2024 British Open

The 2024 British Open (officially the 2024 Unibet British Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 23 to 29 September 2024 at the Centaur in Cheltenham, England. Qualifying (round1) took place from 31 July to 3 August 2024 at the Leicester Arena in Leicester. The fifth ranking tournament of the 202425 season, it followed the 2024 English Open and preceded the 2024 Wuhan Open. It was organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by online gambling platform Unibet. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £502,000 and the Clive Everton Trophy. Everton died on 27 September, two days before the tournament concluded.

The defending champion was Mark Williams, who defeated Mark Selby 107 in the 2023 final, but he lost 14 to Rory Thor in qualifying (round1). Selby won the tournament, beating John Higgins 105 in the final to capture his first British Open title and the 23rd ranking title of his career, as well as his first at a tournament broadcast by ITV. The event produced 55 century breaks, 12 in qualifying and 43 in the main stage; the highest was a maximum break by Mark Allen in his thirdround match against Ben Mertens. Judd Trump made his 1,000th century break in professional competition during his quarter-final match against Allen, becoming the third player to reach that milestone, after Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins.

Format

The draw was randomised after each round. All matches before the quarter-final stage were played as the best of seven , while the quarter-finals were the best of nine frames, the semi-finals were the best of 11 frames, and the final was the best of 19 frames. The winner received the Clive Everton trophy and secured a place in the 2024 Champion of Champions tournament.

The qualifying matches were broadcast by the WST Facebook page, by Discovery+ in Europe, and by Matchroom Sport in all other territories. The main stage of the event was broadcast by ITV and ITVX in the United Kingdom; by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe (excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland); by the CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin and Huya Live in China; by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; by TrueVision in Thailand; by TAP in the Philippines; and by Sportcast in Taiwan. It was available from Matchroom Sport in all other territories.

Prize fund

The winner of the event received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £502,000. The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:

* Winner: £100,000
* Runner-up: £45,000
* Semi-final: £20,000
* Quarter-final: £12,000
* Last 16: £9,000
* Last 32: £6,000
* Last 64: £3,000
* Highest break: £5,000

* Total: £502,000

Summary

Qualifying (round 1)

Leicester

Qualifying for the tournament took place from 31 July to 3 August 2024 at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England, although qualifiers featuring the top 18 players in the snooker world rankings were held over to be played in Cheltenham.

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh beat Alexander Ursenbacher 41 in a match that lasted less than an hour, and David Grace defeated Jack Lisowski 42. Neil Robertson beat Andrew Pagett 41, and Chris Totten Jimmy White. Amateur players Mark Joyce and Anton Kazakov won their matches over Xing Zihao and Ahmed Aly Elsayed respectively. Stuart Bingham beat He Guoqiang 43, Stan Moody defeated Joe O'Connor 42, and Marco Fu beat Joshua Thomond 41. Oliver Lines defeated Lei Peifan 43, and amateur player Simon Blackwell beat the 2024 world women's champion Bai Yulu 42. David Gilbert whitewashed amateur player Dylan Emery, and Elliot Slessor beat amateur player Joshua Cooper 41.

Cheltenham

On 23 September there were some issues with playing conditions in Cheltenham, and Mark Allen said that "It's some of the worst weather outside and they've left the massive transport doors open. It's so cold, it's so humid, out there. The table needs to be burned."

In the heldover qualifying matches played in Cheltenham, Rory Thor beat the defending champion Mark Williams 41. Aaron Hill beat Ding Junhui 43, and Gong Chenzhi beat Tom Ford 43. Bulcsú Révész defeated Ali Carter 43, and Liam Davies beat Barry Hawkins 41. Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew and was replaced by Lewis Ullah. Ullah defeated Manasawin Phetmalaikul 42.

