English leading opening match (5)
I believe the answer is:
event
'match' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'english leading opening' is the wordplay.
'leading' indicates taking the first letters.
'opening' becomes 'vent' (vent is a kind of opening**).
The first letter of 'english' is 'e'.
'e'+'vent'='EVENT'
(Other definitions for event that I've seen before include "Item in sports programme" , "Something that takes place" , "tournament" , "Occasion; sports contest" , "heat, perhaps" .)