2021 Matchroom.live British Open
Tournament information
Dates16–22 August 2021 (2021-08-16 – 2021-08-22)
VenueMorningside Arena
CityLeicester
CountryEngland
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£470,000
Winner's share£100,000
Highest break John Higgins (SCO) (147)
 Ali Carter (ENG) (147)
Final
Champion Mark Williams (WAL)
Runner-up Gary Wilson (ENG)
Score6–4
← 2004
2022 →

The 2021 British Open (officially the 2021 Matchroom.live British Open) was a professional snooker event played from 16 to 22 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena, Leicester, England. It was the 2021 edition of the British Open event, and the first since the 2004 British Open. It was the second ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, following the 2021 Championship League and preceding the 2021 Northern Ireland Open. It was broadcast by ITV Sport in the UK, and sponsored by Matchroom Sport. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize pool of £470,000.

All rounds in the tournament were played after a random draw made under a single-elimination tournament format with no seeded players. The first four rounds, from the last 128 to the last 16, were played as best-of-five frame matches, the quarter-finals and semi-finals as best-of-seven-frame matches, and the final played as the best-of-eleven frames. John Higgins, the defending champion from 2004, lost 1–3 to Ricky Walden in the third round. Mark Williams defeated Gary Wilson 6–4 in the final to win the 24th ranking title of his career. The event featured 32 century breaks, including two maximum breaks. Higgins made his 12th maximum break in professional competition in the first frame of his first-round win over Alexander Ursenbacher, and Ali Carter made his third maximum break in the second frame of his fourth-round match against Elliot Slessor.

Format

The British Open is a snooker event first held in 1980 as the British Gold Cup. The event changed names to the British Open for the 1985 event won by Silvino Francisco.[1][2] The 2021 tournament was held from 16 to 22 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England.[3][4] It was the first British Open event in 17 years, the last being played in 2004.[5][2] It was the second ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, following the 2021 Championship League, and preceding the Northern Ireland Open.[4][6] John Higgins was the defending champion, having defeated Stephen Maguire 9–6 in the 2004 final, to win his 16th ranking title.[7] The event was broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom, Eurosport in Europe; Liaoning TV, Superstar online, Kuaishou, Migu, Youku, Zhibo.tv and Huya Live in China; Now TV in Hong Kong; Sports cast in Taiwan; True Sports in Thailand; DAZN in Canada, Astrosport in Australia and by Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[8] Matchroom also sponsored the event.[9]

The event featured all 128 participants from the World Snooker Tour, no seedings, and a random draw after each round.[10] Matches were played as the best-of-five frames, until the quarter-finals and semi-finals, which were played as best-of-seven-frame matches. The final was a best-of-eleven.[11]

Prize fund

The tournament had a total prize fund of £470,000, the winner receiving £100,000. A breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:[12]

  • Winner: £100,000
  • Runner-up: £45,000
  • Semi-final: £20,000
  • Quarter-final: £12,000
  • Last 16: £7,000
  • Last 32: £5,000
  • Last 64: £3,000
  • Highest break: £5,000
  • Total: £470,000

Summary

Round 1

Photo of Reanne Evans
Reanne Evans met former partner Mark Allen in the first round, losing 2–3.

The first round was played from 16 to 18 August, as the best of five frames.[11] On the first day, defending champion Higgins made his 12th competitive maximum break, in the first frame of his 3–1 win against Alexander Ursenbacher.[13] At 46 years and 90 days, Higgins broke his own record as the oldest man to make a maximum break in competition. He had previously been the oldest player to make one after completing a maximum at the Championship League in October 2020. Higgins became the player with the second most maximum breaks, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan with 15, and now ahead of Stephen Hendry.[14][15]

