Three home players including Mark Williams are still in the hunt for glory as the 2026 Welsh Open reaches the last 16 stage in Llandudno.
Thursday’s play at the Venue Cymru will see the field get whittled down again to its final eight contenders.
Williams reached this round of the Home Nations competition for the first time since 2021 with a 4-1 defeat of Martin O’Donnell.
The world number four is a two-time Welsh Open champion, but his appearance in the 2003 final was the last time any player from Wales contested the title-deciding bout.
Williams will face Barry Hawkins next after the latter emerged as a 4-2 winner against Pang Junxu.
Also through to the last 16 are Welsh duo Jak Jones and Jackson Page, with the pair managing to orchestrate respective victories over Anthony McGill and Chang Bingyu.
For Jones, the task becomes particularly difficult as he next meets 2007 and 2019 champion Neil Robertson, the Australian having compiled a brace of tons during his 4-1 win over Hossein Vafaei.
Page’s reward for a strong performance against an up-and-coming Chang is a date with Jack Lisowski, who is one of just two players who could prevent Mark Allen from pocketing the £150,000 Home Nations Series bonus.
Lisowski, who edged Xiao Guodong in a deciding frame, would usurp Allen and collect the jackpot instead if the Northern Ireland Open champion were to reach the final this weekend.
Elsewhere, Wu Yize looks like a strong shout to reach at least the last four after all of the seeds in his quarter of the draw exited in the early stages.
The reigning International Championship winner, who beat Joe O’Connor 4-2 in the last 32, will play David Grace before a potential quarter-final tie against either Robbie Williams or Jiang Jun.
Tournament favourite Zhao Xintong is on the opposite side of the draw and extended his challenge to win a third ranking title on the trot with a 4-2 victory against Stan Moody.
Zhao came into Wales on the back of successes at the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong and the Players Championship in Telford, and his relentless standard hasn’t shown much sign of letting up.
The reigning world champion will face Stuart Bingham in his upcoming outing, Ballrun having prevailed by the same two-frame margin against David Gilbert.
World number two Kyren Wilson crashed out after a 4-1 loss to Zhou Yuelong, who is the other player who could land the Home Nations Series bonus but needs to capture the title to do so.
Zhou encounters Sam Craigie next while countryman Zhang Anda will take on John Higgins – each runners-up to Zhao in the two most recent ranking events – in the remaining last-16 fixture.
2026 Welsh Open draw
Last 16 (Thurs, Feb 26)
Jiang Jun vs Robbie Williams
Wu Yize vs David Grace
Mark Williams vs Barry Hawkins
Jak Jones vs Neil Robertson
Zhou Yuelong vs Sam Craigie
Zhang Anda vs John Higgins
Jackson Page vs Jack Lisowski
Zhao Xintong vs Stuart Bingham
Featured photo credit: WST
