Who qualified for the 2025 Welsh Open snooker? A review from Barnsley

The tournament’s top 32 seeds all automatically went through to the main draw for the final Home Nations Series event of the season that takes place at Venue Cymru in Llandudno between February 10-16. They will face one of the 32 qualifiers in round one (last 64) who emerged from Barnsley.

Sticking to his intentions of retiring from the professional tour at the end of this 2024/25 campaign, two-time ranking event winner Dominic Dale will star at his home event for one last time after he ousted Mitchell Mann 4-3. Dale is set to face Pang Junxu at the main venue in North Wales.

Several other Welshman made it through qualifying, including Jamie Jones, Jamie Clarke, Matthew Stevens, Liam Davies and Dylan Emery.

Rookie professional Davies made a break of 134 during a 4-1 victory over fellow tour newbie Antoni Kowalski, before winning the final three frames to pip recent German Masters quarter-finalist Anthony McGill, 4-3, in the final qualifying round. 18-year-old Davies was very impressive as he registered runs of 114, 72 and 109 in those trio of frames at the end.

Emery - who is playing as a Q-School top up - also progressed. The 23-year-old defeated compatriot Duane Jones 4-2, and then edged Lei Peifan - winner of the last Home Nations Series event - 4-3.

Defeat for Scottish Open champion Lei means he is now out of the running for the £150,000 BetVictor bonus.

Two other amateur players reached the first round proper, Joshua Cooper - who denied former runner-up Ben Woollaston - and Florian Nuessle - who shaded Jiang Jun and Liu Hongyu via deciding frames in consecutive rounds.

Like Nuessle, rookie Haydon Pinhey edged out Chinese opposition in successive matches to set up a clash with Championship League winner Mark Selby in the opening session of the competition on Monday morning.

Xu Si compiled his second maximum 147 break of the season - and the third of his career - during a 4-2 victory over Bulcsu Revesz, and is in line to trouser the £5,000 high break bonus.

Yuan Sijun built on his success of reaching the last four at last week’s German Masters with a 4-0 win over Amir Sarkhosh where he fashioned efforts of 115, 82 and 90.

India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha - a surprise semi-finalist at this term’s English Open - won both his qualifying ties 4-0 to set up a date with defending champion Gary Wilson. Chadha is currently on course to keep his professional tour card at the end of this campaign.

Last year’s Welsh Open runner-up Martin O’Donnell will not be back at the Venue Cymru, though, as he was whitewashed 4-0 by Wang Yuchen.

Youngsters Stan Moody and Ben Mertens both qualified, but the World Snooker Tour’s oldest player, Jimmy White, narrowly missed out on a trip to Llandudno as he was squeezed out 4-3 by Scott Donaldson at the final hurdle.

Ricky Walden had to withdraw mid-event at the recent German Masters due to pancreatitis, and just several days after being in a hospital bed, he returned to the baize - in discomfort - and constructed a break of 124 to cap a 4-2 win over Artemijs Zizins.

Jimmy Robertson was 3-0 down to Allan Taylor in his match, but turned things around with four frames in-a-row.

Malaysia's Rory Thor got the better of an in-form Aaron Hill, crafting a 136 in a 4-2 success.

For all the results from 2025 Welsh Open qualifying, please visit here.