Mitchell Mann overcame a broken down car and being docked a frame to beat Gao Yang 4-3 and reach the last 32 of the Unibet British Open in Cheltenham.
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Mann will be back at the table to face Antoni Kowalski in the third round on Wednesday night, and at least will have a much less stressful journey to the baize. The 33-year-old set out from Birmingham to drive to Cheltenham at 8am this morning, but just 20 minutes later saw a ‘flat tyre’ warning light on his dashboard.
“Within a minute I was on the hard shoulder and had no spare type, I was completely stranded,” said the world number 91. “Luckily my friends Tom and Jack, who are greenkeepers at the golf club where I have my practice table, answered my call and they came to pick me up. One of them drove me to Cheltenham and the other waited with my car for the RAC. I should have driven down last night, it’s a lesson learned. I have no idea where my car is now!“
Arriving ten minutes late, Mann started the match 1-0 down, but battled back for victory, taking a tense deciding frame by clearing from the last red.
Judd Trump recovered from a slow start to beat tour rookie Leone Crowley 4-1. Ireland’s Crowley won the opening frame and had a chance in the second but missed a tricky final yellow. World number one Trump stole the frame to gain a foothold then took the last three with a top break of 100.
Mark Allen made it nine wins in a row as he beat Bulcsu Revesz 4-1 with a top break of 69. Allen won the BetVictor English Open last week and is into the third round here and a tie with Mark Williams at 1pm on Thursday. Shaun Murphy saw off Scott Donaldson 4-1 with a top run of 80 and will meet Neil Robertson in another huge last 32 clash.
Defending champion Mark Selby top scored with 115 in a 4-3 win over Liu Hongyu, while Cheung Ka Wai made an 83 in the decider to beat Matthew Stevens 4-3.
John Higgins took a huge scalp in round three of the Unibet British Open as he beat World Champion Zhao Xintong 4-2 to reach the last 16.
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Four-time Crucible king Higgins admitted that he was “really struggling for motivation” at last month’s Wuhan Open but looks to have regained his hunger this week in Cheltenham. After edging past Mark Davis and Jack Lisowski by 4-3 scorelines, tonight was Higgins’ best performance of the week as breaks of 76, 82 and 55 helped him outplay Zhao. Scotland’s Higgins will now face Ben Mertens or Robbie McGuigan on Thursday evening.
Barry Hawkins recovered deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to beat Jak Jones 4-3, finishing superbly with an 88 in the decider. “I was cueing terribly at the start of the match and felt jaded,” said Hawkins, who was runner-up in the UK Championship and German Masters last season. “It was a late start for me, usually at 9pm I’m tucked up in bed with a cup of tea and the TV on, then I’m snoring by 10pm!
“It was only in the last frame that I switched on and made a really good break, so I’m delighted to still be in the tournament. I have been consistent for a while. When I get to this stage of tournaments I need to push on and try to win more, rather than relaxing.”
Liam Davies kept the best run of his pro career going with a 4-2 defeat of David Lilley, highlighted by breaks of 123, 59 and 63. The 19-year-old Welshman’s only previous appearance in the last 16 of a ranking event came at the 2023 Shoot Out.
Anthony McGill top scored with 91 in a 4-1 defeat of Oliver Lines. Mitchell Mann, who almost failed to make it to Cheltenham at all as his car broke down on the way to the venue this morning, is into the last 16 of a ranking event for the fifth time in his career after beating Antoni Kowalski 4-2 with a top break of 101. Louis Heathcote stormed to a 4-0 whitewash of Zak Surety, his top run 105.
Two close matches finished past midnight local time and aren’t mentioned in the above report:
Stan Moody beat Ian Burns by 4-2 in a close match. Most frames were hard-fought. The highest break of the match was only a 70 by Burns. Moody came out the winner with a match high break of 66.
Chang Bingyu beat Noppon Saengkham by 4-3. The match too was hardfought, close and rather low scoring.
