Yesterday was the last day of the 2024 British Open “qualifiers”, aka round 1 matches not played at the main venue. Once again the report by WST is incomplete and largely UK centric. The matches played in the late afternoon and evening are not reported on at all. Unprofessional and lazy.

Englishman Oliver Lines produced a battling display to beat China’s Lei Peifan 4-3 and secure his place in the final stages of the Unibet British Open. 

World number 108 Lines remained on tour by the skin of his teeth at the end of last season, retaining his place thanks to his performance in the one year list. The two-time ranking event quarter-finalist started well today, with breaks of 116 and 94 on his way to establishing a 2-1 lead.

However, Lei hit back to hit the front himself at 3-2. Lines held his nerve and claimed the last two and emerge a deciding frame victor. 

David Gilbert continued a strong start to his season with a 4-0 win over Dylan Emery. Tamworth’s Gilbert made the semi-finals of last season’s World Championship and he has continued where he left off, having already been on a run to the final group of the Championship League and qualified for the Xi’an Grand Prix. He crafted runs of 85 and 72 in today’s win.

There were two Chinese victories against Scottish counterparts. Lyu Haotian was a 4-0 winner against Anthony McGill, while Tian Pengfei defeated Scott Donaldson 4-2. 

But all the results are on snooker.org

So? Here is what happened after WST’s writer called it a day, or even before but they couldn’t be bothered to report on it

• Cheung Ka Wai beat Kreishh Gurbaxani by 4-0 in the first match to finish yesterday. They are both rookies but Cheung is showing real quality early in the season. He has “qualified” for the 2024 Wuhan Open and the 2024 British Open. He will not be in Xi’an as he lost his qualifying match against Ryan Day but that match went to a decider and Cheung had three centuries. Also, in the ranking CLS his only defeat came at the hands of Neil Robertson.
• Wu Yize beat Baipat by 4-1. Baipat managed to win the first frame on the final black but after that Wu controlled the match and dominated. He finished the job with a beautiful 111.
• David Gilbert whitewashed Dylan Emery. The most points Dylan scored in a frame was 17. Pretty brutal but not a big surprise by any means.
• Graeme Dott beat Matthew Stevens by 4-1. The match was closer than the score suggests but Matthew didn’t “score” enough when in.
• Haris Tahir beat Dean Young by 4-3. This was a very close match, not just the final score, but every frame was close and hard fought. Haris is a rookie. He came through the Asia/Pacific Q-School … and is undefeated so far on the main tour.
• Robbie Williams beat Jackson Page by 4-1. Jackson won the first frame with a break of 62, the highest of the match, but after that Robbie controlled and dominated. Robbie had breaks of 57 and 61.
• Elliot Slessor beat Joshua Cooper by 4-1, finishing with breaks of 98 and 64. Joshua is an amateur and replaced Sam Craigie.
• Ben Mertens beat Zak Surety by 4-1, a one sided outcome but actually most frames were very close. Ben had breaks of 54 and 66.

We now have no “main tour” snooker until August 19…

Here is WST report on the third day at the 2024 British Open qualifiers:

BATTLING BINGHAM THROUGH TO CHELTENHAM

Stuart Bingham earned a place in the final stages of the Unibet British Open with a hard fought 4-3 win over He Guoqiang at qualifying in Leicester. 

2015 Crucible king Bingham came into the match off the back of a surprise 5-1 defeat to Xing Zihao in Wuhan Open qualifying. Despite being 3-0 ahead, he was under threat again today when a stirring fightback from last season’s Rookie of the Year He restored parity at 3-3. However, a crucial break of 61 from Bingham in the decider saw him through. 

Malaysia’s Kok Leong Lim scored an impressive 4-1 win over former German Masters champion Anthony Hamilton. Kok crafted breaks of 50 and 51 on his way to scoring a first victory as a professional. He gained a place on the World Snooker Tour with success at Asia/Oceania Q School.

Hong Kong’s three-time ranking event winner Marco Fu defeated Josh Thomond 4-1, while Stan Moody beat Joe O’Connor 4-2.  

