Feature image: antique cues and ivory billiard balls — HazelMaher / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The amateurs came to play.
Day one of the BetVictor Scottish Open qualifiers at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena delivered the kind of results that make the round-of-128 worth watching: two unranked invitees dumped ranked tour professionals, a Polish qualifier edged a seeded Scot on a decider, and several Chinese and European names banked clean advances into Tuesday’s last 96.
Scottish Open quals — Day 1 scoreboard
Best-of-seven throughout. Completed round-of-128 results from Sunday (per snooker.org):
- Chatchapong Nasa 4–1 Allan Taylor
- Gong Chenzhi 4–3 Sahil Nayyar
- Dylan Emery 4–1 Ashley Hugill
- Florian Nüßle 4–3 Deng Haohui
- Alexander Ursenbacher 4–0 Panchaya Channoi
- Jack Borwick (a) 4–1 Ross Muir
- Steven Wardropper (a) 4–3 Xu Yichen
- Yao Pengcheng 4–2 Hammad Miah
- Mitchell Mann 4–2 Stuart Carrington
- Iulian Boiko 4–2 Mahmoud El Hareedy
- Antoni Kowalski 4–3 Sam Craigie
Oliver Brown vs Michael Larkov was still live when the evening session tipped over; the late table (Szubarczyk–Cheung, Gao–Huang, Hallworth–Burden, Carty–Awad) was due on after 19:00 BST.
The headline shocks sit with the amateurs. Borwick’s 4–1 dismantling of Scotland’s Ross Muir, and Wardropper’s deciding-frame win over China’s Xu Yichen, book them awkward Tuesday dates — Stan Moody and Jordan Brown respectively — but both have already paid for their train tickets.
Elsewhere, Ursenbacher’s whitewash of Thailand’s Channoi was the day’s cleanest sheet. Gong and Nüßle both needed a seventh frame. Kowalski’s 4–3 over Sam Craigie sets up a Tuesday tilt with Aaron Hill.
Where to watch
Coverage is on WST Play globally (outside China), with HBO Max and Huya among the regional feeds. Qualifiers run through Wednesday; the Edinburgh venue stage (Meadowbank, Stephen Hendry Trophy) is December 14–20.
Monday to watch in Leicester
- Reanne Evans vs Oliver Sykes (10:00)
- Marco Fu vs Ng On Yee (13:00)
- Liam Graham vs Bai Yulu (16:00)
- Leone Crowley vs Jimmy White (19:00)
India — Najeeb books Snooker 900 UK berth
Away from the ranking tables, Bengaluru’s Shaik Najeeb Ahmed won the inaugural Snooker 900 India Qualifier (15–18 September), beating Aarav Sancheti in the final of a 32-player field at Heyball Academy. The 30-year-old earns a fully supported place at the UK championship at Crucible Reading (16–18 November), with matches due live on Pluto TV. Snooker 900’s format — 15-minute frames, a 20-second shot clock, best of five with a blue-ball shootout — is a deliberate change of tempo from traditional matchplay; Ahmed’s win is India’s first officially sanctioned pathway into that UK TV slot.
Asia desks still humming
In Tokyo, the Japan Open’s men’s knockout day at Billiard Rosa was tasked with cutting the field to the final 16 for Monday’s New Pia Hall showpiece (men’s 10-ball; women’s 9-ball finals the same day). In Ho Chi Minh City, the Iwan Simonis WPA Men’s 10-Ball World Championship rolls on at Phu Tho Indoor Stadium through 26 September — live scoring via CueScore / Pro Billiard Series — after home favourite Dương Quốc Hoàng opened with a 2–0 winners-side win over Finland’s Arseni Sevastyanov.
Bottom line
Leicester already has its storyline: amateurs who refuse to make up the numbers, a Polish qualifier who took a Scot’s scalp, and a Monday card that puts Jimmy White and Marco Fu under the lights. India’s Snooker 900 pathway, meanwhile, just put a Bengaluru name on a November UK TV slate. More frames tomorrow.
