'An emotional wreck' - Lisowski ends 15-year wait

"I've never felt like this or really celebrated like this. It's not really me but everything just came out after 28 years of playing snooker."

When Jack Lisowski clinched the deciding frame in the final of the Northern Ireland Open, he put his hands to his mouth and the emotion started to come.

As he embraced his opponent and best friend, Judd Trump, he couldn't hold back the tears.

It was a first ranking title at the seventh time of asking for the 34-year-old, who turned professional in 2010.

Tipped by many to be one of the stars of the sport, Lisowski had to bide his time for the success that is long overdue.

In the deciding frame to a gripping final in Belfast, it was worth the wait.

"It's surreal. I can't believe it. I'm exhausted and I'm an emotional wreck," Lisowski told BBC Sport NI's Jana McCabe.

"I felt like I was going to pass out. It's bizarre, it doesn't feel real and like it's a dream.

"I feel like I'm going to wake up and I'm just floating at the moment."

It has been a difficult year for Lisowski in 2025, both on and off the table.

The English player has struggled for form, not progressed past the quarter-finals of a tournament and he even failed to qualify for the World Championships in April.

But, in the bigger picture, his father passed away in March and, speaking to World Snooker, Lisowski dedicated the win to his parents.

"Judd has been my best friend since I was 14 and he was there with me in a restaurant in Hong Kong eight months ago when I got the message about my dad.

"He has been the best friend I could ask for, the closest thing I could have to a brother.

"When my dad died I said to my friend that he would never see me win a title. But my friend said I could still do it for my mum. This is for him and for my mum."

For his part, Trump also felt bittersweet after losing to his friend.

The 36-year-old had inflicted three of the previous six final defeats on Lisowski but fell short at the final hurdle on Sunday.

"It's tough to play Jack and I'm happy for him. I think it means a lot more to Jack than it would to me," Trump told BBC Sport NI.

"I've been in this situation before and it's not really going to change anything for me.

"But for him it's a massive deal and hopefully now this is the catalyst for him to go on in his career."

When asked if the win in Belfast would be the first of many titles, Lisowksi, with a smile on his face said: "I think so.

"Everyone is telling me it's going to be so I hope so."

After a 15-year wait, Lisowski said clinching a deciding frame is the "best and worst way" to win a tournament.

"I want to win all the time and I always believe. But since my dad passed away I feel like it is more serious now.

"Before it was a bit of a game, a bit of fun. Now I feel like I have to win for him.

"I've been digging really deep in practice, I've been practising really hard to try and get my game in good shape, and it was just good enough."

The 1435-strong crowd in Belfast - a record for a UK event outside of the Masters - recognised the achievement in front of them and responded accordingly as they shouted and cheered every Lisowski shot in the closing stages of the final frame.

They had perhaps descended on the Waterfront Hall with hopes that home favourite Mark Allen would have been in the decider, but sport in Northern Ireland is littered with underdog stories and Lisowski's feat was not lost of them.

"It was incredible, it was better than the Masters at the Ally Pally and that's an amazing venue," added Lisowski, who knocked out Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson on his way to the final.

"It's the best crowd ever that I've seen at a snooker game. It makes it quite hard because they are shouting so loud and I'm trying my best. It can be quite off putting and it was quite hard at the end, but they dragged me on today.

"They love an underdog and today that was me, and I feel like they pulled me over the line."