Welsh Open

The tournament began as a ranking tournament in 1992 initially in February after the Masters, but later took the spot of the Classic in January. The event was sponsored by Regal until 2003 (known as the Regal Welsh Open), but UK restrictions on tobacco advertising meant that it was without a sponsor until 2009. The tournament was sponsored by Totesport.com in 2010, by Wyldecrest Park Homes in 2011, by 888 in 2012, and is currently sponsored by BetVictor.

In 1996 at the age of 17 years and 111 days Paul Hunter reached the semi-finals and became the youngest player to reach this stage of a ranking tournament.

John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan jointly hold the record for the most Welsh Open titles, both having won the event on 4 occasions.

Like the Welsh Professional Championship, it was played at the Newport Centre in Newport, before moving to the Cardiff International Arena in 1999. It was moved back to Newport in 2005, where it remained until 2014. In January 2014, World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn announced that the 2014 tournament would be the last held in Newport, and that he would open negotiations to move the event to a larger venue, most likely in Cardiff. In June 2014, it was then announced that the 2015 event will be held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. The tournament currently takes place after the German Masters, and is broadcast by BBC Wales, Eurosport, CCTV, SMG, Now TV and Showtime Arabia.

There have been six maximum breaks in the history of the tournament. The first was made by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 1999 against James Wattana. The second was made at the qualifying stage of the 2000 event by Barry Pinches against Joe Johnson. The third was made by Andrew Higginson in 2007 against Ali Carter. The fourth 147 was made in 2011 by Hendry against Stephen Maguire. This was Hendry's 10th 147 break and with this he equalled the record for most maximums with Ronnie O'Sullivan. He also became the oldest player to compile a maximum break at the age of 42 years and 35 days. The fifth was made by O'Sullivan in 2014 against Ding Junhui. This was O'Sullivan's 12th 147 break and with it he set the record for most maximums. The most recent maximum break was made by Ding Junhui at the quarter-finals of the 2016 tournament, against Neil Robertson.

Source: Wikipedia

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Season
Regal Welsh Open
1992	Stephen Hendry	Darren Morgan	9:3	1991/92
1993	Ken Doherty	Alan McManus	9:7	1992/93
1994	Steve Davis	Alan McManus	9:6	1993/94
1995	Steve Davis	John Higgins	9:3	1994/95
1996	Mark J Williams	John Parrott	9:3	1995/96
1997	Stephen Hendry	Mark King	9:2	1996/97
1998	Paul Alan Hunter	John Higgins	9:5	1997/98
1999	Mark J Williams	Stephen Hendry	9:8	1998/99
2000	John Higgins	Stephen Lee	9:8	1999/00
2001	Ken Doherty	Paul Alan Hunter	9:2	2000/01
2002	Paul Alan Hunter	Ken Doherty	9:7	2001/02
2003	Stephen Hendry	Mark J Williams	9:5	2002/03
Welsh Open
2004	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Steve Davis	9:8	2003/04
2005	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Stephen Hendry	9:8	2004/05
2006	Stephen Lee	Shaun Murphy	9:4	2005/06
2007	Neil Robertson	Andrew Higginson	9:8	2006/07
2008	Mark Selby	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9:8	2007/08
2009	Allister Carter	Joe Swail	9:5	2008/09
2010	John Higgins	Allister Carter	9:4	2009/10
2011	John Higgins	Stephen Maguire	9:6	2010/11
2012	Ding Junhui	Mark Selby	9:6	2011/12
2013	Stephen Maguire	Stuart Bingham	9:8	2012/13
2014	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Ding Junhui	9:3	2013/14
2015	John Higgins	Ben Woollaston	9:3	2014/15