The World Championship qualifying rounds are now to a lot of purists and upcoming fans one of the highlights of the snooker calendar and this year does not disappoint!
- First Round included: a 147; four deciders; two whitewashes; 10 players outside of the Top 80 going through to the 2nd round; Reanne Evans beating Robin Hull; high-profile players in Ricky Walden and Robert Milkins booted out; fantastic comebacks in Josh Boileau, Hammad Miah and Jackson Page; the likes of Jamie Cope, Robin Hull and Ian Burns failing to make the Top 64; two amateurs into the next round; and finally of Jimmy White failing to qualify for next season altogether (7th April 2017 – remember that day guys!)
- Second round included: Joe Perry knocked by Songsermsawaddywaddy; usual suspects in Jamie Jones and Michael Holt coming through; one amateur winning his second round match; former World Champion out of the tour; more deciders; two players losing their unbeaten Ponds Forge records; an Iranian one match away from the Crucible; and most tragically of all: Dechawat Poomjaeng is out of the tour.
Now, since I took on a hobby of running long distances of running a marathon under a 20°C heat, I couldn’t do a Round 2 round-up. Now that I am aching, chafing and blistering all over – I think I can get back to writing absolute twaddle, don’t you think?
First Quarter Final
You got to feel for Mark Williams – after reaching the China Open final, he still faced qualifying school. He still has to earn his place at the Crucible, as he has done many times before. He also faced two very tough opponents. No-one wanted Zhao Xintong in the first round. Then again, no-one wanted the Welsh Potting Machine, as he won 10-7 with a lot of to-and-fo-ing. His next match is exactly is the same against Liam Highfield, a young player who deserves to achieve a lot more than he is at the moment. In a high-quality match, Highfield forced a decider with a 132, before Williams finally polished him off.
Stuart Carrington will want to get back to the Crucible after is impressive debut against Judd Trump in 2015, losing 10-6. He reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open before losing to Stuart Bingham. He has risen 14 places to No. 50 as I write this, which is very decent considering his calible – he is a very workman-like player.
I still predict Williams at this match though. Not because of nostalgia-glasses. Not because “Oh, I cannot imagine the Crucible without him!” “Dude, Williams wasn’t there in 2014!” It is because at the moment Williams is more battle-hardened, a better scorer and better temperament. Obviously, that conversation was fake. No snooker fan has ever said “dude.”
Initial Prediction: Mark Williams vs. Andrew Higginson
Final Prediction: Mark Williams vs. Stuart Carrington
Second Quarter Final
This is an interesting one.
Tom Ford is a player I don’t know what to think about. He was very close to dropping out of the circuit a couple of years back and seems to have perked up a little. Reaching his first ranking final in the Paul Hunter Classic certainly did that, despite losing to Mark Selby 4-2. His run to the German Masters quarter-final certainly helped, beating Trump, Ebdon and King along the way. Beating Jamie Bodle in the first round, he was very impressive beating up-and-coming Chris Wakelin 10-6.
Vafaei is on form, there is no doubt about that. He reached the quarter-final of the Northern Ireland Open and more recently, the 4th round of the Welsh Open and the semi-finals of the China Open, beating five higher-ranked opponents along the way, including two Top 16 players. He has done well to trash Hatem Yassen and dispatch Matt Selt. Therefore, I am still banking on a big win for the Iranian, but I still cannot figure Ford out!
Initial Prediction: Chris Wakelin vs. Hossein Vafaei
Final Prediction: Tom Ford vs. Hossein Vafaei
Third Quarter Final
Nope, don’t you dare say you predicted this one! If you said, “yes” you sir/made are a liar!
With Hull and Stevens eliminated out of expense of Evans and Walker, you expect an unexpectedly easier ride for the German Masters winner. For some who followed me earlier, I’ve always liked Noppon Saengkham as he is a very decent, young safety player who has beaten the likes of Woollaston, Maguire, Milkins and Neil Robertson and his good set of results have kept him on tour for so long, despite never reaching the Top 64. If he wins, then he will take the No. 64 spot, pushing down Scott Donaldson (who is unaffected, since he is on his first year of his tour card). This would also mean he spares Ian Burn’s blushes by qualifying him via one-year ranking,
Beating Jak Jones and putting on a late shift against Hamilton is excellent, but Lee Walker had to beat compatriot Matthew Stevens (10-8) and a spirited fightback from 11-time ladies champion Reanne Evans when 6-0 up to finish 10-6. I will go for Noppon on this one and I expect a very long, drawn-out finish.