World number one Judd Trump trailed 1–2 to Mitchell Mann, but won 3–2.[16] Despite making two century breaks, Kyren Wilson was defeated by Ashley Hugill 2–3.[17] Mark Allen and Reanne Evans, who had been in a relationship between 2005 and 2008, met in the first round.[18] The players, who had been in legal battles over child maintenance, had their first professional meeting at the event.[19][20][21] Evans refused to shake hands with Allen before the match,[22] and led 2–1, but missed the match ball and Allen completed a clearance to win the contest.[16][23] The finalists of the 2021 World Snooker Championship, Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby met in the first round.[24][25] World champion Selby won the match 3–2.[26] Four-time winner Hendry met Chris Wakelin in the first round.[27] Hendry won the match 3–2, his first main tournament win since rejoining the tour in 2020 after retiring in 2012.[25] Lukas Kleckers won the final two frames against Masters champion Yan Bingtao to win 3–2.[28]

Round 2

The second round was played on 18 and 19 August as the best of five frames.[11] The 1997 winner Mark Williams recovered from 0–2 behind to Dominic Dale in a 3–2 victory.[28][29] Iranian player Hossein Vafaei defeated Allen 3–2, despite having never beaten him in four prior meetings.[29] Stephen Maguire defeated Martin O'Donnell 3–2, but complained about O'Donnell's slow play, who had averaged more than 30 seconds per shot.[29] Ali Carter described playing reigning world champion Selby as a "dream draw",[28] and won the match 3–0.[30] Higgins trailed Cao Yupeng 1–2, but made breaks of 95 and 96 to win the match.[31] Higgins lost the third frame of the match after missing a shot, blaming the red ball having a stray hair on it.[31] Hendry played Gary Wilson and lost 0–3. Neither player made a break above 50. Wilson called the performance "an embarrassment".[32]

Rounds 3 and 4

The third and fourth rounds were played on 20 August also as the best of five frames.[11] Trump played Elliot Slessor losing 2–3. The loss meant that Selby would now be ranked as the world number one after the event.[33][34] Slessor went on to face Carter in the fourth round. Carter made the second maximum break of the event in the second round, but only won that frame, losing 1–3.[35] Ricky Walden completed a 3–1 win over Higgins, and then defeated Ross Muir by the same scoreline.[35] Williams made breaks of 71 and 70 as he defeated Liam Highfield 3–0.[36] Williams played Zhang Jiankang in the fourth round, where he was the sole player from the top 16 remaining.[35] Zhang led 2–1 and was within four pots of winning the match, but missed a routine black ball, and eventually lost 2–3.[37] David Gilbert, who had won his first ranking event at the preceding Championship League event, reached the quarter-finals where he drew Wilson, who had defeated Vafaei.[37]

Quarter-finals

Photo of Mark Williams
Mark Williams won the event, 24 years since he won the event previously in 1997.

The quarter-finals were played on 21 August as the best of seven frames.[11] Gilbert played Wilson, and led both 2–0 and 3–2, but lost the match after missing a pot using a long rest. Slessor met Zhou Yuelong and won 4–3 to reach his second ranking event semi-final.[38][39] Williams played Ricky Walden in the quarter-finals. Williams won 4–3 on the final black, despite Walden making four breaks over 50.[40] Williams commented that despite the win, he "couldn't string three pots together", and that the players he had faced in the tournament had lost matches, rather than him winning them.[41] Robertson played Lu Ning in the final quarter-final match, winning 4–2.[40]

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were contested on 21 August as the best of seven frames.[11] Wilson played Slessor, but trailed 0–2. He won the next three frames with breaks of 67, 68 and 100 to lead 3–2, before Slessor made a 125 break to force a deciding frame.[41][42] Wilson won the frame to reach his second ranking final.[41] Williams completed breaks of 60, 73 and 58 in a 4–1 win over Robertson.[41]

Final

The final was played between Williams and Wilson on 22 August as the best of eleven frames.[41] Williams won the opening frame, before Wilson tied the match in frame two. A break of 111 in frame three for Williams was his first century break of the event, before Wilson won frame four.[43] Wilson won frame five with a break of 101 to lead the match for the first time, Williams winning back-to-back frames to lead 4–3.[43] Wilson won frame eight to tie the match, but Williams won the next two frames to complete a 6–4 victory.[43] This was Williams's 24th ranking event title, and his second British Open title, 24 years since he last won the event in 1997.[44] Aged 46, Williams was the third oldest person to win a ranking event, only behind Ray Reardon in 1982 (50) and Doug Mountjoy in 1989 (46).[43] Williams commented that he had been lucky to progress to the final, but that his performance in the final was the best he had played in the tournament. Wilson said he was "bitterly disappointed" not to win.[43]

