Snooker

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 5 – QFs

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

The quarter-finals at the 2025 Welsh Open in Llandudno delivered some very hard fought battles and unexpected comebacks. Here are the reports shared by WST:

Afternoon session:

Mark Selby beat John Higgins 5-4 in a marathon five-hour tussle to reach the semi-finals of the BetVictor Welsh Open for the first time since 2012.

…

Two of snooker’s toughest match-players produced a contest which was low on quality by their high standards, but bubbled to an exciting conclusion, Selby getting the better of a tense decider to reach his 65th ranking event semi-final. He will meet Luca Brecel on Saturday as he continues his quest for a third title of the season, having already won the Unibet British Open and BetVictor Championship League Invitational.

“We both struggled and brought each other down, there were a lot of scrappy frames,” admitted world number four Selby, who landed the first of his 23 ranking titles at the Welsh Open in 2008, but has not won it since. “If one of us had played better, the other might have raised his game. The only positive for me is that I got over the line and I can only improve tomorrow. If I had lost I would have been gutted, but now I can put that behind me.”

Leicester’s Selby took the opening frame on a respotted black, and the second on the colours. A break of 68 helped Higgins pull one back, and in frame four he converted a thundering a long pot on the penultimate red to create the chance for 2-2. The fifth frame lasted  62 minutes, resolved when Higgins potted brown and blue to go ahead, before Selby’s run of 53 helped him restore parity. In the seventh, Higgins was on 61 when he over-cut a tricky thin red, and his opponent later made a 42 clearance to edge 4-3 ahead. 

Selby was 15 points behind in frame eight when he missed the final green to a baulk corner, allowing Higgins to force the decider. The key moment came when Scotland’s Higgins, down 35-13, potted the blue to a centre pocket and was unlucky not to gain position on a red. He then played a loose safety, and Selby slotted in a long red to set up a match-winning 84, his highest break of the day. 

Higgins, still seeking a first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship, said: “It was a mammoth game, I gave it everything. I know the shots but I’ve got deficiencies in my game. I just can’t bring myself to play the right shot, that’s the disappointing thing. At 3-3 when I was on 61, I had to play a high black into the pack, when I have been playing the low black and screwing into the reds. I just don’t have the cue power to play those sort of shots. If I had gone 4-3 up then who knows. But Mark made a great clearance under pressure in the last frame.“

Selby against Brecel will be a rematch of the 2023 Crucible final, which the Belgian won 18-15. Surprisingly, this will be Brecel’s first ranking semi-final since that event 21 months ago. He beat Jackson Page 5-2 today to add momentum to his recent return to form.

There’s no shortage of incentive for 29-year-old Brecel over the last weekend in Llandudno as if he beats Selby he will climb into the top 32 of the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings and earn a place in the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong next month. If he then goes on to take the title, he will win not just the £100,000 top prize and Ray Reardon Trophy, but also the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus which goes to the player who earns the most money across the BetVictor Home Nations Series.

World number seven Brecel took the first two frames against Page before his opponent, the last Welshman in the field, responded with 67 and 103 for 2-2. After the interval, Brecel looked the stronger player, and compiled breaks of 94 and 76 in taking the last three frames. “I enjoyed the game and took my chances,” said Brecel after reaching his 12th ranking event semi-final.

The Selby v Higgins match is the one I watched. It lasted for so long that eventually WST decided to start the other afternoon match on table 2 instead of table 1 as originally planned because, obviously, delaying it further would have caused serious scheduling issues. It wasn’t a high quality match but it was fascinating albeit painful to watch at times. I’m happy with the outcome. I really like Mark Selby as a person, even if, at times, I find his game a bit too “conservative” and hard to watch. I used to like John Higgins, who is a wonderful snooker player, but no more after what happened in 2010. I know that he was set up but he didn’t know that, so what he did is what he would have done if the approach had been “real”. He could have talked to World snooker after the approach, and he would have been alright, but, as a matter of fact, he didn’t. If it had happened today and if he was a young Chinese lad, he would have got a very lengthy ban. I’m 100% sure of that. As it is, he only missed a few minor events early in the next season, and to be fair to Higgins, he gave it 100% on his return, but still … Pat Mooney, who, at the time, had been approached/appointed by Hearn as director in charge of the development of snooker in Eastern Europe, was “excluded” from all snooker involvement for life. That was the right decision and it tells enough about the seriousness of the incident even if it has been downplayed by some1 since. It was made even worse by the fact that John was still the reigning World Champion when it happened. Also I always wondered what were the real motives of the “NOTW” or of whoever “tipped” them2 … that aspect was never elucidated or explained IF someone at WST actually knows the truth about that aspect of the “scandal”. I always wondered if the real “target” may actually have been to discredit Hearn who had just taken over the sport and had appointed Mooney to his team.

