The Seattle Snooker Open 2025
Andy McCloskey Makes History with Back-to-Back Seattle Snooker Open Victories
Andy McCloskey has done something no player has accomplished before: win consecutive Seattle Snooker Open titles. His 2025 victory makes him the tournament's first back-to-back champion, cementing his place in Pacific Northwest snooker history.
However, McCloskey's triumph is just the latest chapter in a tournament that represents something much bigger than individual achievement. The Seattle Snooker Open is the product of an unlikely partnership between two businesses that chose collaboration over competition to grow snooker in America.
Collaboration Then Competition
The story begins with a friendship that predates any business venture. Mike Dominguez and CC Yoo were friends who shared a vision of spreading snooker across the Pacific Northwest and the United States before Mike opened his first club. When they formalized their collaboration in late 2021 to create the Seattle Snooker Open, they chose partnership over rivalry—they were friends, finally putting their shared goal into action.
"From a business point of view, we need to create a strong market before we start splitting off and competing with each other," explains the tournament's underlying philosophy. "The market for snooker is so small that working together is most important for the sport."
This collaboration produced the Seattle Snooker Open, first held in 2022, and the Washington State Snooker League, both designed to elevate snooker in the United States. The first SSO was the capstone to the first season of the Washington State Snooker League (WSL).
2025: Breaking New Ground
The 2025 tournament marked several firsts that showcased this collaborative spirit in action. A first for the SSO— two clubs simultaneously hosted the event. OX Billiards and Empire Billiards each provided four tables for the group stage, with Jaime Miller serving as tournament director at Empire and Mike Dominguez directing at OX. After the group stage and the Round of 16, all players traveled to Empire Billiards for the quarterfinals through the finals.
The dual-venue format required unprecedented coordination. Throughout the tournament, organizers maintained a group thread to communicate scores, coordinate the next matches, determine which matches to feature on the live stream to keep people enthralled, keep the tournament moving along, and manage scoring assignments across both venues. This real-time coordination between Seattle and Bellevue demonstrated the expanded format's logistical complexity.
For the first time, the tournament also featured remote broadcast production. Christian Youngers, a part-owner of OX Billiards based in Norfolk, Virginia, served as technical director and producer for the entire tournament while providing commentary for the Empire stream. David Burney, the lead commentator for Empire and the voice of North American Snooker, worked remotely from Vancouver, BC. Christian and David made the stream and tournament come to life with their insight, humor, and banter. Meanwhile, Mike Dominguez was the tournament director, handled commentary for the OX Billiards matches, and ran the stream from OX, with Christian helping him with the technical aspects of the OX setup.
Empire Billiards
Seattle Snooker Open 2025: Final Day.
The timing was perfect for another celebration: CC Yoo, the owner of Empire Billiards, just moved to their new location, from Redmond to Bellevue. This year's SSO was in part a celebration of his new club and his pioneering effort to bring snooker to Seattle.
The Path to Victory: Tournament Breakdown
SSO Trophy sponsored by Empire Billiards
Group Stage
The tournament began with two groups of six players and two groups of five, with round-robin play determining the top four from each group to advance to the Round of 16.
Group A saw Andy McCloskey dominate from the start, going undefeated with a perfect 5-0 record, winning all matches 2-0. Haocheng Yang secured second place with a 4-1 record, losing only to McCloskey while defeating Dave Daly, Frances Tso, Matthew Ma, and Chun Kwok Chan. Dave Daly claimed third with a 3-2 record, with victories over Matthew Ma, Frances Tso, and Chun Kwok Chan, but losses to McCloskey and Haocheng Yang. Frances Tso grabbed the final qualifying spot with a 1-4 record, managing a crucial 2-0 victory over Matthew Ma to edge out both Matthew Ma and Chun Kwok Chan on tiebreakers.
Group B featured defending 2022 champion CC Yoo, who went undefeated with a perfect 5-0 record. Ethan Huang secured second place with a 3-2 record, defeating Prathamesh Sawant, Simon Wong, and Charlie Brown while losing to CC Yoo and Chris Lam. Charlie Brown claimed third with a 3-2 record, with key victories over Prathamesh Sawant, Simon Wong, and Chris Lam. Prathamesh Sawant earned the fourth spot with a 2-3 record, beating Simon Wong and the head-to-head tie-breaker against Chris Lam.
Group C saw John Poon finish undefeated with a 4-0 record, sweeping Redhwan Chowhury, Jacky Wei, Kevin Kuei, and Alex Newstead. Kevin Kuei secured second place with a 2-2 record, defeating Redhwan Chowhury and Jacky Wei, while losing to John Poon and Alex Newstead. Redhwan Chowhury claimed third with a 2-2 record, with victories over Jacky Wei and Alex Newstead. Jacky Wei grabbed the final qualifying spot with a 1-3 record, earning a crucial win over Alex Newstead that proved decisive in the final standings.
