SNOOKER is heading back to Yushan for the first time since 2019 as the World Open returns TOMORROW.
The competition had not been played for the last three seasons because of Covid-19 pandemic.
Judd Trump is the defending champion from 2019 but a cast of snooker stars – including Ronnie O’Sullivan – will be bidding to take his crown and the impressive prize money on offer.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 World Open.
The World Open starts on Monday, March 18, 2024 and runs every day until the final on Sunday, March 24, 2024.
The ranking event is held at the Yushan Sports Centre in Yushan, China, with qualification matches having taken place earlier this year at the Barnsley Metrodome in January.
The tournament is a straight knockout, with 64 players battling for the top prize.
There are 32 seeded players with some players still needing to complete their qualification in held-over matches that will also take place on March 18.
Sessions in the early rounds take place at 6.30am and 11.30am UK time – 2.30pm and 7.30pm local.
The World Open will be shown on Eurosport 1 in the UK, while it can be also be streamed on Discovery+.
Alternatively, viewers can stream it live via the matchroom.live website/app, which has daily/monthly/annual subscriptions.
A day pass costs £1.99 and the monthly pass costs £5.99, while the annual subscription is £49.99.
SunSport will also be live blogging the latter part of the tournament.
Many of the world’s top players have already qualified for the World Open, with Ronnie O’Sullivan confirming this will be one of two tournaments he plays in before the World Championships in mid-April – the other being the Tour Championship in Manchester.
The Rocket is scheduled to play Welsh world No 62 Michael White in the first round.
Former world champions John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Graeme Dott and Mark Selby have also qualified – Selby is already into the second round after Adam Duffy withdrew.
Defending world champion Luca Brecel, current world No 1 Judd Trump and Chinese superstar Ding Junhui all have to play in a qualification match but are expected to progress far in the competition.
This is the order of play heading into the tournament, the later rounds will be determined once players start progressing in the competition.
Monday, March 18
Qualifying
First Round
Tuesday, March 18
First Round
Wednesday, March 19 to Sunday, March 24
TBC
The World Open is one of the richest ranking events of the season and has a total prize pot of £815,000 and the winner banking £170,000.
The breakdown is as follows:
