2025 Welsh Open (snooker)
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 10–16 February 2025 |
| Venue | Venue Cymru |
| City | Llandudno |
| Country | Wales |
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £550,400 |
| Winner's share | £100,000 |
| Highest break |  Xu Si (CHN) (147) |
| Defending champion |  Gary Wilson (ENG) |
← 2024 | |
The 2025 Welsh Open (officially the 2025 BetVictor Welsh Open) is an upcoming professional snooker tournament that will be held from 10 to 16 February 2025 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales. It will be the thirteenth ranking event of the 2024–25 season and the fourth and final tournament in the season's Home Nations Series. The winner will receive £100,000 from a total prize fund of £550,400, the Ray Reardon trophy, and a place in the 2025 Champion of Champions invitational event.
Gary Wilson is the defending champion, having defeated Martin O'Donnell 9–4 in the 2024 final.
Format
[edit]
The event is the 34th consecutive edition of the Welsh Open since it was first played in 1992, making it snooker's third longest running ranking tournament after the World Championship and UK Championship.[1] The fourth and final event in the season's Home Nations Series (following the 2024 Scottish Open), and the 13th ranking tournament of the 2024–25 season (following the 2025 German Masters and preceding the 2025 World Open), it will take place from 10 to 16 February 2025 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales.[2][3]
Qualifying took place from 4 to 6 February 2025 in Barnsley, England.[4][5] The WST implemented a new format for the four Home Nations events and the German Masters this season. In qualifying round one, players seeded 65–96 face those seeded 97–128. In qualifying round two, the 32 round one winners play those seeded 33–64. The 32 round two winners then play the top 32 seeds in the first round of the main stage.[6]
All matches are played as the best of seven frames until the quarter‑finals, which are the best of nine. The semi‑finals are the best of 11, and the final is a best of 17 frames match played over two sessions. The defending champion is Gary Wilson, who defeated Martin O'Donnell 9–4 in the 2024 final in what was O'Donnell's first ranking final.[11] World number one Judd Trump chose to withdraw from the tournament prior to the seeding, citing a focus on other events.[12]
Broadcasters
[edit]The qualifying rounds were broadcast by Discovery+ in Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland) and by the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin, Huya Live and Migu in China. They were available from WST Play in all other territories.[13]
The main stage of the event will be broadcast by BBC Wales, BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button in the United Kingdom; Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe (including the UK and Ireland); CCTV-5, Huya Live, Migu, the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel and the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin in mainland China; Now TV in Hong Kong; Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; TrueVisions in Thailand; Sportcast in Taiwan; and TAP in the Philippines. They will be available from WST Play in all other territories.[14]
Prize fund
[edit]The tournament winner will receive the Ray Reardon trophy.[15] The breakdown of prize money for the event, an increase of £123,400 from the previous event, is shown below:[2]
- Winner: £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
Summary
[edit]Qualifying rounds
[edit]Round 1
[edit]
