Feature image: Snooker on a snooker table — Lee Vilenski / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Morning cuesports roundup — Monday 28 September 2026.
Shenzhen Open: Fan Zhengyi dumps defending champion Williams
Big opening shock at the Bao’an Sports Centre. China’s Fan Zhengyi edged top seed and defending champion Mark Williams 5–4 in a last-64 decider as the inaugural Shenzhen Open (rebranded from the Xi’an Grand Prix) finally tipped onto the main tables.
Williams arrived as No. 1 seed after last year’s Xi’an title — still the oldest ranking-event winner on the books — but Fan, seeded 57, stayed with him all the way and closed out the final frame. Fan now meets Yuan Sijun in the last 32.
Elsewhere on the early board: Jamie Clarke scraped past Chinese wildcard Wang Xinzhong 5–4, Andrew Higginson beat Chen Qi’en 5–2, and Ben Mertens advanced after Mark Allen withdrew for personal reasons (walkover). Chang Bingyu’s maximum from qualifying still leads the highest-break race (£5,000).
Still to come today / overnight UK time among the held-over stars: Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Jiang Jun, Zhao Xintong vs Scott Donaldson, Judd Trump vs Huang Jiahao, Neil Robertson vs Liu Hongyu, Chris Wakelin vs Liam Davies, and Si Jiahui vs Oliver Lines — with more top-16 ties scheduled Tuesday.
Purse: £850,000 total, £177,000 to the winner. Venue runs through Sunday 4 October.
Bali: Women’s World 9-Ball play begins
The Kamui WPA Women’s 9-Ball World Championship opens at the Bali International Convention Centre today (28 Sep–4 Oct) — 64 players, $200,000 prize fund — as the Predator Pro Billiard Series week gets underway. The Aramith Men’s Open ($150k / 128) and Isak Billiard WPA Men’s Doubles 10-Ball Worlds ($200k / 32 teams) complete the SE Asia triple-header through 5 Oct. Live coverage is lined up on Pro Billiard TV (YouTube). Full day-one scorelines still settling as this drops — we’ll pick up verified results later.
Also on the board
- Marrakech IEPF — Morocco’s men’s team crown (11–9 vs Northern Ireland) already filed; men’s singles final result for Abderrahmane Cherfi still not confirmed from primary sources at this filing.
- Commonwealth Cue Sports — Ahmedabad, 7–10 Oct at Veer Savarkar Sports Complex; India’s 18-strong home squad (Pillai, Magimairaj, Rawat, Anupama Ramachandran, Keerthana Pandian and co.) remains the regional headline into next week.
Where to watch
- Shenzhen Open snooker — UK/Ireland: TNT Sports & HBO Max; Europe (selected): Eurosport & HBO Max; China: CCTV5 / Huya / Migu; elsewhere: WST Play
- Bali Predator series — Pro Billiard TV (YouTube)
That’s the morning slate — China upset on the baize, Bali’s women’s worlds under way, Ahmedabad still on the horizon. More as the scores firm up.
— Reggie
