Northern Ireland Open Champion Jack Lisowski 'Robbed' of Homecoming Entrance in Opening Win

Having lost all six of his previous world ranking event finals, Lisowski claimed his maiden professional snooker title at last year’s Northern Ireland Open after ousting close friend Judd Trump, 9-8, in a memorable final. The emotional victory came just months after the unexpected death of his father.

Fast forward nearly 12 months and Lisowski returned to the scene of his greatest triumph at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast to begin his title defence.

It has been a largely frustrating season, so far, for the 35-year-old but he managed to navigate his opening hurdle at the £550,400 world ranking event on Sunday afternoon with a comfortable 4-1 win over qualifier Huang Jiahao.

World number 18 Lisowski took the first frame with the aid of a 63 break before going on to establish a 3-0 lead.

Huang (66 break) got on the scoreboard with frame four, and was close to reducing the gap to just one, but Lisowski completed a blue to black - including a stunning blue - clearance in the fifth to wrap up victory.

Lisowski on Waterfront return: “it wasn’t like a homecoming lap of honour”

Speaking to the World Snooker Tour shortly afterwards, Lisowski was pleased to advance in a situation he’s never faced before.

“Yeah, never been defending champion...I guess there’s a little bit of expectation there. You want to keep your good run up like I was on last year. So that was new to me, but yeah, it’s a nice game to win and into the tournament.”

Later in the same interview, though, Lisowski expressed a twinge of disappointment that his return into the Waterfront Hall playing arena was a bit more low-key than he would have liked as the defending title holder.

One of the most iconic and atmospheric venues on the World Snooker Tour, three tables will be action at the Waterfront across the opening four days. During the initial rounds, there aren’t big MC introductions or walk-ons for the players, but Lisowski’s entrance was still a bit quieter than anticipated due to the previous match on table one having overrun.

Two matches were played during the morning session in the Belfast ahead of the three early afternoon fixtures. But Xiao Guodong and Sam Craigie’s tie - that was won 4-3 by qualifier Craigie - finished after the 1pm start time set for Lisowski and Huang.

Not to inconvenience the other two scheduled 1pm matches, they went off on time on tables two and three. By the time Lisowski and Huang were able to start, they had to be mindful of not distracting their peers either side of the main showpiece table.

Asked whether he was able to enjoy his return, Lisowski said: “Not really, no. It was funny because I was in the toilet and I've seen (Anthony) McGill and he's gone 'Oh, you got robbed of your entrance’.

“And I was like, yeah, cause you walk out there and there's another game on, another game one, so...it wasn’t like a homecoming lap of honour.”

However, Lisowski didn’t seem to dwell on or be too downbeat about that: “But it was still really cool to be back out there and the Belfast crowd, they're so good. They're so good. It's such an incredible arena to play in.

“So yeah, I just want to keep it going this week and try to do as well as I can.”

Next up for Lisowski is a meeting with McGill - who defeated fellow Scot 4-1 during the same afternoon session - in the last 32.

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