2023 Welsh Open (snooker) explained

Tournament Name:	2023 BetVictor Welsh Open
Venue:	Venue Cymru
Location:	Llandudno
Country:	Wales
Organisation:	World Snooker Tour
Format:	Ranking event
Total Prize Fund:	£427,000
Winners Share:	£80,000
Highest Break:	(147)
Score:	9–7
Previous:	2022
Next:	2024

The 2023 Welsh Open (officially the 2023 BetVictor Welsh Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 13 to 19 February 2023 at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales,^[1] marking the first time since the event's inception in 1992 that it was staged elsewhere than Newport or Cardiff.^[2] Qualifiers took place from 11 to 13 January 2023 at the Metrodome in Barnsley,^[3] although matches involving the top 16 players in the world rankings, as well as matches involving two Welsh wild-card entrants, were held over and played at the final venue.^[4] Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by online betting company BetVictor, the tournament was broadcast by BBC Cymru Wales and the BBC Red Button domestically, by Eurosport in Europe, and by multiple other broadcasters internationally.^[5] The winner received £80,000 from a total prize fund of £427,000.

The 11th ranking event of the 2022–23 season, the Welsh Open was the fourth and final tournament in the season's Home Nations Series, following the Northern Ireland Open, the Scottish Open, and the English Open.^[6] It was also the final tournament in the season's BetVictor Series, which carried a £150,000 bonus for the player who won the most cumulative prize money across its eight events. Matches were played as the best of seven frames until the quarter-finals, which were the best of nine frames. The semi-finals were the best of 11 frames and the final was the best of 17 frames.

Joe Perry was the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 9–5 in the 2022 final,^[7] but he lost 1–4 to Robbie Williams in the last 32.^[8] Robert Milkins defeated Shaun Murphy 9–7 in the final to win his second ranking title, and also secured the BetVictor Series bonus, having won cumulative prize money of £127,000 across the eight tournaments. He advanced from 27th to 16th place in the world rankings after the event.^{[9] [10]}

The event's main stage produced a total of 48 century breaks. Murphy made back-to-back breaks of 145 and 147, the highest of the tournament, in the second and third frames of his last-16 match against Daniel Wells. The 147 was Murphy's seventh maximum break in professional competition.^[11]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:^[12]

• Winner: £80,000
• Runner-up: £35,000
• Semi-final: £17,500
• Quarter-final: £11,000
• Last 16: £7,500
• Last 32: £4,500
• Last 64: £3,000
• Highest break: £5,000
• Total: £427,000

Main draw

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Pellew Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales, 19 February 2023
Shaun Murphy (11)	7–9	Robert Milkins (30)
Afternoon: 61–58, 62–25, 47–67, 70–28, 7–116, 58–68, 27–66, 111–6 Evening: 19–71, 99–0, 62–69, 5–72, 65–16, 0–75, 114–0 (114), 11–72
114	Highest break	66
1	Century breaks	0

Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 11 to 13 January 2023 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England.^[13]

Main qualifying

• 0–4
• 2–4
• 3–4
• 1–4
• 3–4
• 1–4
• 4–3
• 4–0
• 4–1
• 0–4
• 1–4
• 4–2
• 4–2
• 4–1
• 4–3
• 1–4
• 4–3
• 4–2
• 4–2
• 1–4
• 4–1
• 1–4
• 4–0
• 4–2
• 4–3
• 0–4
• 4–3
• 4–1
• 4–0
• 4–0
• 4–2
• 0–4
• 1–4
• 2–4
• 3–4
• 4–2
• 4–0
• 4–2
• 3–4
• 1–4
• 0–4
• 4–1
• 2–4
• 1–4

Held-over matches

Matches involving the top 16 seeds and the nominated wild-card players were played at the Venue Cymru. Due to David Gilbert and Hossein Vafaei being late replacements for the 2023 Masters, their matches were also held-over, due to clashing with the scheduled qualifying slot.^{[13] [14]}

• (1) 4–0
• 3–4
• 1–4
• 3–4
• (9) 4–1
• (8) 4–2
• (5) 4–0
• 4–0
• 4–0
• (4) 4–1
• (3) 4–2
• 4–1
• 4–2
• 4–1
• (6) 4–1
• (7) 4–0
• 1–4
• 1–4
• 4–2
• (2) 4–0

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

A total of 48 century breaks were made during the main event.^[15]

