2021 English Open (snooker) explained

Tournament Name:	2021 BetVictor English Open
Venue:	Marshall Arena
Location:	Milton Keynes
Country:	England
Organisation:	World Snooker Tour
Format:	Ranking event
Total Prize Fund:	£405,000
Winners Share:	£70,000
Highest Break:	(146)
Score:	9–8
Previous:	2020
Next:	2022

The 2021 English Open (officially the 2021 BetVictor English Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 1–7 November 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England.^{[1] [2]} It was the fourth ranking event of the 2021–22 season, and the second event in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England,^[3] although matches involving the top 16 players, and two other matches involving English wildcards, were held over and played at the Marshall Arena.^[4] The event was broadcast on Eurosport across the United Kingdom and Europe.

Judd Trump was the defending champion, having defeated Neil Robertson 9–8 in the previous year's final.^[5] Trump lost 3–5 to Mark King in the quarter-finals.^[6] Robertson faced John Higgins in the final. Although Robertson led 5–3 after the afternoon session, Higgins won the first four frames of the evening session to lead 7–5, and then moved within one frame of victory at 8–6. However, Robertson won the last three frames to defeat Higgins 9–8 and claim the 21st ranking title of his professional career. He became the third player, after Trump and Mark Selby, to win three Home Nations titles, and the first player to win three different tournaments in the series, having previously won the Scottish Open and the Welsh Open.^{[7] [8]}

Higgins sustained his second successive defeat from 8–6 ahead in a best-of-17 ranking final. He had lost the 2021 Northern Ireland Open final to Mark Allen under similar circumstances the previous month.^[9]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

• Winner: £70,000
• Runner-up: £30,000
• Semi-final: £20,000
• Quarter-final: £10,000
• Last 16: £7,500
• Last 32: £4,000
• Last 64: £3,000
• Highest break: £5,000
• Total: £405,000

Main draw

Bottom half

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Rob Spencer Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England, 7 November 2021
Neil Robertson (4)	9–8	John Higgins (7)
Afternoon: 72–0, 80–24, 0–90, 51–66, 140–0 (140), 65–2, 16–68, 123–1 (123) Evening: 39–68, 0–89, 37–71, 43–74, 87–7, 18–71, 79–9, 121–1 (120), 74–22
140	Highest break	90
3	Century breaks	0

Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England.^[10] Matches which involved the top 16 players and two wildcard nominations were held over and played at the Marshall Arena. Zhou Yuelong and Zhang Jiankang were withdrawn from the event due to being identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case; they were replaced by Ross Muir and Bai Langning respectively.^[11] Separately, Lei Peifan withdrew and was replaced by James Cahill. Cahill won his qualifying match but then he had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.^[12] Mark Williams was also withdrawn from the event after testing positive for COVID-19 in October; he was replaced by Mark Lloyd.^[13] Teenage amateurs Paul Deaville and Oliver Sykes played in their first professional events after receiving an invite from WST.^[14]

• (1) 4–1 ^[15]
• 4–0
• 4–2
• 3–4
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 4–3
• 4–2
• 4–0
• 4–0
• (9) 3–4
• 4–2
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 0–4
• (5) 4–0
• 4–2
• 4–2
• 4–0
• 4–1
• 2–4
• 2–4
• 4–0
• 1–4
• 4–2
• 4–0
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 4–0
• 4–2
• (4) 4–0
• (3) 4–1
• 1–4
• 2–4
• 4–2
• 3–4
• 4–2
• 4–0
• 3–4
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 4–2
• 1–4
• 1–4
• 1–4
• 4–1
• (6) 4–3
• (7) 4–1
• 4–0
• 3–4
• 1–4
• 4–1
• 0–4
• 4–0
• 3–4
• 3–4
• 4–2
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 1–4
• 3–4
• 4–0
• (2) 4–2

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

Total: 45^[16]