Evening session:

Stephen Maguire reached his first ranking event semi-final in four years with a 5-3 victory over Jack Lisowski at the BetVictor Welsh Open – a result which could earn him a place in next month’s World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.

…

Six-time ranking event champion Maguire has had few moments in the limelight in recent seasons and has dropped to 29th in the world, but the 43-year-old has shown fighting spirit this week and is into the last four for the first time since the 2021 Welsh Open. On Saturday night in Llandudno he’ll meet Ali Carter, who recovered a 3-1 deficit to beat Joe O’Connor 5-3.

Glasgow’s Maguire came into this week needing a deep run to move into the top 32 of the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings and earn a place in Hong Kong in March. As it stands he is in 32nd place, though he could yet be ousted by Luca Brecel if the Belgian beats Mark Selby in Saturday’s first semi-final. 

Lisowski, still seeking his first ranking title, started strongly tonight as breaks of 85 and 93 put him 2-1 ahead. In the fourth frame he potted eight reds with blacks but then – perhaps chasing a 147 chance – missed a risky red and Maguire pinched the frame for 2-2. The next two were shared before Maguire’s run of 66 put him 4-3 up. In frame eight, Maguire led 24-0 when he missed a red to a top corner with the rest, but Lisowski couldn’t capitalise as his counter ended on 29 with a failed red to centre. A further 47 was enough for Maguire to reach his 36th ranking semi-final.

“Jack looked brilliant early on, I thought he was going to make a maximum in the fourth frame,” said the Scot. “I managed to nick that one and it changed the match. My cueing was a lot better tonight, though I still threw in a few stupid shots and I’m a long way off my best. I’m still fighting. I felt edgy tonight when it was 3-3 because it was a big match for me, it’s nerve-racking out there. I’ll be excited tomorrow and looking forward to it more, I love the one table set up.”

Carter won the first of his six ranking titles at this event back in 2009, and his most recent at the BetVictor Championship League at the start of this season. Despite suffering from illness this week, he has reeled off four wins to earn a 32nd career ranking semi-final. He and Maguire, both known for a fiery temperament, met in the semi-finals at the Crucible back in 2012, Carter winning 17-12 and the world number 15 will hope to come out on top again this time.

O’Connor looked the stronger player in the early stages, and though Carter made a break of 90 in the third frame, he lost the other three before the interval. But O’Connor mustered just 27 points in the last four frames as Carter dominated with top runs of 62, 66 and 91.

“I came here feeling very rough with a virus, I just had to get through the early rounds to give myself a chance,” said the Essex cueman. “At the interval I said to my coach Chris Henry that I still felt I could play well and I was just going to go for it. I have played some turgid stuff this week, but that was by far my best tonight from 3-1 down.“

Jack I’m afraid was his infuriating self again. Brilliant at the start of the match but apparently collapsing when put under pressure by his opponent. I write “apparently” because that’s how it feels, but I wonder if there might be some other issue. Maybe what Jack went through as a young lad, beating cancer, left him vulnerable to fatigue and he simply can’t sustain the required level of concentration for long? If that is the cause of the problem, it’s a crying shame because, when in full flow, he’s wonderful to watch.

  1. Most notably by Steve Davis, who at the time was in tears in the media room, convinced that snooker was doomed… ↩︎
  2. Pat Mooney and John Higgins had tried to promote snooker through a series of events across Europe: The World Series of Snooker. It was a great initiative but it didn’t get the success they expected. It had left them with some huge debts and the players involved had not been paid in full yet. ↩︎

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 4 … and some Ronnie News

Monique Snooker

Let’s start with the Ronnie news first … As already mentioned by Ben in commentary, Ronnie has shared a statement regarding his “serial” withdrawals:

This is obviously not great, but it’s not a big surprise either as Ronnie has ample prior history of mental health struggles. I’m wishing Ronnie a full recovery, no matter how long it takes. His health the only important thing. After all, snooker is only a game and Ronnie has nothing to prove to anyone.

