Those are WST reports on quarter-finals day in Cheltenham:

Afternoon session

Wonderful Williams Blows Fan Away

Mark Williams produced a sublime afternoon of snooker to thrash China’s Fan Zhengyi 5-1 and make the 64th ranking semi-final of his career at the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham.

The Welshman won the British Open title two years ago, when he defeated Gary Wilson in the final. That was his 24th ranking event victory, but he is yet to add to that tally. Next up three-time World Champion Williams faces Iran’s Hossein Vafaei in the last four.

Williams and Vafaei have previously met in two semi-finals at the 2017 China Open and the 2019 China Championship, with Williams winning on both occasions. However, Vafaei was victorious in the Shoot Out final against Williams two-years ago.

This afternoon’s match lasted just over an hour, as Williams blew his opponent away. He fired in breaks of 138, 68, 61 and 109 on his way to the comprehensive victory. The world number 10 finished the match with an incredible 97% pot success rate. Afterwards he revealed that as well as prospering on the baize himself, he has been enjoying watching 10-year-old son Joel competing in the Welsh Junior ranks.

“He had a 94 in a lineup a few days ago. When he makes 100 I’ll put it on my Twitter for people to see. He loves it. I took him to North Wales for a junior competition and Ireland a couple of months ago. He loves it. He hasn’t won many games yet but he is rapidly improving. To be honest I am enjoying it,” said 48-year-old Williams.

“I know now how hard it must have been on my father taking me everywhere. He did that for me all of my career on much less of a budget. Money was tight back then so I appreciate what he was doing for me back 30 years ago. It must have been so difficult because I know how much it costs taking my boy around. I do appreciate it.”

Vafaei earned his progression with a 5-2 defeat of tour rookie He Guoqiang. The Iranian is now through to the sixth ranking semi-final of his career. If he goes all the way he will earn a second title, following his Shoot Out victory in 2021.

Evening session

Selby Pips Lisowski In Thriller

Mark Selby edged out Jack Lisowski 5-4 in a thrilling encounter to book his place in the semi-finals of the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham.

Victory sees four-time World Champion Selby move two wins away from a first ever British Open title. Selby is set for his 61st appearance in a ranking event semi-final, where he will face China’s Xiao Guodong.

The Leicester cueman has now won his last three meetings with Lisowski. That includes a clash at last season’s British Open, when he compiled a brilliant 147 break.

Another agonising loss for Lisowski means his quest for a maiden ranking event win continues. The 32-year-old has been runner-up on six occasions and has now lost six semi-finals.

It was home favourite Lisowski who took the opening two frames this afternoon, before a break of 98 saw Selby get his first frame on the board to make it 2-1. Lisowski had a great chance to take the fourth, but missed a regulation pink with the rest and Selby took the frame to ensure parity at the mid-session with the scores at 2-2.

When play resumed, Selby fired in a stunning contribution of 132 to move 3-2 ahead and gain the lead for the first time in the match. However, Lisowski levelled immediately with a break of 70.

A break of 95 saw Selby move one from victory and he had a chance to get over the line in the eighth. He missed a red with difficult bridging to a top corner and Lisowski pounced with 64 to force a decider. Both players had chances in the final frame before a stalemate resulted in a re-rack. Selby eventually made a decisive contribution of 65 to secure victory.

“He is a quality player and if he keeps playing how he has been then it is only a matter of time. He’s too good not to win a ranking event and when he does win one I think he will win a few. When I’m not in a tournament, I think he will go on and win a few. He’s a great lad and he is great for our game,” said 22-time ranking event winner.

“Everyone keeps reminding me that I’ve not won an ITV event yet. No pressure. I’m just taking one game at a time and not looking too far ahead. I’ve got Xiao tomorrow. It is going to be a tough match.”

Xiao earned his place in the semis with an impressive 5-3 win over Tom Ford, which included a tournament high break of 140. It will be his first appearance in a ranking event semi-final since the 2020 Gibraltar Open. The world number 37 has previously made the last four here in Cheltenham, at the 2019 World Grand Prix when he lost out against Ali Carter.

