Jack Lisowski v Zhou Yuelong live stream | Northern Ireland Open 2025 preview
Lisowski has already beaten Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson this week (Credit: PA Images)
Jack Lisowski goes head to head with Zhou Yuelong in the opening semi-final at the Northern Ireland Open on Saturday.
The first of the last-four clashes at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast is between two players still seeking their first career ranking title.
They have appeared in a combined 10 ranking finals without success, but both are just two wins away from finally shaking off the tag of being one of the best players yet to get their hands on silverware.
Six-time ranking runner-up Lisowski is appearing in his 13th semi-final, and boasts a 50% success rate in such matches.
‘Jackpot’, who reached the last four here in 2019, set the tone for the week by taking just 47 minutes to complete a 4-0 whitewash of Haris Tahir.
He then enjoyed a pair of 4-2 victories over four-time World champion Mark Selby and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, beating the latter in a rapid contest that lasted just over an hour.
Lisowski, who has recently started working with highly respected coach Chris Henry, followed that up by taking down another former Crucible king in Kyren Wilson, dethroning the reigning Northern Ireland Open champion with a 5-3 win.
Meanwhile, Zhou is aiming to make it back-to-back Home Nations finals, following his agonising 9-8 defeat by Mark Allen in the English Open showpiece.
The Chinese was also beaten by Allen in the final of this event three years ago, and the four-time ranking runner-up will be hoping this is the weekend he finally takes that next step.
Zhou was a 4-2 winner over both Dylan Emery and David Grace, before receiving a bye into the quarter-finals following the withdrawal of Ali Carter.
However, he saved his best performance for the last eight, booking his place in an eighth ranking semi-final.
Initially overturning a 4-2 deficit to force a deciding frame, he produced a stunning 77 counter clearance from 53-0 down to stun Tom Ford, who had missed a relatively straightforward red with the rest when in to win.
A multiple Northern Ireland Open champion awaits in the final, in either four-time winner Judd Trump or two-time victor – and home favourite – Mark Allen.
The match breaks off at 1pm BST on Saturday and will be contested over the best of 11 frames at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.
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