Group D was topped by 2023 champion Varun Juneja with a perfect 4-0 record, defeating Nadeemullah Nooristani, Praneet Thapliyal, Angus Liew, and Jie Ma. Nadeemullah Nooristani secured second with a 3-1 record, losing only to Varun while defeating Jie Ma, Praneet Thapliyal, and Angus Liew. Angus Liew claimed third with a 2-2 record, with victories over Praneet Thapliyal and Jie Ma. Praneet Thapliyal earned the fourth and final qualifying spot with a 1-3 record, managing a key win over Jie Ma to secure advancement.
Round of 16
The knockout stage saw best-of-five matches. Andy McCloskey dispatched Praneet Thapliyal 3-0, while Dave Daly overcame Nadeemullah Nooristani 3-0. Ethan Huang defeated Redhwan Chowhury 3-0, and John Poon beat Prathamesh Sawant 3-0.
Other notable results included Kevin Kuei's 3-1 victory over Charlie Brown, Haocheng Yang's 3-1 win over Angus Liew, and Jacky Wei's 3-2 defeat of CC Yoo. The match of this round at OX was Varun Juneja's 3-2 victory over Frances Tso, where Frances had him on the ropes and nearly won.
Quarterfinals
The best-of-five quarterfinals produced some compelling matchups. Andy McCloskey continued his dominant form with a 3-0 victory over Ethan Huang. Dave Daly upset John Poon 3-2 in what proved to be the closest quarterfinal match and his best finish in the SSO. Varun Juneja defeated Kevin Kuei 3-1, while Jacky Wei advanced past Haocheng Yang 3-0.
Semifinals
Semifinals
Jacky Wei vs Varun Juneja
Semifinals
Andy McCloskey vs Dave Daly
CC Yoo
Empire Billiards Owner, Referee
The best-of-seven semifinals set up McCloskey's path to his historic repeat. Andy McCloskey defeated Dave Daly 4-0, showcasing the form that would carry him to the title. Jacky Wei continued his upward trajectory, starting from the depths of the group stage to upset two-time finalist Varun Juneja 4-0 in the other semifinal.
Finals
Finals
Andy McCloskey vs Jacky Wei
The best-of-nine final pitted defending champion Andy McCloskey against an explosive Jacky Wei. Jacky came out strong with a 2-0 lead on Andy, putting the pressure on the reigning champion. McCloskey’s experience and consistency proved decisive as he won four straight frames for a 4-2 lead. Then, Jacky made a spirited comeback to make it 4-3, once again putting the pressure on Andy. But the title was won 5-3, making McCloskey the first player to successfully defend the Seattle Snooker Open.
McCloskey's Achievement in Context
Against this backdrop of collaboration and community building, Andy McCloskey's back-to-back victories take on deeper meaning. He succeeded where previous champions CC Yoo and Varun Juneja—skilled players who helped establish the tournament's credibility—could not. His repeat performance demonstrates the level of competition the tournament now attracts and the difficulty of sustained excellence in this field.
The 2025 tournament's innovative format, with its dual-venue setup and remote broadcasting, provided additional challenges that McCloskey navigated successfully. His victory validates his skill and the tournament organizers' ability to maintain competitive integrity while pushing creative boundaries.
Sponsors
Marco Fu Exclusive Cloth
Washington State Snooker League
Sandro Menzel Photography
The sponsors for the SSO’25 are the Washington State Snooker League, which contributed $3k of its league fees to the prize pot, Chris Lam who worked to bring in Marco Fu Exclusive Cloth as a material sponsor, and Sandro who caught the action through the artist’s lens. Without sponsors like these and past sponsors like Jason Miller, the SSO would not exist. Thank you all very much.
Looking Forward
As Andy McCloskey celebrates his historic achievement, the Seattle Snooker Open continues evolving. The 2025 tournament's dual-venue success and remote production capabilities suggest new possibilities for growth and innovation.
But at its core, the tournament remains true to its founding principle: collaboration over competition, community over individual gain, and a shared commitment to bringing world-class snooker to the United States. McCloskey's consecutive victories are impressive individual accomplishments. Still, they also demonstrate the strength of the platform that Dominguez, Yoo, and everyone who helped build it together.
In a sports landscape often dominated by competition between venues and organizations, the Seattle Snooker Open offers a different model—one where two clubs can host the SSO together and success is measured in prize money and the game's growth.
For Andy McCloskey, that meant adding his name to history. For snooker in America, it meant proof that the collaborative approach works.