All the detailed results are on snooker.org as usual

And, of course, as usual, a lot of matches are not reported on. Amongst others …

• Notably none of the matches won by a mainland China player feature in the above report. Xiao Guodong beat Huang Jiahao by 4-2, Yuan Sijun defeated Jamie Jones by 4-2 and Long Zehuang whitewashed Liam Pullen. The Yuan Sijun v Jamie Jones match was actually a close one. Jamie Jones scored the only century of the match, a 102, but I’m certain he would happily trade it for the win!
• Also missing is Hammad Miah 4-2 win over Wang Yuchen. Wang was often first in in this match but missed a few and Miah punished those mistakes.
• Alfie Burden beat Andrew Higginson by 4-2. Andrew was 2-0 up, with breaks of 52 and 72, but it was all Alfie after that. For me, Alfie is one of the big underachievers on tour.
• Antoni Kowalski beat Daniel Wells by 4-1. The 20 years old rookie from Poland has only lost one match so far on the main tour … 5-2 to Judd Trump in the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers.
• Sunny Akani whitewashed Daniel Womersley. Sunny’s potting was quite reliable in this match.
• And finally … Ben Woollaston got the better of Matthew Selt. He beat him by 4-3. Matt Selt made the highest break of the match, a 81, but Ben Woollaston had a break over 60 in each of the frames he won.

The last 12 matches of those qualifiers will be played today and Discovery+/HBOMax are now showing all matches it seems.

The first round of the 2024 British Open continued yesterday in Leicester.

Hereafter is WST report on the day:

ROBERTSON CONTINUES STRONG START

Australia’s Neil Robertson extended his undefeated start to the campaign with a 4-1 win over Welshman Andrew Pagett at Unibet British Open qualifying in Leicester. 

Former World Champion Robertson is in need of a strong season after enduring a torrid time last term, which saw him slump to 27th in the world rankings. However, having already qualified for the final stages of the Wuhan Open and the Xi’an Grand Prix, it has been a successful week for the 23-time ranking event winner. He top scored with a run of 62 in today’s victory, which sees him seal a spot in Cheltenham for the final stages in September. 

Scotland’s returning professional Chris Totten scored a fine 4-0 win over the legendary Jimmy White. Totten crafted breaks of 63, 64, 86 and 87 en route to victory. 

China’s Zhou Yuelong beat compatriot and former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi 4-2, while Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei beat Mostafa Dorgham 4-1. 

All the detailed results are on snooker.org

Once again only four matches reported on although twelve were actually played.

The match of the first session was certainly the one opposing Ricky Walden and Liu Hongyu. It was good snooker and incredibly tense. Both of them gave it absolutely everything they had. Also worth a mention is Xu Si’s 4-2 win over Ken Doherty. Ken had breaks of 60 and 63 in the frames he won, but Xu Si was the heaviest scorer with breaks of 120 and 97.

Mark Joyce, now an amateur, replaced Stuart Carrigton and made the most of it: he beat Xing Zihao in another hard fought match that went to a deciding frame. Mark Joyce is never easy to play against, and, in my opinion, not very easy on the eye either but he’s not out there to be pretty, he’s out there to try to win.

Anton Kazakov from Ukraine replaced Martin Gould and he too made the most of the opportunity. He beat Ahmed Aly Elsayed by 4-3 … at nearly 1 am this morning.

The other matches yesterday were pretty one-sided.

Yesterday was the last day at the Wuhan Open Qualifiers and here is WST report on the day:

RED HOT ROBERTSON EASES THROUGH

Australia’s 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson continued an undefeated start to the new season with a 5-0 whitewash win against 1997 Crucible king Ken Doherty at Wuhan Open qualifying.

The Thunder from Down Under endured a torrid 23/24 campaign and slumped to 27th in the world rankings. However, is yet to lose a match this term after winning his group at the Championship League, before withdrawing from the next phase and then also beating Allan Taylor to qualify for the Xi’an Grand Prix. Robertson crafted runs of 55, 101, 91 and 80 during today’s victory. 

World number one Mark Allen earned his spot in the final stages thanks to a 5-1 defeat of Women’s World Champion Bai Yulu. Allen top scored with 102 during the comfortable win. 

Hong Kong’s three-time ranking event winner Marco Fu registered a fine 5-1 win over Zhou Yuelong, while Jack Lisowski was a 5-2 victor against Liam Graham.

Once again this report is short, far from comprehensive, and focussed on the well known names whilst it’s actually the other ones who need exposure. Also this is actually the first round of the tournament, players don’t need to “qualify” for tournaments but they have to “qualify” for the “right” to play at the actual event venue… and that’s wrong.

All the results are, as usual, on snooker.org.

There were some interesting results yesterday in the matches that WST overlooked.