Now onto what happened yesterday on the baize in Llandudno. Here are the reports shared by WST:

Afternoon session

Jackson Page boosted his hopes of becoming the first home winner of the BetVictor Welsh Open this century as he beat Tom Ford 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals in Llandudno.

…

Mark Williams was the last Welsh player to win this title – or even reach the final – back in 1999. There’s a strong Welsh showing this time, with a record four players in the last 16, and Page looks a strong contender for the Ray Reardon Trophy. The 23-year-old from Ebbw Vale took just 50 minutes to beat Ford with a top break of 62, earning a tie with Pang Junxu or Luca Brecel. 

Page reached his first ranking final at the Championship League at the start of this season, finishing runner-up to Ali Carter, and this would be the perfect week for a first title. “Welsh snooker is thriving, there are a lot of us on tour doing well,” he said. “This is a great venue, the fans have been brilliant and I am grateful for their support. I’m having a good season and I just want to have as many deep runs as I can.“

John Higgins reached his 145th ranking event quarter-final, just one off Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record of 146, with a 4-0 thrashing of Yuan Sijun. Higgins’ progress has been serene so far this week, winning three matches by a 4-0 scoreline, making three centuries and six more breaks over 50. Runs of 90 and 131 helped the 49-year-old Scot to a superb win over Yuan, keeping him on track for a record-extending sixth Welsh Open title.

“I’m delighted, I’ve played well in all three matches so far,” said Higgins, looking for his first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship. “Usually you have at least one match which goes to the wire, so it’s been important to keep some energy for later in the tournament. My positional play has been good which means I’m not having to play too many recovery shots.”

Stephen Maguire reached his first quarter-final of the season with a 4-2 success against Sanderson Lam. Maguire came into this week needing to at least make the semi-finals to climb into the top 32 of the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings and qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix, and he is now just one win away from that target.

“I’ll need to find something before my next match,” said 2013 Welsh Open champion Maguire, whose top break today was 87. “I was struggling to control the white and I probably deserved to lose. I’ll phone John Higgins and see if he wants to go for dinner and give me a pep talk. I am in the quarter-finals so I’ll take it.”

Joe O’Connor also booked a place in the last eight as he showed his break-building class in a 4-1 win over Matthew Stevens, firing runs of 99, 87, 113 and 82. 

Evening session

Luca Brecel remained on track to win a first title since his Crucible triumph 21 months ago, beating Pang Junxu 4-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the BetVictor Welsh Open in Llandudno.

It could be a winner-takes-all scenario for Brecel if he makes it to Sunday’s final, as the title would also give him the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus awarded to the player who earns the most money across the four BetVictor Home Nations events this season. A further incentive for the Belgian is that a place in the final would get him into next month’s World Grand Prix in Hong Kong. But for now, Brecel won’t be looking beyond a battle with Jackson Page, the last remaining Welsh player, on Friday afternoon.

Since landing the world title in 2023, Brecel has dipped in and out of form, and was even in danger of tour relegation until his recent improvement. He reached the quarter-finals of the BetVictor Scottish Open and the final of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship before Christmas and is enjoying another run this week.

“When I turn up at tournaments now I really want to go deep,” said 29-year-old Brecel, whose top break tonight was 69. “Before, if I wasn’t in a really good place I wanted to go home. Now I want to win the tournament or at least get to a quarter or semi-final. It’s fantastic to be in the mix again. I will enjoy playing Jackson, he is very attacking and very fast and a nice guy to watch.” 

Mark Selby reached his 99th ranking event quarter-final with a 4-0 whitewash of Jamie Jones, setting up a blockbuster clash with John Higgins at 12pm on Friday. The pair met in the Unibet British Open final earlier this season, Selby winning 10-5, and the Englishman will be hoping to come out on top again as he chases back to back titles, having won the BetVictor Championship League Invitational last week.

Breaks of 73, 62 and 58 helped Selby to a comfortable victory. “I played well tonight apart from a couple of loose safety shots,” said the Leicester cueman, whose first ranking title came in this tournament back in 2008. “Jamie had a chance to win the first frame and if he had taken that he could have settled and made it a different match.

