McGill Progresses as Highfield Produces Stunning 147 in British Open Qualifiers
The qualifying rounds of the 2026 Unibet British Open have come to an end, with Anthony McGill, Liam Highfield and a host of leading names securing their places in the televised stages, which begin in Cheltenham on Monday 31 August.
McGill Returns to Cheltenham
Last year’s runner-up Anthony McGill safely negotiated his opening hurdle with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Joe O’Connor.
The Scot, who reached the 2025 final before finishing runner-up to Shaun Murphy, produced an excellent scoring display with breaks of 115, 84, 68, 67, 54 and 53 to earn his return to Cheltenham.
Highfield Produces Career-First Maximum
The standout moment of qualifying belonged to England’s Liam Highfield, who compiled the first professional 147 break of his career during a 4-1 victory over Stephen Maguire.
The maximum came in the opening frame of the match and was the 245th officially recognised maximum break in professional snooker. It also became the fourth 147 of the 2026/27 season, following maximums from Michael Holt, Si Jiahui and Chang Bingyu.
Big Names Secure Their Places
Several established stars safely progressed through qualifying, including Ali Carter, Ricky Walden, Jack Lisowski, Zhang Anda, Lei Peifan, Elliot Slessor, Noppon Saengkham and former World Championship semi-finalist Anthony McGill.
Welsh players enjoyed a successful qualifying campaign, with Daniel Wells, Jamie Jones, Liam Davies, Jak Jones, Matthew Stevens, Jamie Clarke, Jackson Page and amateur Duane Jones all booking their places in the main venue.
China’s Bai Yulu recorded her first victory of the season with a 4-1 win over Sahil Nayyar, while Yao Pengcheng continued his impressive early-season form by defeating Ng On Yee 4-2.
Qualifying Results
24 July
- Liam Highfield 4-1 Stephen Maguire (147 maximum break)
- Liam Davies 4-2 Craig Steadman
- Sean O’Sullivan 4-1 Jimmy White
- Lei Peifan 4-1 Hammad Miah
- Ali Carter 4-0 Stuart Carrington
- He Guoqiang 4-0 Robbie Williams
- Bai Yulu 4-1 Sahil Nayyar
- Mitchell Mann 4-3 Louis Heathcote
- Noppon Saengkham 4-2 Ashley Hugill
- Elliot Slessor 4-1 Julien Leclercq
- Liu Yang 4-1 Andrew Higginson
- Aaron Hill 4-2 Panchaya Channoi
- Ross Muir w/o Tom Ford
- Lyu Haotian 4-2 Yuan Sijun
- Michael Holt 4-3 Cheung Ka Wai
- Stan Moody 4-0 Paul Norris
- Duane Jones 4-0 Alexander Ursenbacher
- Chang Bingyu 4-0 Stuart Bingham
- Gong Chenzhi 4-3 Xu Si
- Phil O’Kane 4-2 Connor Benzey
- Jak Jones 4-3 Matthew Selt
- Xu Yichen 4-3 Oliver Lines
- David Grace 4-1 Michal Szubarczyk
- Ben Mertens 4-1 Zhao Hanyang
23 July
- Ishpreet Singh Chadha 4-3 Allan Taylor
- Daniel Wells 4-2 Liam Pullen
- Chatchapong Nasa 4-3 Ryan Day
- Zak Surety 4-1 Huang Jiahao
- Jamie Jones 4-1 Oliver Sykes
- Fan Zhengyi 4-1 Ben Woollaston
- Yao Pengcheng 4-2 Ng On Yee
- Steven Hallworth 4-2 Marco Fu
- Jordan Brown 4-1 Liu Wenwei
- Long Zehuang 4-1 Leone Crowley
- Mahmoud El Hareedy 4-1 Lan Yuhao
- T. Tirapongpaiboon 4-0 Gao Yang
- Joshua Thomond 4-3 Sam Craigie
- Iulian Boiko 4-3 Luo Zetao
- Zhang Anda 4-2 Alfie Burden
- Ricky Walden 4-1 Gary Wilson
- Jackson Page 4-1 Fergal Quinn
- Artemijs Zizins 4-0 Michael Larkov
- Liam Graham 4-3 Martin O’Donnell
- Jimmy Robertson 4-3 Zhou Yuelong
- Anthony McGill 4-3 Joe O’Connor
- Matthew Stevens 4-2 Antoni Kowalski
- Jamie Clarke 4-3 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
- Jack Lisowski 4-1 Scott Donaldson
Attention Turns to Cheltenham
With qualifying now complete, the focus shifts to The Centaur, Cheltenham, where the main stages of the 2026 Unibet British Open get underway on Monday 31 August. The world’s leading players will battle it out for the prestigious title in one of snooker’s most popular ranking events, with another week of top-quality action in prospect.