• Andrew Pagett beat Lyu Haotian by 5-1 in a low scoring match. It must have been pretty scrappy and that, IMO, doesn’t suit Lyu. The only telling break was a 87, made by Lyu in the only frame he won.
• Louis Heathcote beat Theppy by 5-4. Again it was a contrast in styles. Theppy came back from 0-3 down and scored breaks of 59, 56, 88 and 78 in the process. Louis didn’t have a single break over 50 in the course of match but he won the decider …
• Mark Davis defeated Chris Totten by 5-3 in a match where both scored well given the opportunity. The Dark One had breaks of 122, 100 and 77, Chris Totten scored breaks of 58, 127 and 57. This was a true clash of generations: Mark will turn 52 in less than two weeks, Chris is only 25.
• In another clash of generations, Stan Moody (17 years old) beat Matthew Stevens (46 years old) by 5-2. Stan was the better scorer, his highest break in this match was 135 AND he won the majority of the closer frames as well.
• Jak Jones beat Ross Muir by 5-3 in a high quality encounter. Between them they had 6 breaks over 70 in this 8 frames match: 116, 77, 89 and 102 for Jak, 71 and 82 for Ross.

Here is WST report on the second day of the 2024 Wuhan Open Qualifiers:

CAPTAIN SET FOR WUHAN

Ali Carter recovered from 2-0 down to beat Wang Yuchen 5-3 and secure qualification for the final stages of the Wuhan Open. 

The Captain was runner-up in the inaugural event last season. He beat the likes of Mark Allen and Stuart Bingham to make the title match, but lost out 10-7 at the hands of Judd Trump. 

Carter’s place in Wuhan this year was under threat when he found himself two behind early on. However, breaks of 57, 135, 82 and 64 helped him to five out of the next six frames to emerge victorious.

Luca Brecel’s early season woes continued with a 5-4 defeat against Welshman Duane Jones. Belgium’s Brecel hasn’t won a match since March, having lost in the first round to Si Jiahui in Shanghai.

The 2023 World Champion then had to concede his Xi’an Grand Prix qualifier to Hammad Miah after being stuck in traffic. Jones had trailed 4-3 this evening, but made breaks of 53 and 66 to take the last two frames and victory. 

Tom Ford bowed out 5-3 at the hands of returning professsional Sunny Akani. Thailand’s Akani clinched his win with a fine break of 102 in the eighth frame. 

Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko came through 5-4 against Manasawin Phetmalaikul, while Xing Zihao scored a shock 5-1 win against 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham.

All results are, as always, on snooker.org

In general the young Chinese players continued to do well and impress. Not all of them won of course but the “winning rate” of that group is very encouraging. Snooker needs young players.

I was particularly happy to see Sunny Akani win again. He beat Tom Ford, seeded 13 in this competition, quite convincingly.

Another result that pleased me is Iulian Boiko (who replaced Sam Craigie) 5-4 win over Manasawin Phetmalaikul. Nothing against “Quid” but Iulian had so many “near wins” and disappointments in recent times that I feared he might get dispirited. This will do him a lot of good.

There will be no Belgian in Wuhan. Indeed Julian Leclercq also lost yesterday, by 5-2 to Graeme Dott. Julien had the highest break of the match, a 135, but that’s a meagre consolation. Now, this is a match he might learn a lot from. Dotty is probably the most underrated player on tour. You don’t become a World Champion, and twice a World Championship runner-up if you are not a very top player and competitor. I like him as a person as well. He speaks his mind and is genuine. BTW, if you haven’t read his biography “Frame of Mind” … I recommend it.

As for Luca… I couldn’t care less. The guy is infuriating. He’s blessed with incredible talents but, after every significant success, he goes walkabout… It’s been the story of his career and I’m not sure he can or is willing to change.

The last match to finish was the one between Anthony Hamilton and Reanne Evans. It went to a decider and finished past midnight local time.Reanne was absolutely gutted but this is by far her best performance in a long time. It’s encouraging and I hope that, in a couple of days, she can take the positives out of it.

Qualifiers continued in Leicester yesterday, this time for the 2024 Wuhan Open. That tournament is scheduled early October so it’s unlikely that current players’ form will still be relevant then.

Anyway… again there is no report by WST at the time of writing this piece¹. So here goes …

All the results can be found on snooker.org.

