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.
| 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 |  Neil Robertson (AUS) |
| Runner-up |  John Higgins (SCO) |
| Score | 9–8 |
← 2020 2022 → | |
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 edit
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 edit
Top half edit
Bottom half edit
Final edit
| Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Rob Spencer Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England, 7 November 2021 | ||
| Neil Robertson (4) 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 edit
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.[citation needed] 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 Matthew Selt (ENG)[nb 1]- Jimmy Robertson (ENG) 4–0
Yuan Sijun (CHN) - Xiao Guodong (CHN) 4–2 Alfie Burden (ENG)
- Sam Craigie (ENG) 3–4 Steven Hallworth (ENG)
Anthony McGill (SCO) 4–1 Gao Yang (CHN)[nb 1]
Gerard Greene (NIR) 4–1 Liam Highfield (ENG)- Ross Muir (SCO) 4–1 Dean Young (SCO)
- Wu Yize (CHN) 4–3 Ashley Hugill (ENG)
Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI) 4–2 Ben Hancorn (ENG)- Tom Ford (ENG) 4–0 Sean Maddocks (ENG)
- Cao Yupeng (CHN) 4–0 Mitchell Mann (ENG)
- Stephen Maguire (SCO) (9) 3–4 Mark King (ENG)[nb 1]
- Xu Si (CHN) 4–2
Jamie Jones (WAL) - Zhao Xintong (CHN) 4–1 Jimmy White (ENG)
- Chang Bingyu (CHN) 4–1 Dominic Dale (WAL)
- Mark Lloyd (ENG) 0–4 Paul Deaville (ENG)[nb 1]
- Kyren Wilson (ENG) (5) 4–0
Noppon Saengkham (THA)[nb 1] - Ashley Carty (ENG) 4–2 Jordan Brown (NIR)
- Gary Wilson (ENG) 4–2 Craig Steadman (ENG)
- Ben Woollaston (ENG) 4–0 Jackson Page (WAL)
- Barry Hawkins (ENG) 4–1 Reanne Evans (ENG)[nb 1]
- Bai Langning (CHN) 2–4 Jak Jones (WAL)
- Joe Perry (ENG) 2–4
Soheil Vahedi (IRN) - Robbie Williams (ENG) 4–0 Peter Lines (ENG)
Lukas Kleckers (GER) 1–4 Mark Davis (ENG)- Graeme Dott (SCO) 4–2
Farakh Ajaib (PAK) 
Fergal O'Brien (IRL) 4–0 
Iulian Boiko (UKR)- Stuart Bingham (ENG) 4–1
Ng On-yee (HKG)[nb 1] - Sunny Akani (THA) 4–1 Ken Doherty (IRL)
- Ricky Walden (ENG) 4–0 Michael Judge (IRL)
- James Cahill (ENG) 4–2 Lee Walker (WAL)
Neil Robertson (AUS) (4) 4–0 Andy Hicks (ENG)[nb 1]- Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 4–1 David Lilley (ENG)[nb 1]
- Elliot Slessor (ENG) 1–4
Michael Georgiou (CYP) - Liang Wenbo (CHN) 2–4
Rory McLeod (JAM) - Anthony Hamilton (ENG) 4–2 Louis Heathcote (ENG)
- Jack Lisowski (ENG) 3–4 Mark Joyce (ENG)[nb 1]
- Jamie Clarke (WAL) 4–2 Zak Surety (ENG)
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) 4–0 Jamie O'Neill (ENG)
- Matthew Stevens (WAL) 3–4 Peter Devlin (ENG)
- Li Hang (CHN) 4–1 Si Jiahui (CHN)
- Ali Carter (ENG) 4–1 Fan Zhengyi (CHN)
- Stuart Carrington (ENG) 4–2 Hammad Miah (ENG)
- Mark Allen (NIR) 1–4
Luca Brecel (BEL)[nb 1] - Simon Lichtenberg (GER) 1–4 Fraser Patrick (SCO)
Kurt Maflin (NOR) 1–4 Hossein Vafaei (IRN)- Joe O'Connor (ENG) 4–1 Pang Junxu (CHN)
- Shaun Murphy (ENG) (6) 4–3 Duane Jones (WAL)[nb 1]
- John Higgins (SCO) (7) 4–1 Zhao Jianbo (CHN)[nb 1]
- Oliver Lines (ENG) 4–0 Zhang Anda (CHN)
- Ryan Day (WAL) 3–4 Lu Ning (CHN)
- Oliver Sykes (ENG) 1–4 Allan Taylor (ENG)[nb 1]
- Ding Junhui (CHN) 4–1 Andrew Pagett (WAL)[nb 1]
- Barry Pinches (ENG) 0–4 Tian Pengfei (CHN)
- Martin Gould (ENG) 4–0 Andrew Higginson (ENG)
- Ian Burns (ENG) 3–4 Scott Donaldson (SCO)
- Lyu Haotian (CHN) 3–4 Martin O'Donnell (ENG)
- David Gilbert (ENG) 4–2 David Grace (ENG)
- Nigel Bond (ENG) 4–1 Chen Zifan (CHN)
- Yan Bingtao (CHN) 4–1 Aaron Hill (IRL)[nb 1]
- Michael White (WAL) 1–4 Stephen Hendry (SCO)
- Michael Holt (ENG) 3–4 Chris Wakelin (ENG)
- Jamie Wilson (ENG) 4–0 Robert Milkins (ENG)
- Mark Selby (ENG) (2) 4–2 Sanderson Lam (ENG)[nb 1]
Notes edit
Century breaks edit
Main stage centuries edit
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 edit
- 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 edit
- ^ "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.