Tournament draw

The results from the event are shown below. Players in bold denote match winners.[45][46]
Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walk-over

Round 1

Round 1 matches were played as the best of five frames.[45]

16 August morning session

16 August afternoon session

16 August evening session

17 August morning session

17 August afternoon session

17 August evening session

18 August morning session

18 August afternoon session

Round 2

Round 2 matches were played as the best of five frames.[45]

18 August evening session

19 August morning session

19 August afternoon session

19 August evening session

Round 3

Round 3 matches were played as the best of five frames.[45]

20 August morning session

20 August afternoon session

Round 4

Round 4 matches were played as the best of five frames.[45]

20 August evening session

Quarter-finals

The quarter final matches were played as the best of seven frames.[45]

21 August afternoon session

Semi-finals

The semi final matches were played as the best of seven frames.[45]

21 August evening session

Final

The frame scores for the final are shown below. Numbers in brackets show breaks made during that frame.[47]

Final: Best of 11 frames. Referee: Leo Scullion
Morningside Arena, Leicester, England, 22 August 2021.
Gary Wilson
 England		 4–6 Mark Williams
 Wales
Frame Scores: 8–82, 72–0, 1–133 (111), 73–18 (62), 101–0 (101), 24–85, 0–81 (75), 73–42, 0–140 (115), 15–62
101 Highest break 115
1 Century breaks 2
2 50+ breaks 3

Century breaks

There were 32 century breaks made during the event.[48] Both Higgins and Carter compiled maximum breaks of 147 during the event. Higgins made one in the first frame of his first-round win over Ursenbacher, while Carter's maximum was completed during the second frame of his fourth-round loss to Slessor.[13][48]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kurt Maflin was due to play Rory McLeod, but withdrew from the event. He was not replaced so McLeod received a walkover.
  2. ↑ Dylan Emery replaced Jamie O'Neill who was suspended from the event because of digressing from Covid policies.[45]
  3. ↑ John Higgins made a 147 in the first frame.[45]
  4. ↑ Ali Carter made a 147 in the second frame.[45]

