Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby on course to renew fierce rivalry with World Grand Prix clash in New Year
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby are in line to lock horns at the World Grand Prix next month after Selby ended a 19-month wait for a ranking title victory at the English Open in Brentwood on Sunday.
The top 32 on the one-year list qualify for the World Grand Prix following the English Open with Selby seeded fifth for the event and O’Sullivan a lowly 21st despite his status as world champion and world No. 1.
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Selby will meet Noppon Saengkham in the first round with O’Sullivan beginning his title defence against Barry Hawkins with the fierce rivals – boasting 11 world titles between them – scheduled to meet in the second round if they can win their respective opening matches.
O’Sullivan is 16-11 clear on the career head-to-heads.
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The contrast in styles makes for one of the sport’s most fascinating rivalries with the pair regularly swapping barbs.
Top seed Mark Allen faces David Gilbert in his tournament opener in Cheltenham with three-time Grand Prix winner Judd Trump meeting Iran’s Shoot Out champion Hossein Vafaei.
The first two rounds are the best of seven frames with the quarter-finals increasing to the best of nine, the semi-finals the best of 11 and a best-of-19 frame final for the £100,000 first prize.
Selby’s fellow four-time world champion John Higgins and former UK champion Zhao Xintong both failed to qualify on the seasonal one-year list.
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2022 World Grand Prix draw
- Mark Allen (1) v David Gilbert (32)
- Lyu Haotian (17) v Joe O’Connor (16)
- Zhou Yuelong (9) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (24)
- Robert Milkins (25) v Jack Lisowski (8)
- Noppon Saengkham (28) v Mark Selby (5)
- Ronnie O’Sullivan (21) v Barry Hawkins (12)
- Mark Williams (13) v Jamie Jones (20)
- Ding Junhui (4) v Stuart Bingham (29)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
- Kyren Wilson (3) v Robbie Williams (30)
- Shaun Murphy (14) v Ali Carter (19)
- Sam Craigie (22) v Tom Ford (11)
- Gary Wilson (6) v Anthony McGill (27)
- Luca Brecel (7) v Joe Perry (26)
- Hossein Vafaei (23) v Judd Trump (10)
- Xiao Guodong (18) v Neil Robertson (15)
- Ricky Walden (31) v Ryan Day (2)
– – –
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