2023 Welsh Open (snooker)

2023 BetVictor Welsh Open
Tournament information
Dates13–19 February 2023 (2023-02-13 – 2023-02-19)
VenueVenue Cymru
CityLlandudno
CountryWales
OrganisationWorld Snooker Tour
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£427,000
Winner's share£80,000
Highest break Shaun Murphy (ENG) (147)
Final
Champion Robert Milkins (ENG)
Runner-up Shaun Murphy (ENG)
Score9–7
2022
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.[3]

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.[7] 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,[8] but he lost 1–4 to Robbie Williams in the last 32.[9] 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.[10][7]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Top half

[edit]
 
Last 64
Best of 7 frames
Last 32
Best of 7 frames
Last 16
Best of 7 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 Joe Perry (ENG) (1)4
 
 
 
 Mark Joyce (ENG)1
 
England Joe Perry (1)1
 
 
 
England Robbie Williams4
 
 Liam Davies (WAL)0
 
 
 
 Robbie Williams (ENG)4
 
England Robbie Williams0
 
 
 
England Joe O'Connor4
 
 Stuart Carrington (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Andy Lee (HKG)2
 
England Stuart Carrington0
 
 
 
England Joe O'Connor4
 
 Graeme Dott (SCO)2
 
 
 
 Joe O'Connor (ENG)4
 
England Joe O'Connor4
 
 
 
China Pang Junxu5
 
 Hammad Miah (ENG)2
 
 
 
 Aaron Hill (IRL)4
 
Republic of Ireland Aaron Hill1
 
 
 
China Pang Junxu4
 
 Pang Junxu (CHN)4
 
 
 
 Kyren Wilson (ENG) (9)2
 
China Pang Junxu4
 
 
 
Wales Jak Jones2
 
 Julien Leclercq (BEL)4
 
 
 
 Jordan Brown (NIR) (24)2
 
Belgium Julien Leclercq2
 
 
 
Wales Jak Jones4
 
 Jak Jones (WAL)4
 
 
 
 Mark Williams (WAL) (8)3
 
China Pang Junxu3
 
 
 
England Shaun Murphy (11)6
 
 Judd Trump (ENG) (5)4
 
 
 
 Louis Heathcote (ENG)2
 
England Judd Trump (5)2
 
 
 
Wales Daniel Wells4
 
 Matthew Selt (ENG) (27)1
 
 
 
 Daniel Wells (WAL)4
 
Wales Daniel Wells1
 
 
 
England Shaun Murphy (11)4
 
 Shaun Murphy (ENG) (11)4
 
 
 
 Peng Yisong (CHN)1
 
England Shaun Murphy (11)4
 
 
 
Scotland Anthony McGill (20)2
 
 Anthony McGill (SCO) (20)4
 
 
 
 Sam Craigie (ENG)2
 
England Shaun Murphy (11)5
 
 
 
China Yuan Sijun0
 
 David Lilley (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Ricky Walden (ENG) (19)1
 
England David Lilley2
 
 
 
England Jack Lisowski (12)4
 
 Ryan Thomerson (AUS)0
 
 
 
 Jack Lisowski (ENG) (12)4
 
England Jack Lisowski (12)1
 
 
 
China Yuan Sijun4
 
 Yuan Sijun (CHN)4
 
 
 
 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (28)1
 
China Yuan Sijun4
 
 
 
Wales Dominic Dale1
 
 Dominic Dale (WAL)4
 
 
 Neil Robertson (AUS) (4)0
 

Bottom half

[edit]
 
Last 64
Best of 7 frames
Last 32
Best of 7 frames
Last 16
Best of 7 frames
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 Mark Selby (ENG) (3)4
 
 
 
 Si Jiahui (CHN)3
 
England Mark Selby (3)2
 
 
 
England Robert Milkins (30)4
 
 Robert Milkins (ENG) (30)4
 
 
 
 Dean Young (SCO)2
 
England Robert Milkins (30)4
 
 
 
