The World Mixed Doubles takes place on Saturday and Sunday in Manchester with four men and women pairings in the 2024 draw.
It’s the third-last tournament of the 2023/24 snooker season, with just the Tour Championship and the campaign-concluding World Championship to come after.
Let’s take a look at some of the key info ahead of this weekend’s event.
Who are the previous winners?
Under its current guise, the World Mixed Doubles was only held once before – near the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign.
Neil Robertson and Mink Nutcharut emerged with the title at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, pocketing £30,000 each for their efforts.
Prior to that, there was a similar tournament staged all the way back in 1991 with Steve Davis and Allison Fisher edging Stephen Hendry and Stacey Hillyard 5-4 in the final.
There was also a mixed doubles event at the 1991 World Masters, with the same partnership of Davis and Fisher overcoming Jimmy White and Caroline Walch for the silverware.
Who is in the 2024 World Mixed Doubles draw?
Following their success at the 2022 edition, Neil Robertson and Mink Nutcharut will return as the defending champions.
Mink represents the women’s world number one but recently lost the final of the Women’s World Championship to Bai Yulu.
The latter is unfortunately not in this year’s World Mixed Doubles draw despite romping to glory in China earlier this month.
The other returning partnership from last season is the duo of Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenna.
Kenna was supposed to be playing with Mark Allen, but the Northern Irishman withdrew from the competition this week citing personal reasons.
Selby and Kenna performed well together last time out, reaching the final before being denied the silverware by Robertson and Nutcharut.
The pre-tournament favourites with the bookies, however, are Judd Trump and Baipat Siripaporn.
While Siripaporn hasn’t enjoyed the greatest of seasons, failing to build on her surprise women’s world triumph in 2023, it has been an outstanding campaign for Trump.
The Englishman has won five ranking titles since October, including last week’s World Open in Yushan.
Finally, reigning Crucible champion Luca Brecel will team up with 12-time women’s world champ Reanne Evans.
The four doubles partnerships will face each other once in an initial round-robin format.
The top two from the group stage will then advance to the final on Sunday evening.
World Mixed Doubles
Saturday
Round-Robin Stage
Robertson & Nutcharut 2-2 Brecel & Evans
Trump & Siripaporn 2-2 Selby & Kenna
Trump & Siripaporn 1-3 Brecel & Evans
Selby & Kenna 2-2 Robertson & Nutcharut
Sunday
Trump & Siripaporn 3-1 Robertson & Nutcharut
Brecel & Evans 1-3 Selby & Kenna
Final
Brecel & Evans 4-2 Selby & Kenna
Where is the event?
A sports-mad city famous for the likes of Man City and Man United, the World Mixed Doubles will take place in Manchester for the first time.
Next week’s Tour Championship will also be staged at the same Manchester Central Convention Complex venue.
How to watch the World Mixed Doubles?
There are several options available to watch the upcoming snooker live, depending on your location.
Below is a full list, as previously published on the World Snooker Tour website:
UK and Ireland
ITV
China
Liaoning TV
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
matchroom.live
Featured photo credit: WST
Hi David,
Nice piece, giving times venue, and where u can view it on TV.
Best wishes
Ger
There’s also been previous editions that were not on the Main Tour or televised. Reanne Evans was a four-time winner during these times, including a 2006 triumph with her then boyfriend Mark Allen.
Saw a bit last night , McManus (who is usually very good) totally overpraising the simplest pot by the women especially kenna