The 2021 Shoot Out (officially the 2021 BetVictor Snooker Shoot Out) was a professional ranking snooker tournament, that took place from 4 to 7 February 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. It was the ninth ranking event of the 2020–21 snooker season. It was played under a variation of the standard rules of snooker. The event was the fourth of six events sponsored by BetVictor, making up the 2020-21 European Series.

Michael Holt was the defending champion, having defeated Zhou Yuelong 64–1 in the 2020 final. In 2021, Holt was defeated by Matthew Stevens in the second round.

Ryan Day won the tournament for his third career ranking title, defeating Mark Selby 67–24 in the final.

Tournament format The tournament was played using a variation of the traditional snooker rules. The draw was randomised before each round. All matches were played over a single , each of which lasted up to 10 minutes. The event featured a variable ; shots played in the first five minutes were allowed 15 seconds while the final five had a 10-second timer. All award the opponent a . Unlike traditional snooker, if a ball does not hit a on every shot, it is a foul. Rather than a coin toss, a lag is used to choose which player . In the event of a draw, each player receives a shot at the this is known as a "blue ball shootout". The player who the ball with the from inside the and the blue ball on its spot with the opponent missing wins the match. The event was broadcast by Eurosport.

Prize fund The total prize fund for the event was £171,000 with the winner receiving £50,000. The breakdown of prize money is shown below:

Winner: £50,000 Runner-up: £20,000 Semi-final: £8,000 Quarter-final: £4,000 Last 16: £2,000 Last 32: £1,000 Last 64: £500 Last 128: £250 (prize money at this stage did not count towards the world rankings) Highest break: £5,000

Total: £171,000

Tournament draw All times in Greenwich Mean Time. Times for quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are approximate. Players in bold denote match winners.

Round 1 4 February – 13:00

1–95 34–42 34–10 60–15 1–79 51–1 15–36 36–35 55–53 43–38 18–33 0–72 26–32 1–69 79–32 142–0

4 February – 19:00

37–58 41–34 0–82 0–86 10–65 27–49 16–62 30–16 31–41 39–52 68–18 27–24 0–43 43–64 59–16 54–1

5 February – 13:00

1–41 19–32 1–96 36–41 33–72 21–4 51–1 14–30 9–7 56–1 96–22 31–30 12–27 43–18 23–43 15–45

5 February – 19:00

16–6 11–42 54–19 78–0 57–52 44–10 13–63 62–14 1–40 14–52 34–25 35–18 35–1 91–8 41–22 63–5

Round 2 6 February – 13:00

0–70 37–0 22–6 46–16 12–55 32–34 20–6 11–27 16–41 0–81 28–50 20–44 15–18 35–34 27–17 52–21

6 February – 19:00

82–15 23–58 38–53 34–85 25–11 23–6 22–11 15–31 2–16 33–6 65–24 46–15 55–31 48–46 71–24 9–38

Round 3 7 February – 13:00

10–74 37–27 9–82 33–37 0–96 16–43 18–15 75–0 28–29 48–26 28–11 66–12 7–107 15–46 17–58 23–37

Round 4 7 February – 19:00

35–11 55–9 26–12 8–72 76–16 2–65 37–40 1–85

Quarter-finals 7 February – 21:00

49–6 21–27 37–47 13–86

Semi-finals 7 February – 22:15 18–31 43–15

Final Final: 1 frame. Referee: Andy Yates Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, England, 7 February 2021 – 22:45 Ryan Day67–24 Mark Selby

Century breaks Total: 1

142 Mark Allen

Notes

References