September is a busy old time on the snooker calendar, with the British Open getting underway on Monday just a matter of hours after the English Open came to a conclusion.
Mark Allen beat Zhou Yuelong to win the title in Brentwood late on Sunday night and the tour now heads to Cheltenham, with the British starting on Monday afternoon.
Mark Selby is the defending champion after his superb win over John Higgins in last season’s final at the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Selby was extremely good in that game as he beat the Wizard of Wishaw 10-5 with breaks of 137, 135, 93, 91, 88, 85, 85 and 63 along the way.
The British Open returned to the calendar in 2021 for the first time since 2004 and has been a popular event since its renaissance.
The FA Cup-style draw means anyone can face anyone in every round, making it an unpredictable event and a minefield for the top players.
However, star names have largely still prospered, with Mark Williams winning two of the four recent editions and the only long shot champion being Ryan Day when he beat Allen in the 2022 final.
When is the British Open?
The event runs from September 22-28 at The Centaur in Cheltenham.
How to watch the British Open on TV
The tournament is being shown live in the UK on ITV4, with streaming of Table Two on ITVX.
For details of how to watch elsewhere, click here.
British Open draw and schedule
There has already been a round of qualifiers played by most players, although that round for the top 16 has been held over to the venue.
The draw for the second round has been made, with the random third round draw still to come.
Monday September 22
1pm
Pang Junxu v Wu Yize
John Higgins v Mark Davis
Mark Selby v David Grace
Barry Hawkins v Daniel Wells
Not before 2pm
Neil Robertson v Alfie Davies
Ali Carter v Patrick Whelan
Zhang Anda v Duane Jones
Zhao Xintong v Ashley Hugill
7pm
Mark Williams v Si Jiahui
Daniel Womersley v Sanderson Lam
Shaun Murphy v Ross Muir
Zak Surety v Ashley Carty
Not before 8pm
Judd Trump v Aaron Hill
Gary Wilson v Hossein Vafaei
Xiao Guodong v Haydon Pinhey
Kyren Wilson v Chris Wakelin
Tuesday September 23
10am
Chang Bingyu v Long Zehuang
He Guoqiang v Robbie McGuigan
1pm
Ben Woollaston v Noppon Saengkham
Haris Tahir v Louis Heathcote
Not before 2pm
Amir Sarkhosh v Jak Jones
Iulian Boiko v Sam Craigie
7pm
Ian Burns v Marco Fu
Mark Allen v Jiang Jun
Not before 8pm
Ryan Davies v Liam Davies
Robert Milkins v Antoni Kowalski
Also on Tuesday, with scheduling TBC…
Yuan Sijun v Hawkins / Wells
Stan Moody v Kyren Wilson / Wakelin
Bai Yulu v Zhang / Jones
Xu Si v Robertson / Davies
Williams / Si v Lam / Womersley
Jack Lisowski v Higgins / Davis
Umut Dikme x Xiao / Pinhey
Jackson Page v Oliver Lines
Anthony McGill v Gary Wilson / Vafaei
Stuart Bingham v Zhao/Hugill
Wednesday September 24
10am
Xu Yichen v David Lilley
Mitchell Mann v Gao Yang
1pm
Cheung Ka Wai v Matthew Stevens
Lei Peifan v Matthew Selt
Not before 2pm
Martin O’Donnell v Sunny Akani
Joe O’Connor v Allan Taylor
The following six matches will be played across the first three sessions on Wednesday, with the order of play yet to be confirmed.
Leonne Crowley v Trump/Hill
Ben Mertens v Reanne Evans
Pang/Wu v Whelan/Carter
Liu Hongyu v Grace/Selby
Bulcsu Revesz v Jiang/Allen
Scott Donaldson v Muir/Murphy
British Open prize money
Winner: £100,000
Runner-up: £45,000
Semi-final: £20,000
Quarter-final: £12,000
Last 16: £9,000
Last 32: £6,000
Last 64: £3,000
Highest break: £5,000
British Open pre-tournament odds
Judd Trump 4/1
Zhao Xintong 5/1
Neil Robertson 13/2
Mark Selby 7/1
Kyren Wilson 8/1
Mark Allen 11/1
Xiao Guodong 12/1
John Higgins 14/1
Shaun Murphy 14/1
Ali Carter 17/1
Mark Williams 17/1
Jak Jones 20/1
Barry Hawkins 20/1
Zhang Anda 25/1
Stuart Bingham 25/1
Jack Lisowski 25/1
Wu Yize 25/1
Joe O’Connor 25/1
Si Jiahui 25/1
Gary Wilson 40/1
Stan Moody 40/1
Marco Fu 40/1
Chris Wakelin 40/1
Full betting list with Betfair here