“I finished late last night (beating Elliot Slessor 4-3) so I only had around five hours sleep, I am flagging a bit now so hopefully I’ll sleep well tonight. John Higgins is a class act and I always look forward to playing him, as well as Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams because we don’t know how long they will keep playing so we have to cherish it.“

Ali Carter beat Ryan Day 4-1 to reach his first ranking event quarter-final since winning the BetVictor Championship League back in July. Breaks of 57 and 51 helped Carter set up a tie with Joe O’Connor.

Jack Lisowski was the last man into the quarter-finals and has made seven centuries in his three matches this week. Breaks of 123 and 131 helped him to beat Matthew Selt 4-2 and he now meets Stephen Maguire.

Jackson Page played well but Tom Ford was well below part and, actually, he didn’t look well at all. I’m not sure if the issues are “physical”, “mental” or both but Tom looked really ill out there.

Stephen Maguire didn’t play particularly well in beating Sanderson Lam but, at least, he stayed calm and didn’t allow his often volatile temperament to get the better of him.

I didn’t watch much of the evening session and don’t remember anything of what little I did watch. I was far too tired to stay focused. In his interview, quoted above, Selby mentioned his late finish on the previous day and sleep deprivation as a result. The schedule as it is may suit the British viewers1, especially those who don’t need to get up early for work or school on the next day, but for western mainland Europeans it’s not great and for eastern mainland Europeans watching the last match of the evening session is only an option if they don’t need to get up early on the next day. It’s far too late!

All the detailed results are available on snooker.org.

The quarter-finals today will be best of 9, with consecutive matches in the afternoon and “parallel” matches in the evening. I don’t like this “arrangement” although I understand the practical reasons behind it. The reason I don’t like it is because, from the semi-finals on there will be just one table and, more often than not it’s “table 1”, therefore we might have one player in the SFs who has never got the opportunity to play on that table yet, whilst the other three had that opportunity. That’s not fair. Tables are all supposed to play more or less the same but, actually, it isn’t the case as we all know!

  1. although even some of them complained ↩︎

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 3

Monique Snooker

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.

…

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.

…

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. ↩︎

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 2

Monique Snooker

Yesterday at the 2025 Welsh Open saw the conclusion of the “first round” at the venue and yet another withdrawal from Ronnie. 😥

Here are the reports shared by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

Shaun Murphy crashed out of the BetVictor Welsh Open with a 4-3 defeat against world number 75 Ma Hailong, a result which dents his hopes of an automatic spot at the Crucible in April. 

Results 

Murphy won the Johnstone’s Paint Masters last month, his greatest moment for a decade, but his record in ranking events over the past two seasons has been patchy and as it stands he is 19th in the Race to the Crucible with just four more counting events to come. If he’s not able to climb into the top 16 in that list by the end of April’s Sportsbet.io Tour Championship, he will face the qualifying rounds in Sheffield. 

From 2-0 down today, Murphy made breaks of 127, 100 and 82 to lead 3-2. But China’s 21-year-old Ma hit back with a break of 77 for 3-3, then built a 71-0 lead in the decider. Murphy kept fighting and got the two snookers he needed on the last red, but could only watch in despair as Ma fluked the red when attempting safety to clinch his best win on tour. He goes through to the last 32 to face Ryan Day.

Murphy said: “I thought when I got the two snookers that I might get an opportunity but it wasn’t to be. I have lost here and in Berlin in deciding frames without getting a chance. It was a really good match, Ma was excellent and I can only praise him. I had two centuries and an 80, I tried my best and I lost.“

Barry Hawkins, runner-up in two ranking events this season, also fell at the first hurdle, losing 4-1 to Sanderson Lam. “It’s a big scalp for me to beat a top 16 player,” said Lam. “I much prefer playing in venues like this with a big crowd, it brings the best out of me. My big ambition this season is to get to the Crucible, that’s my dream. I’m enjoying snooker, playing well and putting a lot into practice.”

World Champion Kyren Wilson narrowly avoided defeat against Marco Fu, winning 4-3 by making his 500th career century in the deciding frame. Fu came from 3-1 down to 3-3 with breaks of 79 and 139 and had first chance in the decider but potted just one red before missing the brown to a baulk corner. Wilson, winner of three ranking titles already this season, punished him with a 103, becoming the 14th player to reach the landmark of 500 tons. 

