The ultimate spherical of qualifying for the 2026 China Open produced loads of drama because the 16 profitable gamers secured their locations on the venue phases.
One of many standout outcomes on Sunday got here from rising Chinese language star Chang Bingyu, who continued his current progress with a commanding 6-1 victory over Jack Lisowski.
Chang has lengthy been considered one of many brightest prospects from China’s manufacturing line of expertise, the 23 year-old reaching the Scottish Open remaining throughout a powerful final marketing campaign.
There was additionally a one-sided consequence within the conflict between former world champions Stuart Bingham and Luca Brecel, in the meantime.
Bingham produced a dominant efficiency in Leicester to whitewash the Belgian 6-0 and comfortably seal qualification for Taiyuan.
For Brecel, it represents one other disappointing consequence throughout what has been a protracted troublesome interval.
The 2023 Crucible king has slipped alarmingly down the rankings and is positioned across the prime 64 cut-off level within the provisional end-of-season standings.
The result of the final spherical arguably belonged to Tom Ford, who accomplished a outstanding struggle again to disclaim Liam Highfield.
Ford trailed 5-0 and appeared destined for elimination earlier than reeling off six consecutive frames to grab a surprising 6-5 victory.
The competition was dramatically settled on the ultimate black within the deciding body.
Aaron Hill additionally demonstrated large resilience. the Irishman recovering from 4-0 down towards Gary Wilson earlier than edging it in one other decider.
Elsewhere, Jiang Jun orchestrated a 6-4 success towards Jimmy Robertson, whereas Pang Junxu overcame fellow Chinese language competitor Fan Zhengyi by the identical scoreline.
Hossein Vafaei brushed apart David Lilley 6-1, Zhang Anda defeated Daniel Wells 6-4, and Noppon Saengkham comfortably accounted for Elliot Slessor 6-1.
Jackson Web page beat Yuan Sijun 6-3, Anthony McGill dispatched Joe O’Connor 6-2, and Matthew Selt edged Ali Carter 6-5 in one other shut encounter.
Zhou Yuelong ended newbie Chen Ruifu’s spectacular run with a 6-3 victory, Liu Hongyu thrashed Iulian Boiko 6-0, David Gilbert defeated Xu Si 6-2, and Yao Pengcheng accomplished the line-up of qualifiers by overcoming He Guoqiang 6-2.
The venue phases for the this 12 months’s China Open – again on the calendar for the primary time since 2019 – will happen from August 8 to 16.
The 16 qualifiers be a part of the highest 16 seeds from the official world rankings in the principle draw.
2026 China Open qualifiers outcomes
Spherical 1 (Final 144)
Zhao Hanyang w/o Xu Jiarui
Deng Haohui 6-0 Zhou Yichen
Sahil Nayyar 6-1 Liu Yang
Daniel Womersley 6-2 Mahmoud El Hareedy
Peter Traces 6-3 Bai Yulu
Duane Jones 6-5 Alexander Ursenbacher
Hammad Miah 6-2 Michael Larkov
Huang Jiahao 6-3 Connor Benzey
Simon Blackwell 6-3 Mateusz Baranowski
Jamie Clarke 6-4 Anton Kazakov
Oliver Brown 6-3 Nattanapong Chaikul
Gong Chenzhi 6-5 Artemijs Zizins
Julien Leclercq 6-4 Ashley Hugill
Florian Nüßle 6-2 Allan Taylor
Ashley Carty 6-0 Stuart Carrington
