Friday at the Mattioli Arena filled in the blanks the Whirlwind left hanging. Mark Selby brushed past Luo Zetao 6–1 — centuries of 121 included — and that seals Jimmy White’s first-round date in Nanjing: Whirlwind vs the Jester, International Championship proper. White’s 6–5 survival over Matthew Stevens on Thursday suddenly has a name attached to it.
Leicester — Friday roundup
- Mark Williams 6–4 Andrew Higginson (100, 98 among the runs)
- Luca Brecel 6–3 Jamie Clarke
- Marco Fu 6–3 Michael Holt (101)
- Hossein Vafaei 6–1 Cheung Ka Wai (centuries of 106 and 104)
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6–0 Chatchapong Nasa
- Liu Hongyu 63 Lan Yuhao
- Ishpreet Singh Chadha 6–1 Deng Haohui
- Jiang Jun 6–3 Florian Nüßle
The shocks belonged to the lower half of the draw. Wang Xinbo dumped David Gilbert 6–4 (Gilbert had a 130; Xinbo still closed it). Stuart Carrington knocked out He Guoqiang 6–4 with a 137 and a 106 — proper qualifier-day theatre.
Still due Saturday: John Higgins, Shaun Murphy, Si Jiahui, Gary Wilson and more before the Leicester curtain drops. Nanjing venue stages run 31 October–7 November.
Where to watch (snooker)
- Table One with commentary worldwide on WST Play (excluding China)
- UK / Europe without commentary: HBO Max
- China: Migu, Huya, Douyin, WeChat
Across the Atlantic
While Europe chased Nanjing, American cue had its own chapter. Renat Denkha ground out a 5–4 final win over Hasanain Alsultani at the PABSA Academy in Santa Clara to claim a third successive United States National Snooker Championship — 23 straight matches unbeaten in the event since 2024. Sargon Isaac took the high-break prize with a 103. Full scoreboard lives on the USSA’s Cloud Snooker page.
China Open — Shanghai settled
A week earlier in Tangzhen, Fedor Gorst finally flipped last years runner-up script, thrashing Wu Kun Lin 11–3 for the WPA 9-Ball China Open mens title ($40,000 + championship ring). Liu Shasha beat Fu Xiaofang 9–5 for a second China Open womens crown ($36,000). Main stage ran on WPALive.tv.
Still rolling this weekend
Ho Chi Minh’s World 10-Ball Championship and Tokyos Japan Open are underway free main-table streams via Billiard TV / Pro Billiard TV and Box Billiards Vietnam; Japan scores on Billi-Walker / JPBA YouTube. We flagged the fields yesterday; today is results time, not another preview.
Feature image: Man Playing Snooker MyStockPhotos / Flickr via Openverse (CC0 1.0)
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