Teenage snooker star Stan Moody defeats legend to reach British Open quarter-finals

The 19-year-old defeated four-time World Champion John Higgins, 4-2, on Thursday night at The Centaur in Cheltenham to reach the last eight of the £502,000 world ranking event for a second successive year.

World number 41 Moody - in his fourth season on the professional circuit - is widely regarding as one of the UK’s most exciting young prospects in the sport. He now stands three wins away from lifting The Clive Everton Trophy, and joining a very exclusive club of players who have won a ranking title in their teens.

Thursday was ‘moving day’ at the British Open, with the second batch of last 32 games completed in the afternoon, and then the entirety of the last 16 programme played in the evening. Moody was one of those on double duty, and in his opening assignment against Zhang Anda he made breaks of 52, 76, and 58 in turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

Former International Championship winner Zhang forced a decider, but Moody - nicknamed ‘The Action’ - won in style with a run of 133.

Returning just a few hours later, Moody faced one of snooker’s all-time greats in Higgins. Leading 3-2, it looked like Higgins was going to force proceedings all the way when on an effort of 61. But an unexpected missed black allowed Moody in to fashion a cool counter clearance of 69 to pinch the frame on the final black, and record one of the biggest victories of his fledgling professional career.

The result means he has won both his matches against 33-time ranking event winner Higgins, after a 5-4 success at the World Open in China earlier this year.

Moody is now through to his third ranking event quarter-final. His most recent came at last year’s British Open where he was 3-1 ahead of Anthony McGill before losing 5-3 to the eventual runner-up.

In this ‘FA Cup-style’ random draw tournament, Moody will meet the in-form world number 69 Liam Highfield who was in sizzling form during his 4-1 last 16 win over Long Zehuang during which he racked up runs of 86, 104, 78, and 102 in consecutive frames. Both Moody and Highfield qualified for the Crucible back in the spring.

Mark Selby's stunning British Open record continues as he defeated 20-year-old Ukrainian Iulian Boiko, 4-2, to make at least the last eight for the fifth year in-a-row.

Newly-minted China Open champion Selby won this event in 2024, was runner-up in 2023, and a semi-finalist last year. He won his opening three rounds earlier this week by 4-3 verdicts - he has won his last 12 deciding frame matches in the competition.

Selby will share the baize with home hero Jack Lisowski on Friday.

Blockbuster encounter pitches together Zhao Xintong and Judd Trump

The standout tie of the quarter-finals is new world number one Zhao Xintong up against the cueist he recent replaced at the top of the global standings, Judd Trump.

Trump enjoyed a perfect day as he scored a brace of 4-0 whitewash wins over Elliot Slessor and David Gilbert. He also made three centuries in the process.

Last year’s World Champion Zhao had his scoring boots on as he totted up contributions of 100, 139, and 112 - the latter being a maximum break attempt - in a 4-0 sweep of Michael Holt, before a post-midnight 4-2 victory over Mark Joyce.

The last time these two clashed was at the Tour Championship final last April where Zhao scored a 10-3 win.

It’s Jak Jones versus Aaron Hill in the other quarter-final, in what is a brilliant opportunity for them both to reach the one-table set-up in Cheltenham this weekend.

Former World Snooker Championship finalist Jones won his maiden ranking title at the Championship League in mid-July, and the Welshman is aiming for another trophy here, stopping the run of Latvian youngster Artemijs Zizins in the last 16, wrapping up a 4-2 outcome with a 130.

Hill is 24-years-old and the Republic of Ireland’s number one player; he completed a 4-0 whitewash over Fan Zhengyi with a 110.

That result means a record-equalling run for Hill, who is into his fourth ranking event quarter-final. He’s going for his first semi-final appearance.

Following the organised chaos of the opening four days which saw 80 players whittled down to eight, two tables will be in operation on Friday, with two matches in the afternoon, and two in the evening. Ties are now the best of nine frames with a mid-session interval after the fourth.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 British Open snooker, visit our tournament information centre here.