Eight players remain in the hunt for glory at the quarter-finals stage of the 2026 British Open, which take place on Friday in Cheltenham.
The random draw element to this tournament always adds something extra, and the last-eight pairings have thrown up some interesting ties.
There is a £100,000 champion’s cheque up for grabs this weekend at the Centaur, with three wins now separating the remaining octet from lifting the Clive Everton Trophy.
Let’s take a look at each of the upcoming fixtures.
Mark Selby vs Jack Lisowski
Cheltenham cueist Jack Lisowski is the home favourite and is so far living up his billing with a run to the quarters for only the second time.
Lisowski overcame Lyu Haotian to reach this stage of a ranking event for the first time this season, and last season’s Northern Ireland Open champion will next face Mark Selby in one of the obvious ties of the round.
The latter has emerged from a series of close matches in the tournament, winning three deciding-frame clinchers in a row before edging Iulian Boiko 4-2 in the last 16.
Selby and Lisowski share a surprisingly even head-to-head record, but Selby ended Lisowski’s run to this round in 2023 and also beat Jackpot in the final of the 2019 Scottish Open.
When is it? Friday, September 4th at 13:00 BST
Liam Highfield vs Stan Moody
By reaching the quarter-finals, Liam Highfield and Stan Moody have already matched their previous best performances in ranking events.
Highfield backed up his standout defeat of Kyren Wilson with a victory over Long Zehuang, while Moody has dispatched both Zhang Anda and John Higgins to get this far.
For Moody, the 19 year-old is widely expected to orchestrate these kinds of opportunities on a more regular basis in the future.
But this is arguably an even more important chance for Highfield, who has been a journeyman on the World Snooker Tour for more than 15 years.
The duo clashed just once before, at last year’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters where Moody pipped Highfield in a high-scoring 4-3 thriller.
When is it? Friday, September 4th at 13:00 BST
Aaron Hill vs Jak Jones
Aaron Hill was quoted by the Metro this week as saying, “I’m at the stage now where I want to win tournaments.”
The Irishman’s next opponent in the 2026 British Open draw has already joined the club of professional winners with Jak Jones emerging as the Championship League Snooker champion in July.
Jones has played strongly this week, seemingly boasting a boost in confidence on the back of that breakthrough success in Leicester.
This is Hill’s fourth quarter-final in a ranking event, and the 24 year-old has been slowly but steadily becoming a more consistent force over the last few seasons.
Not in favour of the Cork man’s chances of finally reaching the semi-finals of an event is a poor record against Jones, having lost convincingly to the Welshman in both of their prior ties against one another.
When is it? Friday, September 4th at 19:00 BST
Judd Trump vs Zhao Xintong
While the Selby versus Lisowski clash offers a lot, it doesn’t really come much better right now than a showdown between Zhao Xintong and Judd Trump.
The new world number one encounters the player who held the top status for the last two-year period in a blockbuster battle not to be missed.
Trump reached the last eight with back-to-back 4-0 victories on Thursday, easily outgunning both Elliot Slessor and David Gilbert with whitewash displays.
It was a little tougher for Zhao, but last week’s Wuhan Open runner-up still managed to emerge with a 4-2 defeat of Mark Joyce after earlier ousting Michael Holt.
The last time Zhao and Trump crossed paths, it was in the final of the Tour Championship when the former secured a dominant 10-3 triumph.
When is it? Friday, September 4th at 19:00 BST
Featured photo credit: WST
