John Higgins v Stan Moody live stream | British Open 2026 preview
Moody eyes a second successive British Open quarter-final appearance (Credit: Every Second Media/Alamy Live News)
John Higgins goes head to head with Stan Moody in a tasty battle of the generations for a place in the British Open quarter-finals.
The standout tie of the round of 16 at The Centaur in Cheltenham on Thursday sees the collision of two players at opposite ends of their career and separated by 31 years.
This will be 51-year-old Higgins’ 234th appearance in the last 16 of a ranking event, and only a seventh for Moody, who turns 20 on September 14.
Both players have an affinity with the British Open. Four-time champion Higgins is the tournament’s most successful player, while Moody reached the quarter-finals here 12 months ago – matching his best performance at a ranking event to date.
Higgins, who won this event in 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004, has dug deep to remain on course for a fifth title.
After opening with a 4-1 victory over Hossein Vafaei, the Wizard has had to navigate deciding-frame finishes against China Open finalist Noppon Saengkham and Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon.
Higgins, who hinted he could hang up his cue in the next couple of years, now look to reach the 159th ranking quarter-final of his wonderful career.
Moody, meanwhile, has endured a mixed start to this season, with the English Open the only other event he has qualified for thus far.
Nevertheless, there is definitely something about this venue that inspires the teenager who, sporting bleached blonde hair this week, opened with a 4-1 win over Yao Pengcheng.
Then, he recovered from 2-0 down to edge out Zhang Anda 4-3 in a deciding frame, during which he made a superb break of 133.
Moody will certainly not be intimidated by Higgins, having beaten him 5-4 in their only previous meeting at the World Open earlier this year. A repeat result would see him through to a third ranking quarter-final of his young career.
The match breaks off at 7pm BST on Thursday and will be contested over the best of seven frames at The Centaur in Cheltenham.
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