British Open Snooker 2024: Draw, prize money, format, trophy and how to watch in the UK

Mark Williams is the British Open defending champion. | Getty Images

The world’s greatest snooker players will be battling it out in Cheltenham.

The British Open is set to get underway on Monday, September 23 - the fifth ranking tournament of the year.

Scottish players John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Graeme Dott and Anthony McGill will all be in action at the event held at the Centaur Arena which is part of the Cheltenham Racecourse complex.

First held as a ranking tournament in 1985, it disappeared from the professional snooker schedule in 2005, before returning in the 2021/2022 season.

Mark Williams was triumphant last year, beating Mark Selby in an exciting 10-7 final, and will be back to defend his title.

Meanwhile John Higgins is looking for a fifth win to tie Steve Davis’ record of five titles.

Here’s everything you need to know.

When is the British Open?

The British Open is held from September 23-29 at the Centaur Arena.

What is the format of the British Open?

The competition is open to all tour card holders, with 128 players entering the first round.

The draw is completely random, meaning there are no seeds and high-ranked players can meet each other at any stage.

Many of the first round matches took place Morningside Arena, Leicester between July 31 and August 1, but those involving the best known players (including the world top 16) are played in the first couple of days of the competition itself before the second round matches.

The first four rounds are the best of seven frames (first to four), with the quarter-finals the best of nine frames (first to five), the semi-finals the best of 11 frames (first to six) and the final the best of 19 frames (first to 10).

What first round matches have already been played in the British Open?

Here are all the completed first round matches, and the scores.

Ryan Day v Louis Heathcote - held over to main venue
Graeme Dott 4-1 Matthew Stevens
Si Jiahui 4-2 David Lilley
Mink Nutcharut 1-4 Liam Graham
Ricky Walden 4-3 Liu Hongyu
Zak Surety 1-4 Ben Mertens
Andrew Pagett 1-4 Neil Robertson
Xiao Guodong 4-2 Huang Jiahao
Jimmy White 0-4 Chris Totten
Noppon Saengkham 4-3 Joe Perry
Alfie Burden 4-3 Andrew Higginson
Dean Young 3-4 Haris Tahir
Matthew Selt 3-4 Ben Woollaston
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 1-4 Jamie Clarke
Oliver Lines 4-3 Lei Peifan
Sunny Akani 4-0 Daniel Womersley
Martin O'Donnell 4-1 Mitchell Mann
Mostafa Dorgham 1-4 Hossein Vafaei
Kok Leong Lim 4-1 Anthony Hamilton
Xu Si 4-2 Ken Doherty
Duane Jones 4-2 Dominic Dale
David Grace 4-2 Jack Lisowski
Artemijs Zizins 3-4 Allan Taylor
Iulian Boiko 4-2 Farakh Ajaib
Joshua Cooper 1-4 Elliot Slessor
Fan Zhengyi 2-4 Zhou Yuelong
Xing Zihao 3-4 Mark Joyce
Stuart Bingham 4-3 He Guoqiang
Michael Holt 4-0 Reanne Evans
Ka Wai Cheung 4-0 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Ma Hailong 4-2 Jimmy Robertson
Simon Blackwell 4-2 Bai Yulu
Joe O'Connor 2-4 Stan Moody
Jamie Jones 2-4 Yuan Sijun
Joshua Thomond 1-4 Marco Fu
Alexander Ursenbacher 1-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Wang Yuchen 2-4 Hammad Miah
Chris Wakelin 4-0 Haydon Pinhey
Baipat Siripaporn 1-4 Wu Yize
David Gilbert 4-0 Dylan Emery
Amir Sarkhosh 3-4 Ashley Carty
Robbie McGuigan 0-4 Mark Davis
Jackson Page 1-4 Robbie Williams
Ahmed Elsayed 2-4 Anton Kazakov
Scott Donaldson 2-4 Tian Pengfei
Antoni Kowalski 4-1 Daniel Wells
Lyu Haotian 4-0 Anthony McGill
Jiang Jun 1-4 Stephen Maguire
Liam Pullen 0-4 Long Zehuang

What’s the schedule for the first day of play at the British Open snooker?

Here’s the order of play for the first found matches on Monday, September 23

1pm start

Mark Williams v Rory Thor
Gong Chenzhi v Tom Ford
Gary Wilson v Mark Allen
Ding Junhui v Aaron Hill

2pm start

Luca Brecel v Mohamed Shebab
Ryan Day v Louis Heathcote
Robert Milkins v Judd Trump
Ross Muir v John Higgins

7pm start

Barry Hawkins v Liam Davies
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Bulcsu Revesz v Ali Carter
Shaun Murphy v Ian Burns

8pm start

Pang Junxu v Mark Selby
Jordan Brown v Zhang Anda
Sanderson Lam v Jak Jones
Kyren Wilson v Julien Leclercq

What’s the prize money for the 2024 British Open Snooker?

The total prize fund is just over £500,000, with the winner receiving a cheque for £100,000, the runner-up getting £45,000, the semi-finalists £20,000 and the quarter-finalists £12,000.

Getting into the last 64 gets you a £3,000 payday, the last 32 £6,000 and the last 16 £9,000.

The player who gets the highest break in the tournament get a £5,000 bonus.

What trophy is awarded at the British Open Snooker?

In 2022 the tournament trophy was renamed the Clive Everton Trophy in tribute to the popular commentator and longtime editor of Snooker Scene magazine.

How can I watch the British Open Snooker?

ITV have the broadcast rights to the tournament and are expected to provide live coverage on ITV4.