Defending champion Mark Williams is out of the Northern Ireland Open after a scrappy 4-3 defeat to Ali Carter at the Waterfront Hall on Wednesday. The Welshman captured a first ranking title in almost seven years when he edged Yan Bingtao in a dramatic final twelve months ago, a victory[Read More…]
Tag: Northern Ireland Open
Barry Hearn: “prize money has grown from £3.5 million to £15 million.”
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn has taken apparent swipe at recent comments made by Ronnie O’Sullivan, saying that snooker “is a land of opportunity.” In recent days, O’Sullivan has taken to social media platform Twitter to voice his discontent with the current state of the game. The world number three,[Read More…]
Ronnie O’Sullivan Starts Strongly in Belfast
Ronnie O’Sullivan produced another scintillating display of scoring to comfortably beat Soheil Vahedi 4-0 in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open on Tuesday in Belfast. O’Sullivan had spent much of the morning before his game on social media complaining about the current state of the sport. In particular,[Read More…]
Mark Allen Beaten in Northern Ireland Open
Mark Allen’s bid to claim a title on home soil ended in immediate disappointment as he exited the Northern Ireland Open in the first round on Monday. In a day full of upsets, Stuart Bingham’s bid for an unlikely million pound bonus for capturing all four Home Nations trophies in[Read More…]
Northern Ireland Open Draw and Preview
The next stop on the snooker roadshow is Belfast with the return of the Northern Ireland Open draw to the Waterfront Hall this week from Monday. Mark Williams is the defending champion after his dramatic 9-8 triumph over teenager Yan Bingtao in last year’s final. It was a win that[Read More…]
Mark Williams Captures Alex Higgins Trophy
Mark Williams has won his first ranking event title since 2011 after a dramatic 9-8 triumph over Yan Bingtao on Sunday. The Welshman was never in front until the final frame, which he took to deny the 17 year-old an opportunity to become the youngest ever ranking event champion. There were[Read More…]
Northern Ireland Open Final: Mark Williams vs Yan Bingtao
The final of the Northern Ireland Open is scheduled to be contested between Mark Williams and Yan Bingtao on Sunday in Belfast. However, doubts have been cast on whether Williams will be able to compete after he shared the worrying news on Twitter that his wife had been taken by[Read More…]
Northern Ireland Open: Semi-Final Preview
Mark Williams remains on course for a first ranking crown since 2011 after comfortably beating Mike Dunn 5-1 in the Northern Ireland Open quarter-finals on Friday. The Welshman, whose match against the 46 year-old started long after it was scheduled to due to a turgid opening last eight tie between[Read More…]
Can Mark Williams Follow Through on Favourite Tag?
With three rounds remaining in the Northern Ireland Open, Mark Williams finds himself in the unusual situation of being the favourite to land the title in Belfast. Of course, there was once a time when this was commonplace for the Welshman, who enjoyed several spells of domination on the Main[Read More…]
Northern Ireland Open: Quarter-Final Preview
Only one player currently ranked inside the top 16 in the world features in the last eight as a surprise line-up contends for Northern Ireland Open glory this weekend in Belfast. Mark Williams has been an onlooker this season as his contemporaries Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins continued to notch[Read More…]