Copyright scotsman
The British Open - the fifth ranking tournament of the season - has now reached its penultimate day. Scottish players John Higgins and Anthony McGill are both through to the semi finals - while fellow countrymen Scott Donaldson and Ross Muir have sadly fallen by the wayside. Higgins got there yesterday with an impressive 5-2 win over English player Louis Heathcote, while McGill enjoyed a 5-3 win over Stan Moody. The Scottish pair will now play against each other for a place in the final. First held as a ranking tournament in 1985, the British Open disappeared from the professional snooker schedule in 2005, before returning in the 2021/2022 season. Mark Selby was triumphant last year, beating John Higgins 10-5 in the final, and is back to defend his title - having also reached the quarter finals. Meanwhile John Higgins is still in the hunt for another win to tie Steve Davis’ record of five titles. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s happening today at this year’s event. The British Open is held from September 22-28 at the Centaur Arena. 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 at the Leicester Arena between June 25-28, 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). Here’s who is playing today in their semi final matches - and when. There’s a total prize pot of £502,000 up for grabs, broken down as follows: Here’s how the competition will play out: Ronnie O’Sullivan withdrew from the tournament for medical reasons and was replaced in the draw by Daniel Womersley. Luca Brecel and Tom Ford also sat the tournament out and were replaced respectively by Ashley Carty and Alfie Davies. Here are all the completed matches, and the scores. In 2022 the tournament trophy was renamed the Clive Everton Trophy in tribute to the popular commentator and longtime editor of Snooker Scene magazine. ITV have the broadcast rights to the tournament and will be providing live coverage on ITV4. Who is favourite to win the British Open Snooker? Shaun Murphy is now the 12/5 favourite, followed by John Higgins (11/4), Mark Selby (16/5), and Anthony McGill (6/1).