Early rounds

Round 2

Round 2 (last 64) matches were played on 24 and 25 September as the best of 7 frames. Amateur player Iulian Boiko beat Si Jiahui 41, and Graeme Dott beat Zhou Yuelong also by 41. Stan Moody whitewashed Michael Holt and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh whitewashed Noppon Saengkham. Jak Jones whitewashed Alfie Burden and Ashley Carty whitewashed Long Zehuang. Mark Davis beat Xiao Guodong, Luca Brecel beat Tian Pengfei, and Judd Trump beat Ryan Day, all by 42. Liam Davies whitewashed Anton Kazakov, and Zhang Anda beat Hossein Vafaei 41. John Higgins beat Shaun Murphy 42, and Kyren Wilson beat Duane Jones 41.

Round 3

Round 3 (last 32) matches were played on 25 and 26 September as the best of 7 frames. Stan Moody beat Zhang Anda, Mark Selby beat Yuan Sijun, Stephen Maguire beat Stuart Bingham, and Rory Thor beat Neil Robertson, all by 43. Mark Allen made his 4th professional maximum break in his match against Ben Mertens, which he went on to win 41. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh beat Ricky Walden 43, and Kyren Wilson whitewashed Marco Fu.

Later rounds

Round 4

Round 4 (last 16) matches were played on 26 September as the best of 7 frames. Elliot Slessor beat Kyren Wilson 42, Oliver Lines beat Stan Moody 41, Jak Jones beat Luca Brecel 42, and John Higgins whitewashed Rory Thor.

Quarter finals

The quarter-finals were played on 27 September as the best of 9 frames. Before the matches started there was a one minute silence in honour of Clive Everton who had died at the age of 87, and after whom the tournament trophy is named. In the afternoon session John Higgins beat Elliot Slessor 51 and Mark Selby beat David Gilbert 54. In the evening session, in the match between Judd Trump and Mark Allen, Trump made his 1,000th professional career century break in the second frame, becoming the third player to reach this number, after Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins. However, Allen went on to win the match 53. Oliver Lines beat Jak Jones 54.

Semi finals

The semi-finals were played on 28 September as the best of 11 frames. In the afternoon session John Higgins played Oliver Lines. This was the first ranking event semifinal for Lines. Higgins whitewashed Lines. After the match Higgins said: "I have not won silverware for a few years and I just love the feeling of being the last man standing, that's why I keep going. I am going to have a monumental game tomorrow, they elby and Allenare both immovable objects who are so tough to compete against. I hope it he second semifinalgoes 65 tonight either way." Lines said: "Nerves got the better of me. I wanted to at least show why I made the semifinal. Even the easiest pots were looking so hard. I have played well all week and I hoped I could find something today, but mentally I didn't give myself a chance, I didn't handle it."

In the evening session Mark Selby played Mark Allen. In the first frame of the match, after more than 30 minutes of play, the players asked referee Kevin Dabrowski for a and started the match again. At the midsession interval, after more than two hours of playing time, Selby led Allen 31. Selby went on to win the match 63, with both players making century breaks. After the match Selby said: "John igginsand I will be battling out there tomorrow, giving it everything. I have so much time for him, every time I see him we have a laugh and get on well." Allen said: "One or two shots could have made a difference. I feel my game is in good enough shape and I'm looking forward to the next tournament."

Final

The final was played on 29 September as the best of 19 frames, played over two and officiated by Ben Williams. Mark Selby played John Higgins in Selby's 35th ranking final, and Higgins' 56th. At the end of the afternoon session Selby led Higgins 53. Selby went on to win 105, capturing his first British Open title and the 23rd ranking title of his career. It was Selby's first ranking title since the 2023 WST Classic in March 2023. Afterwards, Selby said: "The first session was incredible, I think my pot success was 98% and John's was 96%. Tonight wasn't quite as good, I missed one red at 74 but apart from that I made very few mistakes and I took my chances when I had them." Higgins said "Mark put on a clinic tonight, he was too good for me. My big moment was the tenth frame when I had a chance to make it 55 but couldn't take it."

Main draw

Match winners are shown in bold.

Round 2

All matches were the best of seven frames.

