2023 British Open Explained

Tournament Name:	2023 Cazoo British Open
Venue:	The Centaur
Location:	Cheltenham
Country:	England
Organisation:	World Snooker Tour
Format:	Ranking event
Total Prize Fund:	£478,000
Winners Share:	£100,000
Highest Break:	(140)
Score:	10–7
Previous:	2022
Next:	2024

The 2023 British Open (officially the 2023 Cazoo British Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 25 September to 1 October 2023 at the Centaur in Cheltenham, England.^[1] Qualifying took place from 14 to 19 August at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. The third ranking tournament of the 2023–24 snooker season, it followed the 2023 European Masters and preceded the 2023 English Open. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by car retailer Cazoo,^[2] it was broadcast domestically in the UK by ITV Sport, in Europe by Eurosport, and internationally by other broadcasters. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £478,000.

The defending champion was Ryan Day, who defeated Mark Allen 10–7 in the 2022 final,^[3] but he lost 2–4 to Ali Carter in the last 32.^[4] Mark Williams defeated Mark Selby 10–7 in the final to win his third British Open title and his 25th ranking title.^{[5] [6]} Aged 48 years and 194 days, he became the second-oldest player to win a ranking event, behind Ray Reardon, who won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament aged 50 years and 14 days.^[7]

The event's main stage produced 51 century breaks and the qualifying round produced 11 centuries. Xiao Guodong made the tournament's highest break, a 140 in his quarter-final match against Tom Ford.^{[8] [9]}

Format

The draw was randomised after each round. After the first round, the draw was made by Alan McManus and Rob Walker on live TV. All matches before the quarter-final stage were played as the best of seven frames, while the quarter-finals were best of nine frames, the semi-finals best of 11 frames, and the final best of 19 frames. The winner received the Clive Everton trophy^[10] and secured a place in the upcoming Champion of Champions tournament.^[11]

The event was broadcast by ITV Sport in the United Kingdom, by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe; by Liaoning TV, Migu, Youku, and Huya Live in China; by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; by TrueVision in Thailand; by Premier Sports Network in the Philippines; and by Fastsports in Pakistan. It was available from Matchroom Sport in all other territories.^[12]

Prize fund

The winner of the event received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £478,000. The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:

• Winner: £100,000
• Runner-up: £45,000
• Semi-final: £20,000
• Quarter-final: £12,000
• Last 16: £8,000
• Last 32: £5,000
• Last 64: £3,000
• Highest break: £5,000

• Total: £478,000

Summary

World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew from the tournament for medical reasons and was replaced in the draw by Steven Hallworth.^[13]

Qualifying round

Qualifying for the tournament took place from 14 to 19 August 2023 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England, although qualifiers featuring the defending champion and the top 15 players in the snooker world rankings were held over and played in Cheltenham.^[14] The highest break made during the Leicester qualifiers was a 136 by Daniel Wells.^[15]

Early rounds

The reigning world champion Luca Brecel lost 3–4 to Ding Junhui in their held-over qualifying match. This meant that Brecel was unable to overtake Ronnie O'Sullivan as the world number one.^[16] Mark Allen, who defeated Anthony McGill 4–1, would have overtaken O'Sullivan had he won the tournament,^[17] but he was whitewashed 0–4 by Kyren Wilson in his first-round match.^[18]

Also in the first round, world number four Judd Trump lost 3–4 to world number 113 Hammad Miah,^{[19] [20] [21]} while world number six Neil Robertson lost 1–4 to world number 30 Si Jiahui.^[22] World number nine John Higgins was beaten 1–4 by world number 47 Robbie Williams,^[23] and world number 22 Stuart Bingham was defeated 2–4 by world number 105 Ishpreet Singh Chadha.

Later rounds

In the last 16, Mark Selby defeated David Gilbert 4–3 in a match that ended just before 00:45 BST. Gilbert lost the decider when he went in-off on the final black ball. Williams defeated Ding 4–2.^{[24] [25]}

In the quarter-finals, Williams defeated Fan Zhengyi 5–1, making two centuries. Hossein Vafaei lost the first two frames against He Guoqiang but went on to win five consecutive frames, making two centuries, for a 5–2 win. Selby defeated Jack Lisowski 5–4. Xiao Guodong defeated Tom Ford 5–3, making the tournament's highest break of 140 in the final frame.^{[26] [27] [28] [29]}

In the semi-finals, Williams defeated Vafaei 6–3 and Selby whitewashed Xiao 6–0, making a 123 break in the fourth frame.^{[30] [31] [32]}