Initial Prediction: Robin Hull vs. Anthony Hamilton
Final Prediction: Lee Walker vs. Noppon Saengkham
Fourth Quarter Final
When was the last time Stephen Maguire qualified for the Crucible, I hear you ask? 2005. It’s been 12 years since the Merlin of Milton had to qualify for the Crucible and after four successive first-round losses as a seeded player, this may give him a kick up the backside to up his game a tad. Fair enough, he wasn’t expected to jump right back into the Top 16, but a semi-final appearance and two quarter-finals aren’t a bad way to start. After battling 10-7 against Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (never has copy+paste been so useful!) and breezing past Nigel Bond, he should feel more confident about his chances.
Li Hang is a very good, young player. The 26 year-old was one frame away from the Crucible two years before losing to Stuart Carrington 10-9. His season has been unspectacular, hence why he has recently dropped a few places, but is consistent. The couple of wins here will give him breathing space for next season, but was given a rockier ride, scraping through a decider against Fraser Patrick and exactly revenge from last year by beating Mike Dunn 10-4.
Stephen Maguire will win this I reckon by will the pressure of reaching the Crucible get ot him. He will need this win badly to redeem himself and to prove to the fans that he’s still got it, but Li Hang is very good at hanging onto player’s coatails here…
Initial Prediction: Li Hang vs. Stephen Maguire
Final Prediction: Li Hang vs. Stephen Maguire
Fifth Quarter Final
This is a tough tie between two players who have had a reversal of fortunes in the past couple of years. Both of these players haven’t competed on the hallowed ground for a few years, so there will be added pressure to this fantastic match.
Mark King has been a success story this season with his hard-fought and emotional Northern Ireland triumph, which propelled him to many extra tournaments and safely into the Top 32. However, we must take onto account that he only managed to reach the wuarter-finals stage in one other tournament, where he lost to Marco Fu 4-2 in the World Grand Prix. He had a comfortable route to the final qualifying round with two 10-4 wins, but he lost at that stage in the last three attempts to Jamie Cope, Anthony McGill and Michael Holt. Considering he was No. 36 at the end of last season, his higher ranking status of No. 21 will benefit him here.
Since his Crucible debut losing to Ali Carter 10-8 in 2014, Xiao had a torrid couple of years on tour. Starting in the 2015/2016 at No. 21, he fell quicker than I did in Brighton yesterday when I tripped over a speed bump 30 places to No. 51, mainly because of the points he lost for reaching the 2013 Shanghai Masters final against Ding Junhui. This season he’s on the mend, helped by reaching the final of the newly-made ranking Snooker Shoot-Out and the quarter-finals of the Riga Masters. He also came through this event comfortably against U18 European runner-up Tyler Rees and more impressively, 10-4 against Sam Baird, who reached the Last 16 of last year’s World Championship.
I am going to go with Mark King on this one, purely because of confidence, experience and positive head-to-head record (2-1).
Initial Prediction: Mark King vs. Sam Baird
Final Prediction: Mark King vs. Xiao Guodong
Sixth Quarter Final
Great match.
Zhou is sky-high at the moment. The 19 year-old is closing in on the Top 32 and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop. Currently 24th in the one-year list thanks to big-money performances in the International Championship, UK Championship and the Welsh Open. He is a very tough opponent, but he is against another one, who at least has been to the Crucible. Ben has been a steady-Eddie – not doing anything special but not doing anything disastrous either and has cemented his place in the Top 32. Both players made light work of their opponents, though Zhou struggled against Ian Preece, coming back from 4-6 down to win 10-8.
I still think on form Zhou has it. Both players have 26 +50 including century breaks between them (Ben has 11 while Zhou has 15) but I think Zhou may gallop to a debut here – he is a different player to when Ben beat him 5-2 in 2014. Match of the round.