The only match I watched yesterday was He Guoqiang v Hossein Vafaei. He Guaqiang started in impressive fashion, winning the first two frames, but as the match went on, his game deteriorated and his confidence seemed to have vanished. It was the opposite for Hossein, who started slowly but played very well, and scored heavily, especially after the MSI.

In other news …

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Ronnie O’Sullivan risks English Open trouble as Rocket back in UK just hours before match

Ronnie O’Sullivan faces a race against time to get back for his English Open match.

By Hector Nunns

Ronnie O’Sullivan faces a race against time on Monday to make the first match of his home English Open tournament in Essex. The world No 1 has been having treatment in Spain this week for a tennis elbow injury that flared up during his recent Shanghai Masters victory in China.

And from there the Rocket, a record seven-times world champion, will be jetting off to Macau to play in a lucrative exhibition against veteran pal Jimmy White. But O’Sullivan is not due to arrive back via Hong Kong until early Monday morning, just a few hours before he is due on table at 1pm to face Andrew Pagett in Brentwood.

O’Sullivan, 47, has made no secret of the fact he will be spending as much time as possible in China in the next couple of years, where he regularly receives six-figure sums as appearance money. He has already withdrawn on medical grounds for two events this season – the European Masters in Germany, and then this week’s British Open in Cheltenham.

But unless there are further medical issues or problems with delayed or cancelled flights, O’Sullivan is still planning to appear near his home in front of many of his most devoted fans.

O’Sullivan said: “I am arriving back Monday morning flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow and landing about 7am. And then I am due to be playing a match at 1pm in Brentwood.

“So listen, I’ll turn up and give it a go and see how we get on although clearly that isn’t ideal.” He is due to return to resort city for the big-money Macau Masters starting on Christmas Day at the five-star Wynn Palace Hotel, along with Judd Trump, Mark Willliams and Ding Junhui.

…

That won’t please a lot of fans, but I’m afraid that we have to accept that, having won everything, having nothing to prove in the sport, Ronnie’s motivation to win everything isn’t probably what it once was and his priorities have changed.

He went to Spain indeed and took the opportunity to visit his long time friend Mike. Mike was a familiar face on tour some years back, often accompanying Ronnie at tournaments.

This is WST report about what happened in Cheltenham yesterday

Selby Through After Cruel Blow For Gilbert

Mark Selby edged a late night thriller, as David Gilbert bowed out in the cruelest possible fashion on the final black to lose 4-3 in the last 16 of the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham.

With the clock just shy of 12:45am, the players found themselves battling it out on the last ball. Gilbert eventually took on a long range black to the green pocket, but the white tracked towards the top left corner and fell to end the match.

Selby progresses to face home favourite Jack Lisowski in the quarters tomorrow evening in what is set to be a showpiece clash. Lisowski came from behind to edge out 1999 British Open champion Fergal O’Brien 4-2.

“It was cruel really. He’d probably rather have messed a safety up or something than lose like that. It isn’t nice to lose that way when you’ve been playing a frame for that long. I felt that I could have won 4-1, 4-2 or 4-3. It was a horrible match from start to finish,” said four-time World Champion Selby.

“I played Shaun Murphy in the last 16 of the English Open last year and he missed a black off the spot to beat me 4-2. I managed to turn the match around, win 4-3 and went on to win the event. Sometimes you think your name is on the trophy, but it is only the quarter-finals so I’m not getting carried away.”

Lisowski is hunting his maiden ranking title and beat Matthew Selt, as well as O’Brien, in what was a long but successful day. Afterwards he admitted he had very little left in the tank.

Lisowski said: “I was tired tonight. I played so well against Matt and felt like I was bang on it. As soon as we started playing tonight I felt tired and different. My concentration wasn’t quite there. It was a contrast today. I managed to hang in there this evening and finish the game out somehow.”

Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei is through to his ninth ranking quarter-final after defeating Scotland’s 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott 4-2.

