The 2024 English Open begins on Thursday with the early qualifying rounds of the draw first up at the Brentwood Leisure Centre.
A significant change to the Home Nations events this season means that the top 32 players in the world rankings will be seeded through to the last 64.
That means the likes of Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Kyren Wilson will need to win one less match than in previous years to capture the Steve Davis Trophy.
The remaining 32 spots in the last 64 will be determined through two preliminary rounds, with the bottom 64 seeds entering in round one and those ranked from 33 to 64 entering in round two.
The prize fund may not compare much with the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, but it has increased significantly from last year with the champion now pocketing £100,000.
The English Open is also the first event on the Home Nations series, where the highest earner at the end of the four counting events will land a £150,000 bonus.
2024 English Open prize money
Champion: £100,000
Runner-up: £45,000
Semi-Final: £21,000
Quarter-Final: £13,200
Last 16: £9,000
Last 32: £5,400
Last 64: £3,600
Last 96: £1,000
Highest Break: £5,000
TOTAL: £550,400
Who are the former English Open champions?
Judd Trump won the title in 2023, the first of five during a prolific last campaign that helped spearhead his return to the top of the world rankings list.
It was the second time that Trump had emerged with the English Open crown having first etched his name onto the trophy in 2020.
Mark Selby is also a two-time former champion, the Leicester man winning in 2019 and again in 2022 – the first year the event took place in Brentwood.
Disgraced former professional Liang Wenbo was the inaugural champion back in 2016 and is the only former English Open winner not in the 2024 draw.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stuart Bingham, and Neil Robertson emerged victoriously in 2017, 2018, and 2021 respectively.
Who are the betting favourites?
Like with most events, Ronnie O’Sullivan is the pre-tournament online betting favourite to win the English Open with odds of about 3/1.
But Judd Trump is the most in-form player on the circuit at present and boasts odds of around 7/2 to successfully defend his crown.
World champion Kyren Wilson is priced at 11/1, with similar betting odds being offered for Mark Selby, Mark Allen, and Neil Robertson.
2024 English Open draw
Round of 128 (bo7)
Ashley Carty 4-2 Anton Kazakov
Reanne Evans 2-4 Mink Nutcharut
Liam Pullen 4-0 Antoni Kowalski
Rory Thor 3-4 Oliver Lines
Ben Mertens 1-4 Chris Totten
Ian Burns 4-3 Haydon Pinhey
Zak Surety 4-2 Farakh Ajaib
Alfie Burden 1-4 Dylan Emery
Ma Hailong 3-4 Lei Peifan
Artemijs Zizins 4-2 Duane Jones
Jiang Jun 4-0 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Andrew Pagett 4-2 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Dean Young 4-0 Bai Yulu
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 4-1 Simon Blackwell
Bulcsú Révész 4-0 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Stuart Carrington 0-4 Wang Yuchen
Long Zehuang 4-0 Lim Kok Leong
Amir Sarkhosh 1-4 Liam Davies
Andrew Higginson 4-0 Mark Joyce
Gong Chenzhi 3-4 Michael Holt
Jimmy White 4-2 Joshua Cooper
Xing Zihao 4-2 Paul Deaville
Julien Leclercq 1-4 Oliver Sykes
Louis Heathcote 4-3 Iulian Boiko
Hammad Miah 4-0 Huang Jiahao
Mostafa Dorgham 4-1 Allan Taylor
Ross Muir w/o Jonas Luz
Liam Graham 3-4 Joshua Thomand
Stan Moody 2-4 Cheung Ka Wai
Alexander Ursenbacher 4-2 Mohammed Shehab
Robbie McGuigan 2-4 Mitchell Mann
Marco Fu 4-1 Haris Tahir
Round of 96 (bo7)
Liu Hongyu 4-1 Ashley Carty
Ricky Walden 4-0 Mink Nutcharut
Fan Zhengyi 4-2 Liam Pullen
Scott Donaldson 1-4 Oliver Lines
Wu Yize 4-1 Chris Totten
Martin O’Donnell 2-4 Ian Burns
Elliot Slessor 1-4 Zak Surety
Ben Woollaston 4-2 Dylan Emery
Aaron Hill 4-2 Lei Peifan
Robbie Williams 2-4 Artemijs Zizins
Tian Pengfei 2-4 Jiang Jun
Jordan Brown 2-4 Andrew Pagett
Matthew Stevens 4-1 Dean Young
Graeme Dott 2-4 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Yuan Sijun 2-4 Bulcsú Révész
