THE Welsh Open is closing in on a thrilling finale in Llandudno – and the four semi-finalists are now confirmed!
Former world champion Mark Selby beat John Higgins after a thrilling final frame decider, and will face another world champ, Luca Brecel, after the Belgian Bullet beat Jackson Page.
In the other semi, Stephen Maguire will take on Ali Carter in the evening session.
A new champ is guaranteed to be crowned this weekend after 2024 Welsh Open winner Gary Wilson crashed out in the opening round.
- Start time: From 12pm GMT
- Live stream: discovery+ / BBC iPlayer
- TV channel: BBC Red Button
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Ishpreet Chadha 2-3 Jackson Page (56-75)
Page has missed three of four chances to end this tie, but Chadha has left a brilliant snooker.
But Ishpreet hits an awful safety shot – just tapping the red away. And Page needs to clean up this pink now against the Billiards player.
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Ishpreet Chadha 1-3 Jackson Page (36-45)
The Welshman fluffs two chances to finish this game. Page is often guilty of taking ambitious shots, too.
Chadha back in…
A brown, blue and pink required for Chadha to steal this frame.
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Ishpreet Chadha 1-3 Jackson Page
Chadha could barely look as Page wraps up a 3-1 lead after the Indian’s shocking miss on an easy enough red.
What could’ve been..
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Latest scores – Chadha back in
Chadha’s wonderful century break gets him on the score board! His mum smiles.
He’s unhappy with how he’s left the brown in this fourth frame and shakes his head.
The Indian cueist knocked holder Gary Wilson out on Monday…
- Ishpreet Chadha 1-2 Jackson Page (33-17)
- Robert Milkins 0-4 John Higgins
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John Higgins 4-0 Robert Milkins
Never mind! It’s all over. Milkins over hits the brown off the cushion. Unforgivable!
It was an expedition of break building and potting from Higgins and Milkins did little wrong before his late mistake.
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John Higgins 3-0 Robert Milkins* (68-40)
While Higgins has been exemplary this morning, the Scot shows he’s only human.
Higgins misses a routine red to allow Milkins in to work for his first frame win.
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Latest scores – Milkins asks “give me shot”
- Ishpreet Chadha 0-1 Jackson Page
- Robert Milkins 0-3 John Higgins
After going 47 minutes without potting, Milkins hits the shot of the match with a down-table tricky brown after just 20 PER CENT table time.
The Englishman is one frame away from going out – he can’t make any mistakes at the moment. Is he working too quickly now?
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Robert Milkins 0-2 John Higgins (0-47)
You’ve got to feel for Milkins, he can’t get on the table. The Englishman is having to watch a Higgins masterclass here.
Milkins hasn’t potted for nearly 40 minutes. Higgins’ cue ball control and shot selection is breathtaking.
Meanwhile, after a lengthy first frame, Jackson Page has gone 2-0 up in no time at all on the other table.
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Score update – Higgins doubles his lead
After a marathon first frame home hero Page takes it, while Higgins delivers a 83 break.
Higgins’ cueing is stunning.
- Ishpreet Chadha 0-1 Jackson Page
- Robert Milkins 0-2 John Higgins
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Latest scores – Higgins leads
A break of 65 in one visit sees the former world champion off the mark after Milkins gave the Scot an opportunity.
- Ishpreet Chadha 0-0 Jackson Page (52-26)
- Robert Milkins 0-1 John Higgins
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John Higgins 0-0 Robert Milkins (57-29)
Higgins – who has over 1,000 centuries in his career, has started where he left off against Graeme Dott on Monday.
All the reds are beautifully lined up, but he wants to get onto the pink soon.
It’s still the best of seven frames…
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Here they come…
- Ishpreet Chadha 0-0 Jackson Page on Table 2
- Robert Milkins 0-0 John Higgins on Table 1
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Ronnie could join studio this week
Ronnie O’Sullivan withdrew at the 11th hour yesterday – he was due to face Jamie Clarke in the first-round. The latter received a bye.
