Barry Hawkins, Stuart Bingham and Stephen Maguire book trip to Xi'an Grand Prix with dominant qualifying wins as Hossein Vafaei crashes out
Published 03/09/2025 at 20:21 GMT+1
The final day of qualifying for next month's Xi'an Grand Prix concluded at Leicester's Mattioli Arena on Wednesday with Barry Hawkins, Stephen Maguire and Stuart Bingham among the players booking their trip to China. The ranking event will be held between October 7-13 - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - with Kyren Wilson defending the trophy and a £177,000 first prize on the line.
Watch extraordinary moment Brecel quits mid-match at Xi'an Grand Prix
Video credit: TNT Sports
Barry Hawkins produced some blistering scoring form to overwhelm Hatem Yassen 5-0 in qualifying for the Xi'an Grand Prix in Leicester.
The world No. 12 compiled breaks of 121, 134, 58, 57 and 93 against the Cairo cueist to set up a last-64 meeting with David Grace at the Qujiang Sports Complex next month.
There was also a 5-2 win for Stephen Maguire over women's world champion Bai Yulu, who returned to action following her triumph at the UK Championship on Sunday.
Bai produced a brilliant 93 break in the fifth frame, but it was Maguire who closed out the victory boosted by breaks of 51, 85 and 58. The Scot will meet Robbie Williams in the last 64.
Stuart Bingham, world champion a decade ago in 2015, also advanced to the second round with a 5-2 win over Duane Jones that included an 82 and 66. Bingham will next face another Englishman, Matthew Selt.
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Watch in full as Zhou makes 147 in Xi'an Grand Prix qualifying
Video credit: TNT Sports
But there was no joy for Hossein Vafaei, who has been struggling with a neck issue, as he lost 5-0 to world No. 125 Jiang Jun in a shock exit, while 1997 world champion Ken Doherty was dumped out 5-1 by Daniel Wells.
Elsewhere, Marco Fu raced to a 5-1 win over Sanderson Lam with breaks of 106, 99 and 71, boasting an average shot time of only 13.7 seconds.
Ronnie O'Sullivan will take on 19-year-old Ukrainian Iulian Boiko in the first round at the finals venue in China, a ranking tournament he described as having "a beautiful atmosphere" last year.
The tournament will be staged between October 7 and 13, live on TNT Sports and discovery+, with Kyren Wilson defending the trophy after his 10-8 win over world No. 1 Judd Trump in the inaugural final last August.
- Brecel reveals why he quit Xi'an Grand Prix in similar style to O'Sullivan's infamous UK walkout
- Allen survives scare in Xi'an Grand Prix qualifiers as Selby and Carter coast through
2025 Xi'an Grand Prix qualifying results
- Stuart Bingham 5-2 Duane Jones
- Jackson Page 5-3 Sahil Nayyar
- Ryan Day 5-4 Ross Muir
- Daniel Wells 5-1 Ken Doherty
- Scott Donaldson 5-1 Robbie McGuigan
- Marco Fu 5-1 Sanderson Lam
- Wang Yuchen 5-3 Pang Junxu
- Aaron Hill 5-2 Liu Wenwei
- Stephen Maguire 5-2 Bai Yulu
- Mark Davis 5-1 Reanne Evans
- Jimmy Robertson 5-2 Cheung Ka Wai
- Jiang Jun 5-0 Hossein Vafaei
- Barry Hawkins 5-0 Hatem Yassen
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Stream the new snooker season, including the 2025 Xi'an Grand Prix, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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