The main stages of the English Open commence on Monday with the top 32 seeds joined by 32 lower-ranked qualifiers in Brentwood.
Three days of preliminary action at the Brentwood Centre saw the players ranked from 33 to 128 jostle for the remaining spots in the round of 64.
In a change to the format for Home Nations events this season, the top 32 from the world rankings were automatically seeded through.
The likes of reigning champion Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Kyren Wilson will now join the competition.
Trump, who has reached the final of all three events he’s participated in this season while claiming two titles, faces China’s Liu Hongyu.
O’Sullivan is in the same half of the draw and also plays a Chinese competitor in the form of He Guoqiang.
Wilson, who beat Trump to win the Xi’an Grand Prix last month, is in the opposite side of the draw with his first bout against David Grace.
Among the players to make it through the opening rounds from Thursday to Saturday were former ranking event winners Matthew Stevens, Joe Perry, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Michael Holt, and Jimmy Robertson.
The latter, who next encounters Barry Hawkins, will be hoping to build on his recent run to the quarter-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters where he bagged £50,000 in prize money.
Former European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi also advanced after completing his round-of-96 victory with a magnificent maximum break.
A few round-of-96 fixtures, including those involving Ricky Walden and Dominic Dale, were held over.
But from here on out for the rest, six more wins will be required to land the Steve Davis Trophy and the first Home Nations title of the campaign.
An increased prize fund this year sees the champion’s cheque rise from £80,000 to £100,000.
It’s quite a way off what was offered in Riyadh last week, but it is still a positive sign demonstrating that rewards on the World Snooker Tour are improving generally.
Among the others who will be hoping to challenge for glory will be Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, John Higgins, and Saudi finalist Mark Williams.
Neil Robertson, one of five former English Open champions in the 2024 field, will look to continue his climb back up the rankings when he takes on Jackson Page.
A minor subplot to proceedings this week, meanwhile, is the ongoing race between Judd Trump and John Higgins to see who will be the second player in history to reach the 1,000 centuries milestone.
Higgins needs two while Trump requires three tons to emulate Ronnie O’Sullivan’s achievement from 2019.
Live coverage of the 2024 English Open in the UK and Ireland is available of discovery+, Eurosport, and DMAX.
2024 English Open draw
Round of 64
Matches to be played on Monday, September 16th and Tuesday, September 17th
Judd Trump vs Liu Hongyu
Matthew Selt vs Ricky Walden/Mink Nutcharut
Ryan Day vs Fan Zhengyi
Robert Milkins vs Oliver Lines
Stuart Bingham vs Wu Yize
Ali Carter vs Ian Burns
Noppon Saengkham vs Zak Surety
Mark Williams vs Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby vs Aaron Hill
Joe O’Connor vs Artemijs Zizins
Tom Ford vs Jiang Jun
Si Jiahui vs Andrew Pagett
Hossein Vafaei vs Matthew Stevens
Jak Jones vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Stephen Maguire vs Yuan Sijun/Bulcsú Révész
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs He Guoqiang
Mark Allen vs Long Zehuang
Lyu Haotian vs Dominic Dale/Liam Davies
John Higgins vs Andrew Higginson
David Gilbert vs Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin vs Joe Perry
Zhang Anda vs Mark Davis
Pang Junxu vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Luca Brecel vs Anthony Hamilton
Shaun Murphy vs Jamie Clarke
Neil Robertson vs Jackson Page
Gary Wilson vs Ross Muir
Zhou Yuelong vs Jamie Jones
Jack Lisowski vs Xu Si
Barry Hawkins vs J. Robertson
Anthony McGill vs Xiao Guodong/Mitchell Mann
Kyren Wilson vs David Grace
Click here to view the full draw
Featured photo credit: WST