• 141, 135 Chris Wakelin
• 140, 126, 123, 120, 111, 106, 104, 101 Neil Robertson
• 138 Shaun Murphy
• 138 Zhao Xintong
• 136 Mark Davis
• 135, 117, 110, 102, 100 Kyren Wilson
• 129, 127, 123, 120, 119, 108, 108, 103 Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 128 Gary Wilson
• 127 Ali Carter
• 120 Xiao Guodong
• 119, 104, 103 John Higgins
• 115, 105 Martin Gould
• 114 Tom Ford
• 111, 104 Judd Trump
• 111 Ben Woollaston
• 109, 101 David Gilbert
• 105 Chang Bingyu
• 103 Jamie Clarke
• 102 Mark Selby
• 101 Luca Brecel
• 100 Ross Muir

Qualifying stage centuries

Total: 23^[17]

• 146 Barry Hawkins
• 139, 123, 105 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
• 135 John Higgins
• 129 Kyren Wilson
• 126 Ricky Walden
• 125 Cao Yupeng
• 113 Mark Joyce
• 113 Mark Selby
• 111 Chang Bingyu
• 111 Alexander Ursenbacher
• 109 Anthony McGill
• 109 Judd Trump
• 108 Jimmy Robertson
• 107 David Gilbert
• 106 Tom Ford
• 106 Chris Wakelin
• 104 Stuart Carrington
• 104 Anthony Hamilton
• 101 Robbie Williams
• 101 Gary Wilson
• 100 Ronnie O'Sullivan

Notes and References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20210628111424/https://wst.tv/betvictor-extends-involvement-with-wst/ "BetVictor extends involvement with WST"
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526151310/https://wst.tv/tickets-for-uk-events-on-sale-from-friday/ "Tickets for UK events on sale"
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20210818154558/https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Calendar_2021_22_v18.04.pdf "Updated 2021/22 Calendar"
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20210825132316/https://wst.tv/betvictor-english-open-draw/ "BetVictor English Open Draw"
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20201019054917/https://wst.tv/trump-beats-robertson-in-fantastic-final/ "Trump beats Robertson in fantastic final"
6. Web site: 5 November 2021. King Stuns World Number One Trump. dead. World Snooker Tour. https://web.archive.org/web/20211105191231/https://wst.tv/king-stuns-world-number-one-trump/ . 2021-11-05 .
7. Web site: 8 November 2021. Robertson Downs Higgins In Classic Clash. https://web.archive.org/web/20211108002117/https://wst.tv/robertson-downs-higgins-in-classic-clash/. dead. November 8, 2021. World Snooker Tour.
8. Web site: Davies. Jonathan. "Extra incentive" as Neil Robertson eyes Home Nations grand slam. 17 October 2022. livesnooker.com.
9. News: 8 November 2021. Neil Robertson rallies against John Higgins to win English Open. RTE. 9 November 2021.
10. http://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=1157 "English Open Qualifiers (2021)"
11. Web site: Zhou and Zhang Withdrawn From English Open. https://web.archive.org/web/20210917142648/https://wst.tv/zhou-and-zhang-withdrawn-from-english-open/. dead. September 17, 2021. 17 September 2021. World Snooker Tour. 17 September 2021.
12. Web site: Cahill Pulls Out of BetVictor English Open. https://web.archive.org/web/20211102020708/https://wst.tv/cahill-pulls-out-of-betvictor-english-open/. dead. November 2, 2021. November 2021.
13. Web site: 27 October 2021. Williams Withdraws From European Masters And English Open. dead. World Snooker Tour. https://web.archive.org/web/20211027134613/https://wst.tv/williams-withdraws-from-european-masters-and-english-open/ . 2021-10-27 .
14. Web site: 23 August 2021. Deaville And Sykes Earn English Open Spots. dead. World Snooker Tour. https://web.archive.org/web/20210828102349/https://wst.tv/deaville-and-sykes-earn-english-open-spots/ . 2021-08-28 .
15. Match was held over and played in Milton Keynes.
16. Web site: BetVictor English Open 2021 Centuries. 1–7 November 2021. World Snooker Tour. 1 November 2021. 27 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220527212121/https://livescores.worldsnookerdata.com/Centuries/CenturyBreaks/14475/betvictor-english-open-2021. dead.
17. Web site: 17–22 September 2021. BetVictor English Open 2021 Qualifiers Centuries. live. World Snooker Tour. https://web.archive.org/web/20210917110131/https://livescores.worldsnookerdata.com/Centuries/CenturyBreaks/14476/betvictor-english-open-2021-qualifiers . 2021-09-17 .