The 2025 Wuhan Open (officially the 2025 Optics Valley of China Wuhan Open) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 24 to 30 August 2025 at the Optics Valley Gymnasium, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China. The qualifiers took place from 22 to 24 June at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. The third consecutive edition of the tournament since it was first staged in 2023, it was the third ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and preceding the 2025 English Open. The tournament was broadcast by local channels in China and elsewhere in Asia; by Discovery+ and HBO Max in Europe; by TNT Sports and Discovery+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland; and by WST Play in all other territories. The winner received £140,000 from a total prize fund of £700,000.
Luca Brecel, the 2023 World Champion, failed to appear for his qualifying match in Leicester. Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan, the world numbers three and four, withdrew from the event before the main stage in Wuhan, as did Ryan Day. Xiao Guodong was the defending champion, having defeated Si Jiahui 10–7 in the 2024 final. Xiao retained the title, defeating Gary Wilson 10–9 in the final to win the second ranking tournament of his professional career. The fourth player to retain his maiden ranking title—after John Parrott, Mark Allen, and Gary Wilson—he advanced to a career high of eighth in the world rankings following his win. By reaching the final, Wilson re-entered the top 16, while Shaun Murphy fell out of the top 16 for the first time in 19 years.
The tournament produced 90 century breaks—29 in the qualifiers held in Leicester and 61 at the main stage in Wuhan—of which the highest were two maximum breaks. Xiao made the second maximum of his career during his held-over qualifying match against Mink Nutcharut, and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made the sixth maximum of his career in his last-64 match against Pang Junxu. The maximums were respectively the sixth and seventh of the season and the 223rd and 224th official maximums in professional snooker history.
Overview The tournament was the third consecutive edition of the Wuhan Open, which was first held in 2023. The inaugural champion was Judd Trump, who won the 2023 event with a 10–7 victory over Ali Carter. The defending champion was Xiao Guodong, who won the first ranking tournament of his professional career at the 2024 edition, defeating Si Jiahui 10–7 in the final.
The main stage of the event took place from 24 to 30 August 2025 at the Optics Valley Gymnasium, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in Wuhan, China. Qualifiers were held from 22 to 24 June at the Leicester Arena in Leicester, England. The tournament was the third ranking event of the 2025–26 snooker season, following the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and preceding the 2025 English Open.
Participants The tournament featured a total of 128 entrants, with four places reserved for Chinese wildcard players. Luca Brecel, the 2023 World Champion, did not appear for his qualifying match against Haris Tahir, who received a walkover. Qualifying matches featuring the defending champion Xiao Guodong, the reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong, Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan, the highest ranked Chinese player (Ding Junhui), and the four Chinese wildcards (Tang Hewen, Wang Xinbo, Zhang Hao, and Zhou Jinhao) were held over to be played in Wuhan. O'Sullivan withdrew for medical reasons and was replaced in the draw by the German amateur Umut Dikme, the highest ranked player from the Q School Order of Merit. Neil Robertson and Ryan Day won their qualifying matches in Leicester but subsequently withdrew from the main stage in Wuhan. Their respective opponents, Reanne Evans and Jack Lisowski, received walkovers to the last 32.
Format All matches up to and including the quarter-finals were played as the best of nine . The semi-finals were the best of 11 frames, and the final was the best of 19 frames, played over two .
Broadcasters The qualifying round was broadcast domestically in mainland China by the CBSAWPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSAWPBSA Academy Douyin, Huya Live and . In the rest of the world, qualifying was streamed for free by WST Play. The same broadcasters carried the main stage of the tournament in mainland China. The main stage was broadcast by TNT Sports and Discovery+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland; by Discovery+ in Germany, Italy, and Austria and by HBO Max in other European territories; by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia & Brunei; by TrueSports in Thailand; and by Sportcast in Taiwan. In territories where no other coverage was available, it was streamed by WST Play.
Prize fund The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:
Winner: £140,000 Runner-up: £63,000 Semi-final: £30,000 Quarter-final: £16,000 Last 16: £12,000 Last 32: £8,000 Last 64: £4,500 Highest break: £5,000
Total: £700,000
Summary
Qualifiers In the qualifiers held at the Leicester Arena from 22 to 24 June 2025, Class of '92 players Mark Williams and John Higgins, both of whom had recently turned 50, began their 34th professional season with wins. Williams recorded a whitewash over Chatchapong Nasa while Higgins defeated Huang Jiahao 5–2. Reanne Evans, a 12-time World Women's Champion, trailed David Lilley, a former World Seniors Champion, by two at 1–3, but she recovered to win the match in a . The previous year's runner-up, Si Jiahui, defeated Bulcsú Révész 5–2. Joe O'Connor and Elliot Slessor both recovered from 2–4 behind to beat their respective opponents, Jiang Jun and Oliver Lines, in deciding frames, with Slessor winning his decider on the last and . The world number 70 Louis Heathcote defeated the world number 20 Wu Yize 5–2.
