2015 Welsh Open (snooker)
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| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16–22 February 2015 |
| Venue | Motorpoint Arena |
| City | Cardiff |
| Country | Wales |
| Organisation | WPBSA |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £300,000 |
| Winner's share | £60,000 |
| Highest break |  Luca Brecel (140) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  John Higgins |
| Runner-up |  Ben Woollaston |
| Score | 9–3 |
← 2014 2016 → | |
The 2015 BetVictor Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff from 16 to 22 February 2015. The tournament was staged in Cardiff for the first time since 2004, having moved from Newport.[1]
Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion,[2] but he lost 3–4 against Matthew Stevens in the last 32.[3]
The best-performing Welsh player was Mark Williams, who reached the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in 12 years.[4] He lost 5–6 to Ben Woollaston, who reached the first ranking final of his professional career.[5]
John Higgins defeated Woollaston 9–3 in the final to win the Welsh Open for a record fourth time and claim his first ranking title in two and a half years.[6]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[7]
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Main draw
128 players started the tournament, with the first four rounds played over the best of 7 frames. The quarter finals were played over 9 frames with the semi finals over the best of 11. The final was over 17 frames.[8][9]
Top half
First Quarter
Second Quarter
| First Round Best of 7 frames | Second Round Best of 7 frames | Third Round Best of 7 frames | Fourth Round Best of 7 frames | Quarter Final Best of 9 frames | ||||||||||||||
 Mark Allen | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
 Alexander Ursenbacher | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mark Allen | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
 Cao Yupeng | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Cao Yupeng | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Craig Steadman | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mark Allen | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
 Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mark Davis | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mark Davis | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Lyu Chenwei | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ali Carter | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Xiao Guodong | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Joe Swail | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Xiao Guodong | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Matthew Selt | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Matthew Selt | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ian Burns | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Matthew Selt | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ali Carter | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mark King | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eden Sharav | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mark King | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ali Carter | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ali Carter | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Fraser Patrick | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Joe Perry | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Lee Page | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Joe Perry | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Yu Delu | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Yu Delu | w/o | |||||||||||||||||
 John Sutton | w/d | |||||||||||||||||
| Joe Perry | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Zhang Anda | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| John Astley | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| David Gilbert | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| John Astley | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
 Neil Robertson | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Anthony McGill | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| David Grace | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Anthony McGill | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Jamie Cope | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Jamie Cope | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Elliot Slessor | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Jamie Cope | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Neil Robertson | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| David Morris | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Joe O'Connor | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| David Morris | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Neil Robertson | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Neil Robertson | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| James Cahill | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Bottom half
Third Quarter
Fourth Quarter
Finals
| Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Final Best of 17 frames | ||||||||||||
 Marco Fu
| 1 | |||||||||||||
 Mark Williams
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Mark Williams
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston
| 6 | |||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Gary Wilson
| 2 | |||||||||||||
| Ben Woollaston
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| John Higgins
| 9 | |||||||||||||
| John Higgins
| 5 | |||||||||||||
| Stephen Maguire
| 1 | |||||||||||||
| John Higgins
| 6 | |||||||||||||
| Luca Brecel
| 4 | |||||||||||||
| Ricky Walden
| 3 | |||||||||||||
| Luca Brecel
| 5 | |||||||||||||
Final
| Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Marcel Eckardt Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, 22 February 2015.[10] | ||
| Ben Woollaston England
|
3–9 | John Higgins Scotland
|
| Afternoon: 4–120 (84), 71–51 (58), 17–101 (63), 0–105 (105), 74–23 (54), 0–84 (66), 62–19, 59–72 (Woollaston 59) Evening: 5–97, 34–69, 9–88 (68), 8–130 (83) | ||
| 59 | Highest break | 105 |
| 0 | Century breaks | 1 |
| 3 | 50+ breaks | 6 |
Century breaks
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References
- ^ "Welsh Open Set For Cardiff". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ Hafez, Shamoon (2 March 2014). "Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Ding Junhui in Welsh Open final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ "Welsh Open: Ronnie O'Sullivan knocked out by Matthew Stevens". BBC Sport. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ^ "Mark Williams breezes through to the Welsh Open semi-finals". WalesOnline. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ^ "Welsh Open: Woollaston beats Williams to set up Higgins final". BBC Sport. 21 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ^ "John Higgins beats Ben Woollaston to win Welsh Open". BBC Sport. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ^ "Indicative Prize Money Rankings Schedule 2014/2015 season" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 12 May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.worldsnooker.com/staticFiles/7a/c5/0,,13165~181626,00.pdf
- ^ http://www.worldsnooker.com/staticFiles/7b/c5/0,,13165~181627,00.pdf
- ^ "BetVictor Welsh Open". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ^ "Welsh Open: century breaks". worldsnookerdata.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 18 February 2015.