[Discussion Thread] 2024 English Open - 16th to 22nd September

The Home Nations are back for another year! The four tournaments, one in each of the four nations of the United Kingdom, are a staple of the World Snooker Tour, providing local fans an opportunity to see their favourite players compete for trophies named in honour of past players from each nation. First up, its the English Open, which returns to the Brentwood Center, where it has found a home for the last few seasons.

The defending champion is Judd Trump, who managed to stage the most impressive comeback against first-time ranking finalist Zhang Anda (initially 5-1 down, then 7-3 down) to capture a second English Open crowd. The tournament was the first in a hat-trick of consecutive tournaments won by Trump last season. His defence of the title will get underway at the venue in Round 3 against Liu Hongyu, last years' surprise semi-finalist....

You may have spotted that Trump is entering in Round 3, and NOT Round 1, as has been standard with Home Nations events in the past. From this season, the Home Nations events have adopted a tiered format, which means the Top 32 on the seeded world rankings (at the designated cut-off point) begin their quest for the title in Round 3, with everyone else playing in a two-round qualifying format:

• Round One will now see those seeded 65-96 playing against those seeded 97-128.
• Round Two will see those seeded 33-64 playing the Round One winners.
• Round Three will see the Top 32 seeds playing against the designated Round 2 qualifer: this is not a randomised outcome (such as in the UK and World Championships) and is per the draw structure.

Despite the tiered system format being employed, the match lengths have not changed and remain the same as before: the first five rounds -- up to and including the Last 16 -- are a best-of-7. The Quarter-Finals are a best-of-9 frames, the Semis' are a best-of-11 and a 17-frame final will decide the winner of the prestigous Steve Davis trophy.

The host broadcaster is Eurosport. For a full list of broadcasters wherever you are in the world, head to https://www.wst.tv/news/2024/september/09/how-to-watch-the-2024-betvictor-english-open/