Matthew Selt thrashed Ricky Walden 4-0 with a top break of 102, a huge result in the race to qualify for the World Grand Prix as Selt is now up to 31st and, as it stands, would make it to Hong Kong. “That was one of the biggest matches I have played for a few years so it was great to be fully focussed all the way through. Getting into the World Grand Prix is the goal this week. I’ll be watching the other games now and hoping everyone else in the race loses! When I got here I had no chance of winning, I worked with my coach Chris Henry and I was hitting the wrong side of the white and the object ball, so I have to give credit to Chris for fixing what I was doing wrong.”

Day remains in the same race thanks to a 4-2 win over Ben Mertens, though he must reach the quarter-finals to have a chance. David Gilbert made a break of 100 in the decider to edge out Jordan Brown 4-3. Matthew Stevens earned a 4-2 success in a Welsh derby against Crucible runner-up Jak Jones.  

Wu Yize, runner-up at both the BetVictor English Open and BetVictor Scottish Open this season, needs to reach another final this week to have a chance of winning the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, and he came from 3-1 down to beat Scott Donaldson 4-3.

Evening session

Hossein Vafaei overcame a mystery injury to reach the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open with a 4-2 victory over Fan Zhengyi.

Results 

Iran’s Vafaei first noticed the injury in his neck before last week’s BetVictor Championship League and it has got steadily worse, spreading through his shoulder, left arm and into his hand. But he has battled through the pain and tonight’s victory could be crucial to his season as it keeps him on track to qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.

“I thought about pulling out but I have to play for the people who support me, even if I am struggling they want me to win,” said Vafaei, who made a top break of 73 tonight as he set up a meeting with Ali Carter. “I have been to the doctor but he just gave me pain-killers which didn’t really help. Tonight I was losing control of my bridge hand, it was just dropping down and my shoulder felt very heavy. Hopefully I can visit my doctor in Iran and they will be able to find out what’s wrong and get me ready for the rest of the season. 

“I’m proud and happy to win tonight. I haven’t had a good season, it’s hard to find a balance between snooker and the rest of your life. Sometimes you lose form and then you have to start again from zero. I just want to finish the season well.“

Luca Brecel remained in the hunt for a first individual title since his Crucible triumph 21 months ago as he beat Stuart Carrington 4-2. From 2-0 down, Brecel won four frames in a row with top runs of 96 and 99.

Chris Wakelin recovered a 3-1 deficit to beat Michael Holt 4-3, making a vital 54 in the decider. Wakelin now meets Jack Lisowski, who raced to a 4-0 win over Joshua Cooper in 52 minutes with breaks of 100, 106 and 111.  

Hossein’s injury “sounds” very much like “nerve damage” to me going by the symptoms he describes. This kind of injuries are very painful and take time to heal. More often than not, there isn’t much that can be done other than resting. Ricky Walden was whitewashed by Matthew Selt which came as no surprise given Ricky’s recent health issues1. I’m wishing Ricky the best and, if I were Matthew Selt, I wouldn’t boost too much about that win yesterday.

Ma Hailong got lucky in the end and Murphy’s facial expression was priceless when that fluke went in but overall Ma deserved the win. He was a huge “underdog” in that match but showed great resolve throughout and played some really good stuff as well. Credits to Shaun for giving his young opponent the praise he deserved.

Luca Brecel was at his entertaining best once he got going. The crowd was clearly enjoying that match. He’s a maverick, he can be massively infuriating at times, but when he does play like he did yesterday evening he’s probably the most entertaining player on tour from the casual viewer’s point of view.

One result that I didn’t expect is Jak Jones 4-2 defeat to Matthew Stevens. Jak made breaks of 137 and 123 in the two frames he won, Matthew highest break of the match was 67, he hasn’t done anything of note for ages … but he won that match. I didn’t see how he managed that feat so I can’t comment but I’m slightly nonplussed to put it mildly.

Kyren’s match versus Marco Fu was a very high quality affair. Kyren sealed it with a 103 break that was the 500th century of his career. Marco remains a quality player and would probably be ranked much higher if it wasn’t for the recurrent eyes issues he suffered in recent years.

  1. He was forced to withdraw from the 2025 German Masters due to illness and is due to undergo gallbladder surgery ↩︎

Ronnie has withdrawn fron the 2025 Welsh Open

Monique Snooker

It has just been announced by WST:

O’Sullivan Withdraws From BetVictor Welsh Open

Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the BetVictor Welsh Open.

