This was the inaugural Northern Ireland Open event, being held as part of a new Home Nations Series introduced in the 2016/2017 season with the existing Welsh Open and new English Open and Scottish Open tournaments.[3][4] The winner of the Northern Ireland Open is awarded the Alex Higgins Trophy which is named in honour of Northern Irish two-time world champion Alex Higgins.[5]
John Higgins made the 123rd official maximum break in the fifth frame of his last 64 match against Sam Craigie. It was Higgins' eighth professional maximum.[8]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[9]