World Champion Wu Yize's difficult start to season continues with British Open defeat

Since winning snooker’s blue riband title at the Crucible Theatre in early May, Wu hasn’t exactly lit up the circuit whilst wearing the world crown.

He did score victories over Si Jiahui and Shaun Murphy - the latter opponent being a rerun of their memorable Sheffield final - at the Shanghai Masters, but he lost second round at the China Open, first round at the Wuhan Open, and second round here at the British Open. Wu’s record could have been worse, too, surviving deciding frame climaxes in Taiyuan and Cheltenham.

His difficult start continued on Tuesday at The Centaur as he was dismissed 4-1 by 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson, who posted runs of 56 and 69.

Usually, two players ranked inside the world’s top eight wouldn’t be able to face each other until the latter rounds of a tournament, but the ‘FA Cup-style’ random draw that the British Open uses can throw up contests like this at any point.

The last few months have probably been hectic for an in-demand Wu, but he still has time to turn his season around. Last season, Chinese compatriot Zhao endured a similarly frustrating start to the campaign, but ended up winning four titles, including an historic treble at the Players Series.

Speaking of Zhao - the new world number one - he registered runs of 66, 67, 107, and 90 during a 4-1 win over Oliver Brown. That match was the final round one fixture to be completed, and was pushed back to allow Zhao time to travel from the Far East where he lost in the Wuhan Open last Saturday.

The winner of that Wuhan accolade, and the 83rd player to claim a professional snooker ranking event, Chang Bingyu was back in action, and he made it through to the last 32.

Chang - who whitewashed Stuart Bingham 4-0 in July to qualify for these televised stages - crafted a 72 in the final frame of his 4-1 victory against Chatchapong Nasa.

China’s original snooker superstar Ding Junhui will be keen to have a deep run this week after a slow start to the 2026/27 top-flight term, and he progressed to round three with a 4-0 sweep of Sean O’Sullivan, compiling efforts of 86 and 82 in the process.

Three-time UK Champion Ding is currently ranked 15th in the world, but is projected to fall outside of the elite top 16 bracket later this autumn due to having his prize money for winning the 2024 International Championship removed from his two-year rolling total.

Top 16 stars exit the stage

A trio of top 16 seeds were eliminated on the second day in Gloucestershire, though, starting with Xiao Guodong who watched his opponent Lyu Haotian string together four successive frames from 2-0 behind - and with the help of breaks of 113, 85, and 80 - to record a 4-2 verdict.

Reigning Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin recovered from two down with three to play to get past 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel in round one, but despite runs of 78 and 112 in his latest outing, he was unable to usurp Zhang Anda, as the former International Championship winner stamped a 4-3 win.

For the second time in three years, Welsh youngster Liam Davies sent Barry Hawkins packing from The Centaur.

The 20-year-old defeated Ding at the Wuhan Open a few weeks ago, and he collected the scalp of another highly-decorated cueist on a big stage as breaks of 91, 64, 74, and 95 guided him to a 4-2 win. Welsh Open champion Hawkins had runs of 52 and 76 as he rallied from 3-0 down.

Six-time ranking event winner Ali Carter totted up breaks of 100 and 134 in establishing a 3-1 lead, but it wasn’t enough as Thailand’s Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon pieced together the final three frames for a fine 4-3 success.

Home hero Lisowski squeezes through on the final ball

Playing in his home professional tournament, Jack Lisowski defeated Mitchell Mann by the barest of margins to advance.

World number 16 Lisowski struck a 104 to level at one apiece, but sequences of 75 and 71 assisted Mann in reaching the hill at 3-1 up.

However, Mann - a quarter-finalist here last year - couldn’t get the job done. Lisowski made an 88 in reducing his arrears, and a 53 aided him in forcing a decider.

In the final frame, Mann had an opportunity to get over the line, but was unable to land on the final red placed on the top cushion - the only ball he required to leave his opponent needing penalty points.

Having snookered himself on that red, but subsequently escaping, he left Lisowski the chance to counter. And the current Northern Ireland Open champion duly accepted, keeping his cool to clear and pinch the match on the final black.

Email error nearly costs Jak Jones

This summer’s Championship League Ranking Event winner Jak Jones had fellow professional Phil O’Kane to thank as he progressed to the round of 32.

Jones revealed that he was sent an email from the World Snooker Tour a few days before saying his game with Anthony McGill was scheduled for 1pm. However, rookie O’Kane made him aware on Monday evening that the online schedule had Jones down playing at 10am.

Following a call to the authorities - who acknowledged they made a mistake and have since spoken with him - Jones discovered that he was in fact on in the morning session. As a consequence, the Welshman made the unexpected journey to Cheltenham that night.

Not ideal preparation, but it didn’t seem to bother Jones on the baize as he scored heavy with centuries of 118 and 131 in back-to-back frames before further contributions of 53 and 84 in a 4-0 win over last year’s runner-up Anthony McGill.

Jackson Page, Mark Joyce, He Guoqiang, Duane Jones, Artemijs Zizins, Liam Highfield, Ishpreet Singh Chadha (105 break), Elliot Slessor, Pang Junxu (106), and Michael Holt were Tuesday’s other match-winners.

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