In the second qualifying round we saw exits for Michael White the highest seed in qualifying as he was beaten rather heavily by Craig Steadman, and despite his best efforts to forge a comeback Peter Ebdon also fell to Stuart Carrington. Adam Duffy may not have a full tour card but that isn't stopping him as he played well again to beat Sam Baird. Igor Figueredo meanwhile would've been relieved to get past Rod Lawler 10-9 on the final black having led that one 8-2 at one stage. Graeme Dott and Ryan Day had easy wins as somewhat expected, while both father and son were beaten as Peter and Oliver Lines were knocked out by Matthew Stevens and Mark Davis respectively. Joe Swail's comeback brilliance popped up again as he didn't give in at 9-5 behind to Dominic Dale, winning in a final frame decider. Marcus Campbell's loss to Mark King now means that he will have to go through Qualifying School to earn back his tour place. Robin Hull enhanced his chances of not having to go down that route as he put in a brilliant performance to beat Ben Woollaston and he now needs to beat Igor Figueredo or hope that Li Hang beats Stuart Carrington and he should be safe in 64th place where he's currently climbed to. Meanwhile, Jimmy White will come back for the next two years with a fresh tour card after he can no longer make the top 64, as Matt Selt came back from an appalling first session after which he trailed 7-2, to end up winning 10-8. Steve Davis may have been inspired in his 10-9 win over Jamie Cope but he couldn't keep that ball rolling as an in form Kurt Maflin gave him a second round thrashing.
Here's everything that's happened over the last couple of days:
Second Qualifying Round Results:
Craig Steadman 10-5 Michael White
Jamie Burnett 10-8 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark King 10-6 Marcus Campbell
Anthony McGill 10-6 Cao Yupeng
Adam Duffy 10-7 Sam Baird
Jamie Jones 10-5 Tian Pengfei
Mitchell Mann 10-6 Gerard Greene
Alan McManus 10-4 Andrew Pagett
Ryan Day 10-2 Alex Davies
Jak Jones 10-5 Jack Lisowski
Li Hang 10-7 Gary Wilson
Stuart Carrington 10-7 Peter Ebdon
Robin Hull 10-6 Ben Woollaston
Igor Figueredo 10-9 Rod Lawler
Yu DeLu 10-7 Mike Dunn
Graeme Dott 10-2 Fraser Patrick
Mark Davis 10-7 Oliver Lines
Ken Doherty 10-6 Lee Walker
Matthew Stevens 10-7 Peter Lines
Joe Swail 10-9 Dominic Dale
Fergal O'Brien 10-8 Chris Wakelin
Kurt Maflin 10-1 Steve Davis
Zhang Anda 10-9 Mark Joyce
Liang Wenbo 10-5 Zhou Yuelong
Xiao Guodong 10-5 Liam Highfield
Jimmy Robertson 10-6 Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Robbie Williams 10-8 Dechawat Poomjaeng
Michael Holt 10-2 Noppon Saengkham
Matt Selt 10-8 Jimmy White
Tom Ford 10-8 David Gilbert
Andrew Higginson 10-3 Luca Brecel
Robert Milkins 10-6 Darryl Hill
So, following those results here's what we can look forward to, in the final qualifying round:
Final Qualifying Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Jamie Burnett Vs Craig SteadmanAnthony McGill Vs Mark King
Jamie Jones Vs Adam Duffy
Alan McManus Vs Mitchell Mann
Ryan Day Vs Jak Jones
Li Hang Vs Stuart Carrington
Robin Hull Vs Igor Figueredo
Graeme Dott Vs Yu DeLu
Mark Davis Vs Ken Doherty
Matthew Stevens Vs Joe Swail
Fergal O'Brien Vs Kurt Maflin
Liang Wenbo Vs Zhang Anda
Xiao Guodong Vs Jimmy Robertson
Michael Holt Vs Robbie Williams
Matt Selt Vs Tom Ford
Robert Milkins Vs Andrew Higginson
It's going to be a nervy time with Crucible spots at stake so it will be all about which players can hold it together to get to the biggest stage, as I see a lot of these matches going close. Craig Steadman has been playing decent stuff and is a brilliant battler so I fancy him to hold up well. Anthony McGill is looking for his Crucible debut and that match against Mark King is a tough call but McGill has had a strong season so far, and been playing well. I fancy that Jamie Jones form and experience of qualifying for the Crucible will see him well against Adam Duffy. Mitchell Mann was one of my outside punts to qualify, so I'm going to stick with him against McManus after his two great wins so far. Again, Ryan Day is the experienced head against Jak Jones, while the clash between Li Hang and Stuart Carrington guarantees a Crucible debutant, and of the two Li Hang has really impressed me with his results and scoring power in his two qualifying matches so far. Robin Hull against Igor Figueredo is another interesting game. Robin qualified last year and has been playing brilliantly this season when he has played, and there's no way that either player should be ranked where they are. However, Igor had a battle royale with Lawler, and even though he got to the final round of qualifying last year he was then thrashed by Martin Gould. Again you have to back experience in Graeme Dott against Yu DeLu, and form in the match between an in form Mark Davis, against Ken Doherty who has been struggling this season.
Joe Swail was another one of my outside chances at making the Crucible and after a gritty performance against Dominic Dale he showed he still has the qualities, and I fancy that over some of Matthew Stevens inconsistencies. Kurt Maflin has been in flying form over the last couple of weeks, winning frames in one visit like he does when he's at the very peak of his powers, and even though Fergal O'Brien is so tough to beat, he may well be overpowered by Kurt's scoring is Maflin keeps knocking in the long balls to get in. Liang Wenbo against Zhang Anda guarantees a Chinese qualifier to join Ding Junhui as the lone Chinese seed at the Crucible, and Liang looks to have been scoring really well, and with his extra experience you have to fancy him if he keeps his form up. Xiao Guodong will have a lot of good memories of qualifying last year, