04-03-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
World Grand Prix: Stuart Bingham, Jack Lisowski draw first blood in Hong Kong
The World Grand Prix got under way in Hong Kong on Tuesday, marking the first time since 1989 that a ranking snooker tournament has been played in the city.
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While Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire have pulled out for health reasons, and have been replaced by Hossein Vafaei and Ben Woollaston respectively, the world's best players are battling it out in the first major event to be held at Kai Tak Sports Park since it officially opened this past weekend.
There are eight matches scheduled across two sessions, so here's what has happened so far on day one at Kai Tak Arena.
Mark Williams v Stuart Bingham
In the clash between former world champions, it was the 2015 winner Stuart Bingham who came out on top, pulling ahead after the pair split the first four frames.
Spectators watch the first round match between Mark Williams and Stuart Bingham at Kai Tak Arena. Photo: Elson Li
Bingham also racked up the first century break of the tournament to level the scores at 1-1, and after the mid-session interval the world No 23 cleared the table from the final three colours to take a tight fifth frame, which gave him the lead for the first time in the best-of-seven frame encounter.
The 48-year-old from Essex then added a break of 65 in the sixth frame to seal a 4-2 comeback win over his Welsh opponent.
Jack Lisowski v Zhang Anda
Jack Lisowski, meanwhile, kept his composure to beat Zhang Anda 4-2 in the first match on table two.
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Still without a ranking tournament title since turning professional in 2010, Lisowski went ahead with a two-frame lead against world No 10 Zhang.
