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Northern Ireland Trophy
Tournament information
Dates	13–20 August 2006
Venue	Waterfront Hall
City	Belfast
Country	Northern Ireland
Organisation	World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Format	Ranking event
Total prize fund	£200,500
Winner's share	£30,000
Highest break	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (140)
Final
Champion	Ding Junhui (CHN)
Runner-up	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Score	9–6
	← 2005 2007 →

The 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy was the 2006 edition of the Northern Ireland Trophy snooker tournament, held from 13 to 20 August 2006, at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ding Junhui defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan by nine frames to six (9–6) in the final to lift his third ranking title whilst still a teenager. In the semi-finals, Ding defeated Stephen Lee 6–1, and O'Sullivan beat Dominic Dale 6–0. O'Sullivan made the highest break with his 140. The defending champion, Matthew Stevens, lost in round 3. The tournament, consisting of the top 32 and 16 qualifiers, was the first of seven WPBSA ranking events in the 2006/2007 season, preceding the Grand Prix.

Tournament summary

The Northern Ireland Trophy was first staged in 2005 at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as a non-ranking tournament featuring the top 16 and four wildcards, generally Irish. In the following year, it was granted ranking status and took the form of a regular tournament.^[1]^[2]

The 2006 tournament was the first of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season, preceding the Grand Prix, and the first event since last season's World Championship won by Graeme Dott, who defeated Peter Ebdon 18–14 in the final.^[3] The defending champion was Matthew Stevens, who defeated Stephen Hendry 9–7 in the previous year's final.^[4] Going into the tournament, Joe Swail, provisionally ranked number 13, said he was targeting a place in the top 16;^[5] and Dott, the World Champion, said interest in his results would increase, and that he felt capable of winning more tournaments.^[6] Shaun Murphy, the 2005 World Champion, said the pressure would be off him in the 2006/2007 season.^[7]

Qualifying

The qualifying stage took place between players ranked from 33 to 48 and those lower for one of 16 places in the final stage between 29 and 31 July 2006 at Pontin's Snooker Centre, Prestatyn, Wales. The matches were best-of-9 frames until the semi-finals. Successful qualifiers in this round included Northern Irish player Mark Allen, who defeated Tom Ford 5–3, and said the Waterfront—where he made his professional debut last year—was the best venue he had played at. Gerard Greene defeated Judd Trump 5–2, and Dominic Dale beat Dermot McGlinchey 5–1.^[8] Jimmy White, who had slipped from 8th to 35th in the rankings, lost 3–5 to Jimmy Michie, and said he was "match-shy" rather than nervous.^[9] Irish players Joe Delaney and Fergal O'Brien lost to Rod Lawler and Paul Davies respectively, both 3–5.^[10]

Round 1

In round 1 the 16 qualifiers went through to face players ranked 17–32. Swail lost 1–5 to Greene, who said the crowd was on his opponent's side. Tied at 3–3 Mark Selby won the seventh frame after Tony Drago missed a pink, eventually winning the match 5–4. Jamie Burnett made breaks of 117, 77, and 55 in defeating David Gray 5–2.^[11] Allen lost 1–5 to Ryan Day, a match in which Day made breaks of 79, 73, 56, and 91, after which Day said, "as soon as I started knocking in some breaks they went a bit quiet", in reference to the crowd.^[12] Michael Holt lost 2–5 to Mike Dunn, a player ranked 34 places below him.^[13] James Wattana defeated Michie 5–4 in a match that lasted over three hours. Michie was 1–3 down but went on to lead 4–3 and 30–0 points before he missed a straightforward pot, eventually losing the frame. Michie had the first chance in the next but also lost that frame.^[14] Tian Pengfei, on his 19th birthday, made breaks of 50, 62, and 115 in defeating Andy Hicks.

Final

In the best-of-17 final Ding defeated O'Sullivan to lift his third ranking title whilst still a teenager.^[15]^[16]^[17]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[18]^[19]

Winner: £30,000
Final: £15,000
Semi-final: £7,500
Quarter-final: £5,600
Last 16: £4,000
Last 32: £2,500
Last 48: £1,625
Last 64: £1,100

Stage one highest break: £500
Stage two highest break: £2,000
Stage one maximum break: £1,000
Stage two maximum break: £20,000
Total: £200,500

Main draw


Last 48 Best of 9 frames			Last 32 Best of 9 frames			Last 16 Best of 9 frames			Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames			Semi-finals Best of 11 frames			Final Best of 17 frames



			1	Graeme Dott	5

22	David Gray	2		Jamie Burnett	3
						1	Graeme Dott	5
	Jamie Burnett	5
						27	Mark Selby	4
			27	Mark Selby	5

27	Mark Selby	5	15	Ali Carter	4
									1	Graeme Dott	2
	Tony Drago	4
										Dominic Dale	5
			11	Steve Davis	2

29	Joe Swail	1		Gerard Greene	5
						Gerard Greene		4
	Gerard Greene	5
						Dominic Dale		5
				Dominic Dale	5

21	Marco Fu	3	7	Peter Ebdon	3
													Dominic Dale	0
	Dominic Dale	5
												4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
			8	Mark Williams	5