Though the World Snooker Tour declined to explain his absence, it is understood to be for medical reasons — a decision that has angered some fans hoping to see the legend.
Ronnie works on snooker events for Discovery+ and could form part of their TV coverage this week as players chase the Ray Reardon Trophy.
The same situation happened when he withdrew from the Masters at Ally Pally last month and then went into the studio a few days later.
Shaun Murphy is on pundit duties today after being dumped out by Ma Hailong yesterday.
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Who’s kicking off the round of 16 this morning?
Robert Milkins against John Higgins looks a tasty opener at 10am.
Look out for Stephen Maguire’s clash with Mark Williams at lunchtime.
- Ishpreet Chadha (India) vs Jackson Page (Wales), 10am
- Robert Milkins (England) vs John Higgins (Scotland), 10am
- Wu Yize (China) vs Sanderson Lam (England), 1pm
- Stephen Maguire (Scotland) vs Mark Williams (Wales), 1pm
- Tom Ford (England) vs Neil Robertson (Australia), 1pm
- Pang Junxu (China) vs Zhang Anda (China), 1pm
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Welsh players in the last-32
- Jackson Page
- Mark Williams
- Matthew Stevens
- Jamie Jones
- Jamie Rhys Clarke
- Ryan Day
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Why is Ronnie O’Sullivan not playing?
Ronnie O’Sullivan is yet to play since the Championship League on January 9, and is yet to win a title this season.
He has also withdrawn from the Masters and the German Open this season, after snapping his cue during the Championship League.
O’Sullivan withdrew from the other events on “medical grounds.”
He was due to face Jamie Clarke, who received a bye with O’Sullivan pulling out.
Credit: Tai Chengzhe/VCG via Getty Images -
Where does the action start today?
The round of 16 starts today, with players all aiming for a spot in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.
Today’s action kicks-off at 10am, with two matches:
- Ishpreet Chadha (India) vs Jackson Page (Wales)
- Robert Milkins (England) vs John Higgins (Scotland)
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Kyren Wilson closing down Neil Robertson
With this being the last Home Nations tournament, Kyren Wilson will be looking to bank the Home Nations bonus by ousting Neil Robertson atop the Home Nations rankings.
Robertson currently has earned £118,600, while Wilson has £114,400.
The winner of this tournament will take home £100,000, with the gap to second place £55,000 enough to take Wilson top.
Credit: Tai Chengzhe/VCG via Getty Images -
Today’s schedule – as Milkins tackles Higgins
Robert Milkins against John Higgins looks a tasty opener to today’s last-32 action.
Look out for Stephen Maguire’s clash with Mark Williams at lunchtime.
And Chris Wakelin vs Jack Lisowski looks one of the evening’s intriguing clashes.
- Ishpreet Chadha (India) vs Jackson Page (Wales), 10am
- Robert Milkins (England) vs John Higgins (Scotland), 10am
- Wu Yize (China) vs Sanderson Lam (England), 1pm
- Stephen Maguire (Scotland) vs Mark Williams (Wales), 1pm
- Tom Ford (England) vs Neil Robertson (Australia), 1pm
- Pang Junxu (China) vs Zhang Anda (China), 1pm
- David Gilbert (England) vs Matthew Stevens (Wales), 3pm
- Jamie Jones (Wales) vs Robbie Williams (England), 3pm
- Jamie Rhys Clarke (Wales) vs Matthew Selt (England), 3pm
- Yuan Sijun (China) vs Mark Allen (Northern Ireland), 3pm
- Ma Hailong (China) vs Ryan Day (Wales), 7pm
- Joe O’Connor (England) vs Kyren Wilson (England), 7pm
- Chris Wakelin (England) vs Jack Lisowski (England), 7pm
- Ali Carter (England) vs Hossein Vafaei (Iran), 7pm
- Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) vs Luca Brecel (Belgium), 9pm
- Mark Selby (England) vs Elliot Slessor (England), 9pm
John Higgins hopes to replicate his excellent first-round formCredit: Action Images – Reuters -
Yesterday’s results – as Wilson nicks through
Five matches went all the way – with world champ Kyren Wilson among those sneaking through.
