The first day of the 2025 Welsh Open in Llandudno was an interesting one on many accounts but, before I come to that, here are the reports shared by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

BetVictor Welsh Open Day One

Gary Wilson described his own performance as “hideous” as his defence of the BetVictor Welsh Open title ended in the opening round with a 4-3 defeat against Ishpreet Singh Chadha.

…

Wilson won his third ranking title in Llandudno last year, beating Martin O’Donnell in the final, but has lost form in recent months and admitted last week that he was seeking a solution in practice. Suffering from illness, the Tynesider was well below his best today and from 3-2 up he lost the last two frames against India’s top player Chadha. The result leaves Wilson in danger of failing to qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix. “I’m just sick,” he admitted. “If I’d had half my game I probably would have got through, but it was hideous.“

Chadha enjoyed a fine run to the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open earlier in the season, notably beating Mark Selby, and the world number 69 proved again that he enjoys the big occasion. A break of 76 gave him the opening frame, and despite falling 3-2 down, the 28-year-old dominated the last two to set up a last 32 meeting with Jackson Page.

“It felt amazing, to beat a three-time ranking event winner,” said Singh-Chadha. “I was on it from the start and Gary was a little but off, but it was a tough match. I was tough mentally even before I became a pro and I have worked on the technical side with my coach Yasin Merchant. As I am playing better I feel more confident. I am close to getting into the top 64 now which would be a great achievement in my first two seasons.“

Home favourite Mark Williams looked sharp in a 4-1 win over Florian Nuessle, compiling breaks of 101, 100 and 117. “I’ve been playing well all season,” said Williams, the last Welsh winner of this event back in 1999. “I’ve won a tournament and could have had one or two more. It’s more than I ever thought I’d be doing, approaching my 50th birthday. I’ve just got to enjoy it.“

Neil Robertson has extra motivation this week as he is front runner for the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, and he started strongly with a 4-2 win over Mark Davis. From 2-0 down, Robertson reeled off four frames in a row with top breaks of 67 and 77. That result means that just ten other players are still in the race to win the bonus.

Mark Selby enjoyed a 4-2 victory over Haydon Pinhey, while Welshman Jamie Jones beat Si Jiahui by the same scoreline.

Evening session

BetVictor Welsh Open Day One Evening

Mark Allen launched his bid to win the BetVictor Welsh Open for the first time as he battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to beat Stan Moody 4-3 in the last 64 in Llandudno. 

…

Allen has been ever-present in this tournament since 2006 but surprisingly has just one semi-finalist appearance, in 2016. The 11-time ranking event winner will hope to improve that record this week and cleared the first hurdle with an excellent break in the deciding frame against teenager Moody. 

Winner of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in December and a semi-finalist at the recent Johnstone’s Paint Masters, Northern Ireland’s Allen is looking to continue his sequence of deep runs and will face Yuan Sijun in the last 32 on Wednesday at Venue Cymru.

Moody made a confident start with breaks of 59 and 95 to win the first two frames. The 18-year old had chances in frame three but couldn’t take them, and Allen snatched it on the colours, then made a delightful 138 total clearance for 2-2. A run of 64 helped Moody regain the lead, but he lost a scrappy 39-minute sixth. In the decider, Moody was first among the balls and made 29 before missing a red to a baulk corner. World number eight Allen seized his chance with a match-winning 67.

“Stan started really well to go 2-0 up,” said 38-year-old Allen. “I hung in there and played some decent stuff to get back into it. I had to rely on him making a few mistakes towards the end. I’m relieved to get through. I didn’t expect him to miss the red in the last frame, I made a good break from there and I’m pleased to close it out that way. I haven’t practised as hard as I usually do for this event but I have a day off tomorrow to try to be ready for Wednesday.”

John Higgins was outstanding in a 4-0 win over Graeme Dott, firing breaks of 113, 60 and 107. Elliot Slessor was also on the right side of a 4-0 scoreline, beating Liam Davies with a top run of 105.

Robert Milkins, who won this title two years ago but has since failed to go beyond the quarter-finals of any event, enjoyed a much-needed 4-1 win over Wang Yuchen. 

Ishpreet Sing Chadha is a player I like to watch. I had watched him play as an amateur on the stream during the qualifiers in Thailand and had immediately warmed to him. He’s a very good player who appears to be blessed with a great temperament and seems to enjoy his snooker. He plays a very positive game, without being reckless at all. He may have been helped by his opponent’s illness but he deserved this win 100%. That’s said, it’s never nice to see a player struggling with ill health and I wish Gary Wilson a speedy and complete recovery.

I may have appeared to dislike Stan Moody in the past, but this isn’t the case and never was. What I dislike is the fact when WST puts a strong focus on a young player – more often than not on an English kid – before they have actually proven anything. This sport isn’t easy, it’s very taxing mentally and emotionally and those young players shouldn’t have to cope with the additional weight of big expectations put on their young shoulders. Yesterday, I really appreciated what young Stan showed against Allen.

The last match I watched was Milkins v Wang Yuchen. It was a much closer match than the scores suggest. Robert Milkins, when on form, is scary. He makes the game look ridiculously easy. Yesterday was such a day. But, even if the score do suggest otherwise, Wang made him work for his win. Wang’s safety was excellent, and Milkins’ safety game is badly underrated. In long stretches this match was very tactical. Wang made the only 50+ break of the match, a truly beautiful 118 in frame 3. It was also a match played in great spirit, both players showing appreciation for their opponent’s good shots.

At the time of writing Ronnie is still in the draw unless WST is hiding things from us… 😉 I’m not expecting anything, Janie Clarke is no numpty, but I believe that he will want to play and play well in Hong Kong where he’s now a resident. A bit of competitive snooker played ahead of the 2025 Grand Prix might be part of the plan.