2024 World Open (snooker)

The 2024 World Open (officially the 2024 Huading Nylon World Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 18 to 24 March 2024 at the Yushan Sport Centre in Yushan, China. The fifth edition of the World Open held in Yushan since 2016, it marked the return of the event to the tour after a three-season hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the 15th ranking event of the 2023–24 season, following the Players Championship and preceding the Tour Championship. It was also the fourth and last major tournament of the season to be held in China, following the International Championship. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by Huading Nylon, the event was broadcast by CCTV-5, Migu, and Huya domestically, and by other broadcasters worldwide. The winner received £170,000 from a total prize fund of £815,000.

Judd Trump won the previous edition, having defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 105 in the final of the 2019 event. He successfully defended the title, beating Ding Junhui 104 in the final, and claimed his 28th career ranking title to equal the number won by Steve Davis. It was Trump's fifth ranking title of the season, following his wins at the 2023 English Open, the 2023 Wuhan Open, the 2023 Northern Ireland Open, and the 2024 German Masters. It was also the third time Trump had won five or more ranking titles in a single season, having done so in the 2019–20 and the 2020–21 seasons. The only other players that have achieved the feat were Stephen Hendry in 1990–94, Ding in 2013–14, Mark Selby in 2016–17, and Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2017–18.

The main stage of the event produced 95 century breaks, with an additional 34 made in the qualifying matches played in Barnsley, England. The highest break was a Zak Surety's first career maximum break, compiled during his held-over match against Ding.

Format

The 2024 World Open was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 18 to 24 March 2024 at the Yushan Sport Centre in Yushan, China. The 15th ranking event of the 2023–24 season, and the fourth and last major tournament of the season to be held in China, the tournament was the fifth edition of the World Open held in Yushan since 2016, marking its return to the tour after a three-season hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally created in 1982 as the Professional Players Tournament, the tournament was held in the UK as the Grand Prix and LG Cup from 1984 to 2009, and was renamed the World Open in 2010. China hosted the event from 2012 to 2014 in Haikou, and in Yushan since 2016.

Judd Trump won the previous edition, having defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 105 in the final of the 2019 event. He successfully defended the title, beating Ding Junhui 104 in the final.

Qualification for the tournament took place from 22 to 24 January at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. Qualifying matches involving defending champion Trump, reigning World Champion Luca Brecel, the two highest-ranked Chinese players (Ding and Zhang Anda), and four Chinese wildcards (Wang Xinbo, Wang Xinzhong, Gong Chenzhi, and Lan Yuhao) were held over to be played at the main venue in Yushan. All matches were played as the best of nine until the semi-finals, which were the best of 11. The final was a best of 19 frames match played over two .

Broadcasters

The qualifying matches were broadcast domestically by Migu and Huya in China; by Discovery+ in Europe (including the UK and Ireland); and Matchroom.live in all other territories.

The main stage of the event was broadcast domestically by CCTV-5, Migu, and Huya in China; by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe (including the UK and Ireland); Now TV in Hong Kong; True Sports in Thailand; Sportcast in Taiwan; and Matchroom.live in all other territories.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:

* Winner: £170,000
* Runner-up: £73,000
* Semi-final: £32,500
* Quarter-final: £21,500
* Last 16: £14,000
* Last 32: £9,000
* Last 64: £5,000
* Highest break: £5,000

* Total: £815,000

Summary

Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. All matches were played from 22 to 24 January as the best of nine .

Ricky Walden made breaks of 95, 66, and a century break of 101 in a whitewash victory over Peng Yisong. Replacing Mark Williams, who withdrew from the tournament, Ukrainian amateur Iulian Boiko defeated the reigning Women's World Champion Baipat Siripaporn 51. Marco Fu made a 139 break but lost 35 to Dominic Dale. Ryan Day trailed Andrew Higginson 14, but took four frames in a row to win 54. Mark Selby defeated Xing Zihao 53, making breaks of 130 and 101. The 130 was Selby's 800th career century, making him the fifth player to reach that milestone, after Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Judd Trump, and Neil Robertson. Trailing Aaron Hill 24, Joe O'Connor made breaks of 73 and 124 to tie the scores, but Hill took the with a 64 break. Neil Robertson made breaks of 99, 57, 66, 74, and 121 to whitewash Victor Sarkis. The 50th seed Anthony Hamilton lost 35 to the 105th seed Jenson Kendrick.