The first qualifying round was played on 4 and 5 February.[5] 12-time Women's World champion Reanne Evans defeated Belgium's Julien Leclercq 4–1, despite her highest break in the match being a 40 break in the third frame to lead 3–0. Welsh player Liam Davies beat Antoni Kowalski 4–1, making a high break of 134, while Liam Pullen overcame Kreishh Gurbaxani 4–3, with the deciding frame being won on the final black. Liam Graham defeated Iulian Boiko 4–3 while Ishpreet Singh Chadha whitewashed former Women's World champion Baipat Siripaporn 4–0. In an all-Welsh contest, Dylan Emery overcame Duane Jones 4–2. In three whitewash victories, Jimmy White beat amateur player Joshua Thomond, Oliver Lines made a high break of 136 in defeating former Pan-American champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed 4–0 and Stan Moody beat Chris Totten without dropping a frame.[16] Amateur Austrian player Florian Nüßle made the highest break of the round, a 143, in defeating Jiang Jun 4–3.[17]
Round 2
[edit]
The second qualifying round was played on 5 and 6 February.[5] Amateur Welsh player Dylan Emery defeated reigning Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan 4–3, while Ishpreet Singh Chadha whitewashed Ashley Carty 4–0, making breaks of above 80 in every frame including a 104 century in the fourth. Welshman Dominic Dale, playing in his final season as a professional, defeated Mitchell Mann 4–3 and Jimmy Robertson came from 0–3 down to defeat Allan Taylor 4–3. Reanne Evans was whitewashed 0–4 by Joe O'Connor while Andrew Higginson overturned a 2–3 deficit to defeat He Guoqiang 4–3.[17] Xu Si made the third maximum break of his career in the fourth frame of his 4–2 victory over Bulcsú Révész. Xu made the three 147s within 15 months as he made his first at the UK Championship in November 2023. No other player has had three maximums over that period.[18] Welshman Liam Davies qualified for the main stages by overcoming a 1–3 deficit to Anthony McGill to defeat the Scotsman 4–3, making 2 century breaks in the last 3 frames. Ricky Walden, having recently been forced to withdraw from the 2025 German Masters mid-tournament due to pancreatitis, beat Artemijs Žižins 4–2 while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh was defeated 2–4 by Ben Mertens. Martin O'Donnell, who was runner-up in the previous year's edition of the event, was whitewashed 0–4 by Hong Kong's Wang Yuchen. Yuan Sijun defeated Amir Sarkhosh 4–0 and Jimmy White was narrowly beaten 3–4 by Scott Donaldson. Welshman Jamie Clarke defeated Louis Heathcote 4–2 while Stan Moody overcame Anthony Hamilton by the same 4–2 scoreline, making a top break of 134. Hong Kong's Marco Fu whitewashed David Grace 4–0 while amateur player Florian Nüßle beat Liu Hongyu 4–3 and Matthew Stevens defeated Hammad Miah 4–1.[19]
Main draw
[edit]The results of the main draw will be shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeds, an "a" indicates amateur players who were not on the main World Snooker Tour, and players in bold denote match winners.[3][20]
Top half
[edit]| Last 64 Best of 7 frames | Last 32 Best of 7 frames | Last 16 Best of 7 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | ||||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson (ENG) (1)
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 Ishpreet Singh Chadha (IND)
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 Jackson Page (WAL) (32)
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| Jimmy Robertson (ENG)
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| Tom Ford (ENG) (16)
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| Andrew Higginson (ENG)
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 Neil Robertson (AUS) (17)
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| Mark Davis (ENG)
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| Pang Junxu (CHN) (24)
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| Dominic Dale (WAL)
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| Zhang Anda (CHN) (9)
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 Ross Muir (SCO)
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 Noppon Saengkham (THA) (25)
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| Dylan Emery (WAL) (a)
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 Luca Brecel (BEL) (8)
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| Stuart Carrington (ENG)
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| Mark Selby (ENG) (5)
