After a fierce battle, Ronnie defeated Alfie Burden 5-3 to earn a spot in the tournament.

Yesterday night marked the end of the qualifying for the 2024 World Open. As usual, snooker.org has all of the comprehensive results. After a fierce battle, Ronnie defeated Alfie Burden 5-3 to earn a spot in the tournament.

In terms of results or scores, there weren’t many shocks, however a few notable ones were present:

Jamie Clarke was defeated by Liu Hongyu 5-1. Even though Liu’s skill level is well known, the result is nonetheless unexpected. In the sixth frame, Liu need multiple snookers, at least one on the pink.
After down 4-1, Ryan Day defeated Andrew Higginson 5-4.
Mark Selby was given a nasty shove by novice Xing Zihao, who was only 19 years old.

With a 5-3 victory, Mark made two hundred, including a 130 in frame 5—his 800th career century.
Anthony Hamilton was defeated by Jenson Kendrick 5-3 in a match that included breaks of 50 in all but the first frame. It’s always difficult to defeat the Ants, so I’m happy Jenson is learning something from his professional experience this season. It must have been difficult for him to endure his awful first year, especially because it was his first year as a father. Following his victory this week, he posted a photo of himself and his child on social media.
Xiao Guodong was defeated by Sean O’Sullivan 5-1. Though I didn’t see the match, Xiao scored the lone century of the game within the period.

An excellent outcome for the Indian athlete.
Jack Lisowski was defeated by Lukas Kleckers, 5-2. I’m overjoyed for Lukas and the German supporters who will get to see him perform. It’s best if I say nothing about Jack.
Anthony McGill was defeated by Ashley Hugill 5-1. Ashley is an excellent all-around player, but I can’t help but wonder why Anthony bothers to compete in the qualifiers.
There were also a few extremely tight fights.

Aaron Hill triumphed over Joe O’Connor 5–4.
Joe Perry triumphed 5-4 over Martin O’Donnell.
Himanshu Jain was defeated by Noppon Saengkham 5–4.

Himanshu Jain was defeated by Noppon Saengkham 5–4.
Ben Mertens lost to Ben Woollaston 5–4. It was a difficult battle. I like them both, and during that match, I experienced conflicting emotions!
Mark Davis was defeated by Adam Duffy 5–4. Additionally, I sincerely apologize to Mark’s biggest German fan 😢

In the final match of the day, Scott Donaldson was defeated by David Lilley 5-3. A match that concluded exactly one hour and fifteen minutes after the others. Although both players’ ASTs were over 30 seconds, they frequently had shot times over 45 at the conclusion.

seconds. I apologize, but that is absurd. I get that they are under pressure and that it’s essential to them, but I also think it’s counterproductive to start thinking about every shot for too long. It rarely results in the optimal choice and is cognitively taxing.

Lastly, although…

In order to do exhibits in front of sizable enthusiast audiences in Finland, Mark Williams withdrew from the event. Well done, sir. WST, however, kept it extremely quiet. There was absolutely no commotion, no fancy phrases, no threats to be kicked out of the game. I only learned about it after Iulian Boiko took his place and because images appeared on social media. However, these exhibits clashed with one of the WST events, didn’t they?

The regulating body is lacking consistency in this regard, and one must question why. I don’t want to cause Willo any trouble; perhaps he asked for permission and received it, or perhaps Robin Hull’s involvement with the organization was helpful. However, you are aware of my position, which is that players who work for themselves should be free to accept the best offers; it is WST’s responsibility to make them if they wish to have the best players in their events. It really is that easy. No one should know it better than the hard-bitten capitalist that is Barry Hearn. Still, though… That simply raises further questions for me regarding the true causes of WST’s agitation over the Macau one.