| Tournament Name: | 2024 Wuhan Open |
| Location: | Wuhan |
| Country: | China |
| Organisation: | World Snooker Tour |
| Format: | Ranking event |
| Total Prize Fund: | £700,000 |
| Winners Share: | £140,000 |
| Highest Break: | (147) |
| Score: | 107 |
| Previous: | 2023 |
The 2024 Wuhan Open (officially the 2024 Optics Valley of China Wuhan Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 6 to 12 October 2024 at the China Optics Valley Convention & Exhibition Center (COVCEC) in Wuhan, China. The sixth ranking event of the 202425 season, it followed the 2024 British Open and preceded the 2024 Northern Ireland Open. The winner received £140,000 from a total prize fund of £700,000.
Qualifiers took place from 28 to 30 July 2024 at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. Qualifying matches featuring the defending champion (Judd Trump); the reigning World Champion (Kyren Wilson); the two highest ranked Chinese players (Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda); four Chinese wildcards (Cai Wei, Wang Xinbo, Zhou Jinhao, and Huang Hao); and Mark Joyce were held over and played in Wuhan.
Trump won the inaugural 2023 event, defeating Ali Carter 107 in the final,[1] but he failed to defend his title, losing 26 in the semifinals to Si Jiahui. Xiao Guodong won the tournament, defeating Si 107 in the final to claim the first ranking title of his career. The tournament produced 114 century breaks, with 32 made during the qualifying stage and 82 during the main stage. Si made the tournament's highest break, compiling his first maximum break in professional competition during his semifinal match with Trump.
The tournament, the second edition of the Wuhan Open, took place from 6 to 12 October 2024 at the China Optics Valley Convention & Exhibition Center (COVCEC)[2] in Wuhan, China.[3] It was the sixth ranking event of the 202425 season, following the 2024 British Open and preceding the 2024 Northern Ireland Open.
All matches up to and including the quarterfinals were the best of nine . The semifinals were the best of 11 frames, and the final was the best of 19 frames, played over two .[4]
The qualifying matches were broadcast by the WST Facebook page, by Discovery+ in Europe, and by Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[5] The main stage of the event was broadcast by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland); by the CBSAWPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, CBSAWPBSA Academy Douyin and Huya Live in China; by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; by True Sport in Thailand; by TAP in the Philippines; and by Sportcast in Taiwan. It was available from Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[6]
The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:
The sixth seed Mark Selby was knocked out in qualifying by Long Zehuang, despite making of 135 and 130. Long took the last four for a 54 victory.[7] Ali Carter came back from 02 down to defeat Wang Yuchen 53, and Duane Jones beat the fourth seed Luca Brecel 54.[8] Neil Robertson Ken Doherty, and Marco Fu defeated Zhou Yuelong 51.[9]
The held over qualifying matches were played on 6 October as the best of 9 frames.[10] Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew and was replaced by Mark Joyce. David Gilbert also withdrew but was not replaced and so Wang Xinbo was given a walkover to the last 64.[11] Joyce defeated Mitchell Mann 52. Kyren Wilson beat Liam Davies 51, and Ding Junhui beat Robbie McGuigan 52.[12]
The last 64 matches were played on 6 and 7 October as the best of 9 frames. Mark Allen withdrew and so Jamie Clarke was given a walkover to the last 32.[13] Jackson Page beat Neil Robertson 51, and Stan Moody beat Ryan Day 54.[14] Ali Carter beat Mark Davis 54, and Marco Fu beat Louis Heathcote 51. Anthony McGill beat Mostafa Dorgham 54 and Judd Trump beat He Guoqiang 52. Amateur player Mark Joyce beat Sanderson Lam 52. Kyren Wilson whitewashed Aaron Hill and Hossein Vafaei defeated Jordan Brown 53.[15] John Higgins beat Fan Zhengyi 54, Shaun Murphy defeated Anthony Hamilton 53, and Ding Junhui whitewashed Xu Si.[16]
The last 32 matches were played on 8 October as the best of 9 frames. In the afternoon, Xiao Guodong defeated Kyren Wilson 54, Ali Carter beat Marco Fu 53, Shaun Murphy beat Noppon Saengkham 53, and Long Zehuang whitewashed Jackson Page.[17] In the evening session, amateur player Mark Joyce whitewashed Robbie Williams. Judd Trump beat Anthony McGill 52, Ding Junhui defeated Yuan Sijun 52, and Jack Lisowski beat Jak Jones 51.[18]
The last 16 matches were played on 9 October as the best of 9 frames. In the afternoon session Judd Trump beat John Higgins 52, Jack Lisowski whitewashed Wu Yize, Long Zehuang beat Ben Woollaston 53, and Shaun Murphy defeated Ali Carter 54.[19] In the evening session Chris Wakelin beat Ding Junhui 53, making three backtoback century breaks. Zhang Anda recovered from 03 down to defeat amateur Mark Joyce 54 on a in the . Si Jiahui beat Duane Jones 52, and Xiao Guodong defeated Barry Hawkins 52.[20] [21]
