Here are the reports by WST on yesterday’s matches in Wuhan

First session

Wuhan Open Day Two Afternoon Update

Anthony McGill produced a break building blitz, to take the last three frames and beat Mostafa Dorgham 5-4 to set up a last 32 clash with defending champion Judd Trump at the Wuhan Open. 

The 2016 Indian Open champion has had a slow start to the season, but showed signs of hitting form with recent qualifying wins to make the final stages of the Northern Ireland Open and International Championship.

Dorgham has only won three matches so far in his two seasons on tour, but the Egyptian found himself one frame from a big win when he took a surprise 4-2 lead. From there McGill summoned his best snooker to hammer home breaks of 101, 70 and 90 to take three on the bounce and emerge a 5-4 victor. 

“I thought I played well the full match. It was just the way the balls went, sometimes they don’t let you play. To be fair to Mostafa, I thought he played amazing. His safety play was incredible. I couldn’t get too much out of him. As soon as I was allowed to flow a bit I played well, but I was always playing well,” said two-time ranking event winner McGill. 

“I’m playing better than the results. I definitely have a game there, sometimes I’m not always allowed to bring it out but I just have to stay patient. I’ve got to remind myself that patience is the key. 

“I’m trying to change a couple of things, which I’ll keep to myself, but I feel as though I have a good game. I can obviously be better, but I think I’ll be alright and things will pick up.“

World number one Trump came through with a 5-2 win over China’s He Guoqiang. The Ace in the Pack is aiming to win the title for a second year in a row, having won the title 12 months ago with a 10-7 defeat of Ali Carter in the final. 

It was He who started fastest this morning, with a sublime 139 to take the opener. However, Trump claimed five of the next six to progress with breaks of 116, 103 and 68. 

World Champion Kyren Wilson put on a stunning performance to brush aside Ireland’s Aaron Hill in a 5-0 whitewash.

The Warrior fired in runs of 72, 61, 111, 88 and 61 in consecutive frames to claim victory. He now faces Xiao Guodong, who beat Andrew Pagett 5-1. 

Hossein Vafaei was a 5-3 winner against Jordan Brown, as he set up a last 32 tie against Zhang Anda, who beat 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott 5-3. 

Second session

WUHAN OPEN DAY TWO EVENING ROUNDUP

John Higgins admitted that the destruction of his previous cue could be an act of ‘divine intervention’ after a 5-4 comeback win over China’s Fan Zhengyi at the Wuhan Open.

The Scot’s cue was left in an irreparable state after being drenched in rain at Paris Airport last month. The subsequent English Open saw him fall out of the world’s top 16 for the first time since 1995.

However, Higgins has found form with his replacement cue and a run to the recent British Open final, which he lost to Mark Selby, saw him return immediately to the top 16 in the rankings.

This evening’s match had been sliding away from Higgins, when former European Masters champion Fan led 3-0 and 4-2. However, a fine break of 61 saw Higgins steal the seventh on the black to remain in contention at 4-3.

That frame turned the tide of the match, with Higgins crafting runs of 66 and 67 to score a 5-4 win and earn a clash with Zak Surety, who beat Robert Milkins 5-4.

“I was going nowhere after Saudi Arabia with my old cue. My game was in bad shape. It maybe took some divine intervention, I don’t know what it was. It made me swap equipment and it seems to have given me a lease of life. Who knows how long it will last but today it seems good,” said 31-time ranking event winner Higgins.

“He could have won 5-2 today, but ran out of position. There always seems to be one shot among the mere mortals of the game that you have to do to get over that hurdle. Fan didn’t manage and then I managed to go 4-3 down and stay in the game. I was delighted to win.”

Shaun Murphy battled to a 5-3 win over former German Masters winner Anthony Hamilton to seal his progression.

The Magician top scored with 105 and his win secures a meeting with Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham, who thrashed Jimmy White 5-1. After this evening’s match he was delighted to have found a way past the experienced Hamilton.

Murphy said: “I don’t think anyone can swamp Anthony. He knows too much and is too clever. He has every shot in the book and I have vast amounts of respect for him. There were moments in the match where we both produced brilliance and moments where we both produced garbage. In the end I’m delighted to be through.”

Home hero Ding Junhui looked to be in fine form as he thrashed Chinese compatriot Xu Si 5-0. The 14-time ranking event winner made century runs of 111, 102 and 130 in the win and now plays Yuan Sijun.

There are, as always, a few matches that were overlooked by WST… notably an excellent 5-1 win by Ben Woollaston over Gary Wilson. But that’s not all:

• Wu Yize continues to impress. He beat Cheung Ka Wai by 5-0 but the match was much closer than the score suggests.
• Already mentioned above, Xiao Guodong demolished Andrew Pagett by 5-1 but it’s worth mentioning that Xiao had four breaks over fifty and finished in style with a 95 and a 121.
• Mark Joyce, who replaces Ronnie in the draw, beat Sanderson Lam by 5-2. This match featured six breaks over 50, including two centuries. Mark Joyce scored a 132 in frame 6.
• Zak Surety 5-4 win over Robert Milkins is mentioned but what isn’t is that Zak had to win the four last frames to go through and, quite astonishingly, scored a break of 74 in each of frames 6, 7 and 8!
• Yuan Sijun beat Xing Zihao by 5-2 and Martin O’Donnel beat Sunny Akani by the same score.