- Barry Hawkins 1-4 Sanderson Lam
- Shaun Murphy 3-4 Ma Hailong
- Ronnie O’Sullivan 0-0 Jamie Clarke (Clarke w/o)
- Matthew Selt 4-0 Ricky Walden
- Wu Yize 4-3 Scott Donaldson
- Ryan Day 4-2 Ben Mertens
- Lyu Haotian 0-4Joe O’Connor
- David Gilbert 4-3 Jordan Brown
- Jak Jones 2-4 Matthew Stevens
- Kyren Wilson 4-3 Marco Fu
- Luca Brecel 4-2 Stuart Carrington
- Chris Wakelin 4-3 Michael Holt
- Hossein Vafaei 4-2 Fan Zhengyi
- Jack Lisowski 4-0 Joshua Cooper
- Ali Carter 4-0 Thor Chuan Leong
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Clarke’s mixed feeling over missing Ronnie
Jamie Clarke was only “20%” upset Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal denied him a shot at the icon.
The Welshman, 30, got a bye into today’s second round, where he faces Englishman Matthew Selt.
But World No. 65 Clarke said of NOT facing the Rocket yesterday: “Yeah, I was relishing playing him.
“There was 20% a little bit disappointment when I got the phone call.
“Because he’s coming towards the end of his career. You don’t get many chances to play Ronnie.“He picks and chooses his events and rightly so. I was probably more happy than not happy, but it would have been nice to play him.”
Credit: Getty
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When will Ronnie play next?
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s latest withdrawal has posed questions over at least his short-term future.
The seven-time world champ pulled out of yesterday’s Welsh Open first-round clash against Jamie Clarke at short notice.
Tournament organisers World Snooker Tour did not explain why the Rocket has now withdrawn from six rankings events this season.
His next scheduled tournament is at the World Open in Yushan, China at the end of February.
Credit: Getty -
Round-up of the action – as Murphy exits
Shaun Murphy’s exit headlined day two – even though Kyren Wilson reached 500 centuries.
Ma Hailong sunk Masters champion Murphy 4-3 with a 53 break in the decider.
Shaun Murphy went out to Ma HailongCredit: Alamy Yet Murphy had earlier outscored the Chinese star by two centuries to one.
Ronnie O’Sullivan again withdrew, this time ahead of a clash with Jamie Clarke.
Meanwhile, the crowd enjoyed Luca Brecel going for a quick 147 against Stuart Carrington.
The Belgian displayed glimpses of his 2023 world title-winning form as he notched table visits of 96, 99 and 53 on the way to overcoming Stuart Carrington 4-2
World No. 2 Kyren Wilson needed his first century of the match to clinch a final frame decicer against Marco Fu.
Wilson is only the 14th player ever to notch 500 tons in competitive action.
And it came straight after Fu had compiled a 139 to level at 3-3.
Elsewhere, Sanderson Lam was a shock 4-1 winner over Barry Hawkins.
Others to triumph were: Joe O’Connor, Ryan Day, Wu Yize, David Gilbert, Matthew Selt, Matthew Stevens, Noppon Saengkham, Hossein Vafaei and Chris Wakelin.
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Hot Carter ensures Thor out
Ali Carter wrapped up one of the most straightforward wins of the day.
The Englishman whitewashed Rory Thor 4-0.
It was solid more than scintillating stuff, though.
Carter took the opener 69-49 before cruising 3-0 up via breaks of 81 and 62.
And Thor still couldn’t find any superpowers when he needed it most – losing the fourth 58-14.
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Latest scores – The big Lisowski
A lightning performance from Jack Lisowski.
He has torn Josh Cooper apart tonight, reeling off breaks of 100, 106, 68 and 111.
- Ali Carter 3-0 Rory Thor
- Jack Lisowski 4-0 Josh Cooper