The quarter-finals were played on 10 October as the best of 9 frames. In the afternoon session Xiao Guodong beat Shaun Murphy 51, making three backtoback century breaks. After the match Xiao said: "It's great that two Chinese players have reached the semifinals in a Chinese event, guaranteeing a spot in the final for one of us. Congratulations to Long Zehuang." Long beat Jack Lisowski 51. Long said: "I didn't expect this scoreline, or to make it to the semifinals. I feel like I had a bit of luck. My performance was normal, but in snooker, sometimes you need that bit of luck."[22] In the evening session Si Jiahui defeated Zhang Anda 53. After the match Si said: "Both of us were a bit nervous for the whole game. We both really wanted to win. I've played him [Zhang] a few times before and have lost every time." Judd Trump beat Chris Wakelin 54. Trump said: "It was frustrating at times and especially in that last frame, where it looked like he [Wakelin] was going to a couple of balls and end up winning."[23]
The semi-finals were played on 11 October as the best of 11 frames. In the afternoon session Xiao Guodong recovered from 14 down to take five frames in a row and beat Long Zehuang 64. After the match Xiao said: "I'm really happy to make it to the final. Long Zehuang played well today too. Before 41 down, he put me under a lot of pressure. Long has only been a professional for two years and I think he has a lot of potential."[24] In the evening session Si Jiahui defeated the defending champion Judd Trump 62, making the first maximum break of his professional career in the fourth frame and two other century breaks. Si said: "This time I kept a calm mindset playing against Judd [Trump]. I've lost a lot of matches whilst making 60+ breaks against him before, so I didn't think too much about beating him. I just focused on learning from him and playing my own game. Today, I didn't feel much pressure, so I played very smoothly." Trump said: "This is the best performance there has been against me, by quite far. Apart from maybe John Higgins and the odd Ronnie [O'Sullivan] performance, this is as well as you can play. He wasn't even touching the, everything was going in clean. It was like an exhibition game for him at the end. He was enjoying it so much and would have wanted to stay out there all night."[25] [26]
The final was played on 12 October as the best of 19 frames, played over two . Si Jiahui played Xiao Guodong in only the third allChinese ranking final, after the 2013 Shanghai Masters and the 2022 German Masters. At the end of the afternoon session Xiao led Si 63 with both players making a century break.[27] Xiao went on to win the match 107. After the match Xiao said: "Si played very well today and we had a high quality final. Having two Chinese players reaching the final on home soil, the crowd were incredibly enthusiastic. Si's comeback in the last few frames made me quite nervous. This title goes to me for now, but he'll have plenty of opportunities in the future." Si said: "I was a bit nervous in the final, but I have no regrets. I played well enough. It's a bit of a pity, but it's okay. I'll come back next time and aim to win my first title."[28] [29]
The draw for the tournament is shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, and players in bold denote match winners.[30]
Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walkover
| Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Peggy Li , Wuhan, China, 12 October 2024 | |||
| Si Jiahui | 710 | Xiao Guodong | |
| Afternoon: 7121, 1774, 1288 (109), 4957, 5254, 6451, 850, 0133 (129), 5473 Evening: 082, 11720 (109), 13113 (113), 1697, 7624, 1316 (131), 830, 4678 | |||
| (frame 15) 131 | Highest break | 129 (frame 8) | |
| 3 | Century breaks | 2 | |
Qualification for the tournament took place from 28 to 30 July 2024 at the Leicester Arena in Leicester. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, and players in bold denote match winners.[31] [32]
Qualifying matches featuring the defending champion (Judd Trump); the reigning World Champion (Kyren Wilson); the two highest ranked Chinese players (Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda); four Chinese wildcards (Cai Wei, Wang Xinbo, Zhou Jinhao, and Huang Hao); and Mark Joyce were held over and played in Wuhan. The results of the held over matches played on 6 October were as follows:[33]
Note: w/d=withdrawn; w/o=walkover
The results of the qualifying matches played in Leicester were as follows:
A total of 82 century breaks were made during the main stage of the tournament in Wuhan.[34]
A total of 32 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament in Leicester.[36]