17th September

Ali Carter claimed the seventh ranking title of his career, and his first since 2024, with a 9-6 win over Mark Williams in Sunday's English Open final in his home county of Essex. Williams led 5-3 at the interval, but Carter came out fighting, winning the first two frames after the break and never trailing again, sealing victory with a break of 54 in the decider.

The 47-year-old, who has twice battled cancer and lives with Crohn's disease, called the win "very, very special" afterwards. Victory moves Carter up nine places to 16th in the world rankings, and it is the first time he has beaten one of the sport's "all-time greats" in a ranking final.

World number one Zhao Xintong suffered an early exit in Brentwood, beaten 4-2 by world number 53 Oliver Lines on the tournament's opening day. Lines, who had lost his only previous meeting with Zhao, took the first two frames before the Chinese star levelled with breaks of 102 and 100, only for Lines to respond immediately with runs of 71 and 84 to seal the win.

It continued a difficult run of results on UK soil for Zhao since claiming the world number one ranking, and further opened up the draw for the likes of Judd Trump, Mark Selby, and eventual runner-up Mark Williams.