Initial Prediction: Ben Woollaston vs. Zhou Yuelong
Final Prediction: Ben Woollaston vs. Zhou Yuelong
Seventh Quarter Final
Clash of the titans here. Two very experienced Crucible players against each other and yet one of them has to go home. It’s a cruel draw for both players, really. Jones has a 3-2 head-to-head record against the former World Champion, but they have never played each other in a match greater than a bet-of-7s before.
Two quarter-finals isn’t too special for Jamie Jones, however based on form, Graeme Dott haven’t reached the quarter-final this season. This is why I picked the Welshman over the Scot, but is you picked any format that Graeme is good at, it is the best-of-19s.
I will go back to this preview later to write about the others, then I will decide on my pick.
Yup, I’m sticking with Jones.
Initial Prediction: Jamie Jones vs. Graeme Dott
Final Prediction: Jamie Jones vs. Graeme Dott
Eighth Quarter Final
Will Fergal O’Brien be too jaded from the 2:30am-ish finish to beat The Angry Farmer?
Consistently in the Top 48, Fergal is losing form, slower than his compatriot Ken Doherty. The former Masters finalist will have his work cut out is he needs to frustrate David Gilbert, who will have plenty more rest. David reached the Crucible three times since the last time Baby-Faced Assassin got there in 2010, so logic dictates that David should walk it. This is especially the case when Gilbert has a superior head-to-head record over the Irishman at 4-2.
The only things Fergal does have only him are stamina and temperament, as Gilbert does beat himself up too easily, thinking that he is an underachiever. But I do not beleive that will change. David Gilbert beat Fergal in the final qualifying round 10-4 back in 2011 and I think this time it will be a repeat here
Initial Prediction: Tian Pengfei vs. David Gilbert
Final Prediction: Fergal O’Brien vs. David Gilbert
Ninth Quarter Final
Well, I buggered that one up, haven’t I? And if you even close to predicting this tie, then I am the Pope.
Both of these players are among the most improved players on the circuit. Akani Songsermsawaddywaddy (it’ll catch on, trust me) is the surprise of the season for me. Made only one appearance last season due to money and visa problems, Akani is on an absolute flyer. Reached two quarters in the Indian Open (beating Davis and the Lord Lucan of snooker Jamie Burnett along the way) and the 6-Reds World Championship, he also beat the likes of Greame Dott, Ben Woollaston and Jack Lisowski this season. As one of the players outside of the Top 80, he beat higher ranked opposition in Mei Xiwen and Joe Perry in the decider. I always knew he is a banana skin, but didn’t think he would beat him!
Since his semi-final UK Championship appearance in 2015, Grace has improved in many ways in terms of weight and performance! With two quarter-finals to his name, he will reach his highest ranking position of No. 42 to date. He won both of his ties 10-6, one against Malaysian Thor Leong and higher-ranked and best friend of Mark Allen, Mark Joyce.
There will be a debutant either way – very exciting indeed! This has a decider all over it for me, but who will win! I will go with my head – Akani!
My dreams of a Mark Allen vs. Mark Joyce tie at the Crucible has been shattered…
Initial Prediction: Joe Perry vs. Mark Joyce
Final Prediction: Akani Songsermsawad vs. David Grace
Tenth Quarter Final
Arrrrrgghhhhh I do not know what to do with this one!
Both Luca and Dominic have been improving this season, with Dale still clinging onto the Top 32 spot. It is a wonder when Luca will make a breakthrough, since he wasn’t effectively built on reaching two finals (German Masters and Shoot-Out) the previous season. It has been five years since he made his first Crucible appearance – maybe like Judd Trump in his younger days he’s been learning his craft and will explode on the scene? He did well to relgate Sean O’Sullivan and was made to work for victory against the Outlaw Joe Swail 10-8.
Dale seemed much more comfortable here. Pushing aside Thai Boonyarit Keattikun 10-2 and beating an in-form giant-killer Daniel Wells, he has done well and his season hasn’t been bad either, reaching the semi-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic. I know I predicted Luca Brecel initially, so I am going to go with my gut instinct and go with the colourful character, Brecel. I may regret this…..