18	Joe Perry	4		Andrew Norman	1
						8	Mark Williams	2
	Andrew Norman	5
						17	Ryan Day	5
			17	Ryan Day	5

17	Ryan Day	5	12	Barry Hawkins	1
									17	Ryan Day	1
	Mark Allen	1
									4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
			14	Matthew Stevens	5

28	Mark King	5	28	Mark King	0
						14	Matthew Stevens	2
	Rory McLeod	3
						4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
				Stuart Pettman	4

19	Alan McManus	2	4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5
															4	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
	Stuart Pettman	5
															26	Ding Junhui	9
			3	Ken Doherty	5

24	James Wattana	5	24	James Wattana	4
						2	Ken Doherty	5
	Jimmy Michie	4
						9	Stephen Maguire	4
				Mike Dunn	2

20	Michael Holt	2	9	Stephen Maguire	5
									2	Ken Doherty	1
	Mike Dunn	5
									26	Ding Junhui	5
			16	Anthony Hamilton	3

26	Ding Junhui	5	26	Ding Junhui	5
						26	Ding Junhui	5
	Paul Davies	4
						4	John Higgins	3
			32	Robert Milkins	3

32	Robert Milkins	5	4	John Higgins	5
												26	Ding Junhui	6
	Rod Lawler	2
												10	Stephen Lee	1
			5	Shaun Murphy	5

30	Andy Hicks	3		Tian Pengfei	4
						5	Shaun Murphy	5
	Tian Pengfei	5
						13	Neil Robertson	4
			31	Nigel Bond	3

31	Nigel Bond	5	13	Neil Robertson	5
									5	Shaun Murphy	4
	Michael Judge	1
									10	Stephen Lee	5
			10	Stephen Lee	5

23	Stuart Bingham	4		David Roe	2
						10	Stephen Lee	5
	David Roe	5
						2	Stephen Hendry	4
			25	Ian McCulloch	3

25	Ian McCulloch	5	2	Stephen Hendry	5

	Matthew Couch	1

Qualifying

Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontins in Prestatyn, Wales between 29 and 31 July 2006.^[20]


Round 1 Best of 9 frames		Round 2 Best of 9 frames		Round 3 Best of 9 frames


Lee Spick (ENG)		Jamie Burnett	5	Dave Harold	1

Bye		Lee Spick	3	Jamie Burnett	5


Liu Song	5	Tony Drago	5	Marcus Campbell	1

Alex Borg	3	Liu Song	3	Tony Drago	5


Judd Trump	5	Scott MacKenzie	0	Gerard Greene	5

Passakorn Suwannawat	3	Judd Trump	5	Judd Trump	2


Paul Davison	4	Shokat Ali	2	Dominic Dale	5

Dermot McGlinchey	5	Dermot McGlinchey	5	Dermot McGlinchey	1


Andrew Higginson	5	Andrew Norman	5	John Parrott	1

Peter Lines	0	Andrew Higginson	3	Andrew Norman	5


Sean Storey	5	Mark Allen	5	Tom Ford	3

James Leadbetter	4	Sean Storey	1	Mark Allen	5


Chris Norbury	5	Rory McLeod	5	Ricky Walden	3

Mark Boyle	3	Chris Norbury	4	Rory McLeod	5


Lee Page	5	Stuart Pettman	5	Barry Pinches	4

Patrick Einsle	0	Lee Page	3	Stuart Pettman	5


Mohammed Shehab	3	Jimmy Michie	5	Jimmy White	3

Ben Woollaston	5	Ben Woollaston	3	Jimmy Michie	5


Alfie Burden	5	Mike Dunn	5	Mark Davis	3

Issara Kachaiwong	4	Alfie Burden	3	Mike Dunn	5


Ian Preece	4	Paul Davies	5	Fergal O'Brien	3

Jamie Jones	5	Jamie Jones	1	Paul Davies	5


Chris Melling		Joe Delaney	5	Rod Lawler	5

Bye		Chris Melling	3	Joe Delaney	3


Tian Pengfei	5	Robin Hull	1	Jamie Cope	3

Roy Stolk	0	Tian Pengfei	5	Tian Pengfei	5


Liang Wenbo	5	David Gilbert	5	Michael Judge	5

Robert Stephen	0	Liang Wenbo	0	David Gilbert	1


Mark Joyce	5	David Roe	5	Adrian Gunnell	4

David Morris	4	Mark Joyce	2	David Roe	5


Matthew Couch	5	Joe Jogia	2	Drew Henry	4

Jeff Cundy	2	Matthew Couch	5	Matthew Couch	5