The draw for the new Wuhan Open has been made, with first round ties including World Champion Luca Brecel against China’s Xing Zihao, and former Crucible kings Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ken Doherty going head to head.
CLICK HERE FOR THE DRAW
CLICK HERE FOR THE QUALIFYING FORMAT
The qualifying round* will run from September 1-5 in Leicester, followed by the final stages from October 9-15 in the city of Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province.
The Wuhan Open will be the first ranking event staged in mainland China since 2019, and it will be one of three ranking events in China during the 2023/24 season, alongside the International Championship and World Open. These will follow the invitational Shanghai Masters, to take place in September.
Brecel’s match against Xing and O’Sullivan’s clash with Doherty will be held over to the final final venue, along with the matches involving the four local wild cards, as well as the top two ranked Chinese players. Ding Junhui will take on Ashley Hugill, while Zhou Yuelong has been drawn against World Women’s Champion Baipat Siripaporn.
Notable matches in the qualifying round include:
Iran’s Hossein Vafaei v Hong Kong’s Marco Fu
John Higgins v Dylan Emery
Mark Selby v Hong Kong’s Andy Lee
Judd Trump v Lukas Kleckers
Mark Allen v John Astley
An Australian derby between Neil Robertson and Ryan Thomerson
Shaun Murphy v Ben Mertens
Mark Williams v Andres Petrov
Details of how to watch the qualifying rounds will be announced soon.
*Please note that there will be no access for fans at the qualifying round for this event. To find out which qualifying events you can come to this season, click here.
