Yesterday was the first day of the 2025/26 season. Snooker was played in the Mattioli Arena in Leicester without fans watching, and with erroneous information by WST on how to watch in Europe. To their credit they made it free to watch for those registered on WST play and showed three tables. Still … it seems nothing changes when it comes to WST “shambolism”. New season, same “carelessness”.

Anyway … all the results are available on snooker.org

And this is the report by WST:

Higgins Earns Wuhan Spot

John Higgins made a strong start to his 34th season on the World Snooker Tour, beating Huang Jiahao 5-2 to reach the final stages of the Wuhan Open.

Veteran Higgins, who turned 50 last month, finished last season in fine style by winning the World Open and Tour Championship and hopes to continue that momentum into the new campaign. The world number four compiled breaks of 59, 62 and 71 today as he secured a place at the £700,000 ranking event in Wuhan in August. 

Crucible runner-up Mark Williams also started his 34th pro season with a win, beating Chatchapong Nasa 5-0 with a top break of 67. 

Reanne Evans, 12-time World Women’s Champion, came from 3-1 down to score a 5-4 victory over David Lilley. Evans took the deciding frame with an excellent break of 61.

Si Jiahui, runner-up to Xiao Guodong in this event last year, top scored with 112 in a 5-2 victory over Bulcsu Revesz. Joe O’Connor came from 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 down to beat Jiang Jun 5-4, making breaks of 116,  88, 82 and 55. 

World number 70 Louis Heathcote upset a player ranked 50 places higher as he beat Wu Yize 5-2 with a top run of 117. Elliot Slessor recovered a 4-2 deficit to beat Oliver Lines 5-4, winning the deciding frame by potting the final pink and black. China’s Zhao Hanyang enjoyed a notable tour debut, beating Sanderson Lam 5-1.

Luca Brecel, 2023 World Champion, was a no-show for his match against Haris Tahir so his opponent was awarded a walkover. 

This is a really good result for Reanne, especially from 0-2 down. David Lilley is a hard match player and isn’t easy to beat.

Wu Yize heavy defeat was a bit of a surprise, but then Louis is a good solid player and, maybe, Wu had just come back from China and was still a bit jet-lagged. Maybe Lewis will know.

I will refrain to write what I think about Luca Brecel’s no show. If he didn’t want to play he could at least have had the decency to withdraw, sparing his opponent the trip to the venue and the wait in front of an empty table in an “fans empty” arena. “Belgian” honour was saved by an unspectacular but strong performance from Ben Mertens. Ben’s opponent, Fan Zenghyi, had breaks of 60, 79, 104 and 59 and still lost by 5-3. Ben’s best break was only 53, but his will to win was exemplary.