This week's multi-day qualifying event at the Barnsley Metrodome attracted more attention than usual, with a number of big names taking part in a bid to qualify for the World Open in Yushan, China.
Some players had their matches moved to the main stage in March (18th-24th), including defending champion Judd Trump, world champion Luca Bressel, and the two highest-ranked Chinese players. It was limited to Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda. Use 4 local he wildcards.
That meant Ronnie O'Sullivan had to make a rare appearance in qualifying, as did Mark Selby, Mark Allen, Sean Murphy, John Higgins and Neil Robertson.
There was no drama between these big hitters and all of them won, including Lockett's 5-3 win over Alfie Barden.
It was a closely contested match and Burden looked to be in good form as he hit a century to level the match at 3-3, but O'Sullivan crossed the line with breaks of 83 and 58.
The players, who have known each other for nearly 40 years, had a long chat after the game, as Baden posted on social media: “Even though it wasn't the result I wanted, I enjoyed playing with Ron, and he… I had a great conversation with my dad for 30 minutes,” he said, remembering the old days.
“The first time I played Ron was when I was 9 years old, and he was 10 years old and he was just amazing. He was a good guy.”
However, in South Yorkshire Jack Lisowski lost 5-2 to Lucas Kleckers, Anthony McGill lost 5-1 to Ashley Hugill, Gary Wilson lost 5-4 to Stuart Carrington and Stuart・There were many shocks, including Bingham's loss to Ishpreet 5-3. Singh Chadha.
It was the second time this season that the Indian had defeated a former world champion, but it was not without controversy.
In the seventh frame with the score 3-3, Singh Chadha was at the table cueing up to black when he feathered white.
Bingham called for a foul from his chair, but Singh Chadda initially said nothing and the referee did not notice. Bingham's call was eventually accepted and he went to the table, but only after the referee said he would do what he said, even though no foul was seen.
The Englishman certainly appeared to be in the right, but he faced criticism on social media for committing the foul and stood his ground online.
“These people will make you laugh!” Bingham posted on X. “I was questioned and told that I was wrong for calling a foul on an opponent (and it was!) when neither the referee nor the player himself saw/called a foul. I am!”
“Would any other player in my situation do the same thing?”
He added: “Some referees don't even have the ball to call fouls, especially when it comes to certain players!”
“I treat every player with the same respect at the snooker table. I don't intend to intimidate or bully anyone!” I won't take that from anyone either!
The loss could be costly for Lisovski, who also missed out on qualifying for the next German Masters and hopes to remain in the top 16 at the world championships.
Jackpot is currently out of the elite group in 17th place, but there is a good chance he will be overtaken as he won't be playing in Berlin or Yushan and will likely miss out on both the Players Championship and Tour Championship. be.
Qualifying continues in Barnsley from Thursday, but this time for next month's Wales Open in Llandudno.
There will be fewer big names in attendance over the next few days, as matches for the top 16 in the world rankings will take place at the event's main venue, but players will still try to earn a tour card or qualify. There are many important matches. For the top 16.
Wales Open qualifying schedule
Thursday, January 25th
10 am
Anthony McGill vs Manasawin Petmaraikul
Shi Jiahui vs Stephen Maguire
Mink Natchalut vs Andrew Padgett
Daniel Wells vs Thepchaiya Unnu
1pm
Gary Wilson vs Mark Davis
Stephen Hendry vs Ross Muir
Andres Petrov vs Anthony Hamilton
Pan Junshu vs Graham Dott
4pm
Dean Young vs Alan Taylor
Hossein Bafai vs Scott Donaldson
Julien Leclerc vs Alfie Baden
Chris Wakelin vs Jimmy Robertson
7pm
Matthew Stevens vs Lewis Heathcote
Tian Pengfei vs Rod Lawler
Hamad Mir vs Ben Mertens
Ian Barnes vs Lucas Kreckers
Friday, January 26th
10 am
Ron Zefan vs Andy Li
Vipat Siripaporn vs Sanderson Ram
Penn Eason vs Robbie Williams
Liu Haotian vs Jordan Brown
1pm
Yuelong Zhou vs Adam Duffy
Noppon Senkam vs Himanshu Jain
Stuart Bingham vs Marco Fu
Xiao Guodong vs Ashley Hugill
4pm
Michael White vs Oliver Lines
Liam Pullen vs Rebecca Kenna
Matthew Selto vs Sam Craigie
Aaron Hill vs Anton Kazakov
7pm
Ricky Walden vs Andy Hicks
Rhian Evans vs Stuart Carrington
Ryan Day vs Mostafa Dougum
Stan Moody vs Sean O'Sullivan
Saturday, January 27th
10 am
Lolly Thor vs Ma Hailong
Jack Jones vs Liu Hongyu
Andrew Higginson vs Xin Jihao
Joe Perry vs Fan Zhengyi
1pm
Yulian Boyko vs Ishrit Singh Chadha
Dominic Dale vs Jimmy White
Martin Gould vs Wu Yize
Joe O'Connor vs Shu Xi
4pm
James Cahill vs Jamie Clarke
David Lilly vs Victor Serkis
Ryan Thomerson vs Martin O'Donnell
Tom Ford vs Ben Woollaston
7pm
David Gilbert vs Ken Doherty
Dylan Emery vs Fergal O'Brien
Zach Surety vs Mark Joyce
Monday, February 12th
Held throughout the match
Robert Milkins vs Jamie Jones
Jack Lisowski vs Oliver Brown
Mark Williams vs John Astley
Neil Robertson vs Jackson Page
Mark Allen vs Cao Yupeng
Ding Junhui vs Jenson Kendrick
John Higgins vs Mohamed Ibrahim
Alexander Asenbacher vs Riley Powell/Liam Davies
Judd Trump vs Liam Highfield
Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Liam Graham
Zhang Anda vs Ahmed Ali Elsayed
Ali Carter vs Elliot Slessor
Mark Selby vs Yuan Sijun
Sean Murphy vs David Grace
Kyren Wilson vs Ashley Carty
Barry Hawkins vs How many countries?
Luca Brecel vs Jean Jun
Read more: England's Zac Crawley is a big fan of Ronnie O'Sullivan's buzz-ball thinking
Read more: Is Ronnie O'Sullivan having the best season of his career at age 48?
