Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson reached the last 32 of the 2024 English Open on Monday at the Brentwood Leisure Centre.
The Englishmen have combined to win the last three titles on the World Snooker Tour and will be expected to challenge again in the season’s opening Home Nations ranking event.
Trump almost squandered a 3-1 lead but managed to hold off Liu Hongyu’s late fight back to prevail in a deciding frame.
He made breaks of 98, 65, 57, and 51 but wasn’t able to move closer to the 1,000 career centuries milestone – remaining three back of the target on 997.
The 35 year-old won the English Open in 2023, a victory that has helped spearhead a surge in form that has seen him capture seven titles in total since.
Wilson is the only player to beat Trump this season, overcoming his Englishman in the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix in China.
The world champion had a more comfortable first outing in Brentwood, completing a 4-1 defeat of David Grace.
Trump and Wilson are on opposite sides of the 2024 English Open draw so another final clash could be on the cards.
Elsewhere, two-time former champion Mark Selby ousted Aaron Hill 4-2, but 2018 winner Stuart Bingham bowed out following a 4-3 reverse to Wu Yize.
Shaun Murphy, Ali Carter, Si Jiahui, and last year’s runner-up Zhang Anda were among the marquee names to make it through.
One of the bigger upsets saw World Championship finalist Jak Jones exit after a 4-3 defeat to Ishpreet Singh Chadha.
Ryan Day and Robert Milkins were other somewhat surprising losers after being downed by Fan Zhengyi and Oliver Lines respectively.
Noppon Saengkham also crashed out, with the Thai getting hammered 4-0 by Zak Surety.
Among the others to qualify for the last 32 were David Gilbert, who fought back from behind to beat Michael Holt, and Chris Wakelin.
The round of 64 will conclude on Tuesday with the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams, and John Higgins entering the fray.
Monday’s English Open results
Round of 96
Ricky Walden 4-0 Mink Nutcharut
Bulcsú Révész 4-2 Yuan Sijun
Xiao Guodong 4-1 Mitchell Mann
Dominic Dale 4-0 Liam Davies
Round of 64
Ali Carter 4-0 Ian Burns
David Gilbert 4-3 Michael Holt
Mark Selby 4-2 Aaron Hill
Zhang Anda 4-3 Mark Davis
Zak Surety 4-0 Noppon Saengkham
Fan Zhengyi 4-1 Ryan Day
Judd Trump 4-3 Liu Hongyu
Wu Yize 4-3 Stuart Bingham
Si Jiahui 4-1 Andrew Pagett
Joe O’Connor 4-0 Artemijs Zizins
Kyren Wilson 4-1 David Grace
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 4-3 Jak Jones
Shaun Murphy 4-1 Jamie Clarke
Oliver Lines 4-3 Robert Milkins
Pang Junxu 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Chris Wakelin 4-2 Joe Perry
Tuesday’s English Open schedule
Round of 64
10am (UTC+1)
Gary Wilson vs Ross Muir
Hossein Vafaei vs Matthew Stevens
1pm (UTC+1)
Tom Ford vs Jiang Jun
Lyu Haotian vs Dominic Dale
Matthew Selt vs Ricky Walden
Mark Allen vs Long Zehuang
Following 1pm games
Barry Hawkins vs Jimmy Robertson
Neil Robertson vs Jackson Page
Stephen Maguire vs Bulcsú Révész
Mark Williams vs Ben Woollaston
7pm UTC+1
Anthony McGill vs Xiao Guodong
Zhou Yuelong vs Jamie Jones
John Higgins vs Andrew Higginson
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs He Guoqiang
Following 7pm games
Jack Lisowski vs Xu Si
Luca Brecel vs Anthony Hamilton
Click here to view the full draw.
Featured photo credit: WST
