The 2024 British Open is approaching the business end of its schedule with the four quarter-finals taking place on Friday in Cheltenham.
A somewhat chaotic opening four days at the Centaur has passed with eight players still vying for the Clive Everton Trophy and a £100,000 top prize.
The last eight lineup boasts a mix of proven ranking event winners, former world champions, and players bidding for their maiden titles at this level.
Let’s take a look at the four British Open quarter-finals.
Judd Trump vs Mark Allen
Undoubtedly the tie of the round sees the world number one take on the player who held that coveted position at the start of the 2024/25 season.
Mark Allen reached top spot in the world rankings for the first time in May, but his tenure didn’t last long and Judd Trump quickly usurped him with a terrific burst of form.
The Englishman has already reached two ranking finals this season, winning the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters soon after being beaten in the title-deciding affair of the Xi’an Grand Prix.
Trump’s consistency has been so impressive that he has reached the quarter-final or better of every ranking event he’s participated in during 2024 so far.
Allen, meanwhile, began this week with a scathing assessment of the playing conditions but returned on Thursday to compile a magnificent 147 break against Ben Mertens.
Interestingly, the Northern Irishman boasts a superior head-to-head record against Trump from their prior meetings in all competitions.
That includes a 10-3 triumph over the 35 year-old in the final of last season’s Champion of Champions.
David Gilbert vs Mark Selby
David Gilbert has taken advantage of a relatively kind draw to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the second time this season.
The Englishman has been in good form since making his second World Championship semi-final appearance at the Crucible Theatre.
Gilbert’s two most recent outings in the British Open required all seven frames, a familiar situation for his next opponent in the competition as well.
All three of Mark Selby’s encounters so far this week have gone to a deciding frame, including two that last year’s runner-up has clinched on the final black.
Selby has a stronger head-to-head record against Gilbert but lost 5-4 to his countryman in the Xi’an Grand Prix a couple of months ago.
Elliot Slessor vs John Higgins
John Higgins began this week ranked outside the top 16 in the world for the first time in 29 years.
The 31-time ranking event winner has responded in trademark determined fashion, though, and would immediately return to the elite bracket by reaching the British Open final.
Higgins will certainly be highly fancied to reach the last four when he takes on Elliot Slessor, a player with far less experience at this stage of a tournament.
That being said, Slessor did produce an excellent result on Thursday when he outplayed world champion Kyren Wilson to orchestrate a 4-2 scoreline.
Not boding well for the 30 year-old is a miserable record against Higgins, who he has faced and lost to six times in the past.
Slessor is one of three players left in the tournament who will be hoping to secure ranking event glory for the first time.
Jak Jones vs Oliver Lines
The other two face each other in the remaining quarter-final match on Friday’s British Open schedule.
Jak Jones may be a World Championship finalist, but the Welshman is still searching for that breakthrough moment where he etches his name onto a trophy.
The 31 year-old takes on Oliver Lines for a semi-final berth, the latter who many probably expected would have made his own breakthrough on the tour by now.
Perhaps this is Lines’ week, albeit he has successfully navigated his way through the random draw without having faced any established top players.
Jones and Lines have clashed only once before, back in 2021 when the former prevailed in the first round of the UK Championship.
The quarter-final round for the British Open sees the format increase to the best of nine frames.
2024 British Open
Quarter-Finals schedule
Friday, 1pm UTC+1
David Gilbert vs Mark Selby
Elliot Slessor vs John Higgins
Friday, 7pm UTC+1
Judd Trump vs Mark Allen
Jak Jones vs Oliver Lines
Featured photo credit: WST