Mark Allen, David Gilbert and Ronnie have all withdrawn from the 2024 Wuhan Open.

This is the announcement regarding Mark Allen:

Allen Withdraws From Wuhan Open

Mark Allen has pulled out of next week’s Wuhan Open due to a family illness

Allen was due to face Jamie Clarke in the second round of the world ranking event in Wuhan, China on Monday October 7th. Clarke will receive a bye to the last 32.

Allen said: “My apologies to the Chinese promoters and fans for missing this event due to a family illness. I hope to see them all in Nanjng for the International Championship.“

And this one is for Ronnie and David Gilbert:

O’Sullivan Withdraws From Wuhan Open

Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of next week’s Wuhan Open in China due to medical reasons.

O’Sullivan was due to face Mitchell Mann in the opening round on Sunday, but will now be replaced by Mark Joyce. 

David Gilbert has also withdrawn from the event due to medical reasons.

This piece by Phil Haigh explains more about Dave Gilbert’s issues and Ronnie’s intentions.

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Dave Gilbert withdraw from Wuhan Open

Phil Haigh

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Dave Gilbert have both withdrawn from the Wuhan Open, which starts on Sunday, citing medical reasons.

It is little surprise that the Rocket has pulled out of the event after stating in recent interviews that his next trip to China is planned for November’s International Championship.

Gilbert is certainly more of a shock having been in impressive form so far this season, but the world number 19 is struggling with a back problem.

Despite picking up a lot of good results this campaign, the Farmer has been suffering with sciatica and it is currently too bad to make the long trip to Wuhan.

The 43-year-old played in International Championship qualifying on Wednesday, beating Bai Yulu 6-2 but really struggling with pain in his back.

O’Sullivan has been replaced in the draw by mark Joyce, who will play Mitchell Mann in the opening round.

There has been no announcement yet on whether Gilbert will be replaced in his opening round tie against Wang Xinbo.

The withdrawals follow world number three Mark Allen pulling out of the event on Wednesday due to a family illness.

Explaining his back problem to Metro.co.uk in August, Gilbert said: ‘I’m a farmer so I just get on with it, but it’s agony! Three or four weeks I’ve been struggling, it’s bad!

‘I’m alright when I’m down on the shot, it’s the getting round the table, I’m just dragging my feet round.

‘It’s basically my right side. It started in me back, then a few days later it got worse, it was like I got shot in my arse! Down there and down my right leg, it’s horrible. Can’t get comfy, sleeping’s a nightmare, walking’s the worst though.’

O’Sullivan told Virgin Radio of his scheduling plans up till Christmas: ‘I will enter them [tournaments] and if I feel like the day before I want to go then I’ll go but if I’m not up for it then I’ll just say I’m not ready for it. They’ll always get a replacement to come in and take my place.’

On his plans to play in Asia he added: ‘Possibly yeah in November, just outside of Shanghai. That’s a ranking event, quite a big tournament, I’ll play in that and then I’ll go to another city in China and play in an Asian PTC event which is just for Chinese players but they’ve invited me to go along and play, so I’ll go and do that as well.

‘I’ll come back and probably have a week off then probably go to York because it’s the UK Championships and I like York. Then off to Macau again at Christmas. That’s the plan.’

Whatever the family illness is that affects Mark Allen, I wish him and his family the best possible outcome.

Regarding Dave Gilbert, sciatica is a very, very painful condition and one that doesn’t go away easily. One thing is certain though, he needs to rest and he might have to stay away from the table for quite some time. If such is the case, I hope that WST will do the right thing and “freeze” his ranking. Although, of course, that’s far from easy to do with the money list system. It would be very easy with an ELO system, and more feasible with a point system than with the current money list. I wish Dave the best, and I hope that his condition will improve rapidly.

As for Ronnie being Ronnie… we can only wait and see. It’s not the first “hiatus” in his career, and probably won’t be the last. If he sticks to his plan he won’t play in the 2024 Northern Ireland Open either, nor will he play in the 2024 Champion of Champions.

Yesteday was the last of the 2024 International Championship qualifiers. The report by WST, once again, mainly focusses on how the British players faired.

LISOWSKI BEATS REVESZ WITH FINE FINISH

Jack Lisowski made a century in the deciding frame to beat Bulcsu Revesz 6-5 in a high quality tussle in the qualifying round for the International Championship. 

Lisowski has suffered defeats against Xu Si and David Grace in qualifying events this season, but this time he finished superbly to earn a trip to Nanjing in China next month. Tour rookie Revesz led 5-3 with top breaks of 99, 77 and 76, and he was also 35-7 ahead in frame nine. But Lisowski took that one with a 69 clearance, then compiled runs of 55 and 57 in the tenth for 5-5, before a 108 in the last frame.

Mark Allen scored heavily in a 6-3 win over Farakh Ajaib, making breaks of 62, 127, 123, 85 and 60. Joe Perry could be in danger of relegation at the end of this season so his 6-1 win over Jonas Luz was a welcome boost.

