2026 Northern Ireland Open: Wilson books first ranked semi-final for over 18 months

Wilson will face Sam Craigie on Saturday afternoon in the last four after both players won their respective quarter-final encounters at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.

In a rerun of their epic semi-final at the 2020 World Championship, Wilson faced Anthony McGill. The opening frame of their latest clash also had drama on the final balls, with Wilson slotting home brown, blue and pink to deposit first, despite McGill having made a 52 earlier in the piece.

‘The Warrior’ then produced breaks of 77, 75 and 122 to complete a mini-session whitewash, going into the interval in total control at 4-0 up.

On resumption, McGill punished a missed green from his opponent with a 66 to open his account, before both cueists unexpectedly botched a ball in frame six that eventually went to Wilson on the colours.

The world number nine then wrapped up proceedings in the next to score his seventh consecutive win over McGill on the World Snooker Tour.

One of those victories came at the 2024 Northern Ireland Open, and Wilson will be hoping history repeats as he went on to lift The Alex Higgins Trophy a few days later.

This run is a timely boost for Wilson who, perhaps surprisingly, is under pressure to preserve his top 16 status later this season.

Whilst wearing the world crown for the first time two seasons ago, the Englishman enjoyed his most dominant spell as a professional, winning four ranking event accolades and putting himself in the picture for the world number one spot.

But despite winning the invitational Shanghai Masters and Masters titles last season, Wilson has not appeared in a ranking event semi-final since March 2025, and with big chunks of prize money set to come off his two-year rolling total, he is at risk of having to qualify for the Crucible later this term.

World number 72 Craigie is through to the second semi-final of his career after defeating Elliot Slessor, 6-2.

In an English north-east derby, Slessor claimed the opening frame with an effort of 80, but qualifier Craigie took six of the next seven - aided by breaks of 50 and 66 - to record one of his biggest wins and reach the one-table set-up at the Waterfront for the first time.

This is the 33-year-old’s best run since returning to the sport last season after having major surgery on a slipped disc in his upper spine. The injury - that kept him out of the whole 2024/25 campaign - threatened to end his snooker career.

Interestingly, Wilson holds a strong head-to-head record over his next opponent, but two of Craigie’s victories over him have come at this venue in 2017 and 2023. Wilson did win their last meeting, though, at the Shenzhen Open last month.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Northern Ireland Open, visit our tournament information centre here.