Final

The final was played over the best of 19 frames between Williams and Selby. In the afternoon session, Williams made two century breaks as he won five of the first six frames. Selby won the last two frames of the session, reducing Williams's lead to 5–3.^[33] After the first four frames of the evening session, Williams maintained his two-frame lead at 7–5. Williams took the 13th frame, but Selby won the 54-minute 14th frame and also took the 15th with a 68 break to trail by one at 8–7. Selby led by 56 points in the 16th frame, but Williams, who had not potted a ball for 39 minutes, made a 69 clearance to move one from victory at 9–7. In the 17th frame, Williams required a snooker but got the foul points he required and won the frame on the black, clinching the match 10–7. It was Williams's third British Open title—having previously won the tournament in 1997 and 2021—and his 25th ranking title. Aged 48 years and 194 days, he surpassed 2022 Welsh Open champion Joe Perry to become the second-oldest winner of a ranking title. Ray Reardon remained the oldest ranking winner, having won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament at age 50. "I never expected I could still get to finals at 48 and win, playing someone like Mark Selby", Williams commented.

Main draw

Match winners are shown in bold.

Round 1

The random draw for the last 64 was made on 24 August.^[34]
Matches were best of seven frames.

September 26 morning session

• 4–0
• 4–0
• 1–4
• 4–0

September 26 afternoon session

• 3–4
• 2–4
• 3–4
• 2–4
• 4–0
• 4–2
• 0–4
• 1–4

September 26 evening session

• 1–4
• 3–4
• 2–4
• 4–3
• 4–1
• 0–4
• 4–3
• 4–3

September 27 morning session

• 4–1
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 4–3

September 27 afternoon session

• 2–4
• 4–1
• 1–4
• 4–2
• 4–3
• 3–4
• 4–0
• 4–2

Round 2

The random draw for the last 32 was made on 26 September.
Matches were best of seven frames.

September 27 evening session

• 2–4
• 2–4
• 3–4
• 4–3
• 2–4
• 4–0
• 1–4
• 4–0

September 28 afternoon session

• 4–1
• 1–4
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 4–2
• 1–4
• 4–2
• 4–0

Round 3

The random draw for the last 16 was made on 27 September.^[35]
Matches were best of seven frames.

September 28 evening session

• 2–4
• 2–4
• 2–4
• 4–1
• 3–4
• 3–4
• 4–2
• 1–4

Quarter-finals

The random draw for the quarter-finals was made on 28 September.^[36]
Matches were best of nine frames.

September 29 afternoon session

• 2–5
• 5–1

September 29 evening session

• 5–4
• 3–5

Semi-finals

The random draw for the semi-finals was made on 28 September.^[37]
Matches were best of eleven frames.

September 30 afternoon session

• 3–6

September 30 evening session

• 0–6

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Tatiana Woollaston The Centaur, Cheltenham, England, 1 October 2023
Mark Williams	10–7	Mark Selby
Afternoon: 66–59, 131–4 (110), 100–5, 30–102, 74–39, 133–0 (133), 6–121, 0–79 Evening: 6–112 (112), 66–1, 30–73, 97–51, 91–0, 36–82, 0–81, 69–56, 59–54
(frame 6) 133	Highest break	112 (frame 9)
2	Century breaks	1

Qualifying

The qualification matches are shown below. Match winners are shown in bold.

Cheltenham

The results of the held over matches played in Cheltenham on 25 September were as follows:^{[38] [39] [40]}

Afternoon session

• 4–3
• 2–4
• 2–4
• 4–3
• 4–1
• 1–4
• 1–4
• 4–1

Evening session

• 0–4
• 2–4
• 4–1
• 0–4
• 3–4
• 4–1
• 4–1
• 0–4

Leicester

The results of the qualifying matches played in Leicester were as follows:

14 August

• 1–4
• 4–2
• 1–4
• 2–4
• 1–4
• 2–4
• 2–4
• 4–1

15 August

• 4–3
• 4–0
• 4–3
• 4–0
• 4–1
• 0–4
• 1–4
• 1–4

16 August

• 4–3
• 1–4
• 1–4
• 1–4
• 1–4
• 4–3
• 4–2
• 4–1

17 August

• 4–3
• 4–3
• 1–4
• 2–4
• 4–1
• 2–4
• 3–4
• 4–2

18 August

• 1–4
• 4–1
• 4–2
• 4–1
• 0–4
• 3–4
• 2–4
• 2–4

19 August

• 4–0
• 3–4
• 4–2
• 4–0
• 4–0
• 4–0
• 4–2
• 4–0

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

A total of 51 century breaks were made during the main stage of the tournament in Cheltenham.

