Welsh Open (snooker)

History

The tournament began as a ranking tournament in 1992. It is now the third-longest-running ranking event on the World Snooker Tour, after the World Championship and the UK Championship. In the 2016–17 season, the event became part of the Home Nations Series, alongside the Northern Ireland Open, the Scottish Open, and the English Open. The event trophy was renamed the Ray Reardon Trophy; Reardon himself presented the first trophy bearing his name to the 2017 winner Stuart Bingham.

The event was sponsored by Regal until 2003, but UK restrictions on tobacco advertising meant that it was without a sponsor until 2009. The tournament was sponsored by Totesport.com in 2010, by Wyldecrest Park Homes in 2011, by 888真人 in 2012, and by BetVictor from to 2013 to 2016. In 2017 the tournament was sponsored by Coral.

In 1996, Paul Hunter reached the semi-finals at the age of 17 years and 111 days, becoming the youngest player to reach this stage of a ranking tournament.

John Higgins holds the record for the most Welsh Open titles, having won the event on 5 occasions. The other multiple winners are Ronnie O'Sullivan with 4 victories, Stephen Hendry with 3, and Steve Davis, Ken Doherty, Paul Hunter, Mark Williams and Neil Robertson with 2 wins each.

Like the Welsh Professional Championship, it was played at the Newport Centre in Newport, before moving to the Cardiff International Arena in 1999. It was moved back to Newport in 2005, In January 2014, World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn announced that the 2014 tournament would be the last held in Newport, and that he would open negotiations to move the event to a larger venue, most likely in Cardiff. The event was held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff from 2015 to 2020, before moving back to Newport in 2021 and 2022. The 2023 event was held in Llandudno, the first time in its history that it has been staged in neither Newport nor Cardiff. The tournament is broadcast by BBC Wales, Eurosport, CCTV, SMG, Now TV and Showtime Arabia. In the early days it was televised by both BBC Wales (in English), S4C (in Welsh) and Sky Sports.

There have been twelve maximum breaks in the history of the tournament. The first was made by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1999, against James Wattana. The second was made at the qualifying stage of the 2000 event by Barry Pinches, against Joe Johnson. The third was made by Andrew Higginson in 2007, against Ali Carter. The fourth 147 was made in 2011 by Stephen Hendry, against Stephen Maguire. This was Hendry's 10th 147 break, and with this he equalled the record for most maximums with Ronnie O'Sullivan. He also became the oldest player at the time to compile a maximum break at the age of 42 years and 35 days. The fifth maximum was made by O'Sullivan in 2014, in the last frame of the final against Ding Junhui. This was O'Sullivan's 12th 147 break, and with it he set the record for most maximums. It was also the last maximum to be compiled before the event moved to Cardiff. Ding Junhui made the sixth at the quarter-finals of the 2016 tournament, against Neil Robertson. Two maximum breaks were made at the 2019 event, one by Neil Robertson in the first round, against Jordan Brown, and one by Noppon Saengkham in the third round, against Mark Selby. The ninth maximum was made in 2020 by Kyren Wilson on his first visit to the table in his first round match against Jackson Page. Shaun Murphy made the tenth maximum break in 2023 in his third round match against Daniel Wells. The eleventh maximum break was compiled by Gary Wilson in 2024, during the semi-final against Higgins. The most recent maximum break was made by Xu Si in the second round of qualifying of the 2025 tournament against Bulcsú Révész.

Winners

Statistics

Finalists

References

References

1. Ivan. (2022-12-21). "BetVictor Welsh Open Draw".
2. "Ray Reardon at 90: 'Proud for Wales, proud for myself'". BBC Sport.
3. Turner, Chris. "Welsh Open". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.
4. (21 January 2010). "Totesport.com Named Sponsor For Snooker's Welsh Open". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
5. "Wyldecrest Park Homes To Sponsor Snooker's Welsh Open". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
6. "888真人Sponsor Welsh Open". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
7. "BetVictor Sponsor Welsh Open". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
8. (6 January 2014). "BetVictor Renew Sponsorship of Welsh Open". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
9. (10 November 2011). "Newport secures Welsh Open deal for next three years". BBC Sport.
10. (17 January 2014). "Welsh Open snooker tournament to leave Newport Centre". [[BBC News]].
11. "Welsh Open moves to Llandudno in 2023". BBC Sport.
12. Turner, Chris. "Maximum Breaks". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.
13. "Hendry Out Despite Maximum". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
14. Turner, Chris. "Various Snooker Records". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.
15. (2 March 2014). "Magical Maximum Seals Rocket Triumph". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
16. (19 February 2016). "Robertson wins despite Ding Maximum". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].
17. (12 February 2019). "Robertson Makes Motorpoint Maximum". World Snooker.
18. (14 February 2019). "Saengkham Makes Cardiff 147". World Snooker.
19. (11 February 2020). "Wilson Fires 147 In Cardiff". World Snooker.
20. (16 February 2020). "Wilson Turns Over Page With Maximum". World Snooker.
21. (2023-02-16). "Murphy Makes 147 In Wales".
22. (17 February 2024). "Wilson Makes Snooker's 199th Maximum". [[World Snooker Tour]].
23. (6 February 2025). "Xu makes third 147". [[World Snooker Tour]].
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30. "BetVictor Welsh Open (2016)".
31. "Coral Welsh Open (2017)".
32. "Welsh Open (2018)".
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34. "ManBetX Welsh Open 2020". [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
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38. "2024 Welsh Open".
39. (16 February 2025). "2025 Welsh Open".