Initial Prediction: Luca Brecel vs. Daniel Wells
Final Prediction: Luca Brecel vs. Dominic Dale
Eleventh Quarter Final
Hmmm. Interesting one. Much like how Crystal Palace managed to beat Arsenal 3-0 with a clean sheet too.
In the rankings table, both players are on a downward spiral. Since the start of the season, Wilson has dropped 17 places to No. 59, while White dropped 8 places to No. 27. After losing to Sam Baird in the opening round last year, White admitted struggling with depression and he has now more consistent, though at a cost. Two quarter-finals and three Last 16 places is not bad. However, after being pegged back from 9-0 to 9-3 by a below-par Aditya Mehta, most commentators analysed that White has the talent but doesn’t know how to kill off the match effectively enough.
Gary Wilson lost a lot of points from reaching the final of the China Open in 2015 and reached the safety of the Top 64 by the skin of his teeth by defeating Josh Boileau 10-9, despite leading 7-2 after the first session as well as scoring his second maximum of his career. He is also the most century-laden too – seven centuries in two matches!
I expect Michael White to do well here and get back to the Crucible here!
Initial Prediction: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs. Michael White
Final Prediction: Gary Wilson vs. Michael White
Twelfth Quarter Final
And another one I failed miserably! If you predicted this, then I would jump into crocodile-invested waters, pretend I’m a carrot and sing “Still Loving You” by Scorpions for your crystal ball.
Hammad Miah is a little-known player, didn’t set the world alight in his first spell on tour as he finished 100th in the rankings. He spent one year as an amateur and managed to get great wins about the likes of Robbie Williams, Mark Davis and Judd Trump to get back into the professional circuit via European Tour of Merit, and openly admitted that his first two years of tour a bit of a waste. Having only won seven matches this season prior, not many expected him to come back from 5-0 down to beat Ricky Walden 10-7 and to hold his own from 7-1 up to win 10-7 against Martin O’Donnell.
Rory McLeod is a journeyman, with one title to his name – the 2015 Ruhr Open, beating Tian Pengfei 4-2. He has made two appearances at the World Championship, even reaching the Last 16 one time by beating Ricky McLeod 10-6 in 2011. He is also known (and criticised for) his slow play and has though his opponents his lower-ranked, he still bet them in tatical, close from beating both Darryl Hill and Sydney Wilson 10-7.
I’m going for Hammad Miah purely based on gut instinct. Hammad will be confident beating two higher-ranked players but will he do will playing Rory’s game? I think he will – he kept a cool head at 5-0 down against Walden after all.
Initial Prediction: Ricky Walden vs. Kurt Maflin
Final Prediction: Rory McLeod vs. Hammad Miah
Thirteenth Quarter Final
Two seasoned juggernauts. Not much else to say really – Holt has made 8 appearances; Ebdon has made 23 Crucible appearances. Bloody hell.
Holt is the man on form out of the two. A finalist in the Riga Masters and two quarter-finalists in the International Championship and the Shanghai Masters is very good, but his second half performances have now died down, much like my writing ability later at night while waiting for the Tian/O’Brien match to finish. Very high-rated player who is much improved by Terry Griffiths, he hopes to carry on his form from beating Neil Robertson 10-6 in last year’s opening round.
Managing only one quarter-final, Ebdon is not as dominant as he once was. Currently seeded at No. 42, like his play slowly going down the ranking table. However, I still love his tactical side. He brushed away Michael Wild 10-3 and won the decider against Jack Lisowski in a high-quality game of break-building. However, despite Peter’s superior head-to-head record, I will go for Holt based on current form.
Initial Prediction: Michael Holt vs. Jack Lisowski
Final Prediction: Michael Holt vs. Peter Ebdon
Fourteenth Quarter Final
One blogger said along the lines of: “In qualifying, you will never get the best sixteen players in the world, but you will always get the grafters.” This tie proves just that.
