Controversy over Macau exhibition event chairman
Barry Hearn (pictured) warned that competing in an overlapping exhibition event in
Macau, China, would breach players' contracts. Five players—reigning world champion
Luca Brecel,
Ali Carter,
John Higgins,
Mark Selby, and
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh—elected not to enter the Northern Ireland Open because they had planned to play at an exhibition event originally scheduled to take place from 27 to 29 October in
Macau, China. The WST threatened to refer the players to the disciplinary committee of the
World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) if they competed in Macau rather than Belfast, claiming that playing in an unsanctioned event that clashed with an official tour event would constitute a breach of their players' contracts. Former WST chairman
Barry Hearn warned the players—dubbed the "Macau Five" by some media outlets—that they could be fined, banned, or even expelled from the sport as a consequence. Seven-time world champion
Ronnie O'Sullivan supported the players, saying: "This is about players being able to earn what they can, and choose how and when they play." Following negotiations among the WST, the players, and the Macau promoter, the exhibition event was rescheduled for 22 to 24 December. The WST granted players permission to enter and dropped the threat of disciplinary action, stating that "a mutually agreeable solution has been reached". However, the five players did not take part in the Northern Ireland Open, having not entered the event. The defending champion
Mark Allen subsequently commented: "I was offered the opportunity to play in Macau and the only reason I didn't was that it would clash with Belfast. I wouldn't miss Belfast. It means a lot to me and sometimes it's not just about money for me." However, he called the players' contract "very restrictive" and said he was "very strongly in the players' camp" in their dispute with the WST. Allen also claimed that the game was in "disarray", had "gone nowhere in recent years", and said: "I don't think anything will change until the players revolt. We need to boycott collectively. Top players missing an event is the only way it will change." He called the WST's statements about the Macau event "amateurish", adding: "To say they've treated the players with respect is laughable when there have been threats of suing and banning them." Allen later retracted his comments and issued an apology.
Scoreboard issues Issues occurred throughout the event with the , the on-screen scores on Eurosport and Discovery+, and the World Snooker Tour's live scores website, causing disruption to some matches. During the first-round match between
Neil Robertson and
Wu Yize, a manual scoreboard was used after the electronic one malfunctioned.
Qualifying round (pictured) made a 144 break, the highest of the qualifying round, but he lost 24 to
Stan Moody. Qualifying for the event took place from 17 to 20 October 2023 at the
Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in
Sheffield, England. All qualifying matches were the best of seven frames.
Zak Surety secured a 42 victory over 28th seed
Joe O'Connor, who made a 129 break in the second frame. Northern Irish player
Jordan Brown advanced to the main stage of his home event with a 42 win over
Stuart Carrington. The 1997 world champion
Ken Doherty made breaks of 135 and 65 as he came from 23 behind against
Liam Highfield to secure a 43 victory.
Matthew Stevens recovered from 12 behind against seven-time world champion
Stephen Hendry to win 42. After reaching his first ranking quarter-final at the previous week's
2023 Wuhan Open, Irish player
Aaron Hill defeated former world seniors champion
David Lilley 41. Hong Kong's
Marco Fu made breaks of 133 and 104 as he defeated
Jamie Jones 42, while the 2006 world champion
Graeme Dott Oliver Lines 40, and
Joe Perry defeated
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 42.
Stan Moody, who turned 17 the previous month, achieved his first win on the professional tour by defeating the previous year's runner-up, 20th seed
Zhou Yuelong. Zhou made a 144 break in the opening frame, but Moody made a century and two half-centuries as he secured a 42 victory. The 2015 world champion
Stuart Bingham made a 117 break in his match against
Ashley Hugill; Bingham went on to clinch a 43 victory, winning the decider on the final black.
Estonian player
Andres Petrov made a 112 break in the deciding frame to beat
Sanderson Lam 43. From 13 behind,
Stephen Maguire made breaks including 126 and 100 to defeat
Fergal O'Brien 43.
