The 2026 English Open has quickly been whittled down to its last 16 contenders, with players next vying for a spot in the quarter-finals on Thursday in Brentwood.
Half of the those remaining in the field are top 16 members, including a couple of former champions of the Home Nations Series tournament.
Judd Trump and Mark Selby are both two-time English Open winners who remain on course to raise the Steve Davis Trophy aloft again.
The English pair, who each already boast silverware from this season, are on opposite sides of the draw at the Brentwood Centre.
China Open champion Selby is in the top half and must be running on fumes at present considering how much time he has been spending on the baize of late.
The four-time world champion narrowly missed out on glory at last week’s British Open, losing the final 10-6 to Jak Jones.
In Cheltenham, Selby emerged from his first three matches in deciding frames and it has been similar here, with back-to-back 4-3 wins over Ricky Walden and Zhang Anda taking him through to the last 16.
It gets even harder for the 43 year-old next, with former English Open runner-up Kyren Wilson his next challenge in the draw.
The only other top 16 player in the top section is Ding Junhui, who has similarly survived some taxing matches to get this far.
Ding is in serious need of some ranking points with plenty to come off his rolling two-year tally in the near future.
Indeed, Ding is way down at number 24 on the provisional Race to the UK Championship standings, meaning he will have to qualify for York and one of his favourite events if he can’t sort out his form soon.
The 39 year-old faces Joe O’Connor next, while the other games in the upper bracket pit Ali Carter and Zhou Yuelong against Gong Chenzhi and Yuan Sijun respectively.
In the bottom half, Shanghai Masters winner Trump has set up a meeting with Scotland’s Anthony McGill.
Although Trump has been a consistent force toward the business end of ranking events, he actually only boasts one title of such status in almost two years – the German Masters, which he won in February.
He remains one of the favourites at every event, but there is some pressure – not least from himself – to add to his tally of 31 ranking crowns.
Things look competitive in Trump’s lower bracket, with the likes of world champion Wu Yize, Crucible runner-up Shaun Murphy, and all-time legend Mark Williams still in the hunt for the £100,000 top prize.
Wu, who was a finalist in the 2024 English Open, is hoping to play himself into form after a slow start to the 2026/27 season.
The Chinese star faces Liam Davies next, while Murphy and Williams encounter Pang Junxu and Barry Hawkins respectively.
All eight best-of-seven matches in the last 16 take place on Thursday, with the two main sessions of play commencing at 13:00 and 19:00 BST.
Featured photo credit: WST
