The Scottish Open is a

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

professional snooker tournament held in the United Kingdom. The tournament had many name changes in its history, as the tournament was formerly called International Open, Matchroom Trophy and Players Championship. Apart from a hiatus in the 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 seasons, the tournament remained a ranking event until 2003/2004. In the 2012/2013 season the tournament was added back to the calendar as part of the

Players Tour Championship The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Grand Final, where qualification ...

minor-ranking series. The most recent champion is

Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made h ...

. On 29 April 2015, Barry Hearn announced it would return to the main tour in 2016 at the Emirates Arena Glasgow, as part of the new

Home Nations Series The Home Nations Series is a snooker tournament series in the four home nations of the United Kingdom. It began in the 2016–17 snooker season, combining two existing tournaments, the Scottish Open and Welsh Open, with two newly created tourname ...

with the existing Welsh Open, and the new

English Open The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 20 ...

and Northern Ireland Open tournaments.

History

The tournament began in 1981 as the International Open at the Assembly Rooms in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, and became the following year the second ranking event after the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. The event moved to the Eldon Square in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. Until 1984 the event was sponsored by

Jameson Whiskey Jameson ( or ) is a blended Irish whiskey produced by the Irish Distillers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. Originally one of the six main Dublin Whiskeys at the Jameson Distillery Bow St., Jameson is now distilled at the New Midleton Distillery i ...

. In 1985 the event moved to the

Trentham Gardens The Trentham Estate, in the village of Trentham, is a visitor attraction located on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. History The estate was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At t ...

in Stoke-on-Trent and was renamed (for this year only) to the Matchroom Trophy due to sponsorship from

Matchroom Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, go ...

and Goya. The International Open name returned the following year and the sponsorship was overtaken by BCE (1986 and 1989) and Fidelity Unit Trusts (1987 and 1988). After 1989 the event went on a two-year hiatus. The event returned in the 1992/1993 season with the sponsorship of

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. The event was moved to the second half of the season and was played at the

Plymouth Pavilions Plymouth Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has an ice rink and indoor arena. The arena is used as an entertainment venue and also for corporate hire. The Pavilions is built on the site of the form ...

. The event was moved again in 1994, this time to the Bournemouth International Centre. After an unsponsored year

Sweater Shop The Sweater Shop was a Leicestershire, England, based clothing company with many national outlets. History The Sweater Shop Ltd was established by Margaret Wood on 20 March 1973 in Barwell, Leicestershire. The company was sold on 28 April 1995 to ...

took over for 1995 and 1996. In 1997 the event was moved to the Aberdeen Exhibition Centre and it was sponsored by

Highland Spring Highland Spring is a Scottish supplier of natural source bottled water. It produces still and sparkling water at its factory in Blackford, Perth and Kinross, although despite the name this area is not within the Scottish Highlands. Its water is ...

. In 1998 the event was renamed to Scottish Open, and it was sponsored by

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mo ...

through their Regal brand, who also sponsored the

Scottish Masters The Scottish Masters, often known by its sponsored names, the Lang's Scottish Masters or the Regal Scottish Masters, was a non-ranking professional snooker tournament held every year from 1981 until 2002, with the exception of 1988. The tourn ...

and Welsh Open. In 2003 the event was moved to

Royal Highland Centre The Royal Highland Centre, originally the Royal Highland Showground, is an exhibition centre and showground located at Ingliston in the western outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, adjacent to Edinburgh Airport and the A8. History The Royal Highla ...

in Edinburgh. For the first time in twelve years no top 16 player reached the final. The event than was renamed to the Players Championship for 2004, as it became the final event in the LG Electronics Tour. The event was sponsored by Daily Record and held at the SECC in Glasgow. After the event Sky decided not to renew their contract, and without television coverage the event was dropped. The event was added back to the calendar in the 2012/2013 season as minor-ranking tournament and was known as the Scottish Open. It was held at

Ravenscraig Ravenscraig is a village and new town, located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, around 1½ miles east of Motherwell. Ravenscraig was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks; once the largest hot strip steel mill in western Europe, the st ...

as the fifth event of the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

. In 2015 Barry Hearn announced that the tournament will return in the 2016/17 season. The event will be held in Glasgow and will be part of the

events, which will feature tournaments in the other home nations and have a one million pound bonus.

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

was the tournament's most prolific winner, with a record 6 wins from 8 finals. This included a 9–0 whitewash of

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship, where he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in a ...

in the 1981 final. There have been seven

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

s in the history of the tournament, out of which two were made at the 2000 event: one by

Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...

at the first qualifying round against

Phaitoon Phonbun Phaitoon Phonbun (; born 5 October 1975) is a Thai former professional snooker player. Career Phonbun was born in 1975, and began playing snooker at competitive level as a wildcard entry in the 1995 Thailand Open, where he also recorded his ...

, and the other by

Ronnie O'Sullivan Ronald Antonio O'Sullivan (born 5 December 1975) is an English professional snooker player who is the current world champion and world number one. Widely recognised as one of the most talented and accomplished players in the sport's history, ...

in the last 32 against

Quinten Hann Quinten may refer to: People Surname * Christopher Quinten (born 1957), British actor Given name * Quinten Burg (born 1948), American politician * Quinten Hann (born 1977), Australian snooker player * Quinten Hermans (born 1995), Belgian cyclist ...

. In 2012

Kurt Maflin Kurt Graham Maflin (born 8 August 1983) is an English-Norwegian former professional snooker player. A strong break-builder, Maflin has compiled more than 200 century breaks during his career and has made two 147 breaks in professional competitio ...

achieved a 147 in the last 32 against

Stuart Carrington Stuart Carrington (born 14 May 1990) is an English professional snooker player. He practises frequently with Steven Hallworth and Ian Glover in Grimsby. In May 2011, Carrington qualified for the 2011–12 professional Main Tour as one of four ...

. In 2017, eventual runner-up

Cao Yupeng Cao Yupeng (; born 27 October 1990) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He won the 2011 Asian Under-21 Championship, thus qualifying for the professional main tour for the 2011–12 season. In his first season on the circuit, he reached ...

made a maximum break in his first round match against

Andrew Higginson Andrew Higginson (born 13 December 1977) is an English former professional snooker player from Widnes, Cheshire. He is best known for being the surprise finalist of the 2007 Welsh Open. Career Early years After some success in amateur tourn ...

, and the following year,

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

compiled his ninth career 147 in his second round match against

Gerard Greene Gerard Eamonn Greene (born 12 November 1973 in Chatham, Kent) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He represents Northern Ireland in international events, as his parents are from Belfast. Greene has enjoyed moderate success in his ...

. In 2020,

Zhou Yuelong Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open. Career Between 2 ...

made a maximum break in his first round match with

Peter Lines Peter Lines (born 11 December 1969) is an English professional snooker player. He has reached the semi-finals of one ranking tournament, the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic. He reached his highest ranking, 42nd in the world, in 1999. He is the father ...

, and the tournament's most recent maximum break was made in 2021 by

Xiao Guodong Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships. Career 2007–2010 Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat t ...

in his qualifying match against

Fraser Patrick Fraser Patrick (born 8 November 1985) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Glasgow. Career Patrick started his professional career in 2002 by playing Challenge Tour, where he spent three seasons without success. In 2007 Patrick ear ...

Winners

References

{{Snooker tournaments * Recurring sporting events established in 1981 1981 establishments in England 1998 establishments in Scotland Players Tour Championship Snooker ranking tournaments Snooker competitions in Scotland