Snooker is coming back to Cheltenham soon; tickets are still on sale and under-16s can be there for just £8!
The world’s greatest cue kings will be at the British Open from 31st August until 6th September in the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse. It’s a historic event which was first staged back in 1985 and is now recognised as one of the highlights of the sport’s global calendar.
Shaun Murphy lifted the trophy last year, coming through a star-studded field which included the likes of Judd Trump, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and the new Chinese superstars Zhao Xintong and Wu Yize. The whole event – which has a unique random draw for every round - is televised live on Channel 5.
Shaun Murphy will take on Reanne Evans when he starts the defence of his Unibet British Open title in Cheltenham, with the first round draw for the event now available. Murphy beat Anthony McGill in the final last year and will aim to win the Clive Everton Trophy again at the world ranking event which runs from 31st August to 6th September at the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse.
The tournament has a random draw which means that star names can go head-to-head from the opening round. Most round one matches will take place in a qualifying event on 23rd and 24th July in Leicester, but fixtures involving the top 16 seeds have been held over to Cheltenham.
They are:
- Defending champion Shaun Murphy v Reanne Evans
- Four-time Crucible king John Higgins v Hossein Vafaei
- World number one Judd Trump v Dylan Emery
- World Champion Wu Yize v Liu Hongyu
- All-time greatest Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mateusz Baranowski
- Mark Williams v David Gilbert
- Zhao Xintong v Oliver Brown
- Neil Robertson v Pang Junxu
- Kyren Wilson v Florian Nuessle
- Mark Allen v Wang Xinbo
- Ding Junhui v Anton Kazakov
- Barry Hawkins v Deng Haohui
- Xiao Guodong v Jiang Jun
- Mark Selby v David Lilley
- Chris Wakelin v Luca Brecel
- Si Jiahui v Ashley Carty
Tickets are available now with adult tickets from £18 and a special offer for under-16s from just £8. Many of snooker's all-time greats will compete on the opening day on Monday 31st August so make sure you are there in person!
The experience for fans at the venue includes free coaching and the chance to learn how to play snooker in Fan Zone, plus of course the amazing atmosphere of the live matches.
