The qualifiers for the World Open concluded on Sunday at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield.
It was the final piece of action on the baize for 2024, with the likes of last week’s Snooker Championship winner Mark Allen participating.
The Northern Irishman was tested after making the trip back from Saudi Arabia at the weekend, but he eventually emerged with a dramatic 5-4 triumph over Rory Thor.
Mark Selby was similarly taken the distance before overcoming Latvian teenager Artemijs Zizins in a deciding frame.
There were wins elsewhere for the likes of Luca Brecel, Shaun Murphy, John Higgins, and Barry Hawkins.
Recent Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan, meanwhile, mounted a remarkable comeback from 4-0 behind to deny the struggling Anthony Hamilton a ticket to Yushan.
A few high-profile names exited at the opening hurdle with Mark Williams and Si Jiahui notable losers against Sunny Akani and Zak Surety respectively.
World number one Judd Trump and world champion Kyren Wilson were among a small group of players who had their round-of-128 matches deferred to the venue stages.
The matches involving crowd favourites Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui, who lost to Trump in last season’s World Open final, were also held over.
The 2025 World Open runs from February 24th to March 2nd.
World Open draw
Round of 128
Judd Trump vs Xing Zihao (held over)
Long Zehuang 5-2 Mitchell Mann
Alfie Burden 5-4 Stephen Maguire
Joe O’Connor 5-3 Alexander Ursenbacher
Antoni Kowalski 5-1 Paul Deaville
Matthew Stevens 5-2 David Grace
Michael Holt w/o Neil Robertson
Martin O’Donnell 5-4 Bulcsu Revesz
Yuan Sijun 5-0 Haydon Pinhey
Hossein Vafaei 5-3 Ben Mertens
Joe Perry 5-0 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Ding Junhui vs Jiang Jun (held over)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Andrew Higginson
Chris Totten 5-1 Stuart Bingham
Sanderson Lam vs Wildcard (held over)
Shaun Murphy 5-3 Mostafa Dorgham
Mark Allen 5-4 Rory Thor
David Lilley vs Wildcard (held over)
Wu Yize 5-0 Robbie McGuigan
Jackson Page 5-1 Ashley Carty
Ali Carter 5-4 Joshua Thomand
He Guoqiang 5-0 Huang Jiahao
Jack Lisowski 5-3 Julien Leclercq
Scott Donaldson vs Wildcard (held over)
Ben Woollaston 5-2 Simon Blackwell
Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 David Gilbert
Jamie Jones 5-3 Liam Pullen
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Cheung Ka Wai
Ricky Walden 5-0 Hatem Yassen
Ryan Day 5-2 Marco Fu
Louis Heathcote 5-1 Jamie Clarke
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Stuart Carrington (held over)
Mark Selby 5-4 Artemijs Zizins
Liu Hongyu 5-0 Baipat Siripaporn
Elliot Slessor 5-1 Jonas Luz
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Oliver Lines
Zak Surety 5-0 Si Jiahui
Jordan Brown 5-1 Liam Graham
Xiao Guodong 5-0 Dylan Emery
Duane Jones 5-3 Fan Zhengyi
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 5-4 Dominic Dale
Tom Ford 5-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Daniel Wells 5-2 Ross Muir
Gary Wilson 5-1 Gong Chenzhi
Jimmy Robertson 5-3 Haris Tahir
Noppon Saengkham 5-1 Dean Young
Aaron Hill 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Sunny Akani 5-2 Mark Williams
Luca Brecel 5-3 Iulian Boiko
Tian Pengfei 5-1 Bai Yulu
Pang Junxu 5-2 Ken Doherty
Anthony McGill 5-0 Reanne Evans
Zhang Anda vs Stan Moody (heldover)
Graeme Dott 5-1 Jimmy White
Robert Milkins 5-2 Farakh Ajaib
Xu Si vs Wildcard (held over)
Robbie Williams 5-4 Ian Burns
Jak Jones 5-0 Allan Taylor
Mark Davis 5-4 Liam Davies
John Higgins 5-4 Wang Yuchen
Manasawin Phetmalaikul 5-2 Matthew Selt
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Ma Hailong
Lei Peifan 5-4 Anthony Hamilton
Kyren Wilson vs Hammad Miah (held over)
Featured photo credit: WST
Quite a difference in how Zizins reacted to losing a decider to how Selt did. Smiles a shrug and a handshake.
Meanwhile Selt is still rampaging through the countryside upending cars and sending non-apology apologies about how disappointed he is in himself
Selt is the 44th player to reach the milestone of 200 career centuries.
Jimmy White is one of a number of players who will now only have the Welsh Open to play in, barring them actually triumphing in Llandudno, before the World Championship. The Whirlwind looks in need of yet another invitational tour card.
All set for Christmas and new year. 2024 a watershed year perhaps. Wilson fully emerging. The class of 92 dwindling. Chinese breakthrough. Bai Yulu. Saudi Arabia becoming prominent. And the passing of two Welsh legends.
Mark Williams won two tournaments this year and Ronnie O’Sullivan triumphed on three occasions. You write these greats off at your peril.