{"id":526261,"date":"2025-10-25T04:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/526261\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T04:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:39:13","slug":"trump-vs-allen-and-lisowski-vs-zhou-set-for-blockbuster-northern-ireland-open-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/526261\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump vs Allen and Lisowski vs Zhou set for blockbuster Northern Ireland Open Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fascinating final four lineup at the 2024 Northern Ireland Open features two former champions and a couple of wannabe first-time winners.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Waterfront Hall in Belfast is in for a cracking weekend of snooker with the remaining contenders still striving to get their hands on the coveted Alex Higgins Trophy.<\/p>\n

There is a \u00a3100,000 top prize to chase after as well, with the second Home Nations Series tournament of the campaign nearing its climax.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the two semi-finals in the 2025 Northern Ireland Open that will take place on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Jack Lisowski vs Zhou Yuelong<\/p>\n

Not one but two of the best players in the game who have failed to get their hands on ranking event silverware so far in their careers.<\/p>\n

Six-time runner-up Jack Lisowski faces four-time beaten finalist Zhou Yuelong in a last-four showdown full of opportunity.<\/p>\n

Zhou has certainly enjoyed the Home Nations Series this term, the Chinese competitor backing up his run to the final of the English Open with another strong showing here.<\/p>\n

The 27 year-old, who was beaten 9-8 in the Brentwood title-deciding match<\/a>, won another close battle on Friday when he pipped Tom Ford by the odd frame.<\/p>\n

His next opponent is enjoying a resurgence of sorts, with Lisowski back in the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time since this same event two years ago.<\/p>\n

Now aged 34, the days of the Cheltenham cueist being regarded as a bright rising star are long gone, but there is still time for him and his unquestionable talent to make their mark in the game.<\/p>\n

Lisowski added reigning Northern Ireland Open champion Kyren Wilson to his earlier conquest of Mark Selby, suggesting that his recent work with Chris Henry may have added a missing element to his arsenal.<\/p>\n

Lisowski and Zhou have clashed eight times in the past in all competitions with the former enjoying a narrow 5-3 head-to-head advantage.<\/p>\n

When is it? <\/strong>Saturday, 1pm UTC+1 (BST)<\/p>\n

\"snookerJudd Trump and Mark Allen have contested a lot of big matches in the past. Photo credit: WST<\/p>\n

Judd Trump vs Mark Allen<\/p>\n

While the first of the Northern Ireland Open semi-finals is all about the prospect of a maiden success, the second reflects the opportunity for a repeat victory.<\/p>\n

Judd Trump and Mark Allen boast six titles in the event between them, etching their names onto the trophy at every edition from 2018 until 2023.<\/p>\n

The latter prevailed from an all-Antrim affair against practice partner Jordan Brown on Friday while Trump recorded the same 5-2 scoreline in ousting John Higgins.<\/p>\n

It sets up a mouthwatering blockbuster battle between two of the sport\u2019s heavyweights, the home favourite against the tournament\u2019s record champion.<\/p>\n

Allen is bidding for back-to-back glories in the Home Nations Series while Trump, incredibly, is hoping to add to his trophy cabinet for the first time in 2025.<\/p>\n

It has been a lean spell for the world number one, but any feeble fears of a long-lasting decline have been hastily dismissed.<\/p>\n

The Englishman is the favourite in the outright market at evens, with these William Hill best betting offers<\/a> giving snooker fans the opportunity to avail of some free bets.<\/p>\n

Trump, though, hasn\u2019t particularly liked facing Allen in the past and has lost 19 of their 34 prior clashes against one another.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Pistol has won their three most recent ties \u2013 including victories in the finals of both the World Grand Prix and the Champion of Champions in 2023.<\/p>\n

When is it?<\/strong> Saturday, 7pm UTC+1 (BST)<\/p>\n

2025 Northern Ireland Open Draw<\/p>\n

Round of 32 (bo7)
<\/strong>
Kyren Wilson 4-1 Ryan Day
Wu Yize 2-4 He Guoqiang
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-1 Mark Davis
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Mark Selby<\/p>\n

Long Zehuang 2-4 Yuan Sijun
Chris Wakelin 1-4 Tom Ford
Jimmy Robertson 3-4 Ali Carter
Zhou Yuelong 4-2 David Grace<\/p>\n

Judd Trump 4-2 Jackson Page
Gary Wilson 4-2 Martin O\u2019Donnell
Stephen Maguire 0-4 Si Jiahui
Pang Junxu 3-4 John Higgins<\/p>\n

Barry Hawkins 3-4 Aaron Hill
Mark Allen 4-3 Ben Woollaston
Elliot Slessor 2-4 Shaun Murphy
Ashley Hugill 0-4 Jordan Brown<\/p>\n

Round of 16 (bo7)
<\/strong>
Kyren Wilson 4-2 He Guoqiang
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2-4 Jack Lisowski
Yuan Sijun 2-4 Tom Ford
Zhou Yuelong w\/o Ali Carter<\/p>\n

Judd Trump 4-1 Gary Wilson
Si Jiahui 1-4 John Higgins
Aaron Hill 1-4 Mark Allen
Shaun Murphy 2-4 Jordan Brown<\/p>\n

Quarter-Finals (bo9)
<\/strong>
Kyren Wilson 3-5 Jack Lisowski
Tom Ford 4-5 Zhou Yuelong<\/p>\n

Judd Trump 5-2 John Higgins
Mark Allen 5-2 Jordan Brown<\/p>\n

Semi-Finals (bo11)
<\/strong>
Jack Lisowski vs Zhou Yuelong
(Saturday, 1pm)<\/p>\n

Judd Trump vs Mark Allen
(Saturday, 7pm)<\/p>\n

Click here for the updated draw and results<\/a> (snooker.org)<\/p>\n

Featured photo credit: WST<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fascinating final four lineup at the 2024 Northern Ireland Open features two former champions and a couple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[93257,170676,22041,23767,1144,140276,16,15,170178],"class_list":{"0":"post-526261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-home-nations","9":"tag-jack-lisowski","10":"tag-judd-trump","11":"tag-mark-allen","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-northern-ireland-open","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-zhou-yuelong"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115432965159797848","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}