Mark Selby gets his new snooker season underway with Wuhan Open qualifying round win

Amongst those who left the venue victorious was four-time world champion Mark Selby following a 5-1 win over Alexander Ursenbacher.

Playing in his home city, Selby compiled breaks of 92, 56 and 120 during the win; he can now make travel plans for the Far East for the end of August when the final rounds will be contested.

Last season Selby won two ranking events (British Open, Welsh Open) and he successfully retained the Championship League Invitational, although his campaign ended on a disappointing note as he exited the World Championship in round one for the second consecutive year to a fellow Leicester cueist.

All the top 16 stars who have featured in these qualifiers so far have won. As well as Selby, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson also advanced comfortably - they whitewashed teenage rookies Michal Szubarczyk and Leone Crowley, respectively.

World number 12 Zhang Anda notched up runs of 63, 64, 93, 73 and 55 in a 5-2 win over Steven Hallworth.

Ranking event winners Gary Wilson (132 break), Stephen Maguire (100), Tom Ford (134), Ali Carter, Matthew Stevens and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh also progressed to the round of 64.

In an all-Chinese affair, Lyu Haotian recorded efforts of 135, 93 and 111 in a 5-3 success against reigning world women's champion Bai Yulu. Fellow countrymen Liu Hongyu, Yuan Sijun (112) and Pang Junxu can also look forward to visiting their home country in a few months time, but He Guoqiang and Gong Chenzhi were eliminated by Artemijs Zizins and Zak Surety, respectively.

Chang Bingyu - a young player who has been highly rated by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the past - marked his return to the professional circuit after his match-fixing ban with a 5-4 comeback win over Daniel Wells.

Ireland's number one Aaron Hill defeated Sam Craigie 5-1. Craigie was playing his first professional match in well over a year having suffered with a neck injury and subsequent surgery complications.

Teenager Stan Moody dispatched Antoni Kowalski 5-2 while Jack Lisowski recovered from 3-1 down to deny Amir Sarkhosh, 5-3. Lisowski posted five half-centuries during the tie.

The last result of the day produced the most drama, as a relieved Scott Donaldson finally got across the line as he ousted Mitchell Mann on a re-spotted black in the deciding frame.

Donaldson appeared to be coasting into the next round as a brace of 71 breaks helped him to a 4-0 lead. However, after the mid-session interval, Mann battled back, stringing together four frames of his own (runs of 76, 103, 54) to level it up and force a decider.

In the ninth and final frame - which went down to the colours - Donaldson led by 26 points with 22 on, but then fouled. Mann went on to pot the four remaining colours to take it to a re-spot, but Donaldson eventually went through.

For the full draw and results from the 2025 Wuhan Open, please visit our tournament information centre here.