O’Sullivan was due to face Jamie Clarke at 1pm on Tuesday afternoon. Clarke will now receive a bye to the last 32.

The tournament in Llandudno runs until Sunday February 16th.

This time no reason was given. And I can’t help wondering when Ronnie actually informed them. The text above was published today, so why write “on Tuesday afternoon” rather than “today afternoon”? And Murphy had been speaking to the press yesterday and had already expressed doubts about his participation.

Anyway … 😥

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 1

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

The first day of the 2025 Welsh Open in Llandudno was an interesting one on many accounts but, before I come to that, here are the reports shared by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

BetVictor Welsh Open Day One

Gary Wilson described his own performance as “hideous” as his defence of the BetVictor Welsh Open title ended in the opening round with a 4-3 defeat against Ishpreet Singh Chadha.

…

Wilson won his third ranking title in Llandudno last year, beating Martin O’Donnell in the final, but has lost form in recent months and admitted last week that he was seeking a solution in practice. Suffering from illness, the Tynesider was well below his best today and from 3-2 up he lost the last two frames against India’s top player Chadha. The result leaves Wilson in danger of failing to qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix. “I’m just sick,” he admitted. “If I’d had half my game I probably would have got through, but it was hideous.“

Chadha enjoyed a fine run to the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open earlier in the season, notably beating Mark Selby, and the world number 69 proved again that he enjoys the big occasion. A break of 76 gave him the opening frame, and despite falling 3-2 down, the 28-year-old dominated the last two to set up a last 32 meeting with Jackson Page.

“It felt amazing, to beat a three-time ranking event winner,” said Singh-Chadha. “I was on it from the start and Gary was a little but off, but it was a tough match. I was tough mentally even before I became a pro and I have worked on the technical side with my coach Yasin Merchant. As I am playing better I feel more confident. I am close to getting into the top 64 now which would be a great achievement in my first two seasons.“

Home favourite Mark Williams looked sharp in a 4-1 win over Florian Nuessle, compiling breaks of 101, 100 and 117. “I’ve been playing well all season,” said Williams, the last Welsh winner of this event back in 1999. “I’ve won a tournament and could have had one or two more. It’s more than I ever thought I’d be doing, approaching my 50th birthday. I’ve just got to enjoy it.“

Neil Robertson has extra motivation this week as he is front runner for the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, and he started strongly with a 4-2 win over Mark Davis. From 2-0 down, Robertson reeled off four frames in a row with top breaks of 67 and 77. That result means that just ten other players are still in the race to win the bonus.

Mark Selby enjoyed a 4-2 victory over Haydon Pinhey, while Welshman Jamie Jones beat Si Jiahui by the same scoreline.

Evening session

BetVictor Welsh Open Day One Evening

Mark Allen launched his bid to win the BetVictor Welsh Open for the first time as he battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to beat Stan Moody 4-3 in the last 64 in Llandudno. 

…

Allen has been ever-present in this tournament since 2006 but surprisingly has just one semi-finalist appearance, in 2016. The 11-time ranking event winner will hope to improve that record this week and cleared the first hurdle with an excellent break in the deciding frame against teenager Moody. 

Winner of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in December and a semi-finalist at the recent Johnstone’s Paint Masters, Northern Ireland’s Allen is looking to continue his sequence of deep runs and will face Yuan Sijun in the last 32 on Wednesday at Venue Cymru.

Moody made a confident start with breaks of 59 and 95 to win the first two frames. The 18-year old had chances in frame three but couldn’t take them, and Allen snatched it on the colours, then made a delightful 138 total clearance for 2-2. A run of 64 helped Moody regain the lead, but he lost a scrappy 39-minute sixth. In the decider, Moody was first among the balls and made 29 before missing a red to a baulk corner. World number eight Allen seized his chance with a match-winning 67.

“Stan started really well to go 2-0 up,” said 38-year-old Allen. “I hung in there and played some decent stuff to get back into it. I had to rely on him making a few mistakes towards the end. I’m relieved to get through. I didn’t expect him to miss the red in the last frame, I made a good break from there and I’m pleased to close it out that way. I haven’t practised as hard as I usually do for this event but I have a day off tomorrow to try to be ready for Wednesday.”

