Tired but Triumphant: Mark Selby survives two deciders in one day at British Open

The last 64 finished, and the last 32 began on Wednesday at the Centaur in Cheltenham, with eight players making it through to the round of 16 of this 'FA Cup-style' random draw event.

Newly-minted China Open champion Selby began his double shift with a gruelling 4-3 win over Lei Peifan in the morning session, making breaks of 78, 75, and then a 72 in the decider.

After that match, Selby explained to host television broadcaster Channel 5 that he was still feeling the effects of jet lag following a quick turnaround between events on opposite sides of the world. Last week, he reached the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.

The four-time world champion said: “It was brutal. I feel like I’ve literally hit the wall, I’ve got nothing left.

“I’ve been waking up at all hours every night. I feel like I’ve run my race, but I always give it everything.”

But just a few hours later, Selby - the only player that day to play twice - was back on the baize to face Jackson Page in another contest that went the distance.

Page took the opening frame with the aid of a 96, but Selby claimed the next three, highlighted by a 113 in the third frame.

Back came Page who bagged consecutive frames for 3-3, but it was Selby who eventually emerged the victor. He has now won all three of his matches in Cheltenham this week by a 4-3 scoreline having ousted David Lilley on Monday/Tuesday in a post-midnight finish.

Joining Selby in the last 16 which will be played on Thursday night is Ukrainian youngster Iulian Boiko who scored arguably the biggest result of his fledgling pro career with a 4-1 win over Ding Junhui.

Other than the one-frame Snooker Shoot Out, this is the first time that 20-year-old Boiko has reached the last 16 of a ranking event.

In a clash of this season's maiden ranking event winners, Championship League title holder Jak Jones registered runs of 111 and 72 in stopping last week's Wuhan Open champion Chang Bingyu, 4-1.

Playing in his home professional tournament, local lad Jack Lisowski produced some sizzling snooker when his back was against the wall, as he fashioned breaks of 91, 120 and 112 from 3-1 down to deny Indian number one Ishpreet Singh Chadha, 4-3.

Latvian 20-year-old Artemijs Zizins - who stunned reigning World Champion Wu Yize at the Wuhan Open - is into the round of 16, as too is Lyu Haotian, and Mark Joyce.

Kyren Wilson - the conqueror of Wu in the previous round - was eliminated by Liam Highfield, 4-1.

Highfield qualified for the Crucible back in the spring, and he has taken that good form into this term, including by making his maiden maximum 147 break in professional competition in the preliminaries for this event. Against Wilson, he posted contributions of 120, 89, and 56.

News from the round of 64, as title holder Murphy goes out

Earlier in the day - despite missing only four balls during the match - reigning champion Shaun Murphy's title defence ended when he was defeated by an in-form David Gilbert who racked up efforts of 117, 78, 65, and 87.

No player has ever retained the British Open crown, and Murphy's exit means that record continues.

Recently dethroned world number one Judd Trump twice trailed Ricky Walden before breaks of 96 and 87 helped him to a 4-2 win, meanwhile new world number one Zhao Xintong got past Daniel Wells, 4-2.

There was a plethora of deciding frame climaxes across the morning and afternoon sessions. John Higgins - who has been struggling for motivation for the new season - edged recent China Open runner-up Noppon Saengkham, 4-3.

Two-time world women's champion Bai Yulu got herself into a glorious position in the seventh and final frame of her tie with Ross Muir, but missed a fairly routine red whilst on 59. Muir went on to pinch the frame and match.

Chinese duo Fan Zhengyi and Wang Xinbo also advanced via the odd frame. Stan Moody, Long Zehuang, David Grace, and Aaron Hill also kept their hopes alive of lifting The Clive Everton Trophy and a £100,000 payday later this week.

The eight remaining last 32 fixtures will be completed on Thursday afternoon, with the entirety of the last 16 played in the evening. The draw for the round of 16 has yet to be made (at time of writing).

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