Kyren Wilson made three consecutive centuries of 114, 113, and 121 as he whitewashed Jimmy White. Xiao Guodong won the first frame against Sean O'Sullivan with a 107 break, but O'Sullivan took the next five to win 51. Lyu Haotian made breaks of 90, 106, 101, and 137 to defeat Ashley Carty 52. After trailing the 95th seed Stuart Carrington 14, the 17th seed Gary Wilson tied the scores at 44, but Carrington won the deciding frame. Shaun Murphy made breaks of 70, 127, 112, and 56 as he whitewashed Mohamed Ibrahim; his maximum break attempt in the fourth frame ended at 112 after he himself on the last . The 107th seed Louis Heathcote whitewashed 55th seed Oliver Lines. Ronnie O'Sullivan, who had won the 2024 World Grand Prix two days earlier, defeated Alfie Burden 53.

Cao Yupeng made breaks of 99, 104, 71, and 88 as he whitewashed Rory McLeod, who had replaced John Astley. The 77th seed He Guoqiang defeated 36th seed Jimmy Robertson 52. The 37th seed Thepchaiya Un-Nooh led 98th seed Long Zehuang 43, but Long forced a deciding frame, which he won on the last . The 99th seed Adam Duffy defeated 60th seed Mark Davis 54 in a deciding frame. The 26th seed Stuart Bingham lost 35 to 92nd seed Ishpreet Singh Chadha. Lukas Kleckers, the 74th seed, made a 133 break in a 52 victory over the 16th seed Jack Lisowski. The 24th seed Anthony McGill won the first frame against the 69th seed Ashley Hugill, but Hugill won five consecutive frames for a 51 victory. David Lilley defeated Scott Donaldson 53.

Early rounds

Held-over matches

Matches involving defending champion Trump, reigning World Champion Luca Brecel, the two highest-ranked Chinese players Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda, and four Chinese wildcards (Wang Xinbo, Wang Xinzhong, Gong Chenzhi, and Lan Yuhao) were held over and played at the main venue in Yushan. The held-over matches were played on 18 March as the best of nine .

Brecel made breaks of 131, 100, and 94 to defeat Manasawin Phetmalaikul 51. Wildcard player Wang Xinbo beat his younger brother and fellow wildcard Wang Xinzhong 51 in the pre-qualifying match, setting up a meeting with 29th seed Matthew Selt later the same day. From 13 behind at the mid-session interval, Selt won three frames in a row to lead 43, but Wang Xinbo took the next two frames to win 54, making a 118 break in the final and deciding frame. Another Chinese wildcard player Gong Chenzhi lost to Sanderson Lam 45 on the last . Rory Thor made four 50+ breaks, but Trump claimed a 52 victory with breaks of 130 and 108. Allan Taylor made a 102 break against Zhang, and went on to lead 31 at the mid-session interval, but Zhang won four consecutive frames for a 53 victory. Zak Surety compiled a maximum break in the seventh frame of the match against Ding, the first of his career, but was defeated 35.

Last 64

The last-64 matches were played from 18 to 19 March as the best of nine frames. Louis Heathcote made a 110 break to lead Ali Carter 20, but Carter won five of the next six frames with breaks of 114 and 135 to capture a 53 victory. Leading Graeme Dott 41, Hossein Vafaei attempted a maximum break in the sixth frame. He missed the 12th red to end the break at 88, but secured the frame and match 51. Despite making two century breaks of 108 and 114, the 18th seed Tom Ford was beaten by Robbie Williams 54. Joe Perry claimed a 51 victory over Sean O'Sullivan, having made a 50+ break in each of the five frames that he won. Facing 28th seed Si Jiahui, who was runner-up at the German Masters in February, Long took four frames in a row to win 52, making a 107 break in the final frame. Kyren Wilson beat David Grace 54 with a 122 break in the deciding frame. Walden compiled three century breaks of 137, 131, and 135 to win 54 against Jamie Jones. Yuan Sijun defeated Ishpreet Singh Chadha 53, helped by breaks of 121, 141, and 95. The fourth seed and Players Championship winner Mark Allen lost 35 to Daniel Wells.

Brecel won five frames in a row from 02 behind to defeat Oliver Brown 52. Despite the 21st seed Zhou Yuelong making a 101 break in the fourth frame, Wu Yize won the match 51. The 12th and 13th seeds John Higgins and Zhang Anda lost to Jackson Page and Elliot Slessor respectively, at the same scoreline of 35. Lyu led Aaron Hill 20 with breaks of 94 and 67, but was trailing 24 after the sixth frame. However, Lyu took the next three frames to capture a 54 victory. Ronnie O'Sullivan made back-to-back centuries of 129 and 106 as he beat Michael White 53. Jordan Brown opened the match against Chris Wakelin with a break of 135, and went on to lead 30, but Wakelin took five of the next six frames to win 54. Wildcard player Wang Xinbo made a 135 break to lead He Guoqiang 43, but He won frames eight and seven for a 54 victory.

