2005 Northern Ireland Trophy

Northern Ireland Trophy

Tournament information
Dates	17–21 August 2005 (2005-08-17 – 2005-08-21)
Venue	Waterfront Hall
City	Belfast
Country	Northern Ireland
Organisation	World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£104,000
Winner's share	£23,000
Highest break	Alan McManus (140)
Final
Champion	Matthew Stevens
Runner-up	Stephen Hendry
Score	9–7
← First 2006 →

The 2005 Northern Ireland Trophy was the first edition of the Northern Ireland Trophy snooker tournament, held from 17 to 21 August 2005, at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Matthew Stevens defeated Stephen Hendry by nine frames to seven (9–7) in the final. Alan McManus made the highest break with 140. This was the only year the tournament was held as a non-ranking event; it would become a ranking tournament for the next three seasons.

The top 16 ranked players were invited, Paul Hunter and Stephen Lee did not participate. They were replaced by Ali Carter and 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy. Northern Ireland players Mark Allen and Joe Swail were invited as wildcards along with Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson.

Prize fund

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

• Winner: £23,000
• Final: £12,000
• Semi-final: £6,500
• Quarter-final: £5,000
• Last 16: £4,000
• Wildcard round: £4,000

Players who entered as wildcards received less prize money: Robertson received £3,500 for reaching the semi-final, Allen and Swail received £2,000 for reaching the quarter-finals while Ding received £1,000 for reaching the last 16.

Wild-card round

Match		Score
WC1	Steve Davis (ENG)	0–4	Mark Allen (NIR)
WC2	Ali Carter (ENG)	0–4	Ding Junhui (CHN)
WC3	Ian McCulloch (ENG)	0–4	Neil Robertson (AUS)
WC4	Joe Perry (ENG)	1–4	Joe Swail (NIR)

Main draw

	Last 16 Best of 7 frames				Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames				Semi-finals Best of 11 frames				Final Best of 17 frames
	Ronnie O'Sullivan	2
	Joe Swail	4
					Joe Swail	1
					Alan McManus	5
	Peter Ebdon	0
	Alan McManus	4
									Alan McManus	3
									Stephen Hendry	6
	John Higgins	1
	Mark Allen	4
					Mark Allen	1
					Stephen Hendry	5
	Stephen Hendry	4
	Ding Junhui	2
													Stephen Hendry	7
													Matthew Stevens	9
	Matthew Stevens	4
	Ken Doherty	1
					Matthew Stevens	5
					Stephen Maguire	2
	Stephen Maguire	4
	Mark Williams	3
									Matthew Stevens	6
									Neil Robertson	4
	Jimmy White	2
	Neil Robertson	4
					Neil Robertson	5
					Shaun Murphy	4
	Graeme Dott	2
	Shaun Murphy	4