Ross Muir 6-3 Cheung Ka Wai
Oliver Sykes 6-1 Liu Wenwei
Mark Joyce 6-3 Wang Xinbo
Jimmy White 6-2 Sean O’Sullivan
Antoni Kowalski 6-4 Paul Norris
T Tirapongpaiboon 6-3 Joshua Thomond
Chatchapong Nasa 6-5 Liam Davies
Wang Yuhang 6-1 Phil O’Kane
Andrew Higginson 6-4 Leone Crowley
Mitchell Mann 6-5 Liam Graham
Chen Ruifu 6-4 Panchaya Channoi
Zhang Yang 6-3 Fergal Quinn
Craig Steadman 6-3 George Pragnell
Alfie Burden 6-0 Patrick Whelan
Ryan Thomerson 6-4 Ng On Yee
Robert Milkins 6-4 Luo Zetao
Reanne Evans 6-4 Alfie Davies
Spherical 2 (Final 112)
Xu Yichen 6-4 Zhao Hanyang
Matthew Stevens 6-2 Deng Haohui
Jiang Jun 6-1 Sahil Nayyar
Jordan Brown 6-1 Daniel Womersley
Fan Zhengyi 6-4 Peter Traces
Dylan Emery 6-1 Duane Jones
Hammad Miah 6-4 Robbie Williams
Steven Hallworth 6-0 Huang Jiahao
Ian Burns 6-1 Simon Blackwell
Jamie Clarke 6-4 Oliver Traces
Marco Fu 6-1 Oliver Brown
David Lilley 6-4 Gong Chenzhi
Lyu Haotian 6-3 Julien Leclercq
Liam Highfield 6-2 Florian Nüßle
Martin O’Donnell 6-3 Ashley Carty
Ross Muir 6-5 Michal Szubarczyk
Lan Yuhao 6-2 Oliver Sykes
Michael Holt 6-1 Mark Joyce
Louis Heathcote 6-2 Jimmy White
Ben Mertens 6-2 Antoni Kowalski
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 6-2 T Tirapongpaiboon
Sam Craigie 6-2 Chatchapong Nasa
Ricky Walden 6-4 Wang Yuhang
Gao Yang 6-2 Andrew Higginson
Mitchell Mann 6-2 David Grace
Chen Ruifu 6-5 Scott Donaldson
Iulian Boiko 6-1 Zhang Yang
Liu Hongyu 6-1 Craig Steadman
Jamie Jones 6-1 Alfie Burden
Liam Pullen 6-5 Ryan Thomerson
Lengthy Zehuang 6-3 Robert Milkins
Yao Pengcheng 6-1 Reanne Evans
Spherical 3 (Final 80)
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Xu Yichen
Chang Bingyu 6-4 Matthew Stevens
Jiang Jun 6-3 Jak Jones
Jimmy Robertson 6-4 Jordan Brown
Fan Zhengyi 6-3 Stan Moody
Pang Junxu 6-0 Dylan Emery
Aaron Hill 6-1 Hammad Miah
Gary Wilson 6-2 Steven Hallworth
Stuart Bingham 6-4 Ian Burns
Luca Brecel 6-5 Jamie Clarke
Hossein Vafaei 6-3 Marco Fu
David Lilley 6-4 Ryan Day
Tom Ford 6-3 Lyu Haotian
Liam Highfield 6-1 Stephen Maguire
Daniel Wells 6-3 Martin O’Donnell
Zhang Anda 6-2 Ross Muir
Elliot Slessor 6-3 Lan Yuhao
Noppon Saengkham 6-3 Michael Holt
Yuan Sijun 6-5 Louis Heathcote
Jackson Web page 6-4 Ben Mertens
Anthony McGill 6-2 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Joe O’Connor 6-1 Sam Craigie
Matthew Selt 6-2 Ricky Walden
Ali Carter 6-4 Gao Yang
Zhou Yuelong 6-3 Mitchell Mann
Chen Ruifu 6-1 Zak Surety
Iulian Boiko 6-2 Lei Peifan
Liu Hongyu 6-2 Ben Woollaston
Xu Si 6-1 Jamie Jones
David Gilbert 6-4 Liam Pullen
He Guoqiang 6-1 Lengthy Zehuang
Yao Pengcheng 6-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Spherical 4 (Final 48)
Chang Bingyu 6-1 Jack Lisowski
Jiang Jun 6-4 Jimmy Robertson
Pang Junxu 6-4 Fan Zhengyi
Aaron Hill 6-5 Gary Wilson
Stuart Bingham 6-0 Luca Brecel
Hossein Vafaei 6-1 David Lilley
Tom Ford 6-5 Liam Highfield
Zhang Anda 6-4 Daniel Wells
Noppon Saengkham 6-1 Elliot Slessor
Jackson Web page 6-3 Yuan Sijun
Anthony McGill 6-2 Joe O’Connor
Matthew Selt 6-5 Ali Carter
Zhou Yuelong 6-3 Chen Ruifu
Liu Hongyu 6-0 Iulian Boiko
David Gilbert 6-2 Xu Si
Yao Pengcheng 6-2 He Guoqiang
Featured photograph credit score: WST