• 140 Xiao Guodong
• 138, 133, 128, 110, 109 Mark Williams
• 135, 134, 125, 120, 116, 107, 106 Hossein Vafaei
• 133, 132, 108, 102, 101, 100 Jack Lisowski
• 132, 123, 112, 110 Mark Selby
• 126, 101 Hammad Miah
• 125, 124, 116 Judd Trump
• 125 Graeme Dott
• 123, 109 He Guoqiang
• 123 Ding Junhui
• 121, 112, 104 Kyren Wilson
• 118 Robbie Williams
• 117 Liu Hongyu
• 116 John Higgins
• 114 Barry Hawkins
• 111, 111 Shaun Murphy
• 111 Zak Surety
• 107 Si Jiahui
• 107 Ali Carter
• 105 Long Zehuang
• 105 Joe O'Connor
• 105 David Gilbert
• 104 Wu Yize
• 103 Oliver Lines
• 102 Tian Pengfei
• 100 Jimmy Robertson

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 11 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage in Leicester.

• 136, 115 Daniel Wells
• 135 Stephen Maguire
• 134 Robbie Williams
• 129, 119 Zhang Anda
• 122 Julien Leclercq
• 114 Martin Gould
• 105 Zhou Yuelong
• 101 Ben Mertens
• 101 Rory Thor