Last 32

The last-32 matches were played on 20 March as the best of nine frames. Ding made three centuries of 119, 110, and 100 as he beat fellow Chinese player Cao 51, and Stephen Maguire beat the reigning World Champion and second seed Brecel over the same scoreline. From 12 behind, Vafaei took four consecutive frames to defeat Robert Milkins 52. Murphy compiled three century breaks of 106, 136, and 104 during his 53 win over Perry. Barry Hawkins was level at 22 against Robbie Williams at the mid-session interval, and went on to win the next three frames to capture a 53 victory, making a high break of 146 in the last frame. Ben Woollaston evened the score against Walden at 33 with a 107 break in the sixth frame, and Walden pulled ahead to 43 with a century break of his own, a 127. However, Woollaston narrowly won the eighth frame to force a deciding frame, which he took with a 60 break to win 54. Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Lyu 52, making breaks of 99, 102, and 96. Despite making a 101 break in the fourth frame, the 10th seed Carter lost 15 to Wakelin, who made three century breaks of 103, 143, and 131 in the match. Selby made two 136 breaks to lead Long 30, and Long responded with back-to-back centuries of 112 and 103 to trail 23, but Selby won the next two frames for a 52 victory. Neil Robertson beat Yuan 53. From 03 behind against the defending champion Trump, Fan Zhengyi narrowed the score to 34, but Trump made a 108 break in the eighth frame to secure a 53 win.

Last 16

The last-16 matches were played on 21 March as the best of nine frames. Maguire opened the match against Hawkins with a break of 95, but Hawkins responded with a 129 break and went on to take four more frames to win 51. Trump and Lilley each made a century break as they levelled the match at 22 at the mid-session interval, and Trump won three of the next four frames for a 53 victory. Trailing Kyren Wilson 13, Woollaston won three of the four frames after the mid-session interval to draw level at 44, but Wilson compiled a 119 break in the decider to secure the match 54. Vafaei and Ronnie O'Sullivan won alternating frames to leave the scores even at 33. Vafaei got within one frame of victory after winning frame seven, and O'Sullivan produced a of 125 to force a deciding frame. O'Sullivan's shot in the decider left a to the , which Vafaei , but he missed an easy red to end the break at 33. O'Sullivan countered with a break of 62 before , allowing Vafaei to the and win the match 54 on the last black. Vafaei described the missed red in the deciding frame as "unforgivable". He added: "I'm very happy to get the victory. He 'Sullivanis my hero. Just playing against Ronnie O'Sullivan is a dream come true, but what about winning?"

The match between Page and the fifth seed Selby produced four consecutive centuries in the first four frames, three by Page and one by Selby. They each made a 90+ break in the next two frames to leave Page leading 42. Selby had the first chance in the seventh frame but his break ended at 50, allowing Page to claim a 52 victory with a 74 break. Neil Robertson defeated Wakelin 51, making breaks of 140, 109, 61, 122, and 91. Breaks of 95, 130, and 83 from Ding and 101, 86, and 121 from Murphy saw the match level at 33, and Ding took the next two frames with 73 and 65 breaks to win the match 53. Slessor was level at 22 against Wells at the mid-session interval, and made breaks of 87, 82 and 101 to take three frames in a row and secure a 52 victory.

Later rounds

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 22 March as the best of nine frames. Page made breaks of 90 and 140 to lead Slessor 20, and Slessor won the next two frames to level the match at 22 at the mid-session interval. However, Page took three consecutive frames with breaks of 78, 76, and 87 to win 52, reaching the first ranking semi-final of his career. The match between defending champion Trump and 2017 runner-up Kyren Wilson was also drawn at 22 at the mid-session interval. After a , Wilson took on a 581 lead in the fifth frame, and Trump narrowed the score to 3958 after a long over the , which he potted. Trump then both the and , and went on to win the frame on the last black. Trump extended his lead to 42 with a 59 break in the sixth frame. Wilson made a break of 60 in frame seven, but a red, allowing Trump to capture the frame and a 52 victory. Commenting on his win, Trump said: "There seems to be players I have a good record against recently. Kyren ilsonis one of them. It always helps when you know what you have to do. You have to turn up and be solid against him. It makes my job easy knowing I have to go out and play well."

