Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams both suffered shock defeats as they exited the English Open in the round of 64 on Tuesday.
O’Sullivan, whose English Open victory in 2017 represents his only Home Nations success since the series was launched, was downed 4-2 by He Guoqiang.
The latter orchestrated a 3-0 lead with breaks of 78 and 77, and even though O’Sullivan responded with two half-century contributions, a break of 50 from the Chinese competitor in the sixth frame helped him to seal the deal.
Williams, meanwhile, was beaten 4-1 by Ben Woollaston just over a week after he came within a couple of balls of winning the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Fellow top 16 members Gary Wilson and Tom Ford were early casualties of the tournament in Brentwood as well.
Wilson, who had won the last two Home Nations titles of the 2023/24 term, was edged 4-3 by Ross Muir while Ford’s miserable start to this campaign continued with a 4-2 reverse against Jiang Jun.
Jack Lisowski’s hopes of returning to the elite bracket of the rankings took a dent too as he was pipped 4-3 by Xu Si.
Several marquee names did make it through to the last 32, however.
John Higgins didn’t compile any century breaks that would take him closer to the 1,000 milestone – remaining on 998 career tons.
But the Scot comfortably beat Andrew Higginson 4-1, a scoreline that was matched by Neil Robertson in his triumph against Jackson Page.
Elsewhere, world number three Mark Allen was made to work hard for his 4-3 victory against Long Zehuang.
Luca Brecel was also taken the distance by Anthony Hamilton, but the Belgian Bullet managed to hold on for a much-needed first win of the season.
Among the others to extend their runs in the event were Barry Hawkins, Hossein Vafaei, Matthew Selt, Lyu Haotian, Jamie Jones, and Anthony McGill.
The round of 32 at the 2024 English Open takes place on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s English Open results
Round of 64
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Matthew Stevens
Ross Muir 4-3 Gary Wilson
Jiang Jun 4-2 Tom Ford
Lyu Haotian 4-2 Dominic Dale
Mark Allen 4-3 Long Zehuang
Matthew Selt 4-3 Ricky Walden
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Jimmy Robertson
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Bulcsú Révész
Ben Woollaston 4-1 Mark Williams
Neil Robertson 4-1 Jackson Page
Jamie Jones 4-0 Zhou Yuelong
He Guoqiang 4-2 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Anthony McGill 4-2 Xiao Guodong
John Higgins 4-1 Andrew Higginson
Xu Si 4-3 Jack Lisowski
Luca Brecel 4-3 Anthony Hamilton
Wednesday’s English Open schedule
Round of 32
10am UTC+1
Wu Yize vs Ali Carter
Mark Selby vs Joe O’Connor
1pm+1
Judd Trump vs Matthew Selt
Fan Zhengyi vs Oliver Lines
Zak Surety vs Ben Woollaston
Jiang Jun vs Si Jiahui
Following 1pm games
John Higgins vs David Gilbert
Pang Junxu vs Luca Brecel
Ross Muir vs Jamie Jones
Anthony McGill vs Kyren Wilson
7pm UTC+1
Hossein Vafaei vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Stephen Maguire vs He Guoqiang
Mark Allen vs Lyu Haotian
Chris Wakelin vs Zhang Anda
Following 7pm games
Shaun Murphy vs Neil Robertson
Xu Si vs Barry Hawkins
Click here to view the full draw.
Featured photo credit: WST
Some good matches so far. For me Ronnie O’Sullivan, playing with his self imposed “handicap” of left handed cuing, looked a bit awkward at the table in his match. A useful win for John Higgins and even moreso for Brecel!
I thought all the top 16 had entered but just noticed Ding hasn’t taken part. He’s won a single match from his three tournament appearances so far.
He needs to renew his VISA. It might be ready just in time for the British Open.
I hope he gets it as he’s in my World Snooker fantasy team!