The 2024 British Open got underway in Cheltenham yesterday, and all the matches on display were actually round one “qualifiers held-over matches”. Ronnie withdrew from the tournament. So far, no reasons were given but this didn’t surprise me, nor did it surprise a lot of snooker fans. This was to be expected given the recent circumstances in Ronnie’s private life obviously but also because this is clearly an event he doesn’t like. He’s only actually played in it just once, in 2022, and he went out first round, beaten 4-1 by his “nemesis” Alex Ursenbacher.

Yesterday brought some more unexpected results, notably the defending champions’s early exit.

Here is the report by WST:

Defending champion Mark Williams suffered a Rory Thor hammer blow on day one of the Unibet British Open in Cheltenham, losing 4-1, while player of the season so far Judd Trump took his career century tally to 999.

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Williams was runner-up to Trump at the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters but then changed his cue, and so far that decision has backfired as he lost in the first round of last week’s English Open, and again today against world number 81 Thor. Scoring a top break of 85, Malaysia’s Thor enjoyed one of the best results of his career so far as he progressed to the last 64.

Trump has two titles under his belt already this season and started strongly today with a 4-1 win over Robert Milkins. World number one Trump was in danger of missing the tournament when he was stuck in a three-hour traffic jam on the M5 from Bristol. But he made it just in time and rattled in breaks of 104, 81, 74 and 81. 

Last week, John Higgins joined Ronnie O’Sullivan as the only players to make 1,000 centuries, and Trump will surely follow soon. “I wanted to do it in style with a 147 in the last frame,” he said. “It didn’t quite happen today – but maybe in the next game. It would be special to join Ronnie and John, two of the greatest of all time. But one day I want to be the best and take all the records on my own.“

World number three Mark Allen edged out Gary Wilson 4-3 and now meets Aaron Hill, who scored an excellent 4-3 win over Ding Junhui with a top break of 117. Higgins compiled runs of 72 and 88 in a 4-1 win over Ross Muir, while Shaun Murphy made a 105 in a 4-0 defeat of Ian Burns. 

Mark Selby made a superb 58 clearance in the deciding frame to beat Pang Junxu 4-3 on the final black, while World Champion Kyren Wilson dismissed Julien Leclercq 4-0 with a top break of 98. 

Hungary’s promising tour rookie Bulcsu Revesz edged out Ali Carter 4-3. “It’s a fantastic win for me,” said Revesz. “I am really enjoying being on the tour. Everything is so serious and professional, it’s so great to play in these conditions, better than expected. Snooker is brilliant just to watch on television, so to live it – with so many amazing players on the other tables – is something else. My father tells me to think like I can beat anyone.”

All the detailed results are available on snooker.org

Ding’s defeat was disappointing and puzzling. Ding played great for the first two frames but as soon as Aaron Hill started coming back at him, I could sense the defeat coming. I had that feeling of “déjà vu”. I have stopped counting how often in recent years Ding has lost matches despite a dominant start. It’s worrying. Don’t get me wrong, Aaron played very well after losing the first two frames, he deserved the win but … it’s not the full story. What that story really is I’m not sure.

Amongst the matches overlooked in this report by WST features an excellent 4-3 win over Tom Ford by 18 years old Gong Chenzi. Gong is in his rookie year and this early in the season is already ranked 85th. He’s got some very good wins under his belt in his short career so far. It’s the second time he beats Tom Ford actually, he did beat him in the first round of the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix as well. He also had wins over Si Jiahui and Jackson Page.

Another surprising omission from this report is 18 years old rookie Liam Davies 4-1 win over Barry Hawkins. This is a good win for the youngster, especially as, going by the scores, this was a close match. Barry is a hard “match player”, the kind that usually gives the young potters a hard time at the table.

Julien Leclercq was trashed 4-0 by Kyren Wilson. Kyren is the reigning World Champion of course but Julien’s results so far this season are worrying.