He Guoqiang 4-3 Wang Yuchen
Sanderson Lam 2-4 Long Zehuang
Dominic Dale 4-0 Liam Davies
Daniel Wells 3-4 Andrew Higginson
Michael Holt w/o Sam Craigie
Joe Perry 4-1 Jimmy White
Mark Davis 4-1 Xing Zihao
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-1 Oliver Sykes
Anthony Hamilton 4-2 Louis Heathcote
Jamie Clarke 4-3 Hammad Miah
Jackson Page 4-0 Mostafa Dorgham
David Lilley 2-4 Ross Muir
Jamie Jones 4-0 Joshua Thomond
Xu Si 4-3 Cheung Ka Wai
Jimmy Robertson 4-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Mitchell Mann
David Grace 4-0 Marco Fu
Round of 64 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-3 Liu Hongyu
Matthew Selt 4-3 Ricky Walden
Ryan Day 1-4 Fan Zhengyi
Robert Milkins 3-4 Oliver Lines
Stuart Bingham 3-4 Wu Yize
Ali Carter 4-0 Ian Burns
Noppon Saengkham 0-4 Zak Surety
Mark Williams 1-4 Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby 4-2 Aaron Hill
Joe O’Connor 4-0 Artemijs Zizins
Tom Ford 2-4 Jiang Jun
Si Jiahui 4-1 Andrew Pagett
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Matthew Stevens
Jak Jones 3-4 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Bulcsú Révész
Ronnie O’Sullivan 2-4 He Guoqiang
Mark Allen 4-3 Long Zehuang
Lyu Haotian 4-2 Dominic Dale
John Higgins 4-1 Andrew Higginson
David Gilbert 4-3 Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin 4-2 Joe Perry
Zhang Anda 4-3 Mark Davis
Pang Junxu 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Luca Brecel 4-3 Anthony Hamilton
Shaun Murphy 4-1 Jamie Clarke
Neil Robertson 4-1 Jackson Page
Gary Wilson 3-4 Ross Muir
Zhou Yuelong 0-4 Jamie Jones
Jack Lisowski 3-4 Xu Si
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Jamie Robertson
Anthony McGill 4-2 Xiao Guodong
Kyren Wilson 4-1 David Grace
Round of 32 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-1 Matthew Selt
Fan Zhengyi 4-2 Oliver Lines
Wu Yize 4-2 Ali Carter
Zak Surety 1-4 Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby 4-0 Joe O’Connor
Jiang Jun 3-4 Si Jiahui
Hossein Vafaei 2-4 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Stephen Maguire 1-4 He Guoqiang
Mark Allen 4-2 Lyu Haotian
John Higgins 4-1 David Gilbert
Chris Wakelin 4-1 Zhang Anda
Pang Junxu 4-3 Luca Brecel
Shaun Murphy 1-4 Neil Robertson
Ross Muir 4-1 Jamie Jones
Xu Si 0-4 Barry Hawkins
Anthony McGill 1-4 Kyren Wilson
Round of 16 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-2 Fan Zhengyi
Wu Yize 4-2 Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby 4-3 Si Jiahui
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 4-3 He Guoqiang
Mark Allen 4-3 John Higgins
Chris Wakelin 4-3 Pang Junxu
Neil Robertson 4-1 Ross Muir
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Kyren Wilson
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Judd Trump 3-5 Wu Yize
Mark Selby 3-4 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Mark Allen 2-5 Chris Wakelin
Neil Robertson 5-1 Barry Hawkins
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Wu Yize 6-0 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Chris Wakelin 1-6 Neil Robertson
Final (bo17)
Wu Yize 7-9 Neil Robertson
How can I watch the 2024 English Open?
There are several options available to watch the English Open this year, including Eurosport and discovery+ for viewers across Europe.
The full list of global broadcasters:
Europe (including UK and Ireland)
Eurosport, discovery+, and DMAX
China
Huya.com
CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel
CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
Hong Kong
Now TV
Malaysia and Brunei
Astro
Philippines
Tap
Taiwan
Sportcast
Thailand
True Sport
All other territories
matchroom.live
Featured photo credit: WST
More tournaments moving back to some kind or other of a seeding system; if it helps to balance the requirements of growing the tour, keeping new players and established players, venues and TV happier then it’s a good move. If it has that effect. It’s something of a pullback from the focus on equal flat draws of just a few years ago mind.
A mix is good, but yes overall the tiered system makes more sense I think.