The first batch of qualifiers for the new season wrapped up on Thursday with the last preliminary matches for the 2026 Wuhan Open in Leicester.
Like in the China Open qualifiers that were held a week ago at the Mattioli Arena, a tiered entry system was adopted.
On this occasion, however, the format mirrored the one that has become more familiar at the Home Nations Series events in recent campaigns.
The top 32 seeds enter at the round-of-64 stage, albeit the highest 16 seeds had their initial matches held over to the main event itself.
That meant that Xiao Guodong, who will be bidding to secure a hat-trick of Wuhan Open crowns this term, and world champion Wu Yize had their first games deferred to the venue stages.
The remaining members from the top 32 were involved, though, with 16 tickets to the last 32 of the comp already booked following the last few days of action.
There were plenty of upsets as well, with Jack Lisowski, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Elliot Slessor, Zhang Anda, and Stuart Bingham all crashing out.
The players ranked from 17 to 21 were taken to school by cueists much further down the pecking order.
Liwowski was thumped 5-0 by a free-scoring Yao Pengcheng, who has won all six of his qualifying ties so far this season.
Un-Nooh was beaten 5-3 by Dylan Emery, Slessor lost 5-1 to Ryan Day, and Zhang was pipped in a 5-4 decider by Steven Hallworth.
Former world champion Bingham was also soundly beaten after suffering a 5-1 reverse to Daniel Wells.
Elsewhere, several familiar faces did manage to make it through.
Stephen Maguire outpointed Stan Moody with a 5-2 performance while Ali Carter edged Tom Ford by a couple of frames.
Hossein Vafaei and David Gilbert were a couple of other notable names to emerge successfully, while Gary Wilson won a dramatic tussle with Aaron Hill that ended 5-4.
It was the second time in a week that the pair had been involved in a final-frame thriller in the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, rising Chinese star Chang Bingyu qualified for another tournament, continuing his rapid upward trajectory with wins over Huang Jiahao and Joe O’Connor.
The 2026 Wuhan Open is scheduled for August 23 to 29.
2026 Wuhan Open qualifiers: Results
Round of 130
Duane Jones 5-3 Deng Haohui
Michael Larkov 5-3 Antoni Kowalski
Round of 128
Wang Xinbo 5-1 Liam Graham
Gong Chenzhi 5-4 Liam Highfield
Jordan Brown 5-4 Craig Steadman
Steven Hallworth 5-0 Panchaya Channoi
Sahil Nayyar 5-1 Fergal Quinn
Leone Crowley 5-2 Liu Yang
Duane Jones 5-3 Michal Szubarczyk
Liu Wenwei 5-3 Jamie Clarke
Gao Yang 5-1 Bai Yulu
Andrew Higginson 5-2 Lan Yuhao
Hammad Miah 5-4 Lyu Haotian
Mitchell Mann 5-4 Iulian Boiko
Luo Zetao 5-2 Jamie Jones
Liam Davies 5-3 Liam Pullen
Zhao Hanyang 5-4 Stuart Carrington
Ben Mertens 5-1 Ashley Hugill
Florian Nuessle 5-2 David Grace
Louis Heathcote 5-1 Paul Norris
Jiang Jun 5-3 Jimmy White
Dylan Emery 5-2 Ng On Yee
Sam Craigie 5-3 Julien Leclercq
Oliver Brown 5-2 Michael Larkov
Huang Jiahao 5-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Phil O’Kane 5-3 Chatchapong Nasa
Alfie Burden 5-3 Connor Benzey
Oliver Sykes 5-3 Ross Muir
Anton Kazakov 5-4 Marco Fu
Sean O’Sullivan 5-2 Mateusz Baranowski
Yao Pengcheng 5-2 T Tirapongpaiboon
Ashley Carty 5-2 Ian Burns
Mahmoud El Hareedy 5-3 Xu Yichen
Artemijs Zizins 5-2 Reanne Evans
Round of 96
Wang Xinbo 5-1 Scott Donaldson
Jackson Page 5-2 Gong Chenzhi
Jordan Brown 5-3 Oliver Lines
Steven Hallworth 5-1 Luca Brecel
Daniel Wells 5-1 Sahil Nayyar
Michael Holt 5-2 Leone Crowley
Noppon Saengkham 5-2 Duane Jones
Robbie Williams 5-1 Liu Wenwei
Wildcard player vs Gao Yang (held over)
Matthew Selt 5-1 Andrew Higginson
Wildcard player vs Hammad Miah (held over)
Ryan Day 5-1 Mitchell Mann
Aaron Hill 5-0 Luo Zetao
Liam Davies 5-1 Martin O’Donnell
Ben Woollaston 5-2 Zhao Hanyang
Wildcard player vs Ben Mertens (held over)
Florian Nuessle 5-3 Ricky Walden
Louis Heathcote 5-2 Anthony McGill
Wildcard player vs Jiang Jun (held over)
Dylan Emery 5-3 Xu Si
Tom Ford 5-2 Sam Craigie
Oliver Brown 5-3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Chang Bingyu 5-2 Huang Jiahao
Liu Hongyu 5-2 Phil O’Kane
Alfie Burden 5-4 Long Zehuang
Oliver Sykes 5-3 Zak Surety
Fan Zhengyi 5-3 Anton Kazakov
He Guoqiang 5-2 Sean O’Sullivan
Yao Pengcheng 5-4 Jimmy Robertson
Ashley Carty 5-3 Matthew Stevens
Stan Moody 5-2 Mahmoud El Hareedy
Artemijs Zizins 5-2 David Lilley
Round of 64
Xiao Guodong vs Wang Xinbo (held over)
Jackson Page 5-3 Lei Peifan
Chris Wakelin vs Jordan Brown (held over)
Steven Hallworth 5-4 Zhang Anda
Daniel Wells 5-1 Stuart Bingham
Mark Allen vs Michael Holt (held over)
David Gilbert 5-1 Noppon Saengkham
Mark Williams vs Robbie Williams (held over)
Zhao Xintong vs Wildcard player / Gao Yang (held over)
Jak Jones 5-2 Matthew Selt
Barry Hawkins vs Wildcard player / Hammad Miah (held over)
Ryan Day 5-1 Elliot Slessor
Gary Wilson 5-4 Aaron Hill
Ding Junhui vs Liam Davies (held over)
Hossein Vafaei 5-1 Ben Woollaston
Neil Robertson vs Wildcard player / Ben Mertens (held over)
Judd Trump vs Florian Nuessle (held over)
Yuan Sijun 5-1 Louis Heathcote
Si Jiahui vs Wildcard player / Jiang Jun (held over)
Dylan Emery 5-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ali Carter 5-3 Tom Ford
Kyren Wilson vs Oliver Brown (held over)
Chang Bingyu 5-2 Joe O’Connor
John Higgins vs Liu Hongyu (held over)
Shaun Murphy vs Alfie Burden (held over)
Pang Junxu 5-3 Oliver Sykes
Mark Selby vs Fan Zhengyi (held over)
He Guoqiang 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
Yao Pengcheng 5-0 Jack Lisowski
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Ashley Carty (held over)
Stephen Maguire 5-2 Stan Moody
Wu Yize vs Artemijs Zizins (held over)
Featured photo credit: WST
>Steven Hallworth 5-1 Luca Brecel
Brecel soundly beaten again — last time (China Open qualifying) it was 5-0.
A huge shock that Wu Yize was named Player of the Month for May 😂
Indeed 😉
Will Yao Pengcheng win it for June ?