The marquee names will start entering the fray at the 2025 English Open in Brentwood on Monday.
There have already been four days of early-round action in what is the season’s fourth ranking tournament and the first to be played under the Home Nations guise.
What began as a field of 128 contenders has been whittled down to the last 64, with the likes of Marco Fu and Liam Pullen making it through from the first round.
Former ranking event winners Luca Brecel, Ryan Day, Ricky Walden, and Anthony McGill have also safely reached the third round of the competition.
It’s from here when the 2025 English Open gets a little more serious, though, with the top 32 seeds now into the fold.
That includes reigning champion Neil Robertson who will begin his defence on Tuesday evening against Sunny Akani.
World champion Zhao Xintong meets Ishpreet Singh Chadha in the same session while world number one Judd Trump encounters Michael Holt earlier in the day.
Among the star names playing on Monday are world number two Kyren Wilson, China’s greatest Ding Junhui, and Welsh legend Mark Williams.
The trio will face Robbie Williams, Pullen, and Amir Sarkhosh respectively as they launch their bids to claim the £100,000 top prize and the Steve Davis Trophy.
Some other interesting ties include Fu’s battle with Ali Carter, with the former in excellent form so far this season and scoring centuries for fun.
This season’s Championship League Snooker winner Stephen Maguire plays improving Irishman Aaron Hill, who compiled his first competitive 147 break on the main tour yesterday during his victory over Yao Pengcheng.
Elsewhere, recent Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong takes on Gong Chenzhi in an all-Chinese clash, and there’s a firecracker contest between Jack Lisowski and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
The likes of Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins, and Gary Wilson will also be entering the running at this stage.
Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins are not in the 2025 English Open draw, however, after opting to skip this week’s play at the Brentwood Centre.
2025 English Open Draw
Round of 128 (bo7)
Sunny Akani 4-2 Oliver Brown
Zhao Hanyang 4-2 Connor Benzey
Haris Tahir 4-0 Michal Szubarczyk
Julien Leclercq 4-0 Aidan Murphy
Farakh Ajaib 4-1 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Chris Totten 1-4 Ross Muir
Antoni Kowalski 1-4 Liam Graham
Liam Highfield 4-2 Ng On Yee
Amir Sarkhosh 4-2 Sahil Nayyar
David Grace 4-0 Jonas Luz
Louis Heathcote 4-1 Mahmoud El Hareedy
Duane Jones 4-1 Patrick Whelan
Cheung Ka Wai 3-4 Jimmy White
Sam Craigie 4-0 Chatchapong Nasa
Reanne Evans 2-4 Jiang Jun
Huang Jiahao 4-0 Oliver Sykes
Robbie McGuigan 2-4 Mink Nutcharut
Bulcsu Revesz 3-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
Mitchell Mann 4-3 Ian Burns
Wang Yuchen 4-3 Florian Nuessle
Dylan Emery 4-0 Fergal Quinn
Allan Taylor 4-3 Umut Dikme
Liam Davies 4-1 Hatem Yassen
Lan Yuhao 1-4 Liam Pullen
Chang Bingyu 4-0 Leone Crowley
Bai Yulu 4-3 Liu Wenwei
Steven Hallworth 3-4 Mateusz Baranowski
Iulian Boiko 4-0 Xu Yichen
Artemijs Zizins 3-4 Yao Pengcheng
Marco Fu 4-0 Gao Yang
Haydon Pinhey 4-1 Ryan Davies
Ben Mertens 4-0 Ashley Hugill
Round of 96 (bo7)
1. David Lilley 3-4 Sunny Akani
2. Noppon Saengkham 2-4 Zhao Hanyang
3. Zak Surety 4-3 Haris Tahir
4. Fan Zhengyi 4-2 Julien Leclercq
5. He Guoqiang 4-3 Farakh Ajaib
6. Robert Milkins 1-4 Ross Muir
7. Ryan Day 4-0 Liam Graham
8. Oliver Lines 3-4 Liam Highfield
9. Long Zehuang 2-4 Amir Sarkhosh
10. Xu Si 4-2 David Grace
11. Jordan Brown 3-4 Louis Heathcote
12. Martin O’Donnell 4-0 Duane Jones
13. Luca Brecel 4-1 Jimmy White
14. Liu Hongyu 4-0 Sam Craigie
15. Daniel Wells 4-2 Jiang Jun
16. Robbie Williams 4-1 Huang Jiahao
17. Michael Holt 4-0 Mink Nutcharut
18. Ben Woollaston 4-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
19. Sanderson Lam 4-3 Mitchell Mann
20. Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Wang Yuchen
21. Matthew Stevens 3-4 Dylan Emery
22. Scott Donaldson 4-3 Allan Taylor
23. Lyu Haotian 2-4 Liam Davies
24. Stan Moody 1-4 Liam Pullen
25. Gong Chenzhi 4-2 Chang Bingyu
26. Ricky Walden 4-1 Bai Yulu
27. Anthony McGill 4-1 Mateusz Baranowski
28. Jamie Jones 4-3 Iulian Boiko
29. Aaron Hill 4-2 Yao Pengcheng
30. Mark Davis 0-4 Marco Fu
31. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-1 Haydon Pinhey
32. Ishpreet Singh Chadha 4-1 Ben Mertens
Round of 64 (bo7)
Neil Robertson vs Sunny Akani
Jackson Page vs Zhao Hanyang
Shaun Murphy vs Zak Surety
David Gilbert vs Fan Zhengyi
Wu Yize vs He Guoqiang
Chris Wakelin vs Ross Muir
Lei Peifan vs Ryan Day
Mark Selby vs Liam Highfield
Mark Williams vs Amir Sarkhosh
Zhou Yuelong vs Xu Si
Barry Hawkins vs Louis Heathcote
Tom Ford vs Martin O’Donnell
Hossein Vafaei vs Luca Brecel
Si Jiahui vs Liu Hongyu
Pang Junxu vs Daniel Wells
Kyren Wilson vs Robbie Williams
Judd Trump vs Michael Holt
Yuan Sijun vs Ben Woollaston
Gary Wilson vs Sanderson Lam
Elliot Slessor vs Jimmy Robertson
Stuart Bingham vs Dylan Emery
Mark Allen vs Scott Donaldson
Matthew Selt vs Liam Davies
Ding Junhui vs Liam Pullen
Xiao Guodong vs Gong Chenzhi
Joe O’Connor vs Ricky Walden
Zhang Anda vs Anthony McGill
Jak Jones vs Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire vs Aaron Hill
Ali Carter vs Marco Fu
Jack Lisowski vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhao Xintong vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Click here for the updated results (snooker.org)
How to watch the 2025 English Open
There are several options available to watch the upcoming snooker live, depending on your location.
Below is a full list, as published on the World Snooker Tour website:
UK & Ireland
TNT Sports and discovery+
DMAX (Freeview channel showing weekday afternoon sessions and all weekend sessions)
Mainland Europe
Eurosport and locally relevant streaming platforms
(discovery+ in Germany, Italy and Austria and HBO Max in all other markets)
China
Huya.com
Migu
CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel
CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
Hong Kong China
Now TV
Malasyia & Brunei
Astro Supersport
Taiwan
Sportcast
Thailand
True Sport
Philippines
TAP Sports
All other territories
WST Play
Featured photo credit: WST
