2021 English Open (snooker)

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.

2021 BetVictor English Open

Tournament information
Dates	1–7 November 2021 (2021-11-01 – 2021-11-07)
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

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

Top half

	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
	Judd Trump (ENG) (1)	4
	Jimmy Robertson (ENG)	2
					Judd Trump (1)	4
					Steven Hallworth	1
	Xiao Guodong (CHN) (32)	2
	Steven Hallworth (ENG)	4
									Judd Trump (1)	4
									Ross Muir	1
	Anthony McGill (SCO) (16)	4
	Gerard Greene (NIR)	0
					Anthony McGill (16)	0
					Ross Muir	4
	Ross Muir (SCO)	4
	Wu Yize (CHN)	1
													Judd Trump (1)	3
													Mark King	5
	Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI)	0
	Tom Ford (ENG) (24)	4
					Tom Ford (24)	3
					Mark King	4
	Cao Yupeng (CHN)	0
	Mark King (ENG)	4
									Mark King	4
									Paul Deaville	0
	Xu Si (CHN)	0
	Zhao Xintong (CHN) (25)	4
					Zhao Xintong (25)	3
					Paul Deaville	4
	Chang Bingyu (CHN)	3
	Paul Deaville	4
																	Mark King	4
																	Neil Robertson (4)	6
	Kyren Wilson (ENG) (5)	4
	Ashley Carty (ENG)	2
					Kyren Wilson (5)	4
					Ben Woollaston	3
	Gary Wilson (ENG) (28)	3
	Ben Woollaston (ENG)	4
									Kyren Wilson (5)	4
									Robbie Williams	1
	Barry Hawkins (ENG) (12)	4
	Jak Jones (WAL)	3
					Barry Hawkins (12)	1
					Robbie Williams	4
	Soheil Vahedi (IRN)	1
	Robbie Williams (ENG)	4
													Kyren Wilson (5)	4
													Neil Robertson (4)	5
	Mark Davis (ENG)	4
	Graeme Dott (SCO) (20)	3
					Mark Davis	4
					Fergal O'Brien	1
	Fergal O'Brien (IRL)	4
	Stuart Bingham (ENG) (13)	3
									Mark Davis	3
									Neil Robertson (4)	4
	Sunny Akani (THA)	4
	Ricky Walden (ENG) (29)	3
					Sunny Akani	2
					Neil Robertson (4)	4
	James Cahill (ENG)	w/d
	Neil Robertson (AUS) (4)	w/o

Bottom half

	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)	4
	Michael Georgiou (CYP)	1
					Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	4
					Anthony Hamilton	3
	Rory McLeod (JAM)	1
	Anthony Hamilton (ENG)	4
									Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	4
									Jamie Clarke	0
	Mark Joyce (ENG)	0
	Jamie Clarke (WAL)	4
					Jamie Clarke	4
					Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (19)	1
	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) (19)	4
	Peter Devlin (ENG)	0
													Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	5
													Luca Brecel	1
	Li Hang (CHN)	4
	Ali Carter (ENG) (22)	2
					Li Hang	1
					Luca Brecel	4
	Stuart Carrington (ENG)	0
	Luca Brecel (BEL)	4
									Luca Brecel	4
									Fraser Patrick	2
	Fraser Patrick (SCO)	4
	Hossein Vafaei (IRN)	2
					Fraser Patrick	4
					Shaun Murphy (6)	2
	Joe O'Connor (ENG)	2
	Shaun Murphy (ENG) (6)	4
																	Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)	5
																	John Higgins (7)	6
	John Higgins (SCO) (7)	4
	Oliver Lines (ENG)	0
					John Higgins (7)	4
					Lu Ning	3
	Lu Ning (CHN)	w/o
	Allan Taylor (ENG)	w/d
									John Higgins (7)	4
									Ding Junhui (10)	1
	Ding Junhui (CHN) (10)	4
	Tian Pengfei (CHN)	1
					Ding Junhui (10)	4
					Martin Gould (23)	0
	Martin Gould (ENG) (23)	4
	Scott Donaldson (SCO)	0
													John Higgins (7)	5
													Yan Bingtao (15)	3
	Martin O'Donnell (ENG)	1
	David Gilbert (ENG) (18)	4
					David Gilbert (18)	2
					Yan Bingtao (15)	4
	Nigel Bond (ENG)	1
	Yan Bingtao (CHN) (15)	4
									Yan Bingtao (15)	4
									Mark Selby (2)	3
	Stephen Hendry (SCO)	0
	Chris Wakelin (ENG)	4
					Chris Wakelin	1
					Mark Selby (2)	4
	Jamie Wilson (ENG)	1
	Mark Selby (ENG) (2)	4

Final

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

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

1. Match was held over and played in Milton Keynes.

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

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

Total: 23^[15][16]

• 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