Home soil snooker heroes disagree on location of Welsh Open: "as good as anywhere"

Three-time world champion Williams moved through to the last 32 of his home professional event after making breaks of 56 and 64 during a 4-2 win over Michael Holt on the opening day at the Venue Cymru in Llandudno.

Williams is the last player from the host nation to reach the final in 2003, and the last one to claim the title back in 1999.

Speaking to BBC Sport Wales shortly after his victory in the £550,400 world ranking event, 50-year-old Williams disagreed with previous comments from youngster Page that the Welsh Open should be held in the south.

World number 33 Page - who begins his campaign on Tuesday against former world champion Luca Brecel in a tasty clash - initially said to the BBC about the Welsh Open: "I feel like it should be in south Wales, 100%. Just because there is no player from north Wales, every pro on tour is from south Wales.

"So it doesn't really feel like a home event for us in all honesty”.

Despite Page’s opinion, the former Championship League finalist was very complimentary about the Venue Cymru: "It is a great venue, I like playing there and there should definitely be an event there, a big event, I just don't think it should be the Welsh Open”.

Former world championship runner-up Jak Jones, and Dylan Emery made it three wins from three for Welsh contestants on the first day of the televised stages, and after his success over Liam Highfield, Jones said to reporter Gareth Blainey that he concurs with Page’s view on the tournament.

“I agree with him” said 32-year-old Jones. “Venue Cymru is a lovely place, the crowds are amazing but it doesn’t feel like the Welsh Open - it’s like going to any other tournament really”.

However, Williams - who has played in every Welsh Open edition since 1993 - opposes the view of both Page and Jones. Talking to Blainey, snooker’s oldest ranking event champion said: “I don’t agree with that. This venue and the crowd we get here is as good as anywhere.”

The Welsh Open is one of the longest-running competitions on the professional snooker circuit, having been held every year since 1992 when Stephen Hendry defeated home hero Darren Morgan 9-3 in the inaugural final.

The opening seven editions were all played at the Newport Centre before the event moved to the capital city where the Cardiff International Arena (1999-2003) and the Welsh Institute of Sport (2004) played hosts.

It went back to the Newport Centre for ten consecutive editions (2005-2014) before the CIA housed it again (2015-2020).

In 2020/21, despite Covid-19 restrictions that saw the snooker tour played almost exclusively in Milton Keynes for the whole season, the Welsh Open was still able to be held on home soil behind-closed-doors at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, before audiences were allowed to return for the following year elsewhere in the city at the International Convention Centre Wales.

Venue Cymru took over the keys for the Welsh Open in 2023 where it has been staged every year since.

Before hosting this event, though, it already had good experience of holding top flight snooker action from its stints with the World Grand Prix in 2015 and 2016, the Players Championship in 2017 and 2018, and the Tour Championship in 2019 and 2022.

It also, somewhat bizarrely, played home to the 2021 Scottish Open when a suitable venue was unable to be found in the original host nation.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Welsh Open, visit here.