John Higgins was outstanding in a 4-0 win over Graeme Dott, firing breaks of 113, 60 and 107. Elliot Slessor was also on the right side of a 4-0 scoreline, beating Liam Davies with a top run of 105.

Robert Milkins, who won this title two years ago but has since failed to go beyond the quarter-finals of any event, enjoyed a much-needed 4-1 win over Wang Yuchen. 

Ishpreet Sing Chadha is a player I like to watch. I had watched him play as an amateur on the stream during the qualifiers in Thailand and had immediately warmed to him. He’s a very good player who appears to be blessed with a great temperament and seems to enjoy his snooker. He plays a very positive game, without being reckless at all. He may have been helped by his opponent’s illness but he deserved this win 100%. That’s said, it’s never nice to see a player struggling with ill health and I wish Gary Wilson a speedy and complete recovery.

I may have appeared to dislike Stan Moody in the past, but this isn’t the case and never was. What I dislike is the fact when WST puts a strong focus on a young player – more often than not on an English kid – before they have actually proven anything. This sport isn’t easy, it’s very taxing mentally and emotionally and those young players shouldn’t have to cope with the additional weight of big expectations put on their young shoulders. Yesterday, I really appreciated what young Stan showed against Allen.

The last match I watched was Milkins v Wang Yuchen. It was a much closer match than the scores suggest. Robert Milkins, when on form, is scary. He makes the game look ridiculously easy. Yesterday was such a day. But, even if the score do suggest otherwise, Wang made him work for his win. Wang’s safety was excellent, and Milkins’ safety game is badly underrated. In long stretches this match was very tactical. Wang made the only 50+ break of the match, a truly beautiful 118 in frame 3. It was also a match played in great spirit, both players showing appreciation for their opponent’s good shots.

At the time of writing Ronnie is still in the draw unless WST is hiding things from us… 😉 I’m not expecting anything, Janie Clarke is no numpty, but I believe that he will want to play and play well in Hong Kong where he’s now a resident. A bit of competitive snooker played ahead of the 2025 Grand Prix might be part of the plan.

Amateur Snooker News – 10 February 2025

Monique Amateur, Live, Snooker ,

The 2025 Welsh Open has started this morning but, before we turn our attention to the last of the “Home Nations” events, let’s take stock of what happened last week-end on the amateur scene, as reported by WPBSA.

Highfield Wins Maiden Q Tour Crown

Liam Highfield defeated Dylan Emery 4-3 to win the seventh and final WPBSA Q Tour Europe event of the season at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, England.

The victory marks Highfield’s first title on the Q Tour and guarantees his place at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Turkey next month where three World Snooker Tour (WST) two-year tour cards will be on offer.

The 34-year-old Englishman, who is aiming for a quick return to the professional circuit after his 14-year unbroken spell came to an end last year, joined the three-day event on the Saturday as one of the 48 seeded cueists at the Landywood Snooker Club.

His campaign began with a tough test against fellow former professional Craig Steadman, who had already reached a Q Tour Europe event final in Sweden earlier in the season. The two players went blow for blow in a high-quality contest but a quartet of half-centuries, including a top break of 92, was enough for Highfield to secure the victory in a decider.

A 4-1 win over fellow countryman Ryan Davies earned Highfield his place in the final day for the fourth time this season and he began the Sunday in style with a whitewash of Josh Thomond to reach the quarter-finals.

Back-to-back 4-2 victories over Kuldesh Johal and Alex Clenshaw, the latter from 2-1 behind, saw Highfield book his place in a Q Tour Europe final for the first time.

Welshman Dylan Emery was his opponent in the title match after he proved to be one of the standout performers across the weekend.

Emery, who won the second Q Tour Europe event of the campaign, compiled the tournament high break of 140 against Anton Kazakov on Saturday evening and followed this up by overcoming former World Snooker Federation champion Ashley Hugill to earn a place in the last eight.

There he faced 14-year-old Shaun Liu, who had provided one of the stories of the event by picking up consecutive victories over former professionals Steven Hallworth and Harvey Chandler.

The Hong Kong China cueist came close to adding another scalp against Emery as he led 3-2 in the best-of-seven frame contest. Emery was able to hold his nerve, however, and take the last two frames before once again showing his battling qualities in the semi-finals to defeat Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko in a decider having trailed 3-1.

It had been a day full of drama and a high standard of snooker at the Landywood Snooker Club and the title match proved to be no different.