The world number 17 is now just three matches away from capturing a second ranking crown, having beaten Mark Williams in the final of the 2022 Shoot Out final to claim his first.

Vafaei now faces either He Guoqiang in the last eight. He missed two match ball blacks before eventually seeing off Barry Hawkins 4-3 on the last ball.

Mark Williams scored a superb 4-2 win over Ding Junhui to seal his progression. The Welshman lost the first two frames, but produced a four-frame burst to turn the tie on its head and get over the line. He now plays Fan Zhengyi, who beat Hailong Ma 4-1.

Tom Ford booked his last eight slot with a 4-1 win over Scott Donaldson. His opponent will be Xiao Guodong, who defeated Ali Carter 4-2.

WST has also published the draws for the quater-finals and semi-finals

The draw for the quarter and semi-finals of the Cazoo British Open has been made.

…

Quarter-Final Draw

He Guoqiang vs Hossein Vafaei
Tom Ford vs Xiao Guodong
Mark Selby vs Jack Lisowski
Mark Williams vs Fan Zhengyi

Semi-Final Draw

 Mark Williams/Fan Zhengyi vs He Guoqiang/Hossein Vafaei

Mark Selby/Jack Lisowski vs Tom Ford/Xiao Guodong

The quater-finals will be played today over a best of 9 format, the semi-finals, played tomorrow, are best of 11.

Mark Williams played very well indeed, but, as so often, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy watching Ding. He had won the first two frames easily. As soon as he lost the third frame, his body language and facial expression suggested that he wasn’t confident and almost resigned to lose. Maybe though, the problem actually is in the eyes of the beholder rather than with Ding. Thoughts anyone?

Now… really He Guoqiang deserves better than two sentences in this report. He Guoqiang is in his first year as a professional. He lost his first match heavily, he was beaten 5-0 by Ross Muir in the European Masters qualifiers. That was back in July. He has since played 7 more matches, winning 6 of them. His only defeat came at the hands of Jack Lisowski in the 2023 International Championship qualifiers. In the 2023 Wuhan Open qualifiers, he beat Kyren Wilson by 5-4, having trailed by 66 with 67 on in the decider. Yesterday, he beat Barry Hawkins by 4-3, on the final black. Those results are saying a lot, both about his abilities and his temperament. He won’t be showcased on the main table though … unless he reaches the final here, or, maybe, if he dons a Shaun Murphy mask ?

Yesterday, the 2023 British Open continued to deliver drama and unexpected results.

Here is the report by WST:

Singh Chadha Scores Huge Win Over Bingham

India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha secured the biggest victory of his fledgling career, beating 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham 4-2 at the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham.

Singh Chadha is in his rookie season on the World Snooker Tour, after coming through Asia-Oceania Q School earlier this year. He’s already made a strong start, having beaten Anthony McGill to qualify for the upcoming Wuhan Open. The Mumbai cueman also ran World Champion Luca Brecel close at the recent European Masters, before bowing out 5-3.

With the scores locked at 2-2, Singh Chadha’s brilliant win was sealed with breaks of 69 and 71. His reward is a last 32 meeting with former Crucible semi-finalist David Gilbert.

“I watched the whole of the 2015 World Championship and I just admired him throughout, because of the bottle he showed. I respect him a lot. He is a great player. To beat a World Champion is of great pleasure,” said 27-year-old Singh Chadha.

“I am just treating every match as if I was playing in India. I think that is helping a lot, especially this match, I was really confident before it. I had a different mindset going on and I was very positive. That helped a lot.

“I am taking small steps, but I want to set a benchmark when I leave the tour. Every match I am going to give it my all and you need to look out.”

Kyren Wilson made the 400th century of his career en route to an impressive 4-0 defeat of world number three Mark Allen. Wilson crafted breaks of 112 and 121 on his way to victory. Next up he faces another tough assignment against Barry Hawkins in the last 32.

