Jordan Brown was understandably delighted after recording a thumping 4-0 victory over Zhao Xintong at the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday.
Brown got off to a perfect start in his home event in Belfast, outplaying the reigning world snooker champion to comfortably reach the last 32.
It has been a difficult period for the 38 year-old, who has fond memories of the Home Nations Series having won his sole ranking title at the Welsh Open in 2021.
Following a poor run of form overall, Brown finds himself hovering just inside the crucial top 64 cut-off point in the official world rankings that will guarantee tour survival.
But victory over Zhao on home soil could be the boost in confidence that the former world number 22 requires to rebound back up the ranking list.
“It was fantastic support out there today,” Jordan Brown told the World Snooker Tour, with amateur top-up Ashley Hugill next on the agenda at the Waterfront Hall.
“I haven’t been giving them much to shout about recently, I’ve got to be honest. It was nice to give them a bit of a lift there today.”
“I absolutely loved it out there, and I want to thank everyone for their support. It’s a special place to play, isn’t it?
“I’ve good memories of beating Neil Robertson here two years ago. I’ve had to call on those memories, just beating him the way I did that day, I thought I’d need to do something similar here today.
“I feel like whenever you’re playing Zhao, you have to go for your shots. You have to play good safety as well – he’s such a ferocious long potter.
“He’s just got a great all-round game, so I just had to do what I had to do. I kept him cold the first couple of frames especially.
“He had a couple of chances and you could tell he was a little bit rusty. As the match went on, I just grew in confidence.
“It’s been very difficult [over the last couple of years]. It’s just confidence for me, I’m a confidence player. Whenever my confidence goes, everything goes.
“I think I can speak on behalf of a lot of players, it’s just not easy. But I’ve been working with Fergal O’Brien on the practice table and on the mental side.
“I’m trying to get things right again, and what a better place to start than playing in front of a packed house out there today.
“There’s no reason why I can’t go on a run this week but one match at a time. Certainly if I play like that, there’s no reason why I can’t go further.”
Elsewhere on day one of the season’s seventh ranking event, Hugill reached the next round with a 4-2 upset of Noppon Saengkham.
There were victories for a lot of the big names, however, with Judd Trump, John Higgins, and Mark Selby all moving forward in the competition.
Selby is bidding to become the first player to win all four Home Nations Series titles and got off to a strong start by beating Ian Burns 4-1.
Trump, who has won the tournament a record four times in the past, beat British Open finalist Anthony McGill while Higgins easily saw off the challenge of Louis Heathcote.
There were triumphs too for former runner-up Chris Wakelin, Wu Yize, Jack Lisowski, and Jackson Page.
The round of 64 continues on Monday with local star Mark Allen and the in-form Shaun Murphy among those entering the fray.
2025 Northern Ireland Open Draw
Round of 64 (bo7)
Kyren Wilson vs Oliver Lines
Matthew Selt vs Ryan Day
Wu Yize 4-3 Scott Donaldson
David Gilbert 2-4 He Guoqiang
Joe O’Connor vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhang Anda vs Mark Davis
Jack Lisowski 4-0 Haris Tahir
Mark Selby 4-1 Ian Burns
Long Zehuang w/o Mark Williams
Yuan Sijun vs Daniel Wells
Chris Wakelin 4-1 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 4-2 Anthony McGill
Jackson Page 4-0 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 4-1 Robbie Williams
John Higgins 4-0 Louis Heathcote
Barry Hawkins vs Zak Surety
Lei Peifan vs Aaron Hill
Mark Allen vs Robert Milkins
Hossein Vafaei 2-4 Ben Woollaston
Elliot Slessor vs Fan Zhengyi
Shaun Murphy vs David Lilley
Noppon Saengkham 2-4 Ashley Hugill
Zhao Xintong 4-0 Jordan Brown
Click here for the updated draw and results (snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