Mark Allen scored his first ranking event victory for 19 months, beating Zhou Yuelong 9-8 to claim the title at the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
In a week of fightback victories for Allen, the shoe was on the other foot this evening. The Northern Irishman led 7-3, before being pegged back to trail 8-7. However, he showed his typical tenacity and grit to claim the final two frames and emerge victorious.
Allen’s heroics in previous rounds saw him defeat Ding Junhui 4-3 from 3-0 down in the last 16, Elliot Slessor 5-4 from 4-0 down in the quarters and Jak Jones 6-5 from 5-3 down in the semis.
It’s the 12th ranking event victory in Allen’s career, in what was his 20th appearance in a ranking final. He now draws level with Shaun Murphy in 10th position on the all-time event winner’s list.
The Pistol had failed to register since the 2024 Players Championship last February. That saw him slip down the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings to tenth spot, having briefly occupied the summit last year. However, the £100,000 top prize now moves him up to seventh position.
It immediately puts Allen top of the BetVictor Home Nations Bonus standings. Whoever accumulates the most prize money across the four events will scoop a bumper £150,000 payout.
Defeat will come as a bitter pill to swallow for Zhou, after his huge efforts to regain the lead this evening. The Chinese cueman will have to wait for that elusive first ranking crown.
Zhou has now lost all four of his ranking final appearances, having suffered previous defeats at the 2020 European Masters and the 2020 Shoot Out. He was also runner-up to Allen at the 2023 Northern Ireland Open.
The first session ended with Allen holding a hefty 6-2 cushion. When play got underway in the evening, it was clear both players realised the importance of a strong start. A cagey 45-minute opener eventually went the way of Zhou, who reduced his arrears.
Allen then extended his advantage, but consecutive frames from Zhou ensured he trailed by just two frames at 7-5 heading into the mid-session interval.
When they returned Allen looked set to be moving one frame for victory before missing a red to the left middle on 60. Zhou stepped up with a gutsy 72 to steal on the black and make it 7-6.
Breaks of 60 and 53 then helped Zhou make it five on the bounce and move one away from a momentous victory at 8-7.
A remarkable 16th frame looked to be going to Allen when he compiled a run of 71, but an in off gave Zhou an opportunity. He got the required foul points to stand a chance of winning on the green, but Allen eventually forced a decider.
It was Allen who fired in a crucial break of 61 and he emerged victorious. Following final frame wins for Neil Robertson at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and Xiao Guodong at the Wuhan Open, it is the first time ever that three consecutive ranking events have come down to deciders.
“It means a lot. To win any tournament these days is good. To do it the way I’ve done this week too, coming from behind a lot,” said 39-year-old Allen.
“I was absolutely shattered. I think adrenaline got me through that first session and tonight I was really tired. It is no excuse for some of the balls I missed, but I was feeling it. At 8-7 I felt something and realised it was my chance to find a bit of form. I’m going to sleep well tonight.
“I think the least you can ask for from any player is application. So many guys would have given up in some of the positions I was in this week. I think other people know now that I am never beat. That is worth a frame itself sometimes.
“I want to win as many different tournaments as I can. The Welsh Open is the only Home Nations event I haven’t won. Then the World Championship. Those are the two that stand out for me that are missing on my CV.”
Zhou said: “Of course it will give me confidence. Mark was very good in the first session. He was 6-2 up and I think I just wanted to give him some trouble this evening. I’m very happy I managed to get 8-7 up. It is a good experience and I will learn from it.”
We have to admire both finalists. Zhou showed tremendous courage. Many would have been dispirited after that first session that left him trailing by 6-2. Not him. He fought, he gave it his all and not only did he come back, he even got ahead. And then Mark showed similar courage and willpower. It took “character” to fight and win those last two frames, after losing five on the bounce. Had Zhou won, he would have totally deserved it just as Mark totally deserves his victory. You often read “It’s a shame there had to be a loser” and it’s not always meaningful, but it certainly is true about this final. Zhou’s positive words in defeat say a lot about him as a person. I hope he wins a “proper” full ranking final soon. He deserves it.