Winner of the 2017 event Ding made breaks of 73, 74, 135, and 102 to complete a 50 win over Vafaei. Two-time champion Neil Robertson led Hawkins 31 at the mid-session interval, helped by breaks of 127, 87, and 87. Robertson went on to make 115 and 79 breaks to claim a 52 victory. He said: "My game is absolutely back to where it should be now and that is really exciting heading into the back end of the season. It is a blockbuster match tomorrow gainst Ding If you can't enjoy playing Ding in a semi-final in China then there's something wrong."

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 23 March as the best of 11 frames. The first semi-final was played between Page, who had never progressed past the last-16 stage of a ranking tournament prior to the event, and Trump, who was playing his 61st career ranking semi-final. Before the match began, Page accidentally cut his finger while retrieving his cue from its case. He commented after the match: "I was praying for it not to bleed, but then it started bleeding. I tried putting a plaster on, but then I couldn't feel the cue so I had to take it off. It's not an ideal start in your first semi-final." Trump won the opening frame with a century break of 122, and Page levelled the match to 22. However, Trump won four frames in a row after the mid-session interval to claim a 62 victory and reach his seventh ranking final of the season. He said: "It was a scrappy game, neither of us played well, we both missed a lot of balls. It was Jackson's age'sfirst semi-final and he didn't really settle, my experience probably made the difference."

Ding and Neil Robertson contested the second semi-final. Robertson established a 31 advantage at the mid-session interval with a break of 118 in the fourth frame, but Ding claimed the next three frames to lead 43. Robertson regained the lead by winning frames eight and nine with breaks of 55 and 128. In the ninth frame, Robertson made a break of 36 before missing a red as he had to another ball, allowing Ding to even the match to 55 with a 68 break. Robertson had the first chance in the deciding frame, but had to when he lost on the next red after potting the pink, scoring 53. Ding then narrowed his deficit to 4456, and capitalised on Robertson's safety error on the last red to secure a 65 victory on the last pink. Ding punched the table in celebration, as he had defeated Robertson for the first time since the 2014 China Open final, and reached the second ranking final of the season, after the 2023 UK Championship. Ding said: "I can't feel my legs, there was so much pressure on me. When I got the chance in the last frame, I thought I was going to win, but there was pressure on every shot. When I potted the pink I tried to enjoy the moment." The loss meant that Robertson's ranking has dropped out of the top 16, a position he had held since 2006. He also had to qualify for the World Championship for the first time since 2006. Robertson described the loss as "tough one to take", commenting on social media that he "played three brilliant frames rom 34 behindbut wasn't meant to be, just a centimetre out here or there on and couldn't get through."

Final

The final was a best-of-19-frames match, being played over two on 24 March, officiated by Zhu Ying, between Trump and Ding. Trump was playing in his 44th career ranking final and seventh in the season, and Ding the 23rd in his career and second in the season. Trump won the two closely contested opening frames of the first session to lead 20, with both players making multiple errors. Ding's shot in the third frame left a red to the middle pocket, allowing Trump to take the frame with a 88 break. Ding narrowed the score to 13 at the mid-session interval, but Trump won the next four frames, making breaks of 59, 79, and 78, to extend his lead to 71. Ding made the first century break of the match in the last frame of the session, a 106, to trail 27.

In the second session, Trump won the opening frame with a 130 break, and scored 35 in the 11th frame, but fouled when a red went into the pocket as the cue ball into the after he potted the blue, and Ding took the frame with a break of 84. Trump closed to one frame from victory at 93 with a 106 break in the 12th frame, and Ding won frame 13 to narrow the score to 94 at the mid-session interval. When play resumed, Ding potted a difficult long red, but he missed the routine black in the following shot. Trump capitalised on the error to make a 58 break before missing a red to the , and Ding narrowed the score to 5258, helped by 16 foul points conceded by Trump from a on the last red. Ding went from an attempted long red, allowing Trump to capture the frame and match 104, winning his second World Open and successfully defending the title.

It was Trump's fifth ranking title of the season, following his three consecutive wins at the 2023 English Open, the 2023 Wuhan Open, and the 2023 Northern Ireland Open, in addition to the 2024 German Masters. The win marked Trump's third time winning five or more ranking events in a single season, having previously done so in the 2019–20 and the 2020–21 seasons. The only other players that have achieved the feat were Stephen Hendry in 1990–94, Ding in 2013–14, Selby in 2016–17, and Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2017–18. It was also Trump's 28th career ranking title, matching the tally of Steve Davis. Trump said after the match: "Ding had been playing really well this week so I thought it was going to be tough. I managed to dig in during the afternoon and get a good lead, then played my best stuff of the tournament tonight. I didn't want to give Ding the chance to start winning frames and let the crowd get behind him." He added: "As I have got older I have learned not to punish myself when I miss easy balls. So much of snooker is in the head, if you can be in the right space mentally then you have a big advantage. I am a lot more consistent in that respect these days."

