The first round of the straight knock-out phase at the 2024 Scottish Open concluded yesterday.

Here is the report by WST

BetVictor Scottish Open Day Two

Luca Brecel required the codebreaking skills of Stuart Bingham to help him retrieve his cue minutes before beating Belgian compatriot Julien Leclercq 4-3 at the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh. 

Brecel’s cue was trapped inside a flight case in the players’ lounge moments before his match was due to get underway, after he forgot the code to his lock. Eventually fellow former Crucible king Bingham was able to correctly guess the combination and free Brecel’s cue for him to play. 

He is currently in danger of losing his place in the top 64 in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings at the end of the season, when his prize money for winning the 2023 World Championship drops off his ranking. It’s been a torrid season so far for Brecel, who has lost nine of his 15 matches. 

Today provided a much needed victory, with breaks of 68 and 79 to come from 3-2 down and book a last 32 tie with Zhou Yuelong, who defeated Yuan Sijun 4-1. 

“He cracked the code. I thought it was 009 to open the lock, but it turned out it was 000. So everyone knows the the code now! It was Stuart Bingham to the rescue. If he didn’t get the code we were going to have to break it open,” said 2021 Scottish Open winner Brecel. 

“That match was probably the most pressure I’ve felt since winning the World Championship. I had to win that game, just for myself, because I have been playing well when practising. I think I brought it to the match table today.”

Scotland’s Stephen Maguire scored a 4-0 win over Matthew Selt, as he battles to find form having rebuilt his game with new coach Chris Small. He now faces World Champion Kyren Wilson, who whitewashed David Grace 4-0. 

Maguire said: “I’m nowhere near good enough at the moment. That’s a good result but I’m not going to pretend I’m up there with the best player in the world or anything like that. I’ve got a long way to go and a long road ahead.

“I went to see Chris Small. We’ve only been working together for a month and we have started from scratch. We have gone to the basics. I’m trying to find my feet. Whether it is round the corner, I don’t know.“

Edinburgh’s world number 98 Dean Young scored a significant victory on home turf, beating Pang Junxu 4-2 to make the last 32 of a full format ranking event for the first time in his career. He now plays Xing Zihao. 

Shaun Murphy produced a fine display to brush aside Daniel Wells 4-0. After a superb 120 in the opener, he embarked on a maximum attempt in the second. However, the Magician broke down on 72. He went on to complete the victory and now faces Lei Peifan.

Mark Selby was a 4-0 victor against Stuart Carrington to set up a last 32 tie with Noppon Saengkham, while Jack Lisowski beat Jordan Brown 4-0 and now faces Si Jiahui. 

Neil Robertson defeated Fan Zhengyi 4-1 to secure his progression. That books him a meeting with recently crowned BetVictor Shoot Out Champion Tom Ford, who beat Antoni Kowalski 4-2.

All the detailed results can be found on snooker.org.

Once again a number of matches have been “forgotten” in this report. Most notably Ding’s victory over Mark Davis and Kyren Wilson’s victory over David Grace. Kyren is reigning World Champion and I feel that he doesn’t get the exposure he deserves. Ding is a top player for ages and one who had a significant impact on the development of the game in China. He was the first to break through and without him we probably wouldn’t have so many young talents from China and Asia in the field but hey! … Do they really think that their site is only read by Brits who don’t give a *** about players from other nationalities?

Or maybe their guy in charge of reporting missed the early afternoon matches? I wonder because those two important matches were played in the first session of the day as was the Jackson Page v Robert Milkins match, also absent from the report, and won by Jackson Page.

One match I want to watch today is Ishpreet Singh Chadah v Wu Yize; I like the way both of them play. But it’s also an important match for Chadah although it’s still early in the season and he may not be aware of its possible significance. Should Chadah win today he would break into the top 64 in the provisional end of season ranking list, pushing Anthony Hamilton into the relegation zone. The “Sheriff” has been struggling badly with injuries for years. He’s a very shrewd player, he fascinates me but I hate seeing him struggling physically and being in pain. I don’t know how he feels about the prospect of leaving the main tour, but, for me, seeing him go would be a cause of mixed feelings: sadness and relief. IF it comes to that, I hope to see him on the Seniors tour.