Undefeated Gary Wilson through to stage two of the 2024 UK Open Pool Championship

Gary Wilson has advanced to the last 64 of the 2024 UK Open Pool Championship following impressive wins in his opening three matches at the Telford International Centre.

A major event on the World Nineball Tour with a prize fund of $200,000, a field of nearly 240 entries has been whittled down after three days of double elimination action. The remainder of the competition is now straight knockout.

Wilson is no stranger to the nine-ball circuit and is establishing a serious name for himself on the smaller table amongst the world’s elite. He recorded a very credible last 16 finish in this event on debut last year, and his results elsewhere on the Tour have seen him rise to number 84 in the world professional rankings and on course for a spot at next month’s World Pool Championship in Saudi Arabia.

The 38-year-old has emerged from a trio of very close finales in Telford. Wilson began with a 9-7 victory over Mubarak Al-Wahaibi (Oman) before ousting fellow Brit Elliott Sanderson in a hill-hill thriller, 9-8.

Then, in the winners’ qualification round, Wilson recorded arguably his best nine-ball pool result yet by denying world number eight David Alcaide 9-8 in a deciding rack. Spain’s Alcaide is a two-time World Pool Masters champion.

In Friday’s opening knockout round Wilson will face world number 37 Denis Grabe from Estonia.

Elsewhere in the tournament, former World Snooker Champion and a recent semi-finalist at the Crucible Stuart Bingham returned to the felt having featured at last year’s European Open in Germany.

This time out, Bingham lost his opening match 9-0 to former snooker professional Fraser Patrick but defeated Adam Humphries 8-3 in the losers’ side. However, he relinquished his second life and was eliminated from the event following an 8-7 defeat to Canada’s John Morra.

Morra’s father Mario was a professional snooker player and qualified for the Crucible in 1984.