The Northern Ireland Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament held in Belfast as part of the four-event Home Nations Series. The players compete for the Alex Higgins Trophy, named for the late two-time world champion who was born and raised in Belfast. The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 2016 and was won by Mark King.
In 2017, Yan Bingtao became the youngest player to reach a ranking final. Yan came close to breaking Ronnie O'Sullivan's record of being the youngest player to win a ranking event, which had stood for 24 years, but he narrowly lost to Mark Williams 8–9 after having led 8–7. This final also featured one of the biggest age gaps between finalists as Williams was almost 25 years older than Yan. Additionally, Yan also became the first player born in the 2000s to reach the final of a ranking tournament.
In 2021, Mark Allen became the first Northern Irish player to win the event, knocking out defending champion Judd Trump in the quarter-finals and beating John Higgins 9–8 in the final, after trailing 6–8.[5] In 2022, Allen successfully defended the title, coming from 1–4 down to beat Zhou Yuelong 9–4.[6][7]
In 2023, Judd Trump regained the title for a record-extending fourth time, beating Chris Wakelin 9–3 in the final.[8] Trump reached the final again in 2024 but lost 3–9 to reigning World Champion Kyren Wilson who became the first right-handed player to win the event.[9][10]