Rod Lawler doesn’t get the nickname “Rod the Plod” for nothing! Slower than a snail moving on jelly (like that makes sense. Or does it? Maybe oild might be better. You need a thicker liquid at least and jelly may be slippy), Rod is notorious for his slow and methodical play. Never did Cliff Thorburn any harm and long may that continue! Rod was in danger of losing his tour card, but he winnings this event means that he is safe via. one-year ranking but not from keeping his points. He will definitely want this. Did you know he reached the Crucible twice? In 1995 and 1996 – he reached the Last 16 by beating John Parrott in the opening round! He beat Xu Si 10-5 and breaking last year’s semi-finalist Alan McManus’s unbeaten record at Ponds Forge y the same scoreline.
Jimmy Robertson is an underachiever, a good all-round player but never seems to get one over the top boys. Apart from reaching the Last 16 of the Riga Masters, he hasn’t really done much – it’s been pretty average. In this tournament, he has made 13 breaks to beat youngsters Cao Yupeng and Oliver Lines, compared to Rod’s 5. He has also reached the crucible twice – most recently in 2015, losing 10-6 to Marco Fu. But only one of them can make it three.
I am going to go for Jimmy because I believe he is the stronger player overall and in this event, epecially in the break-building department.
Initial Prediction: Alan McManus vs. Jimmy Robertson
Final Prediction: Rod Lawler vs. Jimmy Robertson
Fifteenth Quarter Final
Looks like we will have a Crucible debutant this year! It is either between a 17 year-old Chinese boy and a Swiss amateur. What the hell is going on with the globalisation of this game.
Let’s start with Little Arnie. Ursenbacher was a pro for the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 after qualifying through Q School, beating Reanne Evans on the way. He had a tough two years – he won only four matches. He beat the likes of Ken Doherty and Kyren Wilson, as well as a best-of-19 match against David Morris, but was nowhere near enough for him to stay on tour. He must’ve improved leaps and bounds since then, as he won the U21 European Championship by beating prodigy Jackson Page 6-4 and ran riot against No. 31 Milkins and without a fightback against surprise package Scott Donaldson.
If Yan Bingtao doesn’t win Young Player of the Year, then I am Piers Morgan (Jesus, I could be a singing Pope Piers Morgan, what a horrific image that is!) The fact that a 17 year-old is playing at such a high level is amazing enough, but considering he is in the Top 64 this season in his first year on his two-year card makes you wonder how far he can actually go. Gushing aside, it looked like he was out in the first round when behind 8-4 against Sam Craigie before thumping six frames in the row. Even though beating 10-7 against No. 34 Mark Davis was convincing, the first round shows that he is vulnerable to a shock.
These players haven’t met each other, so who do I think will win? Considering I thought Yan would beat Milkins before, I will stick with him to follow the footsteps of Hendry, Trump and Brecel to be another 17 year-old to make the World Championships, but will Arnie be able to withstand the expected pressure of the Swiss Alps on his shoulders?
Initial Prediction: Yan Bingtao vs. Robert Milkins
Final Prediction: Yan Bingtao vs. Alexander Ursenbacher
Sixteenth Quarter Final
This unusually, is where two of the highest ranking players possible in a quarter will actually meet. I predicted Robbie Williams will get through to the final tie because of his unbeatable Ponds Forge record and head-to-head against Yu Delu, but it is the Chinaman that stopped that after his whitewash of Itaro Santos by beating the Take That singer 10-7. Yu always to stay still around the 48-64 ranking bracket, but will reach his highest position ever than his No. seed, thanks to his semi-final run in the Scottish Open this season.
Martin Gould is a regular fixture at the Crucible, having appeared every year since the 2008/2009 season bar one, meaning he is very experienced in this format. Despite not building on his automatic place in the World Championship and not defending his title at the German Masters, Gould has had a decent season. He is No. 27 in the one-year rankings and reaching the semi-finals (German Masters) and quarter-finals (Champion of Championship).
Gould and Yu have only played each other once, with Gould winning 5-4 back in 2012. Yu has been rather unlucky to not reach the Crucible at all, having fallen in the final hurdle three times in the past five years. I expect it to be four in six this time, as I believe Gould will be too strong for Yu. And also for Yu Delu (see what I did there?)
Initial Prediction: Robbie Williams vs. Martin Gould
Final Prediction: Yu Delu vs. Martin Gould
