The top 32 money-earners from this season’s ranking tournaments are in the draw for the 2023 World Grand Prix, which begins on Monday.
The Masters has just ended, with Judd Trump defeating Mark Williams to win his second title at Alexandra Palace, but it’s on to the Centaur in Cheltenham for the next week of racing.
The World Snooker Tour website and all promotional materials for the event make no mention of struggling car vendor Cazoo.
The same may be stated for the next two legs of this series of ranking events, whose fields are determined by a one-year ranking list.
The World Grand Prix, Players Championship, and Tour Championship tournaments are now referred to as the Players Series rather than the Cazoo Series, as they were a year earlier.
It’s not ideal that the title sponsor has reportedly been lost without any public mention despite being touted as a multi-year deal in 2021, nor that the WST currently relies on Cazoo – who has recently been pruning its sport’s portfolio – as a title sponsor for all three Triple Crown events.
It also doesn’t explain why a viable alternative for what appear to be lucrative events on the calendar has yet to be developed.
In any case, the World Grand Prix continues, so let’s go over all of the pertinent information ahead of this week’s action.
More options are available for viewers worldwide, which you may see:
The World Grand Prix will be shown live on ITV Sport throughout the week, with Eurosport and Discovery+ also airing the event outside of the United Kingdom.
When World Grand Prix 2023:
The World Grand Prix 2023 will take place from January 16 to 22.
The Centaur Arena in Cheltenham will host the event, which was previously hosted in Coventry.
The event was last held in Cheltenham in February 2020, when Robertson defeated Graeme Dott 10-8 in the final.
FIRST ROUND
UK TIME**
Monday, January 16
19:00
- Mark Allen (1) v David Gilbert (32)
- Zhou Yuelong (9) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (24)
Evening session
- Robert Milkins (25) v Jack Lisowski (8)
- Mark Williams (13) v Jamie Jones (20)
Tuesday, January 17
13:00
- Xiao Guodong (18) v Neil Robertson (15)
- Ricky Walden (31) v Ryan Day (2)
Afternoon session
- Noppon Saengkham (28) v Mark Selby (5)
- Ding Junhui (4) v Stuart Bingham (29)
19:00
- Ronnie O’Sullivan (21) v Barry Hawkins (12)
- Lyu Haotian (17) v Joe O’Connor (16)
Evening session
- Kyren Wilson (3) v Robbie Williams (30)
- Hossein Vafaei (23) v Judd Trump (10)
Wednesday January 18
13:00
- Shaun Murphy (14) v Ali Carter (19)
- Sam Craigie (22) v Tom Ford (11)
Afternoon session
- Gary Wilson (6) v Anthony McGill (27)
- Luca Brecel (7) v Joe Perry (26)
SECOND ROUND
Wednesday January 18
20:00
- Mark Allen (1) / David Gilbert (32) v Lyu Haotian (17) / Joe O’Connor (16)
- Zhou Yuelong (9) / Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (24) v Robert Milkins (25) / Jack Lisowski (8)
- Noppon Saengkham (28) / Mark Selby (5) v Ronnie O’Sullivan (21) / Barry Hawkins (12)
- Mark Williams (13) / Jamie Jones (20) v Ding Junhui (4) / Stuart Bingham (29)
Thursday January 19
14:00
- Gary Wilson (6) / Anthony McGill (27) v Shaun Murphy (14) / Ali Carter (19)
- Sam Craigie (22) / Tom Ford (11) v Gary Wilson (6) / Anthony McGill (27)
- Luca Brecel (7) / Joe Perry (26) v Hossein Vafaei (23) / Judd Trump (10)
- Xiao Guodong (18) / Neil Robertson (15) v Ricky Walden (31) / Ryan Day (2)
Prize, history, and format World Grand Prix 2023:
The World Grand Prix has been a ranking event since 2016, and it has been on the calendar since 2015.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is the current champion, having won the final 10-8 over Neil Robertson just over a year ago.
Robertson, Shaun Murphy, and Barry Hawkins have all won the event once, while O’Sullivan has won it twice.
On the other hand, Judd Trump is a three-time champion, most recently in 2020 when the tournament was held behind closed doors in Milton Keynes.
Numerous locations have been used, but the tournament returns to Cheltenham this year after being held at the Centaur in 2019 and 2020.
The grand prize is £100,000, and the format is a straight knockout, with the first two rounds lasting seven frames, the quarter-finals nine, the semi-finals eleven, and the final lasting 19 frames.
The 2023 World Grand Prix draw:
The World Grand Prix draw is determined by the rank order from this season’s performances in ranking tournaments, thanks to a simple seeding mechanism.
Mark Allen is the top seed, having earned the most money since the start of the 2022/23 season. Therefore the Northern Irishman will meet the player ranked 32nd, David Gilbert.
It means that some of the players you’d expect to see as higher seeds are really in the centre of the pack and will be facing off against each other earlier than usual.
Read More: Australian Open 2023: Schedule, draw, how to watch free, seeds, live streaming everything 1st grand slam
O’Sullivan opens his defence against fellow top-16 challenger Hawkins, while Trump looks to build on his Master’s victory when he faces Hossein Vafaei.
On the other hand, Williams will be hoping to rebound from his final defeat to Trump at the Ally Pally in his all-Welsh encounter with Jamie Jones.
Former world number one Ding Junhui faces 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham in one of the first-round ties.
Last 32
Q1
- Mark Allen (1) vs David Gilbert (32)
(Mon, 7pm) - Lyu Haotian (17) vs Joe O’Connor (16)
(Tues, 7pm) - Zhou Yuelong (9) vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (24)
(Mon, 7pm) - Robert Milkins (25) vs Jack Lisowski (8)
(Mon, est. 9pm)
Q2
- Noppon Saengkham (28) vs Mark Selby (5)
(Tues, est. 3pm) - Ronnie O’Sullivan (21) vs Barry Hawkins (12)
(Tues, 7pm) - Mark Williams (13) vs Jamie Jones (20)
(Tues, 1pm) - Ding Junhui (4) vs Stuart Bingham (29)
(Tues, est. 3pm)
Q3
- Kyren Wilson (3) vs Robbie Williams (30)
(Tues, est. 9pm) - Shaun Murphy (14) vs Ali Carter (19)
(Wed, 1pm) - Sam Craigie (22) vs Tom Ford (11)
(Wed, 1pm) - Gary Wilson (6) vs Anthony McGill (27)
(Wed, est. 3pm)
Q4
- Luca Brecel (7) vs Joe Perry (26)
(Wed, est. 3pm) - Hossein Vafaei (23) vs Judd Trump (10)
(Tues, est. 9pm) - Xiao Guodong (18) vs Neil Robertson (15)
(Mon, est. 9pm) - Ricky Walden (31) vs Ryan Day (2)
(Tues, 1pm)