Ryan Day recovered a 5-2 deficit to beat Ma Hailong 6-5, making breaks of 69, 75 and 93 in the last three frames. David Gilbert enjoyed runs of 104 and 100 as he came from 2-0 down to beat Bai Yulu 6-2. Matthew Stevens top scored with 106 in a 6-0 whitewash of Huang Jiahao.

The qualifying round is now complete and all winners go through to the final stages in Nanjing, China which run from November 3-10.

All the detailed results are on snooker.org (of course!)

He Guoqiang beat Antoni Kowalski by 6-1, Yuan Sijun beat Ian Burns by 6-1 and Liu Hongyu beat Rory Thor by 6-5. The latter match was hard-fought and it is Rory who scored the two centuries it featured: a 133 in the first frame and a134 in the fifth. That was a good match to watch.

The next event will be the 2024 Wuhan Open and it remains uncertain wether Ronnie will compete in it or not. He’s in the draw but his last interviews raised serious doubts about his intentions to play next week. I still expect him to go, because it is in China and he likes it there, and his sponsors may want him there, but we shall see.

Yesterday, in Cheltenham, Mark Selby produced some remarkable snooker in beating John Higgins by 10-5 in the Final to become the 2024 British Open Champion.

Congratulations Mark Selby!

Here is the report by WST:

BEST OF BRITISH SELBY ENDS TITLE DROUGHT

Mark Selby won a first ranking title for 18 months, and 23rd of his career, with a 10-5 defeat of John Higgins in the final of the Unibet British Open.

In a clash between two of the sport’s all-time greats, it was Selby who rose to the occasion as two centuries and six more breaks over 60 helped him to a comfortable victory.

Despite all of his success over the past two decades, this is a significant moment in Selby’s career as his form slumped at the end of last season and he insisted that he was considering retirement. For many years he has struggled with his mental health, and early in 2023 the family were hit with the hammer blow of his wife Vikki’s diagnosis with breast cancer. Thankfully, she is on track for a full recovery. 

These off table concerns have helped to put snooker into perspective for 41-year-old Selby, allowing him to enjoy the game itself and lower the burden of expectation he often presses upon his own shoulders. Gradually his form has returned, culminating in today’s excellent performance in Cheltenham.

It’s his first ranking title since the 2023 WST Classic, first British Open crown and first success in an ITV-televised tournament. Just two days after the legendary commentator and journalist Clive Everton passed away, the great man may have looked down in appreciation as Selby lifted the trophy which bears his name. 

Banking £100,000, Selby climbs one place in the rankings to fourth, and jumps from 30th to seventh on the one-year list. His return to form brings intrigue to snooker fans as the four-time World Champion and ultimate match-player has all the tools to challenge Judd Trump’s dominance at the top.

Higgins had also hoped to end a long wait for a ranking title, stretching back to the  2021 Players Championship. The 49-year-old could have become the oldest ever ranking event champion other than Ray Reardon, but was outplayed in the concluding session. He has the consolation of returning to the world’s top 16 having dropped out a week ago – the Scot earns £45,000 and climbs to 14th.

Leading 5-3 after the first session, Selby shared the first two frames tonight, then in the next he trailed 34-10 when he converted a sizzling long red to set up a break of 88 and go 7-4 ahead. He had chances in frame 12 but didn’t take them, and Higgins led 31-25 when he doubled a red to centre and added 30 to reduce the gap to two.

In the 13th, Higgins trailed 41-22 when he made a safety error, hitting the black instead of flicking off a red, gifting Selby the chance to make 28 and go 8-5 ahead. That ended Higgins’ resistance as Selby strolled through the last two frames with breaks of 91 and 93.

“The way I played from start to finish was really pleasing,” said Leicester’s Selby. “The first session was incredible, I think my pot success was 98% and John’s was 96%. Tonight wasn’t quite as good, I missed one red at 7-4 but apart from that I made very few mistakes and I took my chances when I had them. I have so much respect for John and his family, every time I play him I just relish the moment. I knew I had to play at the top of my game, and that’s what I did today.”

Higgins, who remains tied with Stephen Hendry on four British Open titles, said: “Mark put on a clinic tonight, he was too good for me. My big moment was the tenth frame when I had a chance to make it 5-5 but couldn’t take it. I really enjoyed the occasion, I’m just a bit disappointed with the way I played tonight. But every credit to Mark. I’m still trying to compete with these top guys, I need to find a higher level to do that.” 

I was only able to watch the first session properly. It was snooker of the highest quality from both players.

I’m very pleased for Mark Selby and his family. Mark’s struggles with depression have been well documented. Vikki has always been the pillar of the family, but she is fighting her own battle against breast cancer. By all accounts she’s on top of it and I do hope that she will be fully fit and healthy very soon. And, I’m very sure that both Mark and Vikki do their utter best to protect their young daughter and shield her from their own concerns and anguish. It’s not an easy thing to do. All this is much more important than any snooker match, but Mark winning a big title and the three of them having something positive to celebrate together can only help! 💗💕

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

Afternoon session

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.

Evening session

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.