The top 16 seeds had little trouble in negotiating their held over round-of-128 fixtures as the venue stages of the 2025 British Open commenced on Monday.
There was a big crowd at the Centaur in Cheltenham with plenty of marquee names in action and all of them making it through to the next round.
Reigning champion Mark Selby, who has reached the final in each of the last two editions of the event, began his defence strongly with a 4-1 defeat of David Grace.
World number one Judd Trump has been struggling for top form this season so far but looked sharp during his 4-0 rout of Aaron Hill, compiling a brace of tons.
It was easy too for Neil Robertson who scored a 104 break to complete a whitewash win against amateur top-up Alfie Davies.
World number two Kyren Wilson bounced back from his early defeat in last week’s English Open with a 4-1 victory over Chris Wakelin.
That was one of two matches in the random first-round draw that featured a pair of top 16 seeds.
The other saw Mark Williams – champion in 1997, 2021, and 2023 – oust China’s Si Jiahui with a 4-2 scoreline.
A few of the seeds were pushed close, with world champion Zhao Xintong only able to pip Ashley Hugill by the odd frame.
Last year’s runner-up John Higgins looked to be heading out when he trailed Mark Davis 3-1, but the Scot scrambled home a 4-3 winner.
Zhang Anda, who could soon drop out of the elite bracket of the rankings with the points from his 2023 International Championship success to come off his tally in a few weeks, was taken the distance too but eventually outlasted Duane Jones.
It was much more comprehensive for the likes of Barry Hawkins, Shaun Murphy, and Gary Wilson who each progressed without much fuss.
Elsewhere as the first round almost concluded, there were victories for Xiao Guodong, Ali Carter, Wu Yize, and Sanderson Lam – the latter with a 4-2 win over Ronnie O’Sullivan’s replacement Daniel Womersley.
Mark Allen had his game against Bulcsu Revesz moved to Tuesday following his late-night English Open triumph on Sunday.
There was one game played from the round of 64, meanwhile, with Zak Surety thumping Ashley Carty 4-0.
A lot of the same names will be back on the baize on Tuesday when the second round of the popular FA Cup-style tournament continues.
The contenders in this week’s British Open – the snooker season’s fifth ranking event – are chasing a £100,000 top prize and the Clive Everton Trophy.
2025 British Open Draw
Round of 64 (bo7)
Chang Binggyu vs Long Zehuang
He Guoqiang vs Robbie McGuigan
Ben Woollaston vs Noppon Saengkham
Haris Tahir vs Louis Heathcote
Amir Sarkhosh vs Jak Jones
Iulian Boiko vs Sam Craigie
Ian Burns vs Marco Fu
Zak Surety 4-0 Ashley Carty
Ryan Davies vs Liam Davies
Robert Milkins vs Antoni Kowalski
Xu Yichen vs David Lilley
Mitchell Mann vs Gao Yang
Cheung Ka Wai vs Matthew Stevens
Lei Peifan vs Matthew Selt
Martin O’Donnell vs Sunny Akani
Joe O’Connor vs Allan Taylor
Yuan Sijun vs Barry Hawkins
Stan Moody vs Kyren Wilson
Bai Yulu vs Zhang Anda
Xu Si vs Neil Robertson
Mark Williams vs Sanderson Lam
Jack Lisowski vs John Higgins
Umut Dikme vs Xiao Guodong
Jackson Page vs Oliver Lines
Anthony McGill vs Gary Wilson
Stuart Bingham vs Zhao Xintong
Leone Crowley vs Judd Trump
Ben Mertens vs Reanne Evans
Wu Yize vs Ali Carter
Liu Hongyu vs Mark Selby
Bulcsu Revesz vs Jiang/Allen
Scott Donaldson vs Shaun Murphy
Click here for the update results and draw (snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
