| Tournament Name: | 2024 Spreadex World Grand Prix |
| Venue: | Leicester Arena |
| Location: | Leicester |
| Country: | England |
| Organisation: | World Snooker Tour |
| Format: | Ranking event |
| Total Prize Fund: | £380,000 |
| Winners Share: | £100,000 |
| Highest Break: | (145) |
| Score: | 107 |
| Previous: | 2023 |
The 2024 World Grand Prix (officially the 2024 Spreadex World Grand Prix) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 to 21 January 2024 at the Leicester Arena, England.[1] The eleventh ranking event of the 202324 season, following the Scottish Open and preceding the German Masters, it was the first of three events in the Players Series, preceding the Players Championship and the Tour Championship. Organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by betting company Spreadex, the event was broadcast by ITV domestically, by Eurosport in Europe, and by other broadcasters worldwide. The winner received £100,000 from a total prize fund of £380,000.
The event featured the top 32 players in the oneyear ranking list as it stood after the 2023 Scottish Open. Mark Allen was the defending champion, having defeated Judd Trump 109 in the previous final, but he lost 24 to Zhang Anda in the last 16. Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Trump 107 in the final to capture his third World Grand Prix title, and a record-extending 41st ranking title.
The event took place from 15 to 21 January 2024 at the Leicester Arena, United Kingdom.[2] It featured the top 32 players in the oneyear ranking list as it stood after the 2023 Scottish Open.
The last-32 and last-16 matches were played as the best of seven frames; the quarter-finals were the best of nine frames; the semi-finals were the best of 11 frames, and the final was the best of 19 frames, played over two . The defending champion was Northern Irish player Mark Allen, who won his first World Grand Prix title in 2023, defeating England's Judd Trump 109 in the final.[3]
The event was broadcast by ITV in the UK; Discovery+ and Eurosport in Europe (including the UK and Ireland); CCTV-5, Migu, Youku, and Huya in mainland China; DAZN in the US and Brazil; Now TV in Hong Kong; Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; TrueVisions in Thailand; Sportcast in Taiwan; Premier Sports Network in the Philippines; Fastsports in Pakistan; and Matchroom.live in all other territories.[4]
Unlike other events where the defending champion is seeded first, the reigning World Champion second, and the rest based on the world rankings, the qualification and seedings in the Players Series tournaments are determined by the one-year ranking list. The below list shows the top 32 players with the most ranking points acquired during the 202324 season, as of after the Scottish Open:[5] [6]
| Seed | Player | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | data-sort-value="Trump" | align=right | 406,000 | ||
| 2 | data-sort-value="O'Sullivan" | align=right | 306,500 | ||
| 3 | data-sort-value="Zhang" | align=right | 260,500 | ||
| 4 | data-sort-value="Williams" | align=right | 173,000 | ||
| 5 | data-sort-value="Hawkins" | align=right | 159,500 | ||
| 6 | data-sort-value="Ding" | align=right | 150,000 | ||
| 7 | data-sort-value="Ford" | align=right | 139,500 | ||
| 8 | data-sort-value="Carter" | align=right | 117,000 | ||
| 9 | data-sort-value="Selby" | align=right | 113,500 | ||
| 10 | data-sort-value="Wilson" | align=right | 104,000 | ||
| 11 | data-sort-value="Saengkham" | align=right | 89,000 | ||
| 12 | data-sort-value="Higgins" | align=right | 89,000 | ||
| 13 | data-sort-value="Vafaei" | align=right | 89,000 | ||
| 14 | data-sort-value="Allen" | align=right | 88,500 | ||
| 15 | data-sort-value="Zhou" | align=right | 81,000 | ||
| 16 | data-sort-value="Lyu" | align=right | 79,500 |
| Seed | Player | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | data-sort-value="Wakelin" | align=right | 79,000 | ||
| 18 | data-sort-value="Maguire" | align=right | 60,000 | ||
| 19 | data-sort-value="Lisowski" | align=right | 59,500 | ||
