World Open Snooker: Information and a Potted History

The World Open is a ranking event open to all professional tour card holders with points counting towards qualification for Players Series events. 

In 2012 and 2013 the tournament used a tiered draw system with the top 16 seeds going straight through to the main venue where they were joined by 16 qualifiers. Since 2014, a flat draw format has been used. 

Please note, there was previously a professional ranking event called the World Open held in 2010 in Glasgow, Scotland. This replaced the Grand Prix’s slot in early Autumn and was won by then world champion Neil Robertson who defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 in the final. This particular event was also open to amateur players and featured best of five frames matches in the earlier rounds. 

World Open Snooker: Most successful players, stats, stories, best finals 

From the eight editions held to date, six different players have won the World Open. Mark Allen and Judd Trump (current champion) are the most decorated players in the competition’s history with two titles each, successfully defending the accolade in consecutive installments. 

Allen claimed the first two episodes in 2012 and 2013. His triumph in 2012 was his maiden ranking title where he came back from 2-5 down to defeat Mark Selby 6-5 in the semi-finals before hitting four century breaks in the final as he crushed Stephen Lee 10-1. 

The Northern Irishman joined an elite club the following year as he retained and he was on course for a remarkable three-peat in 2014, although his 15-match winning streak in the competition came to an end at the hands of Shaun Murphy who stopped him 6-4 in the last four. Murphy went on to win the title. 

Not part of the calendar for the next two seasons, the World Open returned in 2016 with a new home in Yushan, where Ali Carter was victorious. 

In 2017, the event received a big prize money boost as home hero Ding Junhui became the first Chinese player to feature on the list of champions, collecting a £150,000 payday in the process. 

Only a few months on from capturing his third world title, Mark Williams continued his golden vein of form at the 2018 staging, where he was a master of brinksmanship. The Welshman needed to win the final four frames to pip Noppon Saengkham 6-5 in the last four before requiring an even bigger recovery in the final against David Gilbert, turning a 5-9 deficit into a dramatic 10-9 success. 

Like Williams, Trump travelled to Yushan in 2019 with full confidence as the reigning world champion and left with yet more silverware after a 10-5 defeat of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the title match. 

Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and a halt to all professional events in China, the World Open was not played between 2020 to 2023 but it returned to the circuit in 2024 when Trump defended the title after a 10-4 victory against Ding.

World Open Snooker: Roll of Honour, Locations and Winner’s Prize Money 

2012: Mark Allen 10-1 Stephen Lee (Haikou, China) | £75,000 

2013: Mark Allen 10-4 Matthew Stevens (Haikou, China) | £85,000 

2014: Shaun Murphy 10-6 Mark Selby (Haikou, China) | £85,000 

2016: Ali Carter 10-8 Joe Perry (Yushan, China) | £90,000 

2017: Ding Junhui 10-3 Kyren Wilson (Yushan, China) | £150,000 

2018: Mark Williams 10-9 David Gilbert (Yushan, China) | £150,000 

2019: Judd Trump 10-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Yushan, China) | £150,000 

2024: Judd Trump 10-4 Ding Junhui (Yushan, China) | £170,000 

World Open Snooker 147 Breaks 

2012: Marco Fu 

2024: Zak Surety 

In the World Open’s current guise, two maximum 147 breaks have been made in the competition’s history – 12 years apart. 

Marco Fu completed perfection during the final qualifying round of the inaugural event in 2012 against Matt Selt in the sixth frame of his 5-2 victory. It was Fu’s second career max. 

With those qualifiers held in England, though, Zak Surety’s effort on a TV table against Ding Junhui in the 2024 event is the only one to be compiled at the main venue. It was Surety first professional 147.