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| Haydon Pinhey (ENG)
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| Elliot Slessor (ENG) (28)
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| Liam Davies (WAL)
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| Si Jiahui (CHN) (12)
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| Jamie Jones (WAL)
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| Stuart Bingham (ENG) (21)
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| Robbie Williams (ENG)
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| Robert Milkins (ENG) (20)
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 Wang Yuchen (HKG)
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| John Higgins (SCO) (13)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Graeme Dott (SCO)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Zhou Yuelong (CHN) (29)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Yuan Sijun (CHN)
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Mark Allen (NIR) (4)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Stan Moody (ENG)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Bottom half
[edit]| Last 64 Best of 7 frames | Last 32 Best of 7 frames | Last 16 Best of 7 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | ||||||||||||||
| Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Jamie Clarke (WAL)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Matthew Selt (ENG) (30)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Ricky Walden (ENG)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Chris Wakelin (ENG) (14)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Michael Holt (ENG)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Jack Lisowski (ENG) (19)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Joshua Cooper (ENG) (a)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Wu Yize (CHN) (22)
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| Scott Donaldson (SCO)
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| Barry Hawkins (ENG) (11)
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| Sanderson Lam (ENG)
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| Stephen Maguire (SCO) (27)
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| Xu Si (CHN)
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| Mark Williams (WAL) (6)
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 Florian Nüßle (AUT) (a)
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| Shaun Murphy (ENG) (7)
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| Ma Hailong (CHN)
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| Ryan Day (WAL) (26)
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| Ben Mertens (BEL)
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| Ali Carter (ENG) (10)
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 Rory Thor (MAS)
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 Hossein Vafaei (IRN) (23)
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| Fan Zhengyi (CHN)
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| David Gilbert (ENG) (18)
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| Jordan Brown (NIR)
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| Jak Jones (WAL) (15)
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| Matthew Stevens (WAL)
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| Lyu Haotian (CHN) (31)
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| Joe O'Connor (ENG)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Kyren Wilson (ENG) (2)
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Marco Fu (HKG)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Qualifying rounds
[edit]The results of the qualifying rounds are shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seeding, an "a" indicates amateur players who were not on the main World Snooker Tour, and players in bold denote match winners.[21][5]
| Round 1 (Last 128) Best of 7 frames | Round 2 (Last 96) Best of 7 frames | |||||
