Only 16 players remain on course for the 2025 Welsh Open title as we enter day 4 of the “main” event. There are some notable absentees in the last 16 line-up and some unexpected names as well.

Here are the reports shared by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

BetVictor Welsh Open Day Three

Home favourite Mark Williams suffered a 4-2 reverse against Stephen Maguire in the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open, while Neil Robertson was also knocked out on an afternoon of surprise results in Llandudno.

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Defeat for Robertson, 4-3 against Tom Ford, blows open the race to win the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, as Kyren Wilson can now overtake him by reaching the quarter-finals, while Chris Wakelin, Pang Junxu and Luca Brecel are also in the hunt.

World number five Williams, the last Welsh winner of this title back in 1999, made three centuries in his opening match this week against Florian Nuessle, but couldn’t reproduce that form today. Six-time ranking event winner Maguire has slipped to 29th in the world but enjoyed one of his best wins in recent seasons to set up a last 16 meeting with Sanderson Lam. A break of 54 in the sixth frame, his highest of the match, helped the Glaswegian to the winning line and kept alive his hopes of qualifying for next month’s World Grand Prix as he must at least reach the semi-finals.

“The fifth frame was the big moment because Mark had come back to 2-2 and looked like going 3-2 up, but he missed a bad blue and I managed to clear up,” said Maguire, who won this event in 2013. “With the chances I had I could have won it 4-0 or 4-1. I am going to watch the match back tonight, which I don’t usually like doing but I am not cueing well so I need to see if I can fix it before tomorrow. It’s a good result for me today because I don’t get many wins like that these days.”

Robertson came from 3-0 down to 3-3, only for Ford to finish superbly with a break of 131 in the deciding frame to earn a tie with Jackson Page. “I came here with very low expectations because I have been feeling unwell,” said Ford, who won his first ranking title at the 9Club Shoot Out in December. “When Neil got back to 3-3 he was cueing well and I was feeling worse, but fortunately in the last frame I got a chance and made a good break.“

Page reached the last 16 of this event for the first time in his career with a 4-2 win over Ishpreet Singh Chadha. Welshman Page first played in the tournament as a 15-year-old in 2017 and won two matches to reach the last 32. 

“That run in 2017 was my first time on TV and those memories will live forever,” said Page today. “It’s a great feeling to reach the last 16 of my home tournament, especially as the crowds here are brilliant even in the morning sessions. I have had a good season so far and I hope to keep improving.” 

Yuan Sijun, a semi-finalist at the recent Machineseeker German Masters, kept his momentum going with a 4-3 win over Mark Allen. A tense 55-minute deciding frame came down to the colours and China’s Yuan enjoyed a huge slice of good fortune when, leading 66-54, he missed the final yellow to a baulk corner but it flew into a centre pocket. He added green and brown which proved enough.

John Higgins, who has won a record five Welsh Open titles, is yet to concede a frame in this event as he followed up a 4-0 first round victory over Graeme Dott with another whitewash against Robert Milkins. Breaks of 65, 83, 72 and 68 helped Higgins set up a match with Yuan Sijun or Mark Allen.

Wu Yize, runner-up at the BetVictor English Open and BetVictor Scottish Open, went down 4-2 against Sanderson Lam. That ends Wu’s chances of the BetVictor Bonus as he needed to reach the final.

Matthew Selt edged out Jamie Clarke 4-3, which could be enough to secure his place in the World Grand Prix. Welshmen Jamie Jones and Matthew Stevens reached the last 16, beating Robbie Williams 4-2 and David Gilbert 4-3 respectively. 

Evening session

BetVictor Welsh Open Day Three Evening

World Champion Kyren Wilson suffered a 4-3 defeat against Joe O’Connor in the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open, ending his hopes of winning the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus.

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On a day of surprise results in Llandudno, Wilson’s exit followed defeats for Mark Williams, Mark Allen and Neil Robertson. Victory tonight would have brought Wilson within one more win of over-taking Robertson at the top of the BetVictor Home Nations Series rankings, but now the bonus can only be won by Robertson, Luca Brecel and Pang Junxu .

Wilson has already won three ranking titles in 2024/25 but won’t add to his haul this week as Leicester’s O’Connor made a vital break of 58 in the deciding frame. He’s through to the last 16 of a knockout ranking event for the first time this season and will meet Matthew Stevens on Thursday.

“It’s a great win, to beat someone of Kyren’s calibre,” said O’Connor, a semi-finalist in this event in 2019. “I missed a couple of easy balls but overall it was a good performance. I enjoy playing on table one and trying to put on a show. I’ve still got time to finish the season well. Maybe there was a bit of extra pressure on Kyren tonight because he was chasing the bonus, but he’s World Champion so I doubt that affected him much.” 

 Brecel continued to show signs of a return to his best as he beat Noppon Saengkham 4-2. The 2023 Crucible king opened with a 147 attempt which ended on 105 when he missed the black off the 14th red. Brecel later stole the fifth frame from 71-0 down to go 3-2 ahead, then finished in style with a 108.

“My cue ball control was good,” said the Belgian, who meets Pang next. “I am having fun out there and making good breaks. Hopefully more of the same tomorrow.” 

Jack Lisowski had three centuries in his opening match on Tuesday and followed up with further runs of 112 and 105 tonight as he beat Chris Wakelin 4-1.

All the event results so far are available on snooker.org.

I can’t really comment on any of the matches. I did watch a lot of snooker yesterday but have no clear recollection of any of what I saw. As most of you will know, we are experiencing a swarm of earthquakes in Santorini where I live. Yesterday we had over 150 of them, most very mild and none very strong. So far there is no serious damage done to any building other than a few abandoned ones that were about to crumble even before the earthquakes started. But it is a concern, of course it is, because nobody can predict with any level of certainty what is coming next. I haven’t had a peaceful night of sleep since this all thing began and I start to feel it. I’m tired and my concentration is all over the place. So … any comments on the matches will be most welcome.

O’Connor’s victory is no shock. He has improved a lot over the last couple of years and I see him as top 16 material. Yuan Sijun is another vastly improved player. He has a solid temperament as well. Maguire has always been a quality player, and a big occasions player. How/why he hasn’t won more in his career is a mystery to me¹ … sort of.

Both Mark Selby and John Higgins scored heavily yesterday. Going by the scores Higgins totally outplayed Rob Milkins, but then, I’m not sure how Rob was playing as he’s equally capable of producing a stunning performance or an absolute stinker.

1. … sort of because I’ve seen Stephen at events often enough. He likes his drinks and he has a rather volatile temperament. ↩︎