Welsh Open: 2024 preview, draw, results, how to watch

The 2024 Welsh Open commences on Monday in Llandudno with several big names from snooker set to feature in the draw.

The last event on the Home Nations series returns to the Venue Cymru for the second time.

An annual fixture since 1992, the Welsh Open has long established itself as one of the most familiar tournaments on the calendar.

Prize, history, and format

The Welsh Open is one of the oldest continuous professional ranking events on the calendar, third only to the World Championship and the UK Championship.

The tournament was launched in 1992 when then world number one Stephen Hendry beat home contender Darren Morgan in the final to claim the inaugural title.

Since then, most of the game’s biggest stars have etched their names onto the trophy.

The roll of honour includes Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Steve Davis, Ken Doherty, Ding Junhui, and Shaun Murphy.

Mark Williams has been the only home winner, capturing the trophy in both 1996 and 1999, but Welsh players have generally struggled to feature prominently over the years.

A notable absentee from the roll of honour is Judd Trump, with the Welsh Open representing one of the few competitions on the schedule that he hasn’t now triumphed in.

Trump, twice a runner-up, won’t be correcting that statistic this season as he announced his withdrawal following victory in last week’s German Masters.

Robert Milkins is the reigning Welsh Open champion, memorably securing the title a year ago while simultaneously landing the lucrative European Series bonus.

The format remains the same as in all the Home Nations weeks, with best-of-seven ties in the early rounds followed by nine-frame quarter-finals, eleven-frame semi-finals, and a best-of-17 frame final.

There is £80,000 on offer for the champion, prize money that could prove pivotal in determining the final qualifiers for the Players Championship later this month.

Only the top 16 from the one-year rankings list will feature in Telford, with the Welsh Open representing the last counting event in that race.

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2024 Welsh Open draw

While there were several preliminary-round matches already held in January, the top 16 seeds have all had their first ties held over to the venue.

Milkins begins his defence against Jamie Jones, who is one of 15 home competitors hoping to go far in the Welsh Open draw.

World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan was scheduled to face Liam Graham, but the four-time champion withdrew from the event on Saturday.

With Trump also not in action, that leaves Mark Allen as the highest-ranked contender in the Welsh Open draw.

Allen encounters Cao Yupeng in a repeat of the Snooker Shoot Out final from December which the Northern Irishman won.

Allen is only the fourth favourite in most online bookies, though, with record five-time champion John Higgins being tipped at about 6/1.

The Scot is fancied in the outright betting market ahead of Mark Selby and Neil Robertson, with GGBet providing odds on snooker matches at the Welsh Open.

Higgins, Selby, and Robertson were all group winners in Championship League Snooker last week in Leicester.

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2024 Welsh Open draw

Round of 128 (bo7)

Robert Milkins 4-3 Jamie Jones
Allan Taylor 4-2 Haydon Pinhey
David Gilbert 4-0 Ken Doherty
Oliver Lines 4-3 Michael White
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Oliver Brown
Liam Pullen 4-0 Rebecca Kenna
Gary Wilson 4-1 Mark Davis
Iulian Boiko 4-0 Ishpreet Singh Chadha

Long Zehuang 4-1 Andy Lee
Anthony McGill 4-1 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Sanderson Lam 4-0 Baipat Siripaporn
Mark Williams 4-2 John Astley
Matthew Stevens 4-3 Louis Heathcote
Ricky Walden 4-2 Andy Hicks
Stuart Carrington 4-2 Reanne Evans
Neil Robertson 4-1 Jackson Page

Mark Allen 4-3 Cao Yupeng
Ma Hailong 4-2 Rory Thor
Si Jiahui 4-2 Stephen Maguire
Andrew Pagett 4-2 Mink Nutcharut
Ding Junhui 4-2 Jenson Kendrick
Robbie Williams 4-0 Peng Yisong
Adam Duffy 4-0 Zhou Yuelong
Jamie Clarke 4-3 James Cahill

David Lilley 4-0 Victor Sarkis
Ryan Day 4-3 Mostafa Dorgham
Tian Pengfei 4-0 Rod Lawler
John Higgins 4-0 Mohamed Ibrahim
Ross Muir 4-2 Stephen Hendry
Matthew Selt 4-3 Sam Craigie
Alexander Ursenbacher 0-4 Liam Davies
Duane Jones 4-2 Liam Highfield

Alfie Davies 4-1 Liam Graham
Dominic Dale 4-1 Jimmy White
Jordan Brown 4-3 Lyu Haotian
Stan Moody 4-2 Sean O’Sullivan
Zhang Anda 4-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Jak Jones 4-3 Liu Hongyu
Hossein Vafaei 4-1 Scott Donaldson
Julien Leclercq 4-3 Alfie Burden

Dylan Emery 4-1 Fergal O’Brien
Noppon Saengkham 4-1 Himanshu Jain
Andrew Higginson 4-2 Xing Zihao
Ali Carter 1-4 Elliot Slessor
Ben Mertens 4-0 Hammad Miah
Fan Zhengyi 4-2 Joe Perry
Aaron Hill 4-0 Anton Kazakov
Mark Selby 4-2 Yuan Sijun

