The results of the 2021 Tour Championship had a significant influence on how the World Championship draw plays out. Don’t forget – the main event will take place from 17th April to 3rd May 2021.
With Barry Hawkins winning his first-round match and Neil Robertson winning the tournament altogether, the draw has now been confirmed. Of course, the qualifiers will need to be drawn, but that’s for another day. Here it is below!
World Championship Top 16 Draw (qualifiers to come)
Ronnie O’Sullivan (1) vs. Anthony McGill (16)
Ding Junhui (9) vs. Stephen Maguire (8)
John Higgins (5) vs. Mark Williams (12)
Mark Allen (13) vs. Mark Selby (4)
Neil Robertson (3) vs. Jack Lisowski (14)
Barry Hawkins (11) vs. Kyren Wilson (6)
Shaun Murphy (7) vs. Yan Bingtao (10)
David Gilbert (15) vs. Judd Trump (2)
Brief Analysis
Top Half
A defending champion tends to have a favourable draw up until the quarter-finals and this one is no exception. Ronnie O’Sullivan has beaten Anthony McGill in every one of his six attempts. But McGill’s Crucible pedigree has grown. He has won four out of six first-round victories at the Crucible. Who can forget his semi-final run last season, especially that match against Kyren Wilson??? Both Ding Junhui and Stephen Maguire are having quite forgettable seasons. But a tie between these two will be tasty, considering their erratic Crucible records. O’Sullivan will be pleased as he has a very good record against both players, especially Ding Junhui and this season in particular.
The second quarter looks absolutely horrible. It is the Quarter of Death for me. It was only in the 2018 World Championship where Mark Williams beat John Higgins 18-16. This time, they could potentially meet in the Last 16. The winner of that could meet either Mark Selby and Mark Allen. Selby reached the semi-finals last year and lost out under unbelievable circumstances. He has an excellent Crucible record while in comparison, Allen’s has been incredibly patchy. The Northern Irishman has only reached three quarter-finals in the last ten years and lost his first-round match in the last two World Championships.
Bottom Half
Neil Robertson will be delighted to succeed in his last-ditch attempt to be No. 3. He could face Jack Lisowski in the Last 16, who must be getting sick of seeing the sight of the Aussie. Robertson had a comfortable 10-5 win over Lisowski in the Tour Championship and defeated him in two ranking finals. On the other side, we could see another tasty World Championship encounter between Kyren Wilson and Barry Hawkins. Both of these players are famed for have consistently good Crucible records. Wilson reached the final last year and beat Hawkins 13-11 in 2019. Hawkins may be playing himself into form. His 10-7 win over Judd Trump in the Tour Championship will give him encouragement. But will he be energised or haunted by his performances during his loss against O’Sullivan.
Judd Trump has a kinder draw on paper. The 2019 World Champion has a good record against 2019 semi-finalist David Gilbert and has beaten Shaun Murphy and Yan Bingtao at the Crucible before. The big thing for Trump is whether he can handle the pressure. Gilbert is a fan favourite but after his first-round exit last Worlds and a poor season this season, he needs to get himself back in the groove. Yan will arrive in Sheffield as a confident and established Top 16 player, especially since he got his first Crucible win last year. He could be against Shaun Murphy. Bar one ranking final, his season has been quite quiet. He made a first-round exit against Noppon Saengkham last year, but he was going through a difficult and torrid time last year and looked out of sorts.
So What Happens Next?
Qualifying for the 2021 World Snooker Championship will take place from Monday 5th to Wednesday 14th April 2021 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. I’d imagine the draw will be straight after that. We will see names such as Stuart Bingham, Ali Carter, Graeme Dott and Joe Perry battle it out to be among the 16 qualifiers. There is also a tie between Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry, which I don’t think anyone has talked about yet. 😉
If you want to see the qualifying draw, please click here to my recent article that features the entire draw.