Zhang Anda, runner-up at the English Open earlier that month, defeated
2023 World Championship semi-finalist and 26th seed
Si Jiahui 41. The 2022 women's world champion
Mink Nutcharut won the first two frames against
Michael White, but she then lost four consecutive frames and the match 24.
Early rounds Held-over qualifying matches (pictured) replaced world number one
Ronnie O'Sullivan, who withdrew for medical reasons. He lost 04 to
David Gilbert in the last 16. The held-over qualifying matches were played on 22 and 23 October as the best of seven frames. Due to the absence of the "Macau Five", four of whom were top-16 players, plus the absence of O'Sullivan and world number 15 Ding Junhui, only 10 of the top-16 ranked players participated in the tournament, which Allen called "a shame for the Belfast crowd". Neil Robertson, yet to reach the last 32 of a ranking event that season, defeated Wu 41.
Judd Trump defeated
Jenson Kendrick, and
Jack Lisowski defeated
Rebecca Kenna, both by 41 scorelines. Northern Irish wildcard
Robbie McGuigan, aged 19, defeated
Muhammad Asif, also by a 41 scoreline. During the match, referee
Alex Crișan mistakenly picked up the after McGuigan had potted the pink, and attempted to place it on the pink spot.
Mark Williams made a 140 total clearance during his 41 win over
Tian Pengfei.
Shaun Murphy brought three cues to the tournament, with respective tip sizes of 9.2 mm, 9.3 mm, and 9.5 mm. He used the cues with 9.2 mm and 9.5 mm tips against Australia's
Ryan Thomerson, winning 42. The defending champion and top seed Allen whitewashed
Ben Mertens 40, with a highest break of 55, for his 14th consecutive win at the tournament. Allen described his performance as "average" but said "It wasn't about playing well tonight, it was about getting through a potential banana skin, because [Mertens is] a classy opponent".
Gary Wilson made breaks of 69, 118, 94, and 50 in his 43 victory over
Louis Heathcote. Brown won the opening frame against Neil Robertson with a 94 break and went on to take a 30 lead. Robertson won the fourth with a 125 break, but Brown clinched a 41 victory with a 51 break in the fifth. "It's right up there with my best wins, even if [Robertson] has not been in his best form", Brown said afterwards. He dedicated his win to his former coach Joe Bingham on the fifth anniversary of his death. (pictured) lost 34 in the last 64 to
Andres Petrov. Moody reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time by beating
Rod Lawler 41. Moody won the opening frame with a 102 century, won the second from 57 points behind by making a 66 clearance, and took the last two frames on the colours. "I have more confidence and belief now that I have won a couple of matches", Moody said afterwards. "I will just keep playing my game and I know if I do that I can beat anyone". Murphy made breaks of 122, 80, and 117 as he took a 31 lead over Hong Kong's
Marco Fu. However, Fu recovered to tie the scores at 33, winning the sixth frame after Murphy called a push shot foul on himself while potting the penultimate red. In the deciding frame, Fu led by 27 points with 27 remaining, but Murphy obtained foul points from a snooker and then made a clearance from the green, winning the match on the final black. Asked afterwards about declaring the push shot, Murphy stated: "I don't think the referee saw it. You couldn't tell that I had fouled, but I knew. We pride ourselves in our game on honesty and it cost me that frame". Petrov, who also reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time, commented afterwards: "It's the best win of my career, by far". Two-time semi-finalist Perry made a 145 total clearance in the third frame of his match against Michael White, equalling the highest break of his career; Perry went on to win the match in a deciding frame.
Ricky Walden played Dale in a match that lasted three hours and eight minutes. Walden made breaks of 83, 68, and 93 to take a 31 lead, but Dale tied the scores at 33 to force a decider. Walden won the match on the final blue. Bingham made a 118 break in his 41 defeat of
Xu Si. Trump made two centuries as he whitewashed
Julien Leclercq in 45 minutes, extending his winning streak to 15 consecutive matches.
Robbie Williams defeated Mark Williams 42; the final frame of the match was interrupted by a fire alarm at the venue.
