2021 Northern Ireland Open
The 2021 Northern Ireland Open (officially the 2021 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 9 to 17 October 2021 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the third ranking event of the 2021–22 season and the first tournament in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. It was the sixth edition of the Northern Ireland Open.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 9–17 October 2021 |
| Venue | Waterfront Hall |
| City | Belfast |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £405,000 |
| Winner's share | £70,000 |
| Highest break | Mark Allen (NIR) (147) |
| Final | |
| Champion | Mark Allen (NIR) |
| Runner-up | John Higgins (SCO) |
| Score | 9–8 |
← 2020 2022 → | |
Qualifying for the tournament took place from 23 to 27 August 2021 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England, although matches involving the top 16 players, and three other matches featuring Northern Irish players, were held over and played at the Waterfront Hall. All of the top 16 players participated except for world number 9 Ding Junhui. Mark Allen made a maximum break in his held over qualifying match against Si Jiahui.
The defending champion was Judd Trump, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 finals by a scoreline of 9–7 each time. Trump lost 3–5 in the quarter-finals to Allen, having led 3–0.
Allen faced John Higgins in the final, which was tied at 4–4 after the afternoon session. Higgins moved 8–6 ahead in the evening session, but Allen won the last three frames for a 9–8 victory. It was Allen's first Northern Ireland Open title, his second Home Nations win, and the sixth ranking title of his professional career.