In a match that featured a half-century break in every frame, Highfield stormed into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 93 and 69 and then moved one away from victory at 3-1 with a further contribution of 59.

Emery wasn’t going down without a fight, however, and visits of 83 and 87 forced a final frame to decide the victor.

All you want in a decider is a chance and when Highfield’s arrived he took full advantage by hitting a 91 clearance to secure the first Q Tour title of his career.

The 2024/25 WPBSA Q Tour season comes a close next month as the Global Play-Offs are staged in Antalya, Turkey on 11-13 March. Full details will be announced in due course.

Evans Regains Belgian Crown

Reanne Evans has defeated Mink Nutcharut 4-3 following a dramatic final to regain the Belgian Women’s Open title for the first time since 2019 at the Trickshot in Bruges, Belgium.

Success for Evans represents her second ranking event title of the season following her win at the Women’s Masters last November and is her first outside of the UK in almost six years since the 2019 World Women’s Snooker Championship in Thailand.

Victory in Bruges will also see the 12-time world champion regain third place in the updated world rankings, having been overtaken by Bai Yulu following the recent WSF Women’s Championship in Morocco.

Beaten finalist Mink Nutcharut will remain in top spot following her fourth consecutive final appearance on the WWS Tour – all having come down to a deciding frame – which sees her further extend her lead to second placed Ng On Yee with two events remaining this season.

For Evans the run to the final would not be straightforward as having seen off debutant Diana Khodjaeva in the last 16, she would then defeat home favourite Wendy Jans 3-1 in the quarter-finals, before surviving her first decider against 2020 Belgian Open champion Ng On Yee in the semi-finals.

Mink Nutcharut meanwhile enjoyed relatively smooth passage to the title match as she whitewashed Jaique Ip Wan In, Kamila Khodjaeva and most impressively Anupama Ramachandran, during which she hit back-to-back century breaks of 115 and 107 during the final two frames, becoming the first player to do so in seven years.

It was Nutcharut who would get off to the stronger start during what would prove to be a tension-filled final as she stole the opener with a break of 40, before adding a close-fought second to double her advantage.

The frames would continue to be hard-fought and it was Evans who hit back to level at 2-2, before the next two were shared meaning that for the fourth straight final on the WWS Tour, a final frame decider would be required to settle the title.

Evans would gain the early advantage in the crucial seventh frame, before Nutcharut found herself with a chance to potentially steal and take her third consecutive crown in Bruges. A miss on the final red into the green pocket would ultimately prove costly, however, as Evans made a telling contribution to ultimately clinch the title.

The engrossing final would pull down the curtain on what was a memorable event which saw a number of stories throughout the three days. Notably, talented Belgian duo Diana and Kamila Khodjaeva both impressed in reaching the knockout rounds at their debut event, while 13-year-old Ellise Scott took world number five Rebecca Kenna to a deciding-frame at the last 16 stage. For Kenna, she would find herself on the wrong end of a decider in the next round as she dramatically lost to Anupama Ramachandran on a respotted black.

There was also history made as an incredible break of 138 – the fifth-highest ever on the WWS Tour – by Ng On Yee saw her become only the fourth player ever to reach ten career century breaks, before Mink Nutcharut equalled the feat the following day, with her brace of century breaks during the semi-finals.

Side-Tournaments

There was a second-career Under-21 title for Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul in the junior competition as the 19-year-old defeated Laura Killington, Sophie Nix and first-time finalist Chan Wai Lam of Hong Kong China to add to her previous crown at the Women’s Masters last November.

It would prove to be a fruitful weekend for the youngster who also claimed victory in the Challenge Cup event for players who did not reach the quarter-finals following her 2-0 success against England’s Ellise Scott in the final.

The Seniors competition held on Friday meanwhile saw current number one Tessa Davidson maintain her stranglehold at the top of the rankings with a 2-0 win against first-time finalist Anja Vandenbussche.

As always, World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to what is always a popular event in Bruges, in particular Olivier Vandenbohede and his team at the Trickshot.

The 2024/25 season continues with the Landywood British Women’s Open from 28-30 March 2025 in Bruges. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.

Note that I cited the last sentence as it was written at the time I copied the text, but the Landiwood British Open is due to be played in Walsall, England, according to WPBSA Snooker scores … not in Bruges as written in the piece above.

Congratulations Liam Highfield and Reanne Evans!