fan Zhengyi 4-2 Artemijs Zizins
David Lilley 4-3 Leone Crowley
Ricky Walden 3-4 Ashley Hugill
Jordan Brown 4-2 Mitchell Mann
Main Draw (venue stages)
Round of 64 (bo7)
Kyren Wilson vs Oliver Lines
Matthew Selt vs Ryan Day
Wu Yize vs Scott Donaldson
David Gilbert vs He Guoqiang
Joe O’Connor vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhang Anda vs Mark Davis
Jack Lisowski vs Haris Tahir
Mark Selby vs Ian Burns
Long Zehuang w/o Mark Williams
Yuan Sijun vs Daniel Wells
Chris Wakelin vs Lan Yuhao
Tom Ford w/o Marco Fu
Stuart Bingham vs Jimmy Robertson
Ali Carter vs Stan Moody
Zhou Yuelong vs Dylan Emery
David Grace w/o Neil Robertson
Judd Trump vs Anthony McGill
Jackson Page vs Steven Hallworth
Gary Wilson vs Chang Bingyu
Jak Jones vs Martin O’Donnell
Stephen Maguire vs Luca Brecel
Si Jiahui vs Cheung Ka Wai
Pang Junxu vs Robbie Williams
John Higgins vs Louis Heathcote
Barry Hawkins vs Zak Surety
Lei Peifan vs Aaron Hill
Mark Allen vs Robert Milkins
Hossein Vafaei vs Ben Woollaston
Elliot Slessor vs Fan Zhengyi
Shaun Murphy vs David Lilley
Noppon Saengkham vs Ashley Hugill
Zhao Xintong vs Jordan Brown
Click here for the updated draw and results (snooker.org)
How to watch the 2025 Northern Ireland Open
There are several options available to watch the upcoming snooker live, depending on your location.
Many of the popular betting sites like Betway provide live streaming of snooker events through signing up on their websites or apps.
Below is a full list of official options, as published on the World Snooker Tour website:
UK & Ireland
TNT Sports and discovery+
DMAX (Freeview channel showing weekday afternoon sessions and all weekend sessions)
Mainland Europe
Eurosport and locally relevant streaming platforms
(discovery+ in Germany, Italy and Austria and HBO Max in all other markets)
China
Huya.com
Migu
CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel
CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
Hong Kong China
Now TV
Malasyia & Brunei
Astro Supersport
Taiwan
Sportcast
Thailand
True Sport
Philippines
TAP Sports
All other territories
WST Play
Featured photo credit: WST
Wilson the only right-hander to claim the title.
Allen’s win over Higgins in the 2021 final. The atmosphere remains one of the best I’ve ever heard at a snooker match. It seems a little generous to say he outclassed the Scot given he came from 8-6 down to win 9-8.
Trump revels in Belfast but a tricky opener with the resurgent McGill.