Shaun Murphy 3-4 Barry Pinches
Daniel Wells 4-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Marco Fu 4-1 Stuart Bingham
Zak Surety 4-2 Mark Joyce
Kyren Wilson 4-3 Ashley Carty
Anthony Hamilton 4-0 Andres Petrov
Chris Wakelin 4-0 Jimmy Robertson
Martin O’Donnell 4-3 Ryan Thomerson

Ian Burns 4-2 Lukas Kleckers
Tom Ford 4-3 Ben Woollaston
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Ashley Hugill
Barry Hawkins 4-0 He Guoqiang
Wu Yize 4-1 Sydney Wilson
Graeme Dott 4-3 Pang Junxu
Joe O’Connor 4-3 Xu Si
Luca Brecel 4-3 Jiang Jun

Round of 64 (bo7)

Robert Milkins 4-1 Allan Taylor
David Gilbert 4-2 Oliver Lines
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Liam Pullen
Gary Wilson 4-2 Iulian Boiko
Long Zehuang 1-4 Anthony McGill
Sanderson Lam 3-4 Mark Williams
Matthew Stevens 3-4 Ricky Walden
Stuart Carrington 3-4 Neil Robertson

Mark Allen 4-0 Ma Hailong
Si Jiahui 4-2 Andrew Pagett
Ding Junhui 2-4 Robbie Williams
Adam Duffy 4-0 Jamie Clarke
David Lilley 2-4 Ryan Day
Tian Pengfei 1-4 John Higgins
Ross Muir 1-4 Matthew Selt
Liam Davies 1-4 Duane Jones

Alfie Davies 3-4 Dominic Dale
Jordan Brown 3-4 Stan Moody
Zhang Anda 1-4 Jak Jones
Hossein Vafaei 4-1 Julien Leclercq
Dylan Emery 4-2 Noppon Saengkham
Elliot Slessor w/o Andrew Higginson
Ben Mertens 2-4 Fan Zhengyi
Aaron Hill 4-2 Mark Selby

Barry Pinches 1-4 Daniel Wells
Marco Fu 4-3 Zak Surety
Kyren Wilson 1-4 Anthony Hamilton
Chris Wakelin 1-4 Martin O’Donnell
Ian Burns 2-4 Tom Ford
Xiao Guodong 3-4 Barry Hawkins
Wu Yize 2-4 Graeme Dott
Joe O’Connor 0-4 Luca Brecel

Round of 32 (bo7)

Robert Milkins 4-0 David Gilbert
Jack Lisowski 3-4 Gary Wilson
Anthony McGill 4-1 Mark Williams
Ricky Walden 4-2 Neil Robertson
Mark Allen 4-1 Si Jiahui
Robbie Williams 4-2 Adam Duffy
Ryan Day 1-4 John Higgins
Matthew Selt 4-1 Duane Jones

Dominic Dale 4-1 Stan Moody
Jak Jones 4-2 Hossein Vafaei
Dylan Emery 1-4 Elliot Slessor
Fan Zhengyi 4-1 Aaron Hill
Daniel Wells 2-4 Marco Fu
Anthony Hamilton 2-4 Martin O’Donnell
Tom Ford 4-1 Barry Hawkins
Graeme Dott 1-4 Luca Brecel

Round of 16 (bo7)

Robert Milkins 0-4 Gary Wilson
Anthony McGill 4-3 Ricky Walden
Mark Allen 4-0 Robbie Williams
John Higgins 4-3 Matthew Selt

Dominic Dale 4-0 Jak Jones
Elliot Slessor 4-3 Fan Zhengyi
Marco Fu 2-4 Martin O’Donnell
Tom Ford 1-4 Luca Brecel

Quarter-Final (bo9)

Gary Wilson 5-0 Anthony McGill
Mark Allen 2-5 John Higgins

Dominic Dale 3-5 Elliot Slessor
Martin O’Donnell 5-3 Luca Brecel

Semi-Final (bo11)

Gary Wilson 6-4 John Higgins
Elliot Slessor 5-6 Martin O’Donnell

Final (bo17)

Gary Wilson 9-4 Martin O’Donnell

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How to watch the 2024 Welsh Open

The tournament will be available to viewers across Europe on Eurosport and discovery+, with BBC Wales and the BBC Red Button also options for supporters with access.

Here is the full list of global broadcasters, as published on the WST website:

UK/Ireland
BBC Wales, BBC Online and Red Button
DMAX
Europe
Eurosport and discovery+
China
CCTV5 (including Macau)
Migu
Huya.com
Hong Kong China
Now TV
Malaysia and Brunei
Astro SuperSport
Thailand
True Vision
Taiwan
Sportcast
Philippines
Premier Sports Network
Pakistan
Fastsports
All other territories
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Featured photo credit: WST