British Open 2025 Draw | Selby starts title defence against Grace
Selby claimed his first title in an ITV-televised event at last season’s British Open
Mark Selby will launch his British Open title defence against David Grace at The Centaur in Cheltenham in September.
The Jester ended his 18-month wait for ranking silverware at last year’s tournament, where he beat fellow four-time World champion John Higgins 10-5 in the final.
It was one of three titles won by Selby last season, with the world number seven also triumphing at the Welsh Open and Championship League invitational.
The first match of his British Open title defence will be against former UK Championship semi-finalist Grace who, despite being relegated from the tour last season, regained his place at the first attempt via Q School.
All matches involving seeded players (plus a further two) will be heldover to the main venue in Cheltenham, where a random draw will be conducted at the conclusion of each round.
The pick of the opening-round ties pits three-time champion Mark Williams against Si Jiahui, while another standout clash sees former Crucible king Kyren Wilson take on fellow top-16 player Chris Wakelin.
Neil Robertson plays Tom Ford in another eye-catching showdown, as Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan, who won this event in 1994, take on Aaron Hill and Sanderson Lam respectively.
World champion Zhao Xintong is still awaiting the identity of his opponent, while four-time British Open winner John Higgins goes up against Mark Davis.
Former finalists Mark Allen and Gary Wilson play Jiang Jun and Hossein Vafaei respectively, as Shaun Murphy collides with Ross Muir.
There are more tasty clashes at the Mattioli Arena later this month, including Stephen Maguire’s showdown with Marco Fu.
Ryan Day and Jimmy White are the other two former champions in the draw. Day, who lifted the trophy in 2022, plays former World champion Stuart Bingham, while two-time winner White goes up against Liam Davies.
British Open 2025 | Draw
Kreishh Gurbaxani v Chang Bingyu
Gong Chenzhi v Jak Jones
Noppon Saengkham v Liu Wenwei
Jimmy White v Liam Davies
Martin O’Donnell v Sahil Nayyar
Oliver Lines v TBC
Barry Hawkins v Daniel Wells
TBC v Zhao Xintong
Michal Szubarczyk v TBC
Judd Trump v Aaron Hill
Anthony McGill v Dylan Emery
Luca Brecel v Alexander Ursenbacher
Liam Pullen v Ben Mertens
Wang Yuchen v Mitchell Mann
Sanderson Lam v Ronnie O’Sullivan
Pang Junxu v Wu Yize
Huang Jiahao v Matthew Stevens
Yuan Sijun v Jamie Jones
Tom Ford v Neil Robertson
David Lilley v Liam Graham
Ricky Walden v Joe O’Connor
Chris Totten v Antoni Kowalski
Lan Yuhao v Reanne Evans
Lei Peifan v Mateusz Baranowski
Fan Zhengyi v Robert Milkins
Leone Crowley v Hatem Yassen
Jiang Jun v Mark Allen
Matthew Selt v David Gilbert
Oliver Brown v Xu Yichen
Stan Moody v Zhou Yuelong
Elliot Slessor v Jackson Page
Fergal Quinn v Gao Yang
Kyren Wilson v Chris Wakelin
Marco Fu v Stephen Maguire
He Guoqiang v Farakh Ajaib
David Grace v Mark Selby
Xu Si v Florian Nuessle
Jimmy Robertson v TBC
Ross Muir v Shaun Murphy
Haris Tahir v Ken Doherty
Long Zehuang v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Robbie Williams v Bulcsu Revesz
Ishpreet Singh Chadha v Scott Donaldson
Robbie McGuigan v Lyu Haotian
Mink Nutcharut v Amir Sarkhosh
Xiao Guodong v Haydon Pinhey
Jack Lisowski v Liam Highfield
Mark Williams v Si Jiahui
Zhang Anda v Duane Jones
Connor Benzey v Iulian Boiko
Julien Leclercq v Ben Woollaston
TBC v Ali Carter
Allan Taylor v Chatchapong Nasa
Zak Surety v Zhao Hanyang
Liu Hongyu v On Yee Ng
Jonas Luz v Cheung Ka Wai
Ian Burns v Michael Holt
Ryan Day v Stuart Bingham
Louis Heathcote v Jordan Brown
Yao Pengcheng v Sam Craigie
John Higgins v Mark Davis
Bai Yulu v Artemijs Zizins
Gary Wilson v Hossein Vafaei