The qualifying rounds for the 2025 Northern Ireland Open concluded yesterday and here is the report shared by WST:

Brecel Notches First Win

Luca Brecel registered his first win of the season by beating Liam Davies 4-0 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.

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After skipping the first few ranking events of the campaign, Brecel made his return at the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers but conceded his tie with Sunny Akani when 2-0 behind. This time the 2023 World Champion stuck to the task and completed a whitewash over Davies with top breaks of 79 and 52. Brecel, who lies 41st in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, will head to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast next month for the televised stages.

Steven Hallworth, who enjoyed a career-high payday at the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters by reaching the last 32, scored another impressive win with a 4-3 defeat of Matthew Stevens. From 3-2 down, Hallworth fired breaks of 136 and 64 in the last two frames.

Two-time ranking event winner Anthony McGill could be in danger of relegation later in the season so a 4-1 win over Alexander Ursenbacher, with a top run of 88, was a much-needed boost. Robert Milkins also needs positive results to keep his tour card and he saw off Patrick Whelan 4-2. Ben Woollaston closed with a 109 in a 4-0 win over Mateusz Baranowski.

Liam Pullen made a career-high break of 143 but still lost 4-2 to Long Zehuang.

All the detailed results can be found on snooker.org, as usual.

It seems that yesterday the WST “redactor” stayed put until most of the games finished.

Among the results not mentioned here above is the 4-3 win by Ashley Hugill, who played in this as an amateur, over Ricky Walden. Ricky once was a top 16 player but recurring back injuries/pain destroyed his career. This saddens me. When on form Ricky is a beautiful player to watch and someone who loves his sport deeply. Also, he absolutely hates losing … you better leave him alone for a couple of hours after a defeat 🙄 😉.

The Hallworth v Stevens match was a good one to watch, and I’m pleased with the result too. Steven Hallworth does a great job for Eurosport/TNT and I believe that it helps him. He’s not relying solely on his results at the table to make a living, and, after a defeat, working in the studio probably helps him moving on and not dwelling on the lost match.