| Ishpreet Singh Chadha (IND) (65) | 4 | Ashley Carty (ENG) (64) | 0 | |||
| Baipat Siripaporn (THA) (116) | 0 | Ishpreet Singh Chadha (IND) (65) | 4 | |||
| Allan Taylor (ENG) (96) | 4 | Jimmy Robertson (ENG) (33) | 4 | |||
 Haris Tahir (PAK) (100) | 3 | Allan Taylor (ENG) (96) | 3 | |||
| Andrew Higginson (ENG) (80) | 4 | He Guoqiang (CHN) (49) | 3 | |||
| Daniel Womersley (ENG) (a) | 0 | Andrew Higginson (ENG) (80) | 4 | |||
| Liam Graham (SCO) (81) | 4 | Mark Davis (ENG) (48) | 4 | |||
 Iulian Boiko (UKR) (a) | 3 | Liam Graham (SCO) (81) | 2 | |||
| Dean Young (SCO) (88) | 3 | Dominic Dale (WAL) (41) | 4 | |||
| Mitchell Mann (ENG) (111) | 4 | Mitchell Mann (ENG) (111) | 3 | |||
| Ross Muir (SCO) (73) | 4 | David Lilley (ENG) (56) | 3 | |||
| Manasawin Phetmalaikul (THA) (108) | 2 | Ross Muir (SCO) (73) | 4 | |||
| Duane Jones (WAL) (89) | 2 | Lei Peifan (CHN) (40) | 3 | |||
| Dylan Emery (WAL) (a) | 4 | Dylan Emery (WAL) (a) | 4 | |||
| Stuart Carrington (ENG) (72) | w/o | Long Zehuang (CHN) (57) | 3 | |||
| Bai Yulu (CHN) (107)[a] | w/d | Stuart Carrington (ENG) (72) | 4 | |||
| Xing Zihao (CHN) (69) | 3 | Tian Pengfei (CHN) (60) | 3 | |||
| Haydon Pinhey (ENG) (99) | 4 | Haydon Pinhey (ENG) (99) | 4 | |||
 Antoni Kowalski (POL) (92) | 1 | Anthony McGill (SCO) (37) | 3 | |||
| Liam Davies (WAL) (98) | 4 | Liam Davies (WAL) (98) | 4 | |||
| Ian Burns (ENG) (76) | 4 | Jamie Jones (WAL) (53) | 4 | |||
 Mostafa Dorgham (EGY) (103) | 0 | Ian Burns (ENG) (76) | 1 | |||
| Liam Pullen (ENG) (85) | 4 | Robbie Williams (ENG) (44) | 4 | |||
| Kreishh Gurbaxani (IND) (110) | 3 | Liam Pullen (ENG) (85) | 1 | |||
| Zak Surety (ENG) (84) | 2 | Martin O'Donnell (ENG) (45) | 0 | |||
| Wang Yuchen (HKG) (102) | 4 | Wang Yuchen (HKG) (102) | 4 | |||
| Oliver Lines (ENG) (77) | 4 | Graeme Dott (SCO) (52) | 4 | |||
 Ahmed Aly Elsayed (USA) (115) | 0 | Oliver Lines (ENG) (77) | 3 | |||
| Amir Sarkhosh (IRN) (93) | 4 | Yuan Sijun (CHN) (36) | 4 | |||
| Cheung Ka Wai (HKG) (97) | 3 | Amir Sarkhosh (IRN) (93) | 0 | |||
| Stan Moody (ENG) (68) | 4 | Anthony Hamilton (ENG) (61) | 3 | |||
| Chris Totten (SCO) (101) | 0 | Stan Moody (ENG) (68) | 4 | |||
| Round 1 (Last 128) Best of 7 frames | Round 2 (Last 96) Best of 7 frames | |||||
| Louis Heathcote (ENG) (67) | 4 | Jamie Clarke (WAL) (62) | 4 | |||
| Robbie McGuigan (NIR) (104) | 1 | Louis Heathcote (ENG) (67) | 2 | |||
 Artemijs Žižins (LVA) (94) | 4 | Ricky Walden (ENG) (35) | 4 | |||
| Farakh Ajaib (PAK) (105) | 0 | Artemijs Žižins (LVA) (94) | 2 | |||
| Michael Holt (ENG) (78) | 4 | Daniel Wells (WAL) (51) | 1 | |||
| Hatem Yassen (EGY) (114) | 0 | Michael Holt (ENG) (78) | 4 | |||
 Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI) (83)[b] | w/d | Ben Woollaston (ENG) (46) | 2 | |||
| Joshua Cooper (ENG) (a) | w/o | Joshua Cooper (ENG) (a) | 4 | |||
| Jimmy White (ENG) (86) | 4 | Scott Donaldson (SCO) (43) | 4 | |||
| Joshua Thomond (ENG) (a) | 0 | Jimmy White (ENG) (86) | 3 | |||
| Alfie Burden (ENG) (75) | 4 | Sanderson Lam (ENG) (54) | 4 | |||
| Paul Deaville (ENG) (a) | 0 | Alfie Burden (ENG) (75) | 2 | |||
 Bulcsú Révész (HUN) (91) | 4 | Xu Si (CHN) (38) | 4 | |||
| Anton Kazakov (UKR) (a) | 2 | Bulcsú Révész (HUN) (91) | 2 | |||
| Jiang Jun (CHN) (70) | 3 | Liu Hongyu (CHN) (59) | 3 | |||
| Florian Nüßle (AUT) (a) | 4 | Florian Nüßle (AUT) (a) | 4 | |||
| Ma Hailong (CHN) (71) | 4 | Joe Perry (ENG) (58) | 2 | |||
| Oliver Briffett-Payne (WAL) (a) | 1 | Ma Hailong (CHN) (71) | 4 | |||
| Ben Mertens (BEL) (90) | 4 | Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) (39) | 2 | |||
| Simon Blackwell (ENG) (a) | 2 | Ben Mertens (BEL) (90) | 4 | |||
| Rory Thor (MAS) (74) | 4 |  Aaron Hill (IRL) (55) | 2 | |||
| Riley Powell (WAL) (a) | 3 | Rory Thor (MAS) (74) | 4 | |||
| Andrew Pagett (WAL) (87) | 4 | Fan Zhengyi (CHN) (42) | 4 | |||
| Mink Nutcharut (THA) (109) | 3 | Andrew Pagett (WAL) (87) | 2 | |||
| Gong Chenzhi (CHN) (82) | 4 | Jordan Brown (NIR) (47) | 4 | |||
| Ken Doherty (IRL) (117) | 0 | Gong Chenzhi (CHN) (82) | 3 | |||