Defeat for Allen ends his chances of usurping Ronnie O’Sullivan as world number one. The Northern Irishman needed to win the event to top the world rankings, meaning the Rocket will remain at the summit for the time being.

Robbie Williams scored a shock 4-1 win over four-time World Champion John Higgins to earn his place in the last 32.

It means he has now won both of his meetings with Higgins, having beaten him 5-4 at the 2020 German Masters. Williams crafted runs of 73, 91, 52 and 118 during today’s tie. He now plays Scott Donaldson.

Williams said: “John is such a classy player. Obviously one of the greatest of all-time. To be unbeaten against him, you have to celebrate these little victories when you can.

“I thought I would make a bit more of an effort in the off season and I have felt sharper as a result. I fancy doing some damage this season. I feel confident enough that I can win a tournament and that is a great mindset to have.”

The evening session saw the first of the last 32 matches get underway. Welsh three-time World Champion Mark Williams scored a 4-2 win over Gary Wilson in what was a repeat of the 2021 final. That sets up a showdown with China’s Ding Junhui in the next round.

Ding progressed with a 4-0 whitewash victory against Belgium’s Julien Leclercq, while Ali Carter beat defending champion Ryan Day 4-2 in a late night battle.

All the detailed results are on snooker.org as usual.

Also as usual a number of matches are “forgotten” by WST.

Chinese rookies He Guoqiang and Ma Hailong qualified for the last 16 round, but there’s not a word about it by WST. I’m sure that if it had been some UK rookie, worth being showcased, this would be the headline of this report…

I’m have been watching Ishpreet Singh Chadha since the start of the season. Actually, I already got interested in him before he turned pro. Some of his matches in the Asian Q-School were streamed and he caught my attention. He’s a very solid layer with a cool head. How far he will go, we’ll see, but he’s certainly as good as any of the UK Q-School qualifiers and actually better than most.

Also, WST has published the draw for the last 16 round:

Barry Hawkins/Kyren Wilson vs He Guoqiang
Graeme Dott vs Yuan Sijun/Hossein Vafaei
Ding Junhui vs Mark Williams
Hailong Ma vs Fan Zhengyi/Rod Lawler
Ali Carter vs Xiao Guodong/Sanderson Lam
Tom Ford/Jimmy Robertson vs Robbie Williams/Scott Donaldson
David Gilbert/Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Si Jiahui/Mark Selby
Jack Lisowski/Matthew Selt vs Fergal O’Brien

Day 2 at the 2023 British Open brought quite a few unexpected results.

Here is the report by WST:

Marvellous Miah Stuns Trump

World number 113 Hammad Miah staged the shock of the season so far, defeating 23-time ranking event winner Judd Trump 4-3 at the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham.

The thrilling encounter came down to the final black and Miah’s reward sees him face China’s Ma Heilong in the last 32. Defeat for 2019 World Champion Trump means his barren spell in ranking events continues, the last time he picked up ranking silverware was over a year ago at the 2022 Turkish Masters.

The first four frames this afternoon were played at a phenomenal standard. Miah fired in breaks of 126 and 101, with Trump compiling runs of 125 and 124 to leave the pair level at 2-2. Trump then moved 3-2 ahead, before Miah took a tense sixth to force a decider.

The last frame came down to the final ball, but a loose safety from Trump gave Miah a long range black, which he deposited to secure one of the biggest wins of his career.

Victory for Miah marks a high point since a dramatic return to the tour two years ago. During the pandemic he ended up stranded in Uzbekistan on the way home from a holiday in Dubai due to travel restrictions and he narrowly made it back to compete in Q School, where he regained his professional status. He now finds himself in the last 32 of a major event having beaten one of snooker’s modern greats.

Miah said: “In the city there were 300 Russian Billiards clubs and there was only one snooker table. After going to many of these clubs I asked the locals and nobody knew what snooker was. Eventually I met this guy from Tatarstan and he took me to this club. I got the hunger back.