• 147, 145, 134, 114, 102, 100 Shaun Murphy
• 142, 113, 110 David Gilbert
• 138 Jack Lisowski
• 137, 115, 109 Robert Milkins
• 135, 112, 101 John Higgins
• 134, 114 David Lilley
• 133, 102, 100 Hossein Vafaei
• 133 Marco Fu
• 131, 105 Jackson Page
• 130 Ben Mertens
• 129 Neil Robertson
• 125, 116 Robbie Williams
• 124, 124 Mark Selby
• 124 Ali Carter
• 124 Pang Junxu
• 122 Mark Williams
• 122 Liam Davies
• 114 Sanderson Lam
• 108, 100 Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 108 Joe O'Connor
• 107 Joe Perry
• 105, 101 Mark Allen
• 105 Si Jiahui
• 104 Asjad Iqbal
• 102 Andy Lee
• 102 Wu Yize
• 101 Daniel Wells
• 100 Luca Brecel
• 100 Yuan Sijun

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 14 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage for the event.^[16]

• 142 Elliot Slessor
• 139 Stephen Maguire
• 138, 108 Ricky Walden
• 136 Ben Woollaston
• 127 Sam Craigie
• 117 Martin Gould
• 112 Scott Donaldson
• 105 Jak Jones
• 104 Andrew Pagett
• 102 Mitchell Mann
• 102 Daniel Wells
• 100 Steven Hallworth
• 100 Fergal O'Brien

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023 Betvictor Welsh Open. Venue Cymru. 18 December 2022. 18 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221218213933/https://www.venuecymru.co.uk/2023-betvictor-welsh-open. dead.
2. News: Welsh Open moves to Llandudno in 2023 . en-GB . BBC Sport . 2022-12-22.
3. Web site: BetVictor Welsh Open . https://web.archive.org/web/20210512211954/https://wst.tv/tournaments/welsh-open/ . dead . 12 May 2021 . 2022-12-26 . World Snooker . en-US.
4. Web site: 2022-12-21 . BetVictor Welsh Open Draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20221221163838/https://wst.tv/betvictor-welsh-open-draw-2023/ . dead . 21 December 2022 . 2022-12-22 . World Snooker . en-US.
5. Web site: 2023-02-08 . How To Watch the BetVictor Welsh Open . https://web.archive.org/web/20230209074302/https://wst.tv/how-to-watch-the-betvictor-welsh-open-3/ . dead . 9 February 2023 . 2023-02-09 . World Snooker . en-US.
6. Web site: Home Nations Series - 2023 BetVictor Welsh Open. https://web.archive.org/web/20220817154709/https://wst.tv/tickets/home-nations-series-2023-welsh-open/. dead. 17 August 2022. World Snooker.
7. News: Perry beats Trump to win Welsh Open . en-GB . BBC Sport . 2022-12-22.
8. News: O'Sullivan, Trump & Higgins progress in Welsh Open . en-GB . BBC Sport . 2023-02-15.
9. Web site: 2023-02-19 . Bob Bonanza: Milkins Wins Title And Bonus . https://web.archive.org/web/20230219222722/https://wst.tv/bob-bonanza-mikins-wins-title-and-bonus/ . dead . 19 February 2023 . 2023-02-19 . World Snooker . en-US.
10. News: Milkins defeats Murphy to win Welsh Open . en-GB . BBC Sport . 2023-02-20.
11. Web site: 2023-02-16 . Murphy Makes 147 In Wales . https://web.archive.org/web/20230216201700/https://wst.tv/murphy-makes-147-in-wales/ . dead . 16 February 2023 . 2023-02-16 . World Snooker . en-US.
12. Web site: 2022–23 Season Prize Money Breakdown. WST. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20220512160752/https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Click-here-for-the-prize-money-breakdown.pdf. 12 May 2022.
13. Web site: BetVictor Welsh Open draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20221221163838/https://wst.tv/betvictor-welsh-open-draw-2023/ . dead . 21 December 2022 . 21 December 2022 . World Snooker Tour.
14. Web site: Updated BetVictor Welsh Open Qualifiers Draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20230109203337/https://wst.tv/updated-betvictor-welsh-open-qualifiers-draw/ . dead . 9 January 2023 . 9 January 2023 .
15. Web site: Centuries – BetVictor Welsh Open 2023 . 2023-02-19 . livescores.worldsnookerdata.com . 3 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230203035101/https://livescores.worldsnookerdata.com/Centuries/CenturyBreaks/14591/betvictor-welsh-open-2023 . dead .
16. Web site: Centuries – BetVictor Welsh Open 2023 Qualifiers. 2023-01-11. livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. 27 January 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230127205531/https://livescores.worldsnookerdata.com/Centuries/CenturyBreaks/14592/betvictor-welsh-open-2023-qualifiers. dead.