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 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 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.February 2012 "Northern Ireland Trophy" . cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk (Chris Turner's Snooker Archive). Retrieved 8 October 2010."New event to kick off next season" . BBC Sport. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2010.

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."Dogged Dott wins epic world final " . BBC Sport. 2 May 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010. The defending champion was Matthew Stevens, who defeated Stephen Hendry 9–7 in the previous year's final."Northern Ireland Trophy 2005" . Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 October 2010. Going into the tournament, Joe Swail, provisionally ranked number 13, said he was targeting a place in the top 16;"Swail targeting place in top 16" . BBC Sport. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010. and Dott, the World Champion, said interest in his results would increase, and that he felt capable of winning more tournaments."Dott relishing Trophy challenge". BBC Sport. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010. Shaun Murphy, the 2005 World Champion, said the pressure would be off him in the 2006/2007 season.. Sheffield Star. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010.

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."Allen secures place at Waterfront" . BBC Sport. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 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."White loses in Belfast qualifier" . BBC Sport. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010. Irish players Joe Delaney and Fergal O'Brien lost to Rod Lawler and Paul Davies respectively, both 3–5."BRIEFS: Sligo swells hamper dinghies" . Irish Independent. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2010.

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."Swail beaten in N Ireland Trophy" . BBC Sport. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 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."Day defeats Allen at Waterfront Hall". RTÉ Sport. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2010. Michael Holt lost 2–5 to Mike Dunn, a player ranked 34 places below him."Allen crashes out to Welshman Day" . BBC Sport. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 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.Dee, John. "Wattana off to a good start". The Nation. p. 32. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2010. 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."Ding beats O'Sullivan in NI final " . BBC Sport. 20 August 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2010.

Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:"2006 Northern Ireland Trophy Player Prize Money" . snookerdatabase.co.uk (Snooker Database). Retrieved 14 October 2010.

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

Qualifying

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

Century breaks

Qualifying stage centuries

136 Issara Kachaiwong 130 Jimmy Michie 127 James Leadbetter 126, 113 David Roe 125 Jamie Burnett 123 Alfie Burden 120 Adrian Gunnell 119, 107 Michael Judge 117 Tom Ford

115 Mark Allen 113, 100 Matthew Couch 113 Chris Melling 112 Gerard Greene 112 David Morris 110 David Gilbert 103 Dominic Dale 102 Sean Storey 100 Jamie Cope

Televised stage centuries

140, 115, 113, 106, 106, 104, 103 Ronnie O'Sullivan 137, 104, 100 Dominic Dale 131 Stephen Maguire 130 Ken Doherty 128 Peter Ebdon 122 Michael Judge 117 Jamie Burnett 115, 100 Tian Pengfei

112, 103 Stephen Hendry 111 Neil Robertson 109 Graeme Dott 108 Mark Williams 107 Mark Selby 103 Jimmy Michie 103 Ding Junhui 101 Anthony Hamilton

References

Sources Draw . Sporting Life (UK). Retrieved 14 October 2010. "Northern Ireland Trophy 2006". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 October 2010. "2006 Northern Ireland Trophy Results Grid" . snookerdatabase.co.uk (Snooker Database). Retrieved 14 October 2010. "World Rankings 2006/2007". snooker.org. Retrieved 8 October 2010.