BetVictor Northern Ireland Open in Snooker: Trump and Allen secure victories, leaving Jimmy White with an unusual triumph
The 2025 BetVictor Northern Ireland Open snooker tournament is all set to take place from October 19 to 26 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. The highly-anticipated event will see the top 32 seeds compete, along with 32 qualifiers from early September rounds in Leicester.
Defending champion Kyren Wilson will aim to retain his title after his victorious run last year, where he beat Judd Trump 9-3 in the final. Other notable names in the draw include Judd Trump, World Champion Zhao Xintong, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy, and local favourite Mark Allen.
Ronnie O'Sullivan, however, has decided not to participate in this year's tournament.
In the first round, Judd Trump, 35, made a century break and won his match 4-0 against Ishpreet Singh Chadha, 28. Youngster Stan Moody, 18, caused an upset by defeating Ryan Day, 44, 4-3 and will face Jak Jones, 31, in the second round. Mark Allen, 38, a Northern Irish snooker player and tournament favourite, also won his first-round match 4-0 against Liu Hongyu, 20.
However, the match between Jimmy White and Hossein Vafaei was marked by controversy. White was awarded a free ball due to a foul by Vafaei, leading to visible frustration from Vafaei. The referee stopped the game as Vafaei had placed the cue ball outside the "D", which is not allowed.
Unfortunately, Mark Selby, who won the British Open at the end of September, was surprisingly eliminated in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open. Zhang Anda, who has been in good form, also exited the tournament in the first round.
Some of the first second-round matches include Judd Trump vs. Matthew Selt, Tian Pengfei vs. Robert Milkins, Louis Heathcote vs. Jimmy Robertson, Zhou Yuelong vs. Shaun Murphy, and Stuart Bingham vs. Mark Davis.
Shaun Murphy, 42, and Neil Robertson, 42 (who won the BetVictor English Open recently), have advanced to the second round of the tournament. John Higgins, 49, also progressed to the next round.
The remaining first-round matches of the Northern Ireland Open will be played today. The tournament allows sports fans to place bets on the event, with Judd Trump currently having the best betting odds at 3.25.
Interestingly, if a player makes 100 century breaks in the current season, they will receive a bonus of £100,000 (approx. €118,000).
Most of the matches will be broadcast on German television by Eurosport, while some can be watched with a paid subscription on Discovery+.
[1] BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Official Website [2] BBC Sport: Northern Ireland Open Snooker [3] BetVictor Betting Odds for Snooker Events [4] BetVictor World Snooker Championship 2025 Betting Odds [5] World Snooker Tour: Northern Ireland Open 2025
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