| 20 | data-sort-value="Selt" | align=right | 58,000 | ||
| 21 | data-sort-value="Murphy" | align=right | 56,500 | ||
| 22 | data-sort-value="Xiao" | align=right | 56,500 | ||
| 23 | data-sort-value="Gilbert" | align=right | 53,000 | ||
| 24 | data-sort-value="Yuan" | align=right | 50,500 | ||
| 25 | data-sort-value="Wu" | align=right | 50,000 | ||
| 26 | data-sort-value="Brown" | align=right | 49,500 | ||
| 27 | data-sort-value="Walden" | align=right | 48,000 | ||
| 28 | data-sort-value="Cao" | align=right | 48,000 | ||
| 29 | data-sort-value="Un-Nooh" | align=right | 45,000 | ||
| 30 | data-sort-value="Dale" | align=right | 44,000 | ||
| 31 | data-sort-value="Pang" | align=right | 43,500 | ||
| 32 | data-sort-value="Jones" | align=right | 42,000 |
The event featured a total prize fund of £380,000, with the winner receiving £100,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
The first round matches were played from 15 to 17 January. Cao Yupeng, seeded 28, defeated fifth seed Barry Hawkins 43. Shaun Murphy, seeded 21, 12th seed John Higgins 40 in a match that lasted only 41 minutes, with Murphy making a century break of 145 in the first .[7] Despite having problems with deteriorating eyesight, 48 year old Mark Williams beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 43, making a 134 in the third frame.[8] Mark Allen made three century breaks of 103, 110, and 108 in defeating Jack Lisowski 42.[9]
The second round matches were played from 17 to 18 January. Judd Trump whitewashed Lyu Haotian 40, setting up a quarter final meeting with Mark Selby who defeated Ali Carter 43. There was also a 40 whitewash victory for Cao over Murphy.[10] Zhang Anda defeated defending champion Allen 42, setting up a meeting with Ding Junhui in the quarter finals, after Ding beat Noppon Saengkham 41. Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Zhou Yuelong 43.[11]
The quarter-finals were played from 18 to 19 January. In a dominant performance, Trump defeated Selby 51, making a 119 break in the fourth frame. Cao beat Williams 54 and O'Sullivan defeated Gary Wilson 51 making a 129 break in the third frame. Ding beat Zhang 52.[12] [13]
The semi-finals were played from 19 to 20 January. In the first semi-final, Trump beat Cao 62, making a 106 break in the second frame.[14] [15] In the second semi-final O'Sullivan defeated Ding 61 in only 1 hour and 12 minutes, making four centuries of 135, 128, 128, and 124.[16] [17] [18]
The final was played over two between Trump and O'Sullivan on 21 January as the best of 19 frames. In the afternoon session, Trump won four frames in a row to lead 40 at the mid-session interval. O'Sullivan took the next two frames, making a 60 break in the sixth, to narrow the score to 42, and then to 53 at the end of the session. Trump made a break of 66 to win the opening frame of the evening session, advancing to 63. However, O'Sullivan won six consecutive frames, making breaks of 58, 74, 52, and 51, to lead by 96. Trump closed in to 97 by winning the 16th frame, but O'Sullivan took the next with a break of 52 to capture a 107 victory, claiming his third World Grand Prix title, and a record-extending 41st ranking title.[19] [20]
The draw for the tournament is shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seedings, and players in bold denote match winners. The last-32 and last-16 matches were played as the best of seven frames; the quarter-finals were the best of nine frames; the semi-finals were the best of 11 frames, and the final was the best of 19 frames, played over two .[21] [22]
| Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Olivier Marteel Leicester Arena, England, 21 January 2024 | |||
| Judd Trump | 7–10 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | |
| Afternoon: 74–0, 102–1, 72–52, 85–15, 18–85, 15–114, 102–28, 33–96 Evening: 81–45, 12–114, 0–74, 57–64, 0–87, 48–58, 62–72, 112–0, 40–79 | |||
| (frame 1) 74 | Highest break | 74 (frame 11) | |
| 0 | Century breaks | 0 | |
A total of 30 century breaks were made in the tournament.[23]