Last 32 The round of 32 was played as the best of seven frames on 25 and 26 October. Maguire defeated Craigie 42, while Walden defeated Bingham 41.
Last 16 The round of 16 was played as the best of seven frames on 26 October.
Later rounds Quarter-finals (pictured) reached his first ranking quarter-final since the
2022 World Championship, but lost 45 to
Judd Trump. The quarter-finals were played as the best of nine frames on 27 October. Hawkins made breaks of 134, 91, and 138 as he took a 31 lead over Gilbert at the mid-session interval. However, Gilbert won three of the next four frames with breaks including 58, 65, and 106, tying the scores at 44. Hawkins made a 57 break in the decider—potting blues and baulk colours from the reds, as pink and black were unavailable—to clinch a 54 victory and reach his 31st ranking semi-final. Calling it a "fantastic match", Hawkins said: "I'm delighted to come through, especially with a good break in the last frame". Trump, the only top-10 player to reach the quarter-finals, faced Maguire, who won the first frame. Trump won the second with a 78 break, but Maguire won the third with a 74, and won the fourth after a safety battle on the final brown to lead 31 at the mid-session interval. Trump won the next two frames with breaks of 109 and 81 to tie the scores at 33, but made a safety error on the last red in frame seven that allowed Maguire to move 43 ahead. Trump tied the scores again at 44 with a 71 break, and made breaks of 54 and 24 in the deciding frame to clinch a 54 victory, reaching his 57th ranking semi-final. He said after the match: "At 13 down I felt I hadn't done much wrong and I would get my chances. I was never worried. When I got a chance in the decider I really felt I would take it". The match between Wakelin and Yuan was tied at 22 at the mid-session interval. Wakelin then won three consecutive frames to secure a 52 victory. The match produced four half-century breaks, three by Wakelin and one by Yuan. Afterwards Wakelin called the match "scrappy" and said that "trying to get over the line felt like climbing Mount Everest". He added: "I have battled well and I have not shown that in recent years. I've had a tendency to go into my shell and be scared of losing. This week I have battled from the heart. I have put everything into it".
Semi-finals (pictured) reached his second ranking final. As runner-up in the tournament, he advanced to a career high of 21st in the world rankings. The semi-finals were played as the best of 11 frames on 28 October. In the evening session, Trump faced Hawkins, who had defeated him 96 two months before in the
2023 European Masters final. Hawkins won the first three frames with a highest break of 58, and led 31 at the mid-session interval. Hawkins extended his lead to 41 with a 75 break. However, Trump made two breaks of 70 to close the gap to one frame, and then won the eighth frame to tie the scores at 44. The ninth frame came down to the colours. Trump missed a double on the brown, but Hawkins missed the pink, which allowed Trump to take the lead for the first time at 54. Trump then made a 128 total clearance in frame 10 for a 64 victory, his 19th consecutive win in ranking tournaments. Afterwards, he commented: "When I get on a roll I am able to go a few frames without missing many balls and maybe at the moment that's the difference between me and everyone else."
Final (pictured) contested his 41st ranking final, equalling
Steve Davis's total. He defeated
Chris Wakelin 93 to become the fifth player to win three consecutive ranking events. The final was played as the best of 17 frames on 29 October between world number three Trump and world number 25 Wakelin. Trump contested his 41st ranking final, equalling
Steve Davis on the all-time list, behind only O'Sullivan with 61 ranking final appearances, Hendry with 57, and John Higgins with 55. In all, Trump made three centuries and four other breaks over 50 in the final, his 20th consecutive ranking event victory. "Things have happened so fast over the last three weeks. It feels surreal now and it has not sunk in", commented Trump afterwards. "The last session tonight was the best I have felt in the whole 20-match run. I felt really sharp. Once I get in front I can relax, play my best and overpower my opponents... Mentally I have been in a good place when the chances come up." Runner-up Wakelin, who advanced to a career high of 21st in the world rankings after the tournament, said: "This time last year I was in a bad place but the last 12 months have been great for me, on and off the table. To have the privilege to play in this arena tonight was fantastic." ==Main draw==