Northern Ireland Open 2026: dates, Belfast venue and Pakistan time as Lisowski defends his title

The 2026 Northern Ireland Open, the second event of snooker's Home Nations Series, starts on Sunday 18 October at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast and runs until the final on Sunday 25 October. It is the seventh ranking event of the 2026-27 World Snooker Tour season, according to the World Snooker Tour calendar.

The essentials

Lisowski defends his first title

Jack Lisowski arrives as champion after winning his first ranking title in Belfast last year, when he beat Judd Trump 9-8 in the final, as WST reported. The season's form has been spread around. World champion Wu won the Shenzhen Open on 4 October, his first title since the Crucible, after beating Trump in the semi-finals, BBC Sport reported.

The English Open, the first Home Nations event, went to Carter, who beat Williams in the final in September for his first English Open title. After Belfast the series moves to the Scottish Open and then the Welsh Open in 2027.

Watching from Pakistan

Belfast is on British Summer Time until 25 October, four hours behind Pakistan, so an afternoon session starting at 1pm in Belfast begins at 5pm PKT, and an evening session at 7pm starts at 11pm PKT. The final on Sunday 25 October falls on the day UK clocks go back, when the gap becomes five hours. Matches stream on WST's own platforms in many countries; check the WST site for what is available in Pakistan.

We will cover the results on our snooker page through the week.