The 2021 English Open (officially the 2021 BetVictor English Open) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place from 1–7 November 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. It was the fourth ranking event of the 2021–22 season, and the second event in both the Home Nations Series and the European Series. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England, although matches involving the top 16 players, and two other matches involving English wildcards, were held over and played at the Marshall Arena. The event was broadcast on Eurosport across the United Kingdom and Europe.

Judd Trump was the defending champion, having defeated Neil Robertson 9–8 in the previous year's final. Trump lost 3–5 to Mark King in the quarter-finals. Robertson faced John Higgins in the final. Although Robertson led 5–3 after the afternoon session, Higgins won the first four frames of the evening session to lead 7–5, and then moved within one frame of victory at 8–6. However, Robertson won the last three frames to defeat Higgins 9–8 and claim the 21st ranking title of his professional career. He became the third player, after Trump and Mark Selby, to win three Home Nations titles, and the first player to win three different tournaments in the series, having previously won the Scottish Open and the Welsh Open.

Higgins sustained his second successive defeat from 8–6 ahead in a best-of-17 ranking final. He had lost the 2021 Northern Ireland Open final to Mark Allen under similar circumstances the previous month.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

  • Winner: £70,000
  • Runner-up: £30,000
  • Semi-final: £20,000
  • Quarter-final: £10,000
  • Last 16: £7,500
  • Last 32: £4,000
  • Last 64: £3,000
  • Highest break: £5,000
  • Total: £405,000

Main draw

Top half

Last 64 Best of 7 framesLast 32 Best of 7 framesLast 16 Best of 7 framesQuarter-finals Best of 9 framesSemi-finals Best of 11 frames
Judd Trump (ENG) (1)4
Jimmy Robertson (ENG)2
England Judd Trump (1)4
England Steven Hallworth1
Xiao Guodong (CHN) (32)2
Steven Hallworth (ENG)4
England Judd Trump (1)4
Scotland Ross Muir1
Anthony McGill (SCO) (16)4
Gerard Greene (NIR)0
Scotland Anthony McGill (16)0
Scotland Ross Muir4
Ross Muir (SCO)4
Wu Yize (CHN)1
England Judd Trump (1)3
England Mark King5
Alexander Ursenbacher (SUI)0
Tom Ford (ENG) (24)4
England Tom Ford (24)3
England Mark King4
Cao Yupeng (CHN)0
Mark King (ENG)4
England Mark King4
England Paul Deaville0
Xu Si (CHN)0
Zhao Xintong (CHN) (25)4
China Zhao Xintong (25)3
England Paul Deaville4
Chang Bingyu (CHN)3
England Paul Deaville4
England Mark King4
Australia Neil Robertson (4)6
Kyren Wilson (ENG) (5)4
Ashley Carty (ENG)2
England Kyren Wilson (5)4
England Ben Woollaston3
Gary Wilson (ENG) (28)3
Ben Woollaston (ENG)4
England Kyren Wilson (5)4
England Robbie Williams1
Barry Hawkins (ENG) (12)4
Jak Jones (WAL)3
England Barry Hawkins (12)1
England Robbie Williams4
Soheil Vahedi (IRN)1
Robbie Williams (ENG)4
England Kyren Wilson (5)4
Australia Neil Robertson (4)5
Mark Davis (ENG)4
Graeme Dott (SCO) (20)3
England Mark Davis4
Republic of Ireland Fergal O'Brien1
Fergal O'Brien (IRL)4
Stuart Bingham (ENG) (13)3
England Mark Davis3
Australia Neil Robertson (4)4
Sunny Akani (THA)4
Ricky Walden (ENG) (29)3
Thailand Sunny Akani2
Australia Neil Robertson (4)4
James Cahill (ENG)w/d
Neil Robertson (AUS) (4)w/o

Bottom half

Last 64 Best of 7 framesLast 32 Best of 7 framesLast 16 Best of 7 framesQuarter-finals Best of 9 framesSemi-finals Best of 11 frames
Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3)4
Michael Georgiou (CYP)1
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)4
England Anthony Hamilton3
Rory McLeod (JAM)1
Anthony Hamilton (ENG)4
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)4
Wales Jamie Clarke0
Mark Joyce (ENG)0
Jamie Clarke (WAL)4
Wales Jamie Clarke4
Thailand Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (19)1
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) (19)4
Peter Devlin (ENG)0
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)5
Belgium Luca Brecel1
Li Hang (CHN)4
Ali Carter (ENG) (22)2
China Li Hang1
Belgium Luca Brecel4
Stuart Carrington (ENG)0
Luca Brecel (BEL)4
Belgium Luca Brecel4
Scotland Fraser Patrick2
Fraser Patrick (SCO)4
Hossein Vafaei (IRN)2
Scotland Fraser Patrick4
England Shaun Murphy (6)2
Joe O'Connor (ENG)2
Shaun Murphy (ENG) (6)4
England Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)5
Scotland John Higgins (7)6
John Higgins (SCO) (7)4
Oliver Lines (ENG)0
Scotland John Higgins (7)4
China Lu Ning3
Lu Ning (CHN)w/o
Allan Taylor (ENG)w/d
Scotland John Higgins (7)4
China Ding Junhui (10)1
Ding Junhui (CHN) (10)4
Tian Pengfei (CHN)1
China Ding Junhui (10)4
England Martin Gould (23)0
Martin Gould (ENG) (23)4
Scott Donaldson (SCO)0
Scotland John Higgins (7)5
China Yan Bingtao (15)3
Martin O'Donnell (ENG)1
David Gilbert (ENG) (18)4
England David Gilbert (18)2
China Yan Bingtao (15)4
Nigel Bond (ENG)1
Yan Bingtao (CHN) (15)4
China Yan Bingtao (15)4
England Mark Selby (2)3
Stephen Hendry (SCO)0
Chris Wakelin (ENG)4
England Chris Wakelin1
England Mark Selby (2)4
Jamie Wilson (ENG)1
Mark Selby (ENG) (2)4

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Rob Spencer Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England, 7 November 2021
Neil Robertson (4) Australia9–8John Higgins (7) Scotland
Afternoon: 72–0, 80–24, 0–90, 51–66, 140–0 (140), 65–2, 16–68, 123–1 (123) Evening: 39–68, 0–89, 37–71, 43–74, 87–7, 18–71, 79–9, 121–1 (120), 74–22
140Highest break90
3Century breaks0

Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 17 to 22 September 2021 at the Metrodome in Barnsley, England. Matches which involved the top 16 players and two wildcard nominations were held over and played at the Marshall Arena. Zhou Yuelong and Zhang Jiankang were withdrawn from the event due to being identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case; they were replaced by Ross Muir and Bai Langning respectively. Separately, Lei Peifan withdrew and was replaced by James Cahill.[citation needed] Cahill won his qualifying match but then he had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. Mark Williams was also withdrawn from the event after testing positive for COVID-19 in October; he was replaced by Mark Lloyd. Teenage amateurs Paul Deaville and Oliver Sykes played in their first professional events after receiving an invite from WST.

Notes

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

Total: 45

Qualifying stage centuries

Total: 23