External links

• World Snooker Tour – Home

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cazoo British Open . 18 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210518223054/https://wst.tv/tournaments/british-open/ . dead . 18 May 2021 . . 9 August 2023 .
2. Web site: Cazoo British Open . snooker.org . 9 August 2023 .
3. News: 2 October 2023 . Welshman Day beats Allen to win British Open . en-GB . . 2 October 2023.
4. News: Ronnie O'Sullivan to remain world No. 1 as Ryan Day's British Open snooker title defence ends in defeat. 28 September 2023. Eurosport.
5. News: Mark Williams beats Mark Selby 10-7 to win title for a third time . 1 October 2023 . . 2 October 2023.
6. Web site: Wonderful Williams claims gold in Cheltenham . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002014731/https://wst.tv/wonderful-williams-claims-gold-in-cheltenham/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 2 October 2023 . . 2 October 2023.
7. Web site: 2 October 2023 . Mark Williams joins Ray Reardon in snooker golden list as Mark Selby salutes British Open winner – 'He's amazing' . 2 October 2023 . Eurosport.
8. Web site: Centuries: British Open qualifiers 11 . snookerinfo.co.uk . 5 July 2024 . 5 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240705064711/https://snookerinfo.co.uk/2023-24-centuries/#british-open-qualifiers-11 . live.
9. Web site: Centuries: British Open 51 . snookerinfo.co.uk . 5 July 2024 . 5 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240705124139/https://snookerinfo.co.uk/2023-24-centuries/#british-open-51 . live.
10. Web site: British Open trophy named after Clive Everton . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921121610/https://wst.tv/british-open-trophy-named-after-clive-everton/ . dead . 21 September 2022 . . 21 September 2022 . 1 October 2023.
11. Web site: Cazoo British Open round two draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20230923110253/https://wst.tv/cazoo-british-open-round-two-draw/ . dead . 23 September 2023 . 24 August 2023 . . 20 September 2023 .
12. Web site: 25 September 2023 . How to watch the Cazoo British Open . https://web.archive.org/web/20230926064125/https://wst.tv/how-to-watch-the-cazoo-british-open-2/ . dead . 26 September 2023 . 2 October 2023 . World Snooker Tour.
13. Web site: O'Sullivan withdraws from Cazoo British Open . https://web.archive.org/web/20230928115808/https://wst.tv/osullivan-withdraws-from-cazoo-british-open/ . dead . 28 September 2023 . 21 September 2023 . . 21 September 2023 .
14. Web site: British Open Qualifiers . snooker.org . 9 August 2023 .
15. Web site: Jordan Brown v Daniel Wells . 18 August 2023 . . 20 August 2023 . 16 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231116123120/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://scores.wst.tv/matches/f8eee6fe-07a7-493d-a9e8-2dccffa60f12.
16. News: World champion Brecel's number one hopes halted by Ding defeat at British Open. 25 September 2023. BBC Sport. 26 September 2023.
17. Web site: Pistol remains in the hunt as Bullet drops out. https://web.archive.org/web/20230926064122/https://wst.tv/pistol-remains-in-the-hunt-as-bullet-drops-out/. dead. 26 September 2023. 25 September 2023. World Snooker Tour. 26 September 2023.
18. Web site: Singh scores huge win over Bingham. https://web.archive.org/web/20230928061817/https://wst.tv/singh-scores-huge-win-over-bingham/. dead. 28 September 2023. 27 September 2023 . World Snooker Tour. 28 September 2023.
19. Web site: Trump v Miah . 26 September 2023 . . 26 September 2023 . 16 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231116123505/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://scores.wst.tv/matches/c1d2b1d8-a49e-4a32-8a60-b169c0800396.
20. News: Hammad Miah shocks former world champion Judd Trump to reach third round in Cheltenham. 26 September 2023. BBC Sport. 27 September 2023.
21. Web site: Marvellous Miah Stuns Trump. https://web.archive.org/web/20230927055052/https://wst.tv/marvellous-miah-stuns-trump/. dead. 27 September 2023. 26 September 2023. World Snooker Tour. 27 September 2023.
22. Web site: Si v Robertson . 26 September 2023 . . 26 September 2023 . 16 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231116123543/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://scores.wst.tv/matches/93c38fa0-8f76-435b-95be-67780742951b.
23. News: John Higgins and Mark Allen latest big names to be knocked out. 27 September 2023. BBC Sport. 28 September 2023.
24. Web site: Selby through after cruel blow for Gilbert . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002014726/https://wst.tv/selby-through-after-cruel-blow-for-gilbert/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 29 September 2023 . . 29 September 2023.
25. News: Mark Williams beats Ding Junhui to reach quarter-finals . 29 September 2023 . . 29 September 2023.
26. Web site: Wonderful Williams blows Fan away . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002032512/https://wst.tv/wonderful-williams-blows-fan-away/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 29 September 2023 . . 29 September 2023.
27. News: Mark Williams and Mark Selby through to semi-finals . 29 September 2023 . . 30 September 2023.
28. Web site: Selby pips Lisowski in thriller . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002032509/https://wst.tv/selby-pips-lisowski-in-thriller/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 30 September 2023 . . 30 September 2023.
29. Web site: Tom Ford v Xiao Guodong . 29 September 2023 . . 30 September 2023 . 16 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231116232324/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://scores.wst.tv/matches/7940b60c-5df6-4d4c-ab54-bdad83b9cd8f.
30. Web site: Williams reaches landmark final . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002032508/https://wst.tv/williams-reaches-landmark-final/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 30 September 2023 . . 30 September 2023.
31. News: Mark Williams beats Hossein Vafaei to set up final against Mark Selby . 30 September 2023 . . 1 October 2023.
32. Web site: Selby sets up Williams showdown . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002014731/https://wst.tv/selby-sets-up-williams-showdown/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 30 September 2023 . . 1 October 2023.
33. Web site: Williams builds Cheltenham advantage . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002014730/https://wst.tv/williams-builds-cheltenham-advantage/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 1 October 2023 . . 1 October 2023.
34. Web site: Cazoo British Open match schedule . https://web.archive.org/web/20230926064126/https://wst.tv/cazoo-british-open-match-schedule/ . dead . 26 September 2023 . 22 September 2023 . . 22 September 2023 .
35. Web site: Cazoo British Open last-16 draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20230927191239/https://wst.tv/cazoo-british-open-last-16-draw/ . dead . 27 September 2023 . 27 September 2023 . . 27 September 2023.
36. Web site: Cazoo British Open quarter-final draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002014731/https://wst.tv/cazoo-british-open-quarter-final-draw/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 28 September 2023 . . 28 September 2023.
37. Web site: Cazoo British Open quarter and semi-final draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20231002014731/https://wst.tv/cazoo-british-open-quarter-final-draw/ . dead . 2 October 2023 . 28 September 2023 . . 28 September 2023.
38. Web site: Cazoo British Open 2023 Qualifiers draw sheet . 10 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230728144436/https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/DrawSheet_Cazoo_British_Open_2023_Qualifiers.pdf . dead . 28 July 2023 . . 10 August 2023 .
39. Web site: Cazoo British Open 2023 Qualifiers format of play . 10 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230728144438/https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/British_Open_Qualifier_2023_v4.pdf . dead . 28 July 2023 . . 10 August 2023 .
40. Web site: Blockbuster line-up on opening day of Cazoo British Open . https://web.archive.org/web/20230815054950/https://wst.tv/blockbuster-line-up-on-opening-day-of-cazoo-british-open/ . dead . 15 August 2023 . 14 August 2023 . . 15 August 2023 .