24 September morning session

* w/o–w/d

* 2–4
* 1–4
* 4–1
* 4–2

:Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walkover

24 September afternoon session

* 4–2
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 1–4
* 4–0
* 4–0
* 1–4

24 September evening session

* 4–2
* 4–0
* 2–4
* 4–0
* 4–1
* 4–3
* 2–4
* 0–4

25 September morning session

* 1–4
* 3–4
* 0–4
* 1–4

25 September afternoon session

* 4–1
* 4–1
* 4–3
* 4–1
* 4–0
* 1–4
* 4–2
* 4–0

Round 3

All matches were the best of seven frames.

25 September evening session

* 4–1
* 3–4
* 4–3
* 2–4
* 3–4
* 4–3
* 4–3
* 3–4

26 September afternoon session

* 4–3
* 4–2
* 2–4
* 3–4
* 1–4
* 0–4
* 2–4
* 1–4

Round 4

All matches were the best of seven frames.

26 September evening session

* 3–4
* 4–2
* 0–4
* 4–1
* 3–4
* 4–2
* 4–2
* 3–4

Quarter finals

All matches were the best of nine frames.

27 September afternoon session

* 1–5
* 4–5

27 September evening session

* 3–5
* 4–5

Semi finals

Matches were the best of eleven frames.

28 September afternoon session

* 6–0

28 September evening session

* 6–3

Final

Qualifying (round 1)

The qualification matches are shown below. Match winners are shown in bold.

Cheltenham

The results of the held over matches played in Cheltenham on 23 September were as follows:

* 1–4
* 4–3
* 3–4
* 3–4
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 4–1
* 2–4
* 4–0
* 3–4
* 1–4
* 4–0
* 4–3
* 4–2
* 4–2

Leicester

The results of the qualifying matches played in Leicester were as follows:

31 July

* 4–2
* 1–4
* 1–4
* 4–2
* 3–4
* 1–4
* 0–4
* 4–2
* 4–2
* 4–3
* 4–1
* 4–0

1 August

* 4–2
* 2–4
* 4–3
* 1–4
* 3–4
* 0–4
* 1–4
* 4–0
* 3–4
* 1–4
* 4–2
* 2–4

2 August

* 4–2
* 4–1
* 4–3
* 2–4
* 2–4
* 2–4
* 1–4
* 0–4
* 4–3
* 4–1
* 3–4
* 4–0

3 August

* 4–2
* 4–0
* 4–3
* 1–4
* 4–0
* 2–4
* 4–1
* 4–0
* 3–4
* 1–4
* 4–1
* 1–4

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

A total of 43 century breaks were made during the main stage of the tournament in Cheltenham.

* 147, 130, 102, 101 Mark Allen
* 137, 135, 125, 115, 105, 101, 100 Mark Selby
* 133 Tian Pengfei
* 132, 105, 102 John Higgins
* 132 Ben Woollaston
* 131, 129, 105 Yuan Sijun
* 128, 109 Jak Jones
* 128 Elliot Slessor
* 127 Stephen Maguire
* 122, 102, 101 Lyu Haotian
* 117 Tom Ford
* 117 Aaron Hill
* 115 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
* 114 Kyren Wilson
* 114 Zhang Anda
* 110 Sanderson Lam
* 109 Xiao Guodong
* 108 David Gilbert
* 107 Xu Si
* 105 Shaun Murphy
* 104, 101 Judd Trump
* 102 Marco Fu
* 102 Oliver Lines
* 101 Ma Hailong
* 100 Louis Heathcote
* 100 Neil Robertson

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 12 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament in Leicester.

* 127, 100 Noppon Saengkham
* 120 Xu Si
* 116 Oliver Lines
* 111 Wu Yize
* 108 Mark Davis
* 104, 102 Long Zehuang
* 102 Jamie Jones
* 101 David Grace
* 100 Stan Moody
* 100 Xiao Guodong

Notes

References

External links

World Snooker Tour – Home

{{2024–25 snooker season

British Open
British Open (snooker)
British Open
British Open
British Open 2024