Also in Leicester, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson both recorded whitewash victories over tour debutants as Murphy defeated 14-year-old Michał Szubarczyk, the youngest player ever to turn professional, and Robertson beat 19-year-old Leone Crowley. Robertson subsequently withdrew from the tournament, as did another successful qualifier, Ryan Day. Artemijs Žižins defeated He Guoqiang 5–1, while Chang Bingyu recovered from 1–4 behind to beat Daniel Wells in a decider. Veteran player Jimmy White made four breaks over 70 as he beat Anthony McGill 5–2, while Marco Fu made century breaks of 120, 136, and 113 as he defeated the world number 16 Chris Wakelin. Fu's performance contributed to his receiving the inaugural Player of the Month award from the WPBSA Players organisation.
In the held-over qualifiers played in Wuhan, the defending champion Xiao Guodong made the second maximum break of his professional career in the fourth frame of his whitewash victory over Mink Nutcharut. "To make a 147 here today, and my first ever maximum break in China, was really special," said Xiao afterwards. The reigning World Champion Zhao Xintong attempted a maximum in his held-over qualifier against Iulian Boiko but missed the last pink to end the break on 134. Zhao made two other century breaks of 122 and 132 as he won the match 5–3. Judd Trump, the world number one, made a 130 break in his 5–1 win over Farakh Ajaib. Three of the four Chinese wildcard players lost their qualifying matches, with only Wang Xinbo progressing to the last 64.
Last 64
Williams won the first three frames against 19-year-old Liam Davies with consecutive century breaks of 125, 100, and 137 and also took the fourth for a 4–0 lead. Davies attempted a comeback, making breaks including 61 and 94 as he won three consecutive frames, but Williams secured a 5–3 victory with a 70 break in frame eight. Williams praised his opponent afterwards, saying: "He never threw the towel in and he made some great breaks to get to 4–3." Barry Hawkins won a deciding frame on the to defeat Jamie Jones. Five of Hawkins's last eight professional matches had gone to deciding frames, including 5–6 losses to Ronnie O'Sullivan at the 2025 Shanghai Masters and Wakelin at the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. "I felt all over the place and had no confidence at all," he said afterwards. "Every ball felt like a pint of blood. What I do is just battle and battle." Mark Selby advanced with a 5–2 win over Michael Holt. Fu also progressed, defeating White by the same score.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh defeated Pang Junxu 5–1, making the sixth maximum break of his career in the final frame of the match. It was second maximum of the season, following his 147 at the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. "When I arrived in Wuhan I made two on the practice tables," said Un-Nooh afterwards. "That gave me a lot of confidence to make one. Everything was open and the balls were perfect. I knew I could do it like I did when I was practising." The maximums by Xiao and Un-Nooh at the event were the sixth and seventh of the season and the 223rd and 224th in professional snooker history. The world number seven Ding Junhui made a 117 break to win the first frame against 18-year-old Stan Moody, the world number 61. However, Moody made breaks of 64, 65, 53, and 131 as he won five of the next seven frames for a 5–3 victory. "It was a fantastic experience," said Moody, commenting on playing a Chinese favourite. "I knew what it would be like, with the crowd clapping every shot. When he got they were cheering. I tried to enjoy it, view myself as the underdog and take the pressure off." Higgins advanced with a 5–1 win over Dylan Emery but commented afterwards that he was "struggling for motivation" after celebrating his 50th birthday with a summer holiday in Dallas. Aaron Hill, a quarter-finalist at the 2023 edition, advanced with a 5–2 victory over Kyren Wilson, the world number two. "[Wilson] is probably the best player in the world at the moment, so I knew I had to play my best snooker to win and I did that," commented Hill afterwards. Trump defeated Liu Hongyu 5–1, and Murphy whitewashed Jordan Brown.
Last 32
Following his win over Ding in the last 64, Moody made four breaks as he defeated Zhou Yuelong 5–1. Since the 2024 Players Championship, every player who had defeated Ding in a professional event had lost in the following round—a phenomenon that had extended over 18 months and 22 tournaments, becoming known as the "Ding curse." After ending the "curse" with his victory over Zhou, Moody commented: "I got over the line so I'm happy with that. [The Ding curse] was definitely playing on my mind, so I had to just focus and get on with it." Selby made three half-centuries as he defeated David Gilbert 5–2, while Williams made breaks of 129 and 95 as he secured a 5–1 victory over O'Connor. The defending champion Xiao reached the last 16 with a 5–3 win over David Grace, and Si defeated Jackson Page by the same score. Hill advanced by beating Lei Peifan 5–4, making a break of 77 to win the deciding frame.