Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen are among the star players from the 2022/23 season in the draw for the Scottish Open this week.
The sixth ranking event of the campaign takes places at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh.
Allen has reached the final of the last three ranking events on the calendar and is bidding for a hat-trick of successive triumphs at this level.
O’Sullivan will also be attempting to add to his trophy haul from this term having previously emerged victoriously in a pair of invitational events.
Prize, History, and Format
A permanent fixture on the snooker calendar since 2016, this will be the seventh edition of this incarnation of the Scottish Open.
Luca Brecel is the reigning champion, the Belgian Bullet securing his second career ranking success almost twelve months ago by defeating John Higgins in the final.
- CLICK HERE: Super success for Luca Brecel in Scottish Open
Mark Selby won the previous two stagings, while Marco Fu, Neil Robertson, and Allen himself have etched their names onto the Stephen Hendry Trophy in the past.
The format follows the usual Home Nations guise, with seven-frame matches required until the quarter-finals and then a gradual increase in the length of encounters ahead of the best-of-17 final.
A champion’s cheque worth £80,000 is on offer, and a number of players will be scrambling to earn enough money in order to break into the top 32 in the one-year list.
After next month’s English Open, that highest-earning 32 will be invited to compete in the World Grand Prix, the first event on the Cazoo Series.
2022 Scottish Open Draw
Several fixtures from the opening round have already taken place, but the top 16 seeds all had their opening tests held over to the venue stages.
Brecel begins his defence against Fraser Patrick, who is one of eight home competitors still in the 2022 Scottish Open draw.
O’Sullivan is in action against Bai Langning, Allen takes on Andy Lee, and Selby faces Aaron Hill.
- CLICK HERE: Ronnie O’Sullivan is the Champion of Champions
Robertson, who won the World Mixed Doubles alongside Mink Nutcharut but hasn’t really threatened in any other event this season, starts his week off against Mark Davis.
Judd Trump encounters Sanderson Lam, while Higgins has a tricky opening fixture against tour stalwart Anthony Hamilton.
A lot of formidable players have already booked their spots in the last 64, including Ding Junhui, Stephen Maguire, Anthony McGill, Ricky Walden, and Hossein Vafaei.
Last 128
heldover fixtures to be played on Monday and Tuesday
Luca Brecel vs Fraser Patrick
Ryan Day vs Fan Zhengyi
Mark Williams vs Andres Petrov
Zhao Xintong vs Jackson Page
Mark Selby vs Aaron Hill
John Astley vs Amaan Iqbal
Jack Lisowski vs Gerard Greene
Liam Graham vs Robbie Williams
Shaun Murphy vs Lei Peifan
Neil Robertson vs Mark Davis
Judd Trump vs Sanderson Lam
Stuart Bingham vs Zak Surety
Mark Allen vs Andy Lee
John Higgins vs Anthony Hamilton
Kyren Wilson vs Ng On Yee
Barry Hawkins vs Andrew Pagett
Yan Bingtao vs Li Hang
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Bai Langning
Last 64
fixtures to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday
Brecel/Patrick vs Sam Craigie
Dylan Emery vs Zhang Anda
Day/Fan vs Lyu Haotian
Ricky Walden vs Mark King
Pang Junxu vs Jimmy Robertson
Liang Wenbo vs M. Williams/Petrov
Ding Junhui vs Mark Joyce
Joe O’Connor vs Zhao/Page
Selby/Hill vs Astley/Iqbal
Robert Milkins vs Stuart Carrington
Lisowski/Greene vs Allan Taylor
Ali Carter vs Graham/R. Williams
Sean O’Sullivan vs Anthony McGill
Scott Donaldson vs Murphy/Lei
Graeme Dott vs Joe Perry
Himanshu Jain vs N. Robertson/Davis
Trump/Lam vs Mitchell Mann
Bingham/Surety vs Tian Pengfei
Xu Si vs Xiao Guodong
Chang Bingyu vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Martin Gould vs Allen/Lee
Chen Zifan vs Jamie Jones
Cao Yupeng vs Higgins/Hamilton
K. Wilson/Ng vs Matthew Stevens
Stephen Maguire vs Ashley Hugill
Hawkins/Pagett vs Michael White
Zhou Yuelong vs David Lilley
Noppon Saengkham vs Hossein Vafaei
Liam Highfield vs Yan/Li
Ken Doherty vs Gary Wilson
Ben Woollaston vs R. O’Sullivan/Bai
Where to Watch the Scottish Open
The tournament will be available to UK and Irish viewers on Quest TV in addition to blanket Eurosport coverage provided across all of Europe.
Various broadcasters around the world will be offering coverage (information here), while fans in territories without another service can access the event through Matchroom.Live.
Featured image credit: WST