Elliot Slessor extended his 100% win rate in deciders this season, prevailing in a final frame for the sixth time and beating world number one Judd Trump 4-3 at the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
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Slessor’s exploits at the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters saw him beat three World Champions, all by a single frame, en route to the semi-finals. The Tyneside cueman defeated John Higgins 5-4 before consecutive 6-5 wins over Stuart Bingham and Mark Williams. He then went out in the last four at the hands of Neil Robertson. Across two seasons, Slessor has now won 13 of his last 18 deciding frames.
The 31-year-old will now face Mark Allen in the semi-finals. Slessor has reached five ranking semis without tasting success and making a maiden ranking final. Victory tomorrow will earn him a sixth crack at achieving the feat.
Slessor took the opening two frames this afternoon and then led the third 68-0, before a break of 69 saw Trump claw his way back into contention at 2-1 down. That appeared to be a crucial turning point, with Trump taking the following two frames to lead 3-2. However, runs of 79 and 64 were enough to see Slessor claim two on the bounce and get over the line. Afterwards he admitted his strong desire to capture silverware adds pressure.
“It is tough because my Grandad comes everywhere with me. He’s 74 years old and I know he won’t be here forever. Hopefully he’s here for a long time to come, but he’s more deserving. He has driven me around since I was nine. I would love to be in the position to give him a trophy. The money means nothing compared to what a trophy would mean. I’ll keep knocking on the door, keep trying my best and see what happens,” said world number 23 Slessor.
“They are all tough games. You never get to this stage and find someone here by fluke. I will give it my all and see how far it takes me.”
Allen came from 3-0 down to overhaul China’s Ding Junhui 4-3. The Pistol rallied with breaks of 52 and 52 en route to his comeback win. Afterwards he admitted that he’s taking nothing for granted in his quest for a return to the winner’s circle, following over a year without a ranking title.
Allen said: “I had a few years of winning quite a lot. I fancied winning all the time but this game has a way of biting you on the backside sometimes. It isn’t that easy. The serial winners like Ronnie, Hendry, Trump and Selby make it look easy. It isn’t. You have to enjoy every time you can get a victory and not get too down on yourself. I’m a perfectionist and I always will be. I won’t stop trying to find ways of improving.”
Aaron Hill continued his impressive week with a 4-1 win over Jack Lisowski, who conquered World Champion Zhao Xintong yesterday evening.
Hill has displayed fine form so far this season, which includes a win over Kyren Wilson at the recent Wuhan Open. He made the first maximum break of his career earlier in the tournament here in Brentwood and this evening’s result sees him reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the third time in his career. He faces former Crucible finalist Jak Jones, who defeated Ricky Walden 4-3.
Jackson Page came through a final frame against Shaun Murphy to win 4-3 and make the quarter-finals. He can now look forward to a quarter-final meeting with Mark Selby, who was a 4-2 winner over Wu Yize.
Luca Brecel beat Robbie Williams 4-3 and that earns the Belgian a quarter-final clash with China’s Zhou Yuelong, who overcame Barry Hawkins 4-2.
Again this report is quite exhaustive, unlike the ones WST published earlier in the week.
I watched the Trump v Slessor match. There is not doubt that Judd is going through a “lesser form” period. It’s entirely normal. The players are human beings and none of us is at the top of their form all the time, be it physically, intellectually or emotionally. I must admit that I struggled for a long time to appreciate Elliot. As a younger player he was quite prone to angry reactions, not exactly tantrums but not that far from that either. This can be off-putting for the opponent and often was when he played fellow juniors back in the days. I never knew that his grand father was the one going everywhere with him, what I know though is that his grand mother is his biggest fan on social media and a very charming lady 😊.
Ding once again lost a match from a strong winning position. I didn’t watch his yesterday match, so can’t comment on this occurence. But, in recent years, it happens far too often to be “statistically” normal. What’s behind this, I’m not sure. Maybe carrying all the hopes of his country for years has taken its toll, maybe having done so much to grow snooker in China, he now aspires to more family time and his motivation isn’t what it used to be, or maybe it’s a psychological thing. Maybe, because it’s been happening so often in recent years, negative thoughts creep in as soon as he loses a couple of frames, and those thoughts about losing again from the brink of victory induce a kind of “self fulfilling prophecy” mental process… if that makes sense.
