The Xi’an Grand Prix schedule continues on Friday with eight players still vying for glory at the quarter-finals stage in China.
It has already been a busy week of action in the calendar’s newest ranking tournament, which carries a top prize worth £177,000.
The last-eight lineup comprises a mix of proven winners and aspiring champions, so let’s take a look at each quarter-final match.
Kyren Wilson vs Xu Si
Friday, 7am UTC+1
Kyren Wilson continued his progress in the event with a hard-fought victory over Jimmy Robertson in the last 16 on Thursday.
The world champion trailed his fellow Englishman, who had compiled a brace of century breaks to lead 4-2, but responded with late contributions of 103, 82, and 72 to prevail in a decider.
Wilson faces Xu Si in the Xi’an Grand Prix quarter-finals, the latter representing the last hope for home glory.
Xu similarly fought back from 4-2 down to win his last-16 tie, edging three-time former world champion Mark Williams.
It has been an incredible journey in this tournament for Xu, who has won all four of his encounters in the competition with 5-4 scorelines.
Wilson and Xu have met three times in the past with the Kettering cueist winning each time courtesy of dominant displays.
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Matthew Selt
Friday, 7am UTC+1
Ronnie O’Sullivan thrashed Hossein Vafaei 5-0 as he continued to make light work of his schedule at the inaugural Xi’an Grand Prix.
The Rocket raced to victory against the Iranian with the aid of two tons, and he has only lost three frames this week so far.
O’Sullivan entertains Matthew Selt next, the latter having come through his fourth-round clash in contrasting fashion.
Selt denied 17 year-old rookie Gong Chenzhi in a deciding frame and will make his first quarter-final appearance in almost a year.
The 39 year-old has never beaten O’Sullivan, failing in each of the four times they’ve previously crossed paths in all competitions.
Judd Trump vs David Gilbert
Friday, 12:30pm UTC+1
Something will have to give when Judd Trump and David Gilbert encounter each other in the Xi’an Grand Prix quarter-finals.
Both players are undefeated during the 2024/25 snooker season so far.
Trump has won all eight of his fixtures, a streak that included his triumph at the Shanghai Masters last month.
Gilbert, meanwhile, has won nine and drawn five of his ties as he prolongs the form that saw him reach the World Championship semi-finals at the end of the last campaign.
If Trump reaches the final, he’ll usurp Mark Allen as number one in the world rankings, and he boasts a 10-6 (plus one draw) superior head-to-head record against Gilbert in all competitions.
Daniel Wells vs Barry Hawkins
Friday, 12:30pm UTC+1
Barry Hawkins beat Mark Allen on Thursday to put the Northern Irishman’s status at the summit of the world rankings in jeopardy.
Hawkins, now aged 45 but still a proud member of the top 16, remains on course to capture a fifth career ranking crown.
Daniel Wells reached the last eight with a 5-1 defeat of fellow Welshman Dominic Dale.
It’s the first time Wells has gone this far in a ranking tournament since appearing at the semi-final stage of the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out.
Interestingly, the 36 year-old, who has never been ranked inside the world’s top 50, beat Hawkins the last two times they played on the circuit.