“I appreciate just playing snooker. I want to enjoy it like every person who goes to the club to play. This is my escape now and isn’t my life. This is the way I am trying to look at it so I can enjoy it more. I need to give myself a positive outcome from playing snooker so I don’t want to think of it as work.”

Jack Lisowski’s blockbuster meeting with Shaun Murphy also went right down to the wire, he also prevailed on the final black to earn a 4-3 victory.

Lisowski is competing on home turf this week in Cheltenham and is seeking what would be a momentous maiden ranking title. Trailing 62-0 in the decider he appeared to be set for the exit, but he cleared with a brilliant 63 break to turn the tie on its head and claim victory. Next up he faces either Matthew Selt or Zak Surety.

“It was an amazing match and great to beat Shaun, who was pretty much the player of last season. He played well today so it shows my game is in good shape,” said 32-year-old Lisowski. “I pulled off a really nice break in the decider and to do that under pressure is what you practice for so it is a great feeling.”

Si Jiahui scored a shock 4-1 defeat of 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson. China’s Si enjoyed a stunning run to the semi-finals of last season’s World Championship and showcased some of his best snooker again this afternoon. He fired in breaks of 66 and 107 on his way to victory. Next up Si faces either Mark Selby or Tian Pengfei.

Welsh three-time World Champion Mark Williams secured a hard fought 4-2 win over former UK Champion Stephen Maguire, while recent European Masters winner Barry Hawkins beat Robert Milkins 4-1.

As usual all the detailed results are available on snooker.org

I missed all the action yesterday, as I had to travel from my island to Athens and back for some medical treatment. It was nothing serious, but it needed to be done and I came back home late, and rather exhausted. Hopefully, I can catch up with some of the matches later, but for now, obviously I can’t comment on anything that happened yesterday.

That said, Miah has always been an excellent player and I have always wondered how and why he hasn’t done more in the game. Maybe he has to work outside snooker to sustain himself and his family? I’m not sure.

I was very pleased to see that Julien Leclercq is through to the next round with a very good win over Jamie Jones. Ben Mertens though was beaten 4-0 by Yuan Sijun.

What I wrote yesterday about Stan Moody getting the main television table attracted a lot of comments on social media, some agreeing with me, some disagreeing. I do stand by what I wrote, especially as young Stan is not at all the best young rookie on tour judging by his results so far. He is actually the only amongst the British and Chinese rookies who hasn’t won/drawn a match yet this season. Of course he’s very young and precisely, because of that, I do believe – strongly – that putting him under the spotlights is not helpful at all. In addition to that, I wonder if that decision to put Stan on the main table would have been taken if the defending champion had been Judd Trump or Ronnie instead of Ryan Day. I have serious doubts about it… and I’m probably not alone. That’s extremely unfair for Ryan.

There was an interesting comment by Michael Waring about this whole situation. It’s in the comments section. I agree with Michael, and what he describes – offering a variety of events, some targeting specific populations – is one of benefits snooker could get if they ditched the current rigid ranking system in favour of an ELO type rating system.

Also, yesterday, the random draw for the next round has been made. Here is how it looks at the time of writing:

Graeme Dott vs Daniel Wells/Ashley Carty
Si Jiahui vs Tian Pengfei/Mark Selby
Tom Ford/Ashley Hugill vs Jimmy Robertson
John Higgins/Robbie Williams vs Scott Donaldson
Ryan Day/Thor Chuan Leong vs Ali Carter
David Gilbert vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha/Stuart Bingham
Matthew Stevens vs Fergal O’Brien
Fan Zhengyi/Ross Muir vs Rod Lawler
Xiao Guodong vs David Grace/Sanderson Lam
Yuan Sijun vs Hossein Vafaei
Ding Junhui/Liu Hongyu vs Julien Leclercq
Jack Lisowski vs Matthew Selt/Zak Surety
Gary Wilson vs Mark Williams
Ma Hailong vs Hammad Miah
Oliver Lines vs He Guoqiang/Muhammad Asif
Barry Hawkins vs Kyren Wilson/Mark Allen

The 2023 British Open got underway yesterday at the Centaur in Cheltenham. Many big names were in action as the round 1 “held-over” matches were scheduled on this first day.

