World Grand Prix: 2021 Preview, Draw, Schedule

Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Zhao Xintong, and Luca Brecel are among those in the draw for the 2021 World Grand Prix this week in Coventry.

The first event in the Cazoo Series, the 2021 World Grand Prix draw features the top 32 players from the one-year rankings list that is based on prize money earned from this season so far.

Six rankings tournaments have counted towards the qualification process, with Zhao’s recent lucrative triumph in the UK Championship making the new Chinese number one the competition’s top seed.

Prize, History, and Format

The World Grand Prix has been an annual fixture on the calendar since 2015 when it was initially staged as a non-ranking tournament.

A year later it was upgraded to a full ranking event, and the same format has been in operation since with a champion’s cheque of £100,000 always up for grabs.

The World Grand Prix acts as the first leg to the Cazoo Series that will later also include the Players Championship and the Tour Championship, and from which the highest earner can land the Cazoo Cup.

Judd Trump is the reigning champion and has in fact won the tournament on three occasions, with Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Barry Hawkins, and Shaun Murphy the others who have previously emerged victoriously.

Only Murphy out of that group has failed to make the 2021 World Grand Prix draw, having failed to accrue enough ranking points in order to break into the top 32 in time.

The format follows the simple formula of top seed against bottom seed, and so on, with the first two rounds contested across seven frames, the quarters best of nine, semis best of 11, and the final played over 19 frames.

2021 World Grand Prix Draw

Trump will begin his defence against Ben Woollaston, and the Englishman could potentially face John Higgins in the next round.

Indeed, Trump, Higgins, Hawkins, Mark Allen, and world number one Mark Selby are all in the same tough quarter of the draw.

Elsewhere, number one seed Zhao will meet Martin Gould, who only just scrambled in thanks to his run to the last 16 of the Scottish Open last week.

Luca Brecel, who overcame Higgins to capture that title on Sunday, is the second seed on the opposite side of the draw and will take on Jordan Brown.

In some of the other early ties, O’Sullivan encounters Andy Hicks, Mark Williams is in action against Jack Lisowski, and Stephen Maguire takes on Anthony McGill for the third tournament in a row.

Last 32

Zhao Xintong vs Martin Gould
Monday, 7pm
Yan Bingtao vs Mark King
Monday, 7pm
Kyren Wilson vs Anthony Hamilton
Monday, est. 8pm
Neil Robertson vs Noppon Saengkham
Tuesday, est. 8pm

Mark Allen vs Cao Yupeng
Tuesday, est. 8pm
Barry Hawkins vs Mark Selby
Tuesday, 1pm
Judd Trump vs Ben Woollaston
Tuesday, 7pm
John Higgins vs Tom Ford
Tuesday, est. 2pm

Mark Williams vs Jack Lisowski
Monday, est. 8pm
Anthony McGill vs Stephen Maguire
Tuesday, 7pm
Ricky Walden vs Stuart Bingham
Tuesday, 1pm
David Gilbert vs Ali Carter
Tuesday, est. 2pm

Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Andy Hicks
Wednesday, 1pm
Gary Wilson vs Hossein Vafaei
Wednesday, 1pm
Jimmy Robertson vs Matthew Selt
Wednesday, est. 2pm
Luca Brecel vs Jordan Brown
Wednesday, est. 2pm

How to Watch the Scottish Open

The tournament will be available to UK and Irish viewers on ITV4 with Eurosport providing live coverage to the rest of Europe.

Various broadcasters around the world will also be offering coverage (information here), while fans in territories without another service can access the event through Matchroom.Live.

Featured photo credit: WST