2024 Xi’an Grand Prix draw
Round of 128
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Haris Tahir
He Guoqiang 5-4 Ashley Carty
Anthony McGill 5-0 Xing Zihao
Ricky Walden 5-3 Liam Davies
John Higgins 5-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Sunny Akani 5-2 Fan Zhengyi
Dean Young 5-3 Robert Milkins
Jimmy Robertson 5-1 Huang Jiahao
Elliot Slessor 5-0 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Chris Wakelin 5-4 Rory Thor
Mark Davis 5-3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Mark Williams 5-0 Liam Graham
Jamie Jones 5-2 Mostafa Dorgham
Stuart Bingham 5-1 Zhou Jinhao
Xu Si 5-4 Jiang Jun
Ding Junhui 4-5 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Wang Yuchen
Révész Bulcsú 5-0 David Grace
Neil Robertson 5-2 Allan Taylor
Yuan Sijun 5-1 Bai Yulu
Zhang Anda 5-1 Oliver Lines
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ma Shaojun
Hossein Vafaei 5-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Dylan Emery 5-2 Jackson Page
Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 Joshua Thomond
Si Jiahui 5-4 Jimmy White
Gong Chenzhi 5-4 Anthony Hamilton
Tom Ford 5-3 Stan Moody
Matthew Selt 5-2 Ian Burns
Joe O’Connor 5-3 Duane Jones
Zak Surety 5-2 Sanderson Lam
Hammad Miah w/o Luca Brecel
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-2 Antony Kowalski
Ma Hailong 5-3 Martin O’Donnell
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Baipat Siripaporn
Artemijs Zizins 5-3 Robbie Williams
Jak Jones 5-4 Robbie McGuigan
Tian Pengfei 5-0 Farakh Ajaib
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Ross Muir
Joe Perry 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Jordan Brown 5-2 Liam Pullen
David Gilbert 5-1 Reanne Evans
Ben Mertens 5-4 Simon Blackwell
Gary Wilson 5-4 Long Zehuang
Paul Deaville 5-3 Wu Yize
Pang Junxu 5-2 Michael Holt
Aaron Hill 5-2 Chris Totten
Mark Selby 5-3 Wang Xinbo
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Mitchell Mann
Jamie Clarke 5-0 Cao Jin
Noppon Saengkham 5-3 Andrew Pagett
Dominic Dale 5-4 Mohammed Shehab
Daniel Wells 5-4 Ali Carter
Julien Leclercq 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Lei Peifan
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Andrew Higginson
Ryan Day 5-4 Cheung Ka Wai
Scott Donaldson w/o Lim Kok Leong
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Xiao Guodong 5-2 Iulian Boiko
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Ken Doherty
David Lilley 5-3 Louis Heathcote
Mark Allen 5-2 Liu Hongyu
Round of 64
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 He Guoqiang
Anthony McGill 3-5 Ricky Walden
John Higgins 4-5 Sunny Akani
Dean Young 4-5 Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor 2-5 Chris Wakelin
Mark Davis 2-5 Mark Williams
Jamie Jones 3-5 Stuart Bingham
Xu Si 5-4 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-2 Bulcsú Révész
Neil Robertson 2-5 Yuan Sijun
Zhang Anda 2-5 Graeme Dott
Hossein Vafaei 5-3 Dylan Emery
Amir Sarkhosh 3-5 Si Jiahui
Gong Chenzhi 5-1 Tom Ford
Matthew Selt 5-4 Joe O’Connor
Zak Surety 3-5 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-0 Ma Hailong
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Artemijs Zizins
Jak Jones 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Jack Lisowski 5-2 Joe Perry
Jordan Brown 2-5 David Gilbert
Ben Mertens 1-5 Gary Wilson
Paul Deaville 0-5 Pang Junxu
Aaron Hill 0-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 5-0 Jamie Clarke
Noppon Saengkham 3-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-3 Julien Leclercq
Zhou Yuelong 2-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Matthew Stevens 2-5 Ryan Day
Barry Hawkins w/o Scott Donaldson
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Stephen Maguire
David Lilley 1-5 Mark Allen
Round of 32
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-3 Ricky Walden
Sunny Akani 3-5 Jimmy Robertson
Chris Wakelin 2-5 Mark Williams
Stuart Bingham 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 Yuan Sijun
Hossein Vafaei w/o Graeme Dott
Si Jiahui 3-5 Gong Chenzhi
Matthew Selt 5-2 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-1 Lyu Haotian
Jak Jones 5-4 Jack Lisowski
David Gilbert 5-3 Gary Wilson
Pang Junxu 4-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 2-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ryan Day 3-5 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 2-5 Mark Allen
Round of 16
Kyren Wilson 5-4 Jimmy Robertson
Mark Williams 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Hossein Vafaei
Gong Chenzhi 4-5 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-1 Jak Jones
David Gilbert 5-4 Mark Selby
Dominic Dale 1-5 Daniel Wells
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Mark Allen
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Kyren Wilson 5-1 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-2 David Gilbert
Daniel Wells 5-3 Barry Hawkins
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Kyren Wilson 6-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Judd Trump 6-1 Daniel Wells
Final (bo19)
Kyren Wilson 10-8 Judd Trump
Featured photo credit: WST
