Ronnie O'Sullivan discovers opening opponent at World Grand Prix as Neil Robertson defends title in Hong Kong, full draw details, prize money

The draw has been finalised for the second staging of the World Grand Prix at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Arena in February. The winner earns £180,000 with Neil Robertson defending the title, live on TNT Sports and discovery+. Only the top 32 on the one-year ranking list qualify for the £700,000 event with the top seed facing the No. 32, the second seed facing No. 31, and so on.

Robertson lands historic World Grand Prix final whitewash via stunning long plant

Video credit: TNT Sports

Ronnie O'Sullivan will meet Joe O'Connor in his opening match of the 2026 World Grand Prix at the Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong.

The top 32 on the one-year ranking list qualify for the event, which takes place from February 3-8 and will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+,

Neil Robertson will defend his title, following a crushing 10-0 whitewash win over Stuart Bingham in the final last season.

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Robertson is top seed and will face former Crucible finalist Jak Jones in his tournament opener, with the No. 2 seed Mark Selby taking on Ireland's Aaron Hill, the No. 31 seed.

Sixth seed O'Sullivan, a three-time winner of the tournament, faces O'Connor, who is seeded at No. 27. Their only previous match in a ranking event saw O'Sullivan complete a 5-0 win in the last 32 of the Saudi Arabia Masters in August.

Elsewhere, third seed Shaun Murphy is paired with Pang Junxu, the No. 30 seed, while fourth seed Mark Williams is up against Zhang Anda, the No. 29 seed.

Other confirmed first-round matches will see Wu Yize take on Anthony McGill and Xiao Guodong meet Kyren Wilson, who could face O'Sullivan in the last 16.

Watch Wakelin's wondrous title-winning century break in FULL

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The rest of the draw was finalised after the conclusion of the Scottish Open final between Chris Wakelin and Chang Bingyu in Edinburgh on Sunday, with Wakelin running out a 9-2 winner.

Wakelin moved up to seventh in the seedlings, knocking Judd Trump into eighth spot and setting up the world No. 1 with an opener with Yuan Sijun.

Wakelin will take on Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, while 23-year-old Chang will face Jack Lisowski.

Other eye-catching matches see John Higgins meet world champion Zhao Xintong and Mark Allen up against Ali Carter.

Chang reached his first ranking final with a 6-1 semi-final win over 2018 Scottish Open winner Allen on Saturday night, after Wakelin had edged Matthew Selt 6-4 earlier in the day.

The World Grand Prix is the first of the Players Series, which also includes the Players Championship in Telford - involving the top 16 on the one-year list - and Tour Championship in Manchester, which sees the top 12 qualify.

'What a night!' - Chang reaches first ever ranking final with stunning win over Allen

Video credit: TNT Sports

All the matches at the World Grand Prix are the best of nine frames before two best-of-11 frame semi-finals and a best-of-19 frame final.

Robertson became the first man in history to complete two whitewash wins in major ranking finals with a 10-0 victory over Bingham in the event's maiden staging in Hong Kong.

After drubbing Zhou Yuelong 9-0 to claim the European Masters title in 2020, Robertson produced breaks of 87, 104, 71, 59, 72, 78 and 66 to lead 8-0 last season, before winning the first two frames of the evening session to secure an historic victory.

It was only the second whitewash in a best-of-19 frame final after Steve Davis first achieved the feat in a 10-0 dismissal of Dean Reynolds in the 1989 Grand Prix final.