| Hammad Miah (ENG) (79) | w/o | Matthew Stevens (WAL) (50) | 4 | |||
| Huang Jiahao (CHN) (106)[c] | w/d | Hammad Miah (ENG) (79) | 1 | |||
| Julien Leclercq (BEL) (95) | 1 | Joe O'Connor (ENG) (34) | 4 | |||
| Reanne Evans (ENG) (112) | 4 | Reanne Evans (ENG) (112) | 0 | |||
| Marco Fu (HKG) (66) | 4 | David Grace (ENG) (63) | 0 | |||
 Jonas Luz (BRA) (113) | 0 | Marco Fu (HKG) (66) | 4 | |||
- Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walkover
Century breaks
[edit]Qualifying stage centuries
[edit]A total of 26 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament in Barnsley.[22]
- 147, 113 – Xu Si[18]
- 143 – Florian Nüßle
- 142, 136 – Rory Thor
- 139, 115 – David Lilley
- 136 – Oliver Lines
- 134, 114, 109 – Liam Davies
- 134 – Stan Moody
- 131 – Ma Hailong
- 124 – Ricky Walden
- 115 – Yuan Sijun
- 113, 102 – Xing Zihao
- 113 – Mark Davis
- 112 – Wang Yuchen
- 111 – Michael Holt
- 109, 104 – Ishpreet Singh Chadha
- 109 – Jimmy Robertson
- 104 – Louis Heathcote
- 103 – Joe Perry
- 102 – Liam Pullen
Notes
[edit]- ^ Bai Yulu withdrew and so Stuart Carrington was given a walkover to the second round of qualifying.[5]
- ^ Alexander Ursenbacher withdrew and so Joshua Cooper was given a walkover to the second round of qualifying.[5]
- ^ Huang Jiahao withdrew and so Hammad Miah was given a walkover to the second round of qualifying.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "Higgins wins record fifth Welsh crown". WPBSA. 4 March 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ a b "BetVictor Welsh Open". World Snooker Tour. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b "BetVictor Welsh Open 2025". snooker.org. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "BetVictor Welsh Open Qualifiers Draw". World Snooker Tour. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Welsh Open Qualifiers 2025". snooker.org. 7 February 2025. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^ "Tiered format for Home Nations and German Masters in 2024/25". World Snooker Tour. 5 April 2024. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "Welsh Open: Gary Wilson beats Martin O'Donnell 9-4 in final". BBC Sport. 18 February 2024. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
- ^ "Prince of Wales Wilson lands third ranking title". World Snooker Tour. 18 February 2024. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ Wright, Andrew (18 February 2024). "Welsh Open 2024: Gary Wilson ends Martin O'Donnell's dream of a maiden ranking title to secure hard-fought triumph". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
- ^ Haigh, Phil (18 February 2024). "Gary Wilson adds to 'mad few months' by claiming Welsh Open title". Metro. Archived from the original on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ [7][8][9][10]
- ^ Kane, Desmond (4 December 2024). "Judd Trump explains why he will miss Scottish and Welsh Opens in world snooker title chase – 'I've faded away'". Eurosport.
- ^ "How To Watch The BetVictor Welsh Open Qualifiers". World Snooker Tour. 4 February 2025.
- ^ "How To Watch The BetVictor Welsh Open". World Snooker Tour. 7 February 2025.
- ^ "Welsh Open Snooker trophy named after legend Ray Reardon". BBC Sport. 28 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "Evans Stuns LeClercq In Welsh Qualifiers". World Snooker Tour. 4 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Amateur Emery Knocks Out Lei". World Snooker Tour. 6 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Xu makes third 147". World Snooker Tour. 6 February 2025. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^ "Brave Walden Earns Llandudno Spot". World Snooker Tour. 6 February 2025.
- ^ "Welsh Open (2025) bracket". snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ "Betvictor Welsh Open 2025 qualifiers matches". World Snooker Tour. 6 February 2025. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
- ^ "Centuries: Welsh Open Qualifiers – 26". snookerinfo.co.uk. 7 February 2025. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.