Iran Hossein Vafaei (18)1
 
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) (13)4
 
 
 
 Ben Woollaston (ENG)0
 
England Barry Hawkins (13)3
 
 
 
Iran Hossein Vafaei (18)4
 
 Hossein Vafaei (IRN) (18)4
 
 
 
 Ken Doherty (IRL)1
 
England Robert Milkins (30)5
 
 
 
Northern Ireland Mark Allen (6)1
 
 Cao Yupeng (CHN)4
 
 
 
 Ding Junhui (CHN) (21)0
 
China Cao Yupeng1
 
 
 
Belgium Luca Brecel (10)4
 
 Elliot Slessor (ENG)0
 
 
 
 Luca Brecel (BEL) (10)4
 
Belgium Luca Brecel (10)2
 
 
 
Northern Ireland Mark Allen (6)4
 
 Andy Hicks (ENG)4
 
 
 
 Wu Yize (CHN)3
 
England Andy Hicks1
 
 
 
Northern Ireland Mark Allen (6)4
 
 Mitchell Mann (ENG)1
 
 
 
 Mark Allen (NIR) (6)4
 
England Robert Milkins (30)6
 
 
 
China Tian Pengfei2
 
 John Higgins (SCO) (7)4
 
 
 
 Martin Gould (ENG)0
 
Scotland John Higgins (7)4
 
 
 
England Sanderson Lam3
 
 Mohamed Ibrahim (EGY)2
 
 
 
 Sanderson Lam (ENG)4
 
Scotland John Higgins (7)1
 
 
 
China Tian Pengfei4
 
 Tian Pengfei (CHN)4
 
 
 
 Jimmy White (ENG)2
 
China Tian Pengfei4
 
 
 
England Ali Carter (22)2
 
 Ali Carter (ENG) (22)4
 
 
 
 Ian Martin (ENG)1
 
China Tian Pengfei5
 
 
 
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)0
 
 Chris Wakelin (ENG)2
 
 
 
 David Gilbert (ENG) (17)4
 
England David Gilbert (17)3
 
 
 
Belgium Ben Mertens4
 
 Ben Mertens (BEL)4
 
 
 
 Jackson Page (WAL)2
 
Belgium Ben Mertens0
 
 
 
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)4
 
 Matthew Stevens (WAL)3
 
 
 
 Rod Lawler (ENG)4
 
England Rod Lawler0
 
 
 
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)4
 
 Ross Muir (SCO)3
 
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (2)4
 

Final

[edit]
Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Pellew
Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales, 19 February 2023
Shaun Murphy (11)
 England
7–9 Robert Milkins (30)
 England
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

[edit]

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

Main qualifying

[edit]

Held-over matches

[edit]

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]

Century breaks

[edit]

Main stage centuries

[edit]

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

Qualifying stage centuries

[edit]

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

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2023 Betvictor Welsh Open". Venue Cymru. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Welsh Open moves to Llandudno in 2023". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b "BetVictor Welsh Open". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  4. ^ "BetVictor Welsh Open Draw". World Snooker. 21 December 2022. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  5. ^ "How To Watch the BetVictor Welsh Open". World Snooker. 8 February 2023. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Home Nations Series - 2023 BetVictor Welsh Open". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Milkins defeats Murphy to win Welsh Open". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Perry beats Trump to win Welsh Open". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  9. ^ "O'Sullivan, Trump & Higgins progress in Welsh Open". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Bob Bonanza: Milkins Wins Title And Bonus". World Snooker. 19 February 2023. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Murphy Makes 147 In Wales". World Snooker. 16 February 2023. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  12. ^ "2022–23 Season Prize Money Breakdown" (PDF). WST. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2022.
  13. ^ a b "BetVictor Welsh Open draw". World Snooker Tour. 21 December 2022. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Updated BetVictor Welsh Open Qualifiers Draw". 9 January 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Centuries – BetVictor Welsh Open 2023". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Centuries – BetVictor Welsh Open 2023 Qualifiers". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.