The day started with Mink and Baipat being whitewashed by Fan Zhengyi and He Guoquiang respectively. Fan and He are both very good players, of course, but those disaster results “en serie” must be damaging for these young women and, I’m now seriously questioning the alleged benefits of having the women playing in the main tour. But that’s for another day…

So… here are the matches/results that caught my attention

• Cheung Ka Wai 5-4 Stephen Maguire. That’s an excellent result for the rookie especially considering that Maguire lead 4-3. Everything I’ve seen from Cheung, including in the Final of the 2024 WSF Championship, tells me that he has a very good temperament and a solid head on his shoulders. One to follow this season.
• Si Jiahui beat Gong Chenzhi by 5-3 to qualify for Wuhan, but he was made to work by his 17 years old opponent. This was anything but a walk in the park for Si.
• Barry Hawkins was another one one who was made to work by a Chinese teenager rookie, the 18 years old Jiang Jun. Every frame was closely contested and Jiang had three breaks over 50 during that match. Experience prevailed but I stand by my opinion that it’s not right that the likes of Jiang get nothing for their efforts given the strength of the opposition.
• Jamie Clarke had to win the last three frame of his match to beat Alfie Burden by 5-4 and get through. There were 5 breaks over 60 in that match, three by Alfie who will wonder how he lost this one.
• Mostafa Dorgham from Egypt, beat Ricky Walden by 5-4. Ricky had three breaks over 60 in that match, for just one by Mostafa, but it was the Egyptian who took the close frames.
• The tie of the day saw Gary Wilson prevail by 5-4 over Alex Ursenbacher. This match was high quality and hard fought.
• John Higgins beat Ben Mertens by 5-1 but the match was closer than the score suggests, and Ben made the highest break of the match, a 96, in the only frame he won. In many ways this was a typical Higgins performance. Nothing fancy but very efficient.
• Haris Tahir from Pakistan created another surprise as he beat Jamie Jones by 5-3. Tahir is a rookie and qualified via the Asia/Oceania Q-School. He certainly can play, and score. He had 4 breaks over 50 in this match, including a century.
• In a battle of veterans, Jimmy White prevailed over Dominic Dale: 5-3 with breaks of 77 and 62. Yes, the Wind is still blowing!
• And then… the most extraordinary match on the day … next day actually: Long Zhehuang beat Mark Selby by 5-4 from 4-1 down. Mark had scored a 130 and a 135 to lead 4-1 but Long won four frames in a raw to deny him. Long scored a 50+ break in every frame he won: 53, 50, 67, 54, 67 … Mark had considered his future in snooker at the end of last season. I’m afraid that results like this one will not vindicate his decision to carry on, in his own mind at least. I’m sure that Mark has plenty more to give but he’s been struggling mentally a lot over the years. He has to prioritise his health above anything else.

1. There was a piece by WST yesterday, eventually. Late, very short and reporting on only four players, all British. ↩︎

Yesterday was the last day of the 2024 Xian Grand Prix qualifiers. Only two sessions were scheduled and, at the time of writing, there is no report whatsoever by WST¹. There were some notable matches though…

Shaun Murphy continued to show great form as he defeated Mitchell Mann by 5-1 in a match that featured a 50+ break in every frame but the fifth.

Mark Davis, now 51 years young, still has it. He beat Ishpreet Singh Chadah by 5-3, with breaks of 52 and 63 in the last two frames. “Dark Mavis” reward is to face Willo at the venue… snooker is a young man’s game they say…

Another veteran who did really well but still lost is Jimmy White. At 62, having turned professional in 1980, he still fascinates. Si Jiahui, who is only 22 years old – half of the years Jimmy has spent on tour – and a very, very good player needed a decider to beat him. The match is on YouTube. Frame 6 was particularly dramatic. Jimmy was 67-0 up with 67 on the table. Si cleared with a break of 67 to force a re-spotted black … that Jimmy eventually potted to win that frame.

It is however a young man who delivered the most extraordinary result of the day. Indeed, Julien Leclercq came back from 0-4 down to beat Ben Woollaston by 5-4! That’s the two young Belgians – Julien and Ben – Xi’an bound … I’m very happy for Julien but I’m a bit sorry for Ben Woollaston who i like as well.

Speaking about Belgians, what exactly happened to Luca Brecel is still not known. He probably got stuck in heavy traffic but that has not been actually confirmed.

There were also wins for Judd Trump (easy) and Gary Wilson (not so easy). Judd beat Antoni Kowalski who is a rookie and has been interviewed by WST recently. Antoni comes across as a pretty assertive character with a lot of ambition. Let’s see if he can walk the walk after talking the talk.

All the results are on snooker.org as usual

So that’s the draw for the main event set.

Ronnie is set to face Wang Yuchen in his first match at the venue. The winner of that match will then play Bulcsú Révész … and the winner of that match will play the winner of Neil Robertson v Yuan Sijun.

Other interesting (in my opinion of course) matches played in the first round at the venue are:

• Anthony McGill v Ricky Walden
• John Higgins v Sunny Akani
• Lyu Haotian v Artemijs Zizins
• Ben Mertens v Gary Wilson

1. Not that the reports on previous days were particularly comprehensive … but they existed.
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