Lisowski defends Belfast crown as Allen and O'Sullivan return
Jack Lisowski arrives in Belfast this week as a defending champion for the first time in his career.
The 11th Northern Ireland Open runs from 18 to 25 October at Waterfront Hall. It is the seventh ranking event of the season, where results count towards the world rankings, and the winner will receive £100,000 and the Alex Higgins Trophy, according to BBC Sport.
Lisowski earned that status in the tightest way possible last year. He beat Judd Trump 9-8 in the final to claim his first ranking title. The final is played over the best of 17 frames, first to nine, so the match went the full distance.
Trump knows this venue better than anyone. He is a record four-time champion, with three straight wins from 2018 to 2020 and another title in 2023. He has already won the Shanghai Masters, a non-ranking invitation event, earlier this season.
Mark Allen opens his week against Jordan Brown on Tuesday afternoon. Allen has not played in an event since losing to Wu Yize in the World Championship semi-finals in Sheffield in early May. He won this tournament back to back in 2021 and 2022.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is scheduled to meet Ka Wai Cheung on Monday afternoon. He did not enter 12 months ago and withdrew in both 2023 and 2024. On his last appearance here in 2022, he lost to David Grace at the last-64 stage.
The draw has a new look at the top of the rankings. Zhao Xintong and Wu Yize sit first and second respectively, ahead of former world number one Trump. Wu won the most recent ranking event, the Shenzhen Open, but has withdrawn from Belfast for health reasons, along with He Guoqiang.
Form is spread around the 64-man field. Jak Jones has won the Championship League and the British Open this season. The other trophy winners so far are Mark Selby at the China Open, Chang Bingyu at the Wuhan Open and Ali Carter at the English Open in September. Carter's win matters in Belfast because the Northern Ireland Open is the second event in the Home Nations series after the English Open. Kyren Wilson and Mark Williams are also previous winners in the field.
The format builds slowly. Matches from round one to round three are best of seven frames, first to four. Quarter-finals are best of nine, semi-finals best of 11 and the final best of 17.
Belfast has become the tournament's home. Waterfront Hall has staged eight of the previous 10 editions. The inaugural event was held at the Titanic Exhibition Centre.
For fans, this means a week of short, sharp matches before the long final. Early rounds can turn on a single loose safety shot or a missed black off its spot, and with 64 players packed into eight days there is little room to settle in.