Shaun Murphy produced a phenomenal burst of 457 unanswered points to beat Zak Surety 4-0 at the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
The Magician was on the cusp of a historic display and total shutout. He fired in three century runs of 125, 135 and 133 in the opening three frames to blitz to the verge of victory. However, two misses in the fourth did allow Surety to get eight points on the board.
Murphy was aiming to join Neil Robertson, who was the only other player to win a best of seven with four centuries and denying his opponent a single point. The Australian achieved that feat in 2013 against Ahmed Saif.
Although Murphy didn’t achieve that feat, it was an emphatic triumph for the Englishman. He recently lost his place in the top 16 of the Johnstone’s Paint World rankings for the first time in 19 years. On this evidence it won’t be long until he’s back, he now faces Fan Zhengyi.
Murphy said: “One of the negatives of me also having a broadcast career is that I am aware of these types of moments or stats. I know that 4-0 with four centuries and without my opponent scoring a point is special.
“It is the performance that you dream of. When you practise for all of those hours you dream of playing like that in front of a crowd like tonight.”
Mark Selby scored a comprehensive 4-1 win over Liam Highfield to get his bid for a third English Open crown underway.
Selby’s victory in 2022 saw him beat Luca Brecel 9-6 in the final. It was a momentous triumph for the Leicester cueman, who was battling mental health struggles away from the table and hadn’t lifted silverware for 19 months on it.
Today’s encounter saw Highfield claim the opening frame, before breaks of 52, 101 and 103 helped Selby to four on the bounce and the win. He now plays Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan.
Selby said: “It was huge to win in 2022. There would have been positives if I’d lost the final, but I’d probably not have seen it that way. When you lose a final it is raw and tough to take. Having won that and turned a corner was a huge asset for me mentally. I think going forward it was important to my snooker career.”
Belgium’s 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel scored a nerve shredding 4-3 win over Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei. Next up for Brecel is Si Jiahui.
Robbie Williams stunned Kyren Wilson 4-2 to book his progression and a meeting with Pang Junxu.
I don’t have much to add as, for once, the matches featuring in the report are those I watched. Kyren Wilson had a bad day in office and Robbie Williams can play. Of course he can … all those who qualified for the main tour can play at a very high level
Neil Robertson hopes player power brings more transparency from snooker chiefs
Neil Robertson hopes increased player power can help provide more transparency on how snooker is funded.
The Professional Snooker Players Association (PSPA) has emerged as an independent players’ union, with four-time world champion John Higgins as its chairman and with a string of big names involved.
It is early days for the new association, but they have outlined a number of issues they want to address with World Snooker Tour (WST) and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), mainly surrounding player welfare.
There is concern that the PSPA will clash with the established powers that be, including WPBSA Players, the existing players board, of which Robertson is a member.
However, the Australian has dismissed the idea of infighting becoming an issue between the players and welcomes the new association.
‘I don’t see that happening,’ Robertson said of potential clashes. ‘The (WPBSA) Players board is very small. It’s myself and a handful of others.
‘As far as I know, there’s meant to be a meeting between us to see how we can move things forward and do the right things for the players and for the game. Watch this space, I suppose.’
On whether he could be a member of both WPBSA Players and the PSPA, he said: ‘I’m not too sure what I am allowed to do or not allowed to do, but I’m not completely opposed to the idea at all. I think the Players Board is very good for what it does, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I think the players should have more power.’
Robertson was motivated to join WPBSA Players to help resolve a number of issues he sees in the game, one of the most significant being more transparency on revenue streams in the sport.
The former world champion feels players should be made aware of the finances surrounding television and sponsorship deals, so they can better understand the way the sport is funded.
‘The main thing is players want a lot more transparency with what’s going on,’ he said. ‘When there are these massive deals that are happening, the TV deals etc, I think that the players are certainly within their rights to find out how much these deals are actually worth.
‘When Barry Hearn took over, we were just so grateful to be playing the sport again and to be playing in a lot of tournaments. But that doesn’t mean that the players should be blind to all these deals and sponsorship deals that are coming into these events.
