Northern Ireland Open Snooker Prediction, Betting Tips & Odds

🎱 Northern Irish Open Betting Preview

With the first-ever edition of the Northern Ireland Open taking place in 2016, the 2024 edition will be the 9th iteration of this ranking event. The main qualifiers for the event (rounds one and two) which involved the lower-ranked players in the tournament, were played at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, England on September 28 and 29.

The winners from these qualifiers will meet the top 32 in round three (last 64) in Belfast from October 20 to 27, so the complete line-up for this year’s competition is not up.

Once the qualifiers are completed, there will be 64 players battling it out on the tables. Here’s how the competition will be divided:

• 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
• Final - Best of 17 Frames

While the full line-up is not yet available, you can expect the event’s top dogs to make it to the semi-finals. In this section of my Northern Ireland Open prediction, I will go over the top players who are likely to take a shot at winning the Alex Higgins trophy. I would have loved to give you the different Northern Ireland Open snooker odds that the best bookmakers are offering for each player, but these odds are not yet available.

If you would like to learn more about the top bookies for betting on the 2024 NI Open, I recommend you visit our bookmaker reviews page. These sites also have exciting free bets you can use for this event.

1️⃣ Judd Trump

One of the best ways to predict who will win a competition is to check out which players have won it in the past. For one thing, history always has a way of repeating itself. To date, Judd Trump is the most successful player in the Northern Ireland Open, having won the title three times in a row between 2018 and 2020. Funny enough, Trump faced Ronnie O’Sullivan in each of those matches, beating him 9-7 every time. In the 2019 encounter, Trump recorded 11 century breaks throughout the tournament, which is among the highest ever recorded so far.

The world's number one returned in 2023 to reclaim his crown after defeating Chris Wakelin 9-3 in the finals, bringing his match-winning sequence to 20. The same year, he won the English Open and the Wuhan Open, so he’s going to be in top form as he looks to defend his title.

2️⃣ Ronnie O’Sullivan

While Ronnie O’Sullivan has made it to the finals of the NI Open three times, he’s yet to record a win. It makes sense that he will be looking to grab the title this season to add it to his long list of trophies. The seven-time world champion has already bagged five titles, winning his 41st-ranking title at the 2024 World Grand Prix after defeating Judd Trump 10-7. He went on to win the invitational 2024 World Masters of Snooker title after he beat Brecel 5-2. O’Sullivan has also tasted success in the UK Championship, Shangai Masters, and Masters tournaments.

Considered snooker’s greatest player, the Englishman is the only player to have recorded 15 147 breaks in a professional snooker competition, the highest ever. Despite Trump halting his eight-year unbeaten run at the Shangai Masters, O’Sullivan is still able to build big breaks without breaking a sweat.

3️⃣ Mark Allen

When predicting who is likely to lift the Alex Higgins trophy, it’s hard to not put local boy Mark Allen in the mix. In 2021 and 2022, he won the title after beating John Higgins 9-8 and Zhou Yuelong 9-4. Earlier in 2016, Allen struck his first 147 maximum break at the UK Championship and went on to make three other maximum breaks during his career with the most recent being the 2024 British Open.

The eleven-time ranking event winner and two-time winner of the NI Open has won both the Masters and UK Championship titles during his career. Allen is also among the few players from Northern Ireland to win a Triple Crown Series event at the 2018 Masters after his defeat of Luca Brecel, Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, and Kyren Wilson. I do not doubt that Allen is in decent form to make it to the finals this year, especially as he always seems to perform when there’s a big crowd backing him.

🏆 Our Northern Ireland Open Prediction

Now, let’s get into my snooker Northern Ireland Open prediction, shall we? Well, I’m putting my money on Judd Trump to lift the Alex Higgins trophy for the fifth time as he will be looking to maintain his title after last year’s win.

Trump will be entering the 2024 Northern Ireland Open on the back of wins from the Wuhan Open and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. Having won the title four times, he knows what it takes to come out on top in this competition. Except another player has what it takes to stop him from adding another title to his trophy list, he seems to be playing his best snooker recently.

⭐ Northern Ireland Open Betting Tips

With my Northern Ireland Open snooker prediction out of the way, how should you go about betting on this event? Below, I will share some insightful snooker betting tips for the 2024 NI Open tournament.

1️⃣ Back Judd Trump to Win Outright

Trump is the top favourite to win this competition owing to his consistent form this season and record of winning previous titles. The odds for Judd Trump are likely to be short once bookies put them up, but there’s a big chance of him emerging victorious for the fifth time. As I mentioned earlier, he’ll be looking to retain his crown and has already tasted ranking wins in the Wuhan Open and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, so he’s in top form.

2️⃣ Back Mark Allen to Reach the Final

Allen has won the title twice back-to-back, so there may be some value in backing the local hero to reach the final. He has also won three titles during the 2023/24 season of the Shanghai Masters, so it’s not a bad idea to think he will do all it takes to make it past the semi-finals. If you’re looking for a slightly less risky market to bet on, then you should consider backing Mark Allen for this market.

3️⃣ Back Ronnie O’Sullivan for Highest Break

Ronnie O’Sullivan might not be the best player to back as an outright seeing as he might go against the aggressive Judd Trump should he make it past the semi-finals. However, he is a good choice to back for the highest break market. O’Sullivan is the player with the highest number of 147 breaks in the history of the sport. His five-minute, twenty-second feat during his maiden effort at the 1997 World Championship is no doubt the greatest of all time. There is a £5,000 prize on the table for this market, so O’Sullivan will definitely be looking to grab this prize. Plus, the odds for this market are usually quite long due to how hard it is to get it right.

📊 Previous Northern Ireland Open Winners

Before I conclude this prediction and betting guide, it’s important to know who the previous winners of the tournament are, so you know why I’m rooting for certain players to emerge victorious. Below, I have provided a table that highlights the winners of the past eight editions of the NI Open.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions About the Northern Ireland Open