2021 Welsh Open (snooker)

The event's total prize fund was £405,000, with the winner receiving £70,000. The player accumulating the highest amount of prize money over the six events received a bonus of £150,000.[10] The breakdown of prize money is shown below:[11]

The first two rounds of the competition were played between 15 and 17 February, with rounds three and four on 18 February.[12] Defending champion Shaun Murphy was 20th in the one year ranking event, and required to gain four places to play in the next event, the Players Championship.[13] Murphy reached the last 16 with wins over Zak Surety,[13] Stuart Carrington, Ryan Day and Stuart Bingham.[12] World number one Judd Trump defeated Chinese players Zhao Jianbo and Si Jiahui but lost in the third round to Iranian player Hossein Vafaei 2–4.[14][12]

Two-time winner Mark Williams defeated Michael White 4–1 in the first round, with an average shot time of only 15 seconds. Williams later commented that "I’m going to play as fast as I can and get in and out as quick as I can. I’m actually going to see if I can get one match down as quick as ten seconds a shot. That’s my goal for the rest of the season."[15] Williams defeated Liam Highfield, Joe Perry and Vafaei to reach the quarter-finals.[12] Mark Selby made a break of 134 in his opening round win over Barry Pinches, but missed the final pink ball when on route to a maximum break.[13] Selby then defeated Jamie O'Neill, Joe O'Connor and Masters champion Yan Bingtao to reach the quarter-finals.[16] Jordan Brown defeated Luo Honghao, Sam Craigie and Alexander Ursenbacher before beating Mark King 4–3 to reach his second ranking quarter-final of his career.[17][12]

Ali Carter defeated Daniel Wells and Aaron Hill before beating both John Higgins and Mark Allen to reach the quarter-finals.[18] Ronnie O'Sullivan lost only one frame in his first four matches to reach the quarter-finals, whitewashing three players.[17] Eighth seed Stephen Maguire defeated two Welshmen in Dominic Dale and Matthew Stevens before beating Matthew Selt and Pang Junxu to reach the last eight.[12]

Jordan Brown (pictured in 2012) won his first ranking event with a 9–8 win over Ronnie O'Sullivan

The quarter-finals were played as the best-of-9 frames matches on 19 February.[12] Ali Carter withdrew from the event shortly before his match against Ronnie O'Sullivan due to health concerns.[19] The remaining three quarter-finals all went to a deciding frame.[12] Murphy, the defending champion, was defeated 4–5 by Maguire. He made breaks of 105, 84, 55, 90 and 133 to defeat Murphy. In losing the match, Murphy was unable to qualify for the Players Championship, finishing 17th in the one-year rankings.[20][21] Playing in the second ranking quarter-final of his career, Jordan Brown met Mark Selby. The match lasted three hours and 48 minutes and with the scores tied at 4–4, Selby missed the final black ball into the centre pocket, which Brown potted to win the match.[20] Mark Williams defeated Tom Ford 5–4 in the final quarter-final match which decided which of the two players would qualify for the Players Championship.[20][22]

The semi-finals were played as the best-of-11 frame matches on 20 February.[12] Williams took the opening frame in his match against O'Sullivan, before his opponent won the next six successive frames.[22] O'Sullivan commented "I knew he was playing well and scoring well. I had to be on my guard. I played pretty solidly."[22] The other semi-final was played between Jordan Brown and Steven Maguire.[23] Brown made a break of 135 in the opening frame, before Maguire tied the scores at 1–1.[23] Brown then made breaks of 56, 113 and 59 winning the next five frames to take the match 6–1.[23] Brown commented "Three years ago I was working in a petrol station and serving customers... To be in a ranking tournament final is just incredible".[23]

The final was played as the best-of-17 frames held over two sessions.[12] Brown was playing in his first ranking event final; whilst his opponent O'Sullivan was playing in his 56th.[24] Brown took the first two frames of the match before O'Sullivan won frame three. Brown won frame four with a break of 78 and led 4–1 after a century break.[24] The next two frames were won by O'Sullivan, however, Brown took the next frame to lead 5–3 after the first session.[24] After the break, O'Sullivan won the next three frames to take the lead, but Brown leveled the match in frame 12 to 6–6, and level again at 7–7.[25] In frame 15, O'Sullivan missed a pot on the pink ball and showed signs of frustration. Brown made a break of 56 to lead 8–7.[25] The match was taken into a deciding frame after a break of 119 by O'Sullivan.[25] Brown won the match 9–8 after a break of 74.[25] Ranked 81st in the world, Brown became the lowest-ranked player to win a ranking event since world number 93 Dave Harold won the 1993 Asian Open.[26] He also became the first Northern Irish player to win a Welsh Open title.[27]