‘That’s probably one of the big issues is that the players just want to know, okay, the prize money breakdown is this. How much was actually contributed by the promoter or the sponsor?’
Another major alteration that Robertson wants to see is around scheduling of tournaments as he feels the calendar should be organised with geography more firmly in mind.
Chinese events are not played consecutively on the calendar, chiefly because promoters want them separated in order to stand out and be more prestigious, but Robertson feels other factors are more important.
‘The scheduling, long-term, is something I want fixed,’ he said. ‘I don’t want us bouncing all over the world. There’s jetlag, but not only that, players are having to pay out double or triple the travel expenses that we really need to. That could be condensed.
‘I’m sure we could get a situation where the calendar is better structured in and around the Asian events and then we work our way back to the UK.
There’s no reason to fly to Shanghai and all of a sudden you’ve got a week gap out of nowhere. Then you go into Saudi and then you go back to UK, then you’re going back to China again. Then you’re going back to UK and then you’re going back to China again.
‘It’s too much and there aren’t many sports which put that kind of demand on players. Just because a promoter says that they want it this way, I don’t think is really enough.
‘These kinds of things we’re trying to get done and change. A bit more empathy towards the players and their travels and all these sorts of things.’
The “bold” highlight is my doing because I feel this is very important ant it’s something I have been saying for years. The players health and wellbeing should come first and bouncing back and forth through time zones isn’t contributing positively to them. and Also, if one does not want to have weeks of “qualifiers” one after another, and then months without a thing for some players, it would force WST, WPBSA and China to accept that events are played in one go, from round one with all 128 players involved at or close to the main venue. Just like the current English Open is right now. That is how it should be. And I will add, there should be a “Mainland Europe” group of events as well, with Belgium, Germany and Poland as obvious candidates to host some tournaments. Scandinavia should certainly be considered too.
Luca Brecel’s comeback gathered momentum as he beat Jimmy White 4-1 to reach the last 64 of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
Brecel didn’t compete in the first three ranking events of the season then scored his first win of the campaign with a 4-0 success against Liam Davies in the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open qualifiers. And the 2023 World Champion built on that today with a comfortable win over White, making top breaks of 51, 50 and 95. He will meet Hossein Vafaei in round three on Monday evening.
Marco Fu’s superb form continued as he beat Mark Davis 4-0 with a top break of 110, his eighth win in ten matches so far this season. Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh top scored with 76 in a 4-2 defeat of Long Zehuang, earning a tie with Mark Williams.
Jimmy Robertson beat Wang Yuchen 4-3 on the final black, clearing the colours in the decider. Essex’s Zak Surety also took the decider on the colours to win 4-3, beating Haris Tahir. Liam Highfield came from 3-1 down to beat Oliver Lines 4-3, making 89 and 79 for 3-3 then winning the decider by clearing from yellow to pink. Louis Heathcote top scored with 127 in a 4-3 win over Jordan Brown.
I first watched the Fan Zengyi v Julien Leclercq match … 😞 Julien started well enough, winning the first two frames, but as soon as Fan won the third, I sensed that the “feel” of the match had changed and that Fan would win. Unfortunately1, I was right. This is nothing against Fan, who is a very determined character and never gives up, but it is a concern about Julien who is hugely talented but appears to have lost his confidence, and, maybe, his motivation as well.
Next, I watched the Jimmy Robertson v Wang Yuchen match. This was a very hard fought and good quality match but not a “high scoring” type of match. Wang lost despite making the two highest breaks in the match: 92 and 53. The 53 came in the decider… Jimmy is a very skilled “hard match player” and he proved it again yesterday. All credits to him.
I’m also pleased that Sunny Akani progressed. I certainly have nothing against David Lilley as a person and I know that life hasn’t always been kind to him but I don’t enjoy watching him play. This match was extremely hard fought as you would expect with these two, and featured just one break over 50, a 55 by David in frame 4. Only two frames were “one-sided” scoring-wise, the first and the last, both won by Sunny.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has been voted as the WPBSA Players’ Player of the Month for August after his performance in the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Considered the ‘greatest of all time’ by most of his peers, O’Sullivan created history in Jeddah by making two maximum breaks in his semi-final match before losing out in a decider against Neil Robertson in the final.
