English Open: 2023 draw, preview, where to watch

The 2023 English Open commences on Monday with all the marquee names expected to feature in the draw.

 

Brentwood is the next destination on the snooker calendar, the fourth ranking event of this term beginning just a day after the British Open concluded in Cheltenham.

Mark Williams beat Mark Selby 10-7 to claim the Clive Everton Trophy at The Centaur, and with it a 25th ranking title of an illustrious career.

On this occasion, the Steve Davis Trophy is up for grabs with Selby returning as the reigning champion.

Prize, history, and format

Selby triumphed last December with a 9-6 victory over Luca Brecel, adding to his earlier success in the event in 2019.

Disgraced cueist Liang Wenbo, who was given a lifetime ban from the sport for match-fixing a few months ago, won the inaugural staging in 2016.

Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, and Neil Robertson are the other former winners in the 2023 English Open draw.

Stuart Bingham is another ex-champion but failed to qualify after losing in the qualifiers to Jenson Kendrick last month.

The tournament is one of four that make up the Home Nations series alongside similar events hosted in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Boasting a top prize of £80,000, the format is the same as in previous years.

There are seven-frame encounters up until the quarter-finals, which will see matches increase to the best of nine.

The semi-finals take place across 11 frames before the final outcome is determined through a 17-frame title decider.

2023 English Open draw

Several fixtures from the opening round of the 2023 English Open draw have already been completed following a preliminary qualifying stage in September.

The top 16 seeds, however, have all had their initial tests held over to the venue stages at the Brentwood Centre.

Selby begins his defence against Xing Zihao, while Williams will look to prolong his run of form when he faces Ian Burns.

World number one O’Sullivan withdrew from last week’s British Open and reportedly has a late flight back to the UK from an exhibition in Macao, but the Rocket is due to play Andrew Pagett.

World champion Brecel encounters teenage rookie Stan Moody while Trump and Robertson clash with Sean O’Sullivan and Sanderson Lam respectively.

As usual with these Home Nations events, there will be a frantic first four days of action before the overall picture becomes somewhat clearer when the eight quarter-finalists are known.

2023 ENGLISH OPEN DRAW

Round of 128

(held over fixtures)

Mark Selby 4-1 Xing Zihao
Ryan Day 4-2 Ashley Hugill
John Higgins 4-3 Marco Fu
Kyren Wilson 3-4 Oliver Lines
Judd Trump 4-0 Sean O’Sullivan
Robert Milkins 4-1 Robbie Williams
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Anthony Hamilton
Mark Allen 4-0 Mostafa Dorgham
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-0 Andrew Pagett
Jack Lisowski 4-1 Matthew Stevens
Elliot Slessor 4-2 Ryan Davies
Ali Carter 4-1 Jamie Clarke
Neil Robertson 2-4 Sanderson Lam
Shaun Murphy 3-4 Liu Hongyu
Mark Williams 4-0 Ian Burns
Ding Junhui 4-3 Ma Hailong
Luca Brecel 4-3 Stan Moody

Round of 64

Mark Selby 2-4 Martin O’Donnell
Stephen Maguire 4-2 Louis Heathcote
Ryan Day 3-4 He Guoqiang
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Julien Leclercq
David Lilley 2-4 Mark Davis
James Cahill 2-4 John Higgins
Cao Yupeng 4-0 David Gilbert
Martin Gould 1-4 Oliver Lines

Judd Trump 4-1 Scott Donaldson
Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Allan Taylor
Robert Milkins 4-3 Adam Duffy
Tom Ford 2-4 Yuan Sijun
Hammad Miah 2-4 Ricky Walden
Graeme Dott 4-2 Barry Hawkins
Michael White 3-4 Matthew Selt
Wu Yize 1-4 Mark Allen

Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-1 Jackson Page
Si Jiahui 4-0 Fergal O’Brien
Jack Lisowski 3-4 Elliot Slessor
Anthony McGill 1-4 Zhang Anda
Lukas Kleckers 1-4 Jenson Kendrick
Liam Pullen 0-4 Ali Carter
Andrew Higginson 2-4 Zhou Yuelong
Stuart Carrington 0-4 Sanderson Lam

Liu Hongyu 4-1 Joe O’Connor
Chris Wakelin 4-1 Jamie Jones
Mark Williams 4-3 Xiao Guodong
Dylan Emery 4-1 Oliver Brown
Dominic Dale 3-4 Gary Wilson
David Grace 1-4 Ding Junhui
Muhammad Asif 4-3 Fan Zhengyi
Andy Hicks 1-4 Luca Brecel

Round of 32

Martin O’Donnell 4-1 Stephen Maguire
He Guoqiang 4-3 Hossein Vafaei
Mark Davis 0-4 John Higgins
Cao Yupeng 2-4 Oliver Lines

Judd Trump 4-3 Jimmy Robertson
Robert Milkins 1-4 Yuan Sijun
Ricky Walden 4-3 Graeme Dott
Matthew Selt 4-2 Mark Allen

Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2 Si Jiahui
Elliot Slessor 1-4 Zhang Anda
Jenson Kendrick 0-4 Ali Carter
Zhou Yuelong 4-0 Sanderson Lam

Liu Hongyu 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Mark Williams 4-2 Dylan Emery
Gary Wilson 2-4 Ding Junhui
Muhammad Asif 0-4 Luca Brecel

Round of 16

Martin O’Donnell 4-2 He Guoqiang
John Higgins 4-1 Oliver Lines
Judd Trump 4-2 Yuan Sijun
Ricky Walden 3-4 Matthew Selt

Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-4 Zhang Anda
Ali Carter 1-4 Zhou Yuelong
Liu Hongyu 4-3 Mark Williams
Ding Junhui 4-3 Luca Brecel

Quarter-Finals

Martin O’Donnell 1-5 John Higgins
Judd Trump 5-1 Matthew Selt

Zhang Anda 5-4 Zhou Yuelong
Liu Hongyu 5-2 Ding Junhui

Semi-Finals

John Higgins 5-6 Judd Trump
Zhang Anda 6-2 Liu Hongyu

Final

Judd Trump 9-7 Zhang Anda

Where to watch the 2023 English Open

There will be live coverage across all of Europe on Eurosport, discovery+, and DMAX.

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.