Main draw

The draw for the tournament is shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, and players in bold denote match winners. All matches were played as the best of nine frames until the semi-finals which were the best of 11, and the final was a best of 19 frames match played over two .

Top half

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

Bottom half

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

Final

Qualifying

Qualification for the tournament took place from 22 to 24 January at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. Although matches involving defending champion Judd Trump, reigning World Champion Luca Brecel, the two highest-ranked Chinese players Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda, and four Chinese wildcards (Wang Xinbo, Wang Xinzhong, Gong Chenzhi, and Lan Yuhao) were held over to be played at the final venue. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, and players in bold denote match winners.

Yushan

The results of the held-over matches played in Yushan on 18 March were as follows:

* 5–1

* 5–1
* 5–1
* 5–4
* 5–2
* 5–3
* 5–3

* 4–5

Barnsley

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

22 January

* 5–2
* 5–3
* 5–0
* 1–5
* 5–1
* 1–5
* 5–1
* 5–2
* 5–3
* 5–3
* 5–4
* 4–5
* 5–3
* 5–2
* 5–0
* 5–0
* 5–4
* 5–0
* 5–2
* 5–3
* 3–5

23 January

* 4–5
* 5–0
* 5–1
* 5–3
* 5–2
* 1–5
* 5–1
* 5–3
* 5–2
* 5–2
* 5–0
* 5–2
* 5–4
* 5–0
* 1–5
* 5–3
* 5–2
* 0–5
* 5–2
* 5–3
* 4–5

24 January

* 5–4
* 4–5
* 4–5
* 5–2
* 2–5
* 5–0
* 5–0
* 3–5
* 2–5
* 3–5
* 1–5
* 5–1
* 5–1
* 5–2
* 5–1

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

A total of 95 century breaks were made during the main stage of the tournament in Yushan.

* 147 Zak Surety
* 146, 129 Barry Hawkins
* 143, 131, 103 Chris Wakelin
* 141, 121 Yuan Sijun
* 140, 136, 130, 120, 102, 100 Jackson Page
* 140, 128, 127, 122, 118, 115, 109, 109 Neil Robertson
* 139, 101, 100 Elliot Slessor
* 137, 135, 131, 127 Ricky Walden
* 136, 136, 129 Mark Selby
* 136, 121, 106, 104, 101 Shaun Murphy
* 136 Jordan Brown
* 135, 130, 130, 122, 109, 108, 108, 106 Judd Trump
* 135, 130, 123, 122, 119, 110, 106, 102, 100 Ding Junhui
* 135, 118 Wang Xinbo
* 135, 114, 101 Ali Carter
* 133 Wu Yize
* 132, 120 He Guoqiang
* 131, 100 Luca Brecel
* 129, 125, 106, 102 Ronnie O'Sullivan
* 128, 122, 119, 114, 108, 104 Kyren Wilson
* 124, 105 David Lilley
* 121, 111 Daniel Wells
* 117 Matthew Selt
* 114, 108 Tom Ford
* 112, 107, 103 Long Zehuang
* 110 Louis Heathcote
* 110 Robbie Williams
* 107, 105 Ben Woollaston
* 107 Lukas Kleckers
* 103 Mark Allen
* 102 Dominic Dale
* 102 Allan Taylor
* 101 Zhou Yuelong
* 100 Cao Yupeng

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 34 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament in Barnsley.

* 139 Marco Fu
* 137, 106, 101 Lyu Haotian
* 133, 114 Louis Heathcote
* 133 David Gilbert
* 133 Lukas Kleckers
* 133 Matthew Stevens
* 133 Ben Woollaston
* 131 Tom Ford
* 130, 101 Mark Selby
* 128 Elliot Slessor
* 127, 112 Shaun Murphy
* 127 Wu Yize
* 124 Joe O'Connor
* 123 Yuan Sijun
* 121, 114, 113 Kyren Wilson
* 121 Neil Robertson
* 109 Chris Wakelin
* 107 Fan Zhengyi
* 107 Xiao Guodong
* 104 Alfie Burden
* 104 Cao Yupeng
* 102 Tian Pengfei
* 101 Martin O'Donnell
* 101 Ricky Walden
* 100 Mark Allen
* 100 Stuart Bingham
* 100 Barry Hawkins

Notes

References

External links

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