The historic double-maximum came in his 6-3 victory over Chris Wakelin in the last four, where he also made total clearances of 142 and 134.
It was a close call with O’Sullivan securing 40% of the vote compared to 36% for Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters champion Robertson.
‘The Rocket’ succeeds the previous award winners Marco Fu and Stephen Maguire, who claimed the award in June and July respectively.
O’Sullivan said, “Thank you to all who voted for me because, as players, we all know how much we give to the game.”
Ken Doherty, WPBSA Players Chairman said: “Congratulations to Ronnie, who never ceases to amaze with his performances. What he did in Jeddah was simply incredible and he continues to raise the bar for the rest of us. It was a particularly difficult month to win the award with Neil, Kyren and Guodong all winning ranking events, so it shows how highly the players think of Ronnie’s performance in the semi-final against Chris.”
About the Award
Launched by WPBSA Players, the Players’ Player of the Month award recognises outstanding performance, as voted by fellow players. Its key aim is to honour excellence, consistency, and impact on the table, as recognised by those who understand the demands of the game best.
Each month throughout the 2025/26 season a shortlist will be compiled by an independent panel. The panel includes renowned snooker broadcasters David Hendon and Abigail Davies, sports journalist Phil Haigh and WPBSA Players Director Tian Pengfei. The shortlist will consider performances in all completed events for the corresponding month…
WPBSA Players’ Player of the Month Winners 2025/26
June – Marco Fu
July – Stephen Maguire
August – Ronnie O’Sullivan
It’s a good thing that WPBSA, through this award, recognises that it’s not “all about winning” in sport. Of course, as a sports person your goal is to win, that’s what you are out there to strive for. But the fans, the people who bought a ticket, who made the effort to actually come to the venue, to support their sport and its exponents in person rather than from the comfort of their living room, those people deserve to be entertained, they deserve to be offered something exciting, something exceptional that will stay in their memories forever. That’s why “entertainers” are important in sports and I’m glad that WPBSA recognises that importance.
Luca Brecel registered his first win of the season by beating Liam Davies 4-0 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
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After skipping the first few ranking events of the campaign, Brecel made his return at the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers but conceded his tie with Sunny Akani when 2-0 behind. This time the 2023 World Champion stuck to the task and completed a whitewash over Davies with top breaks of 79 and 52. Brecel, who lies 41st in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, will head to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast next month for the televised stages.
Steven Hallworth, who enjoyed a career-high payday at the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters by reaching the last 32, scored another impressive win with a 4-3 defeat of Matthew Stevens. From 3-2 down, Hallworth fired breaks of 136 and 64 in the last two frames.
Two-time ranking event winner Anthony McGill could be in danger of relegation later in the season so a 4-1 win over Alexander Ursenbacher, with a top run of 88, was a much-needed boost. Robert Milkins also needs positive results to keep his tour card and he saw off Patrick Whelan 4-2. Ben Woollaston closed with a 109 in a 4-0 win over Mateusz Baranowski.
Liam Pullen made a career-high break of 143 but still lost 4-2 to Long Zehuang.
It seems that yesterday the WST “redactor” stayed put until most of the games finished.
Among the results not mentioned here above is the 4-3 win by Ashley Hugill, who played in this as an amateur, over Ricky Walden. Ricky once was a top 16 player but recurring back injuries/pain destroyed his career. This saddens me. When on form Ricky is a beautiful player to watch and someone who loves his sport deeply. Also, he absolutely hates losing … you better leave him alone for a couple of hours after a defeat 🙄 😉.
The Hallworth v Stevens match was a good one to watch, and I’m pleased with the result too. Steven Hallworth does a great job for Eurosport/TNT and I believe that it helps him. He’s not relying solely on his results at the table to make a living, and, after a defeat, working in the studio probably helps him moving on and not dwelling on the lost match.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 