British Open Snooker 2024 Predictions: Dean’s outright tips includes 300/1 shot

The Snooker calendar continues its relentless march as immediately after the English Open we travel to Cheltenham for the fifth ranking event of the season -  the British Open.

As always, we have snooker expert Dean Strand (@DSSnookerTips) on-hand with his comprehensive preview and British Open Snooker 2024 predictions.

History, Location and Format

The British Open is a ranking tournament that was initially introduced in 1980 and has been a ranking event since 1985. However, it wasn't on the calendar for 17 years, until its return back in 2021/2022.

Entering its 30th year, the tournament has been held all over England but has now seemingly settled at the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse and this year's event runs from Monday 23rd to Sunday 29th September 2024. The event will be broadcast on Eurosport and discovery+ in the UK.

The field consists of 64 players, including 32 qualifiers and the top 32 seeds will be automatically seeded into the last 64 of the tournament. However, in an unusual quirk for the sport, each round brings a a fresh draw, dubbing this event the FA Cup of Snooker.

There have been several multiple champions including Steve Davis (five times), Stephen Hendry and John Higgins (both four).

The defending champion is Welshman Mark Williams, picking up his third Clive Everton Trophy, after beating Mark Selby 10-7 in the final.

Prize Money

0.5pts each-way - Si Jiahui outright @ 20/1

My first outright pick is Si Jiahui. He's made a good start to the season, reaching the top 16 for the first time (currently ranked 13th).

In the Saudi Masters he beat Pang, Ford and O’Sullivan to reach the semi-finals, where he lost to Mark Williams, and he also enjoyed wins over Brecel and Ford in the Shanghai Masters at the start of the current campaign.

He has a favourable draw in the last 64 against amateur Iulian Boiko and 20/1 looks good each-way value.

0.25pts each-way - Sunny Akani to win outright @ 100/1

Sunny Akani dropped off the tour a couple of years ago but that wasn’t through a lack of quality. Struggles with Covid saw him withdraw from a lot of events and eventually lose his tour card, but he earned his place back for this season after coming through Asian Q School.

It's early days still, but he’s shown his quality a few times already with wins against Fan Zhengyi, Tom Ford and John Higgins.

He’s already won his qualifying match to reach the last 64 of this event and will be favourite to make it the last 32 with a favourable draw against Antoni Kowalski.

With a bit of luck in the draw, he could go far in this event and odds of 100/1 are worth taking each-way.

0.25pts each-way - Cheung Ka Wai to win outright @ 300/1

Another outsider I'm taking a punt on is Cheung Ka Wai.

Cheung is a new addition to the tour this season having won the WSF Championship impressively, losing just four frames across his 10 matches in that event with 4-0 and 5-0 wins over former pros Boiko and Gao Yang in the semis and final respectively.

He’s looked good in his first few matches on tour, notching notable wins over Stan Moody and Stephen Maguire as well as making three centuries in a 5-4 defeat to Ryan Day.

His break-building stats have been very good too - he boasts the eighth-best century per frame rate so far this season and the ninth-best 50+ break per frame.

Like Akani, he’s also already booked his place in the last 64 and has a favourable draw against Oliver Lines, who’s been struggling for form lately.

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