We have now reached the quater-finals stage at the 2024 British Open. The matches will become longer, best of 9, and only two tables will be in operation. Hopefully this will lead to a more reasonable schedule because, let’s be honest, it’s been a shambles so far this week. Some players had to play two matches yesterday, and the last match only finished in the not so small hours this morning.
Here are the reports by WST
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh produced arguably the best performance of the week so far at the Unibet British Open as he made a century and five more breaks over 50 during a 4-3 win over Ricky Walden to reach the last 16.
Un-Nooh will meet Mark Selby in a intriguing match-up in Cheltenham on Thursday night, and victory would give the Thai a first ranking event quarter-final since 2022.
In the opening frame, Un-Nooh was on course for a 147 until he missed the 13th red on 96. In the next two, he made breaks of 52 and 57, only for his opponent to snatch them both on the colours. Walden then made a 61 to lead 3-1, before Un-Nooh hit back with 93, 88 and 115 in the last three frames.
“I’m very happy, especially with the break I made in the last frame,” said the Thai. “I wasn’t thinking about the match, I just focussed on the balls, one at a time.”
Judd Trump made it 21 wins from 23 matches so far this season with a 4-2 defeat of Mark Davis. World number one Trump remains stuck on 999 career centuries as his top break today was 73, but he’ll have another chance tonight against Stephen Maguire.
Oliver Lines edged out Sunny Akani 4-3 to set up a Yorkshire derby against Stan Moody. Lines, who has now won three consecutive matches 4-3, is hoping to reach his third ranking quarter-final.
“I thought I had blown my chance today because I was 3-1 up but then missed chances and he got back to 3-3,” said Lines. “I had some luck in the last frame, it’s nice when it goes your way. I played a couple of bad shots at 3-1 and then lost all confidence. I know Stan really well, we were based at the same club for a long time. I don’t really like playing friends but we’ll both be trying as hard as we can.”
John Higgins battled to a 4-2 win in an all-Scottish clash with Graeme Dott which lasted three hours and 20 minutes. Higgins now meets giant-killer Rory Thor, who has already knocked out Mark Williams and Neil Robertson.
Luca Brecel made another step towards a return to form as he saw off Liam Davies 4-1, while World Champion Kyren Wilson fired breaks of 80 and 95 in a 4-0 win over Marco Fu.
Jak Jones hopes to build on his amazing Crucible run by capturing his first title, and he’s just three wins away having beaten Luca Brecel 4-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Unibet British Open.
Jones stepped into the limelight with a tremendous performance at the World Championship five months ago, finishing runner-up to Kyren Wilson. With added expectation on his shoulders this season, he has started strongly, reaching the last 16 at the Xi’an Grand Prix and now going one step further this week in Cheltenham. Breaks of 128 and 77 helped him to an impressive win over 2023 Crucible king Brecel.
“It’s a big win to beat Luca,” said Jones, who will meet Oliver Lines in the last eight on Friday. “Getting to the final in Sheffield gave me a lot of confidence and extra belief in myself. There has been more pressure as well, but that’s part of the game. My season has been good so far, apart from losing in the first round in Saudi against Jack Lisowski as that was such a big event, but he’s a great player and it was a tough draw. I feel I’m making up for that this week.
“I’m definitely a better player than I was a year ago. I’m not sure why, I think it’s just the belief that no matter how I am feeling I can still beat anyone. Before I thought I could only beat the top players if I felt amazing on the day, but it’s not really like that. My main goal now is to win my first title.”
Lines reached the third ranking event quarter-final of his career with a 4-1 win over fellow Yorkshireman Stan Moody. Lines, who top scored with 60 and 70, will have the chance to reach his first semi-final.
Judd Trump remains on course for a third title of the season, having already landed the Shanghai Masters and Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. Runs of 69 and 78 helped him to a 4-2 success against Stephen Maguire. He will now meet Mark Allen, who beat Chris Wakelin 4-3, potting blue and pink to win the decider at 1.30am.
John Higgins, targeting a first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship, ended the run of Rory Thor, who had knocked out Mark Williams and Neil Robertson. Breaks of 67 and 55 helped Higgins to a 4-0 success. “I will have to play better because there are some great players left in it. I would just love to win another tournament,” he said.
The Scot’s next opponent is Elliot Slessor, who scored an excellent 4-2 win over World Champion Kyren Wilson with a top break of 128.
Mark Selby enjoyed a 4-3 victory over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, compiling breaks of 110 and 115. He’ll now meet David Gilbert, who edged out Lyu Haotian 4-3, taking the last two frames with breaks of 70 and 65.
All the detailed results are on snooker.org, as always
The omission of Mark Allen’s afternoon match is bizarre because something special happened … the reason is likely the very late start of that match. It probably was still underway when WST wrote the afternoon report. But then WST had to make a separate piece to report on it:
Mark Allen made the fourth 147 break of his career during his third round match with Ben Mertens at the Unibet British Open on Thursday.
Allen’s perfect break came in the second frame and put him 2-0 ahead. The key moment of the maximum came after nine reds and blacks, as he ran out of position but then played a clever double to a centre pocket on the tenth red, allowing him to go on and complete the 147. He will earn the £5,000 high break prize in Cheltenham if the break is not equalled this week.
The Northern Irishman becomes the 16th player to make four (or more) 147s and it’s his second maximum of 2024 as he made one in the Masters in January. It’s the 205th 147 in snooker history and third of the season.
“To make a 147 with a good crowd in that arena is very special,” said Allen. “On 72, I thought about playing safe but I was willing to take the risk of going for it, because the balls were all there. The buzz of a 147 is very different to winning a tournament. Obviously winning a title is more important, but on a maximum the adrenaline builds up all the way through.“
It’s bizarre that WST didn’t include the video in their report, because they shared it on their YouTube channel:
For some reason I really don’t like this event. I don’t feel like the random draw adds anything to it and the schedule is seriously bad.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 