Here is the report by WST:

Pistol Remains In The Hunt As Bullet Drops Out

Mark Allen is still in contention to dethrone Ronnie O’Sullivan from the top of the world rankings after a 4-1 defeat of Anthony McGill, but World Champion Luca Brecel’s chances of reaching pole position ended on day one of the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham.

World number three Allen was Player of the Year last season after winning three ranking titles, including the UK Championship. Following O’Sullivan pulling out of this week’s event, Allen now knows he needs to win the tournament to become world number one.

Next up Allen faces a tough assignment against world number eight Kyren Wilson in what is a repeat of the 2018 Masters final, which Allen won. Wilson earned his progression thanks to a 4-1 defeat of Martin O’Donnell.

It was McGill who claimed the opener this afternoon, before Allen took control. Breaks of 57, 81 and 94 moved the Northern Irishman 3-1 ahead and he took a 41-minute fifth to get over the line.

“It would tick a box as one of my career goals is to get to world number one. I’ve got a long way to go before I start thinking about that. There are a lot of matches ahead of me. If I was in the final here on Sunday, it might be bittersweet to do it without Ronnie in the event,” said 37-year-old Allen.

“It was a horrible draw for Luca playing Ding in round one here. It doesn’t get much tougher than that. He is another one that I’m sure at some point this season will get to world number one. I hope that we have a back and forth battle and go for it between us and Ronnie. It is up to us to stamp our authority on that world number one spot.”

Brecel faced a blockbuster clash with China’s Ding Junhui, knowing he just had to win two matches to put himself in line for the world number one spot.

Ding had led 3-0, but Crucible king Brecel came roaring back to force a decider. However, it was the 14-time ranking event winner who took it to win 4-3 and end Brecel’s ambitions of topping the rankings.

Australia’s 23-time ranking event winner Neil Robertson is searching a first individual in over a year, but he got off to a strong start this week with a 4-1 defeat of Welshman Jamie Clarke. Robertson fired in breaks of 55, 77, 50 and 70 on his way to victory this afternoon and now faces Si Jiahui tomorrow.

Judd Trump survived a scare to beat Anton Kazakov 4-2. The Ukrainian crafted a fine break of 86 to take the opener and then claimed the second to secure a surprise 2-0 lead. However, Trump made contributions of 67, 67 and 116 on his way to turning the tie around and emerging victorious.

Defending champion Ryan Day whitewashed Sean O’Sullivan 4-0 to book his progression, while four-time World Champion Mark Selby beat fellow Leicester cueman Ben Woollaston 4-2.

Shaun Murphy beat Rebecca Kenna 4-1 to set up a mouthwatering clash with Jack Lisowski in the last 64. Lisowski defeated Joe O’Connor 4-3 to make it through.

The truth is that Luca was pretty poor at the start of the match, probably still tired after making it to the final in Shanghai on Saturday. Ding typically struggled to finish the job, but eventually did it this time.

As usual, many matches are not reported on in this report. All detailed results are available on snooker.org.

One match that’s not reported on is Barry Hawkins trashing of young Stan Moody on the main television table. Barry, who won the 2023 European Masters end August, scored breaks of 78, 60, 70 and 68, in a complete demolition of his young opponent. Now, why on earth, was this match on the main table when, Ryan Day, the defending Champion was also in action in that same session, as was Mark Selby who faced Ben Wollaston? Somehow I can’t help but think that this decision would never have been taken it it wasn’t to showcase Stan Moody, Shaun Murphy’s protégé. If I’m right, then it backfired spectacularly. This match was as one-sided as it gets and only showed how far away young Stan is from the required professional level. It’s good to showcase young talents, but it only works if they are good enough to give their more experienced opponent some decent opposition. If they are totally outplayed, and can’t show anything, it’s not good for the viewers, and not good either for the youngster whose confidence might seriously suffer from the experience.