References

  1. ↑ Clive Everton (April 1980). "Success story: the British gold cup". Snooker Scene. Birmingham: Everton's News Agency. pp. 5–7.
  2. 1 2 "British Open returns to snooker calendar after 17-year absence". BT.com. Press Association. 18 May 2021. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Shaw, Jamie (18 May 2021). "British Open returns to the snooker calendar after 17-year absence". livesnooker.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Calendar 2021–22" (PDF). WST. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Walker-Roberts, James (18 May 2021). "British Open – won by Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry – returns to snooker calendar next season". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "The British Open returns to the snooker calendar for the first time in 17 years". Sky Sports. 18 May 2021. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "WWW Snooker: British Open 2004". www.snooker.org. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "How To Watch matchroom.live British Open". WST. 12 August 2021. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Matchroom.Live To Sponsor Snooker's British Open". WST. 10 August 2021. Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "Random Draw for British Open". WST. 8 July 2021. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "British Open ticket info" (PDF). WST. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "Tournament Prize Money | World Snooker Live Scores". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Higgins makes 12th maximum". WST. 16 August 2021. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  14. ↑ Kane, Desmond (16 August 2021). "British Open snooker 2021: John Higgins makes magical 147 to move second behind Ronnie O'Sullivan on all-time list". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  15. ↑ Elder, Matthew (16 August 2021). "John Higgins hits 147 at British Open to overtake Stephen Hendry in all-time rankings". www.scotsman.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  16. 1 2 Kane, Desmond (16 August 2021). "British Open snooker 2021: Mark Allen edges Reanne Evans in 'Battle of Exes', Judd Trump survives scare to advance". Eurosport. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  17. ↑ "Hugill lands biggest win". WST. 17 August 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "Ex-partners Allen & Evans drawn together". BBC Sport. 15 August 2021. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  19. ↑ Nunns, Hector (15 August 2021). "Reanne Evans and Mark Allen brace themselves for the snooker match nobody wanted". The Sportsman. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  20. ↑ Rudd, Alyson (15 August 2021). "Reanne Evans and Mark Allen split acrimoniously. Now they face each other on the snooker table". The Times. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  21. ↑ Baynes, Megan (16 August 2021). "British Open: Mark Allen beats former partner Reanne Evans in snooker's battle of the exes". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  22. ↑ Bower, Allison (16 August 2021). "Reanne Evans snubs ex-partner Mark Allen before British Open grudge match". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  23. ↑ "Allen defeats former partner Evans". BBC Sport. 17 August 2021. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  24. ↑ "Snooker news: 'Oh for goodness sake' – Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy to meet in world final rematch at British Open". Eurosport. 29 July 2021. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  25. 1 2 Kane, Desmond (17 August 2021). "British Open snooker 2021: 'All about the W' – Stephen Hendry battles to victory, Mark Selby defeats Shaun Murphy". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  26. ↑ Netherton, Alexander (17 August 2021). "British Open 2021: Mark Selby defeats Shaun Murphy in first round in World Championship replay". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  27. ↑ "Hendry clinches first win since tour return". BBC Sport. 17 August 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  28. 1 2 3 "Carter sets up Selby meeting". BBC Sport. 18 August 2021. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  29. 1 2 3 Kane, Desmond (18 August 2021). "British Open snooker 2021: 'There is no need to be that slow' – Stephen Maguire slams Martin O'Donnell, Mark Allen exit". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  30. ↑ "Carter knocks out Selby at British Open". BBC Sport. 19 August 2021. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  31. 1 2 "British Open snooker 2021: 'Could have cost me' – John Higgins suffers hair-raising experience, Stephen Hendry loses". Eurosport. 19 August 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  32. ↑ Netherton, Alexander (19 August 2021). "British Open 2021: 'An embarrassment' – Gary Wilson scathing of match against Stephen Hendry". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  33. ↑ "Trump loses match & number one ranking". BBC Sport. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  34. ↑ "British Open: Judd Trump loses world number one status before Ali Carter hits 147". Sporting Life. 21 August 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  35. 1 2 3 Kane, Desmond (20 August 2021). "British Open snooker 2021: Ali Carter makes 147 in defeat to Elliot Slessor, Jimmy Robertson eases past Stephen Maguire". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  36. ↑ "British Open snooker 2021: Ricky Walden ends John Higgins' bid for record fifth title, last-16 draw". Eurosport. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  37. 1 2 Yates, Phil (September 2021). "Fourth round". Snooker Scene. Halowsowen: Everton's News Agency. p. 25.
  38. ↑ Yates, Phil (September 2021). "Quarter-finals". Snooker Scene. Halowsowen: Everton's News Agency. p. 26.
  39. ↑ "Quarter And Semi-Final Draw". WST. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  40. 1 2 "British Open Snooker 2021 – Out-of-sorts Mark Williams survives Ricky Walden test to make semi-final". Eurosport. 21 August 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 "British Open – Mark Williams shows his class to see off Jimmy Robertson, sets up Gary Wilson showdown in final". Eurosport. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  42. ↑ "Williams v Wilson in British Open final". BBC Sport. 21 August 2021. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  43. 1 2 3 4 5 Kane, Desmond (22 August 2021). "British Open snooker 2021: 'I try my guts out' – Mark Williams claims British Open title with epic win over Gary Wilson". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  44. ↑ "Williams beats Wilson to win British Open". BBC Sport. 22 August 2021. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  45. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "British Open Results". snooker.org. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  46. ↑ "Matches - World Snooker Live Scores". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  47. ↑ "Match Result: British Open 2021, FINAL - MATCH 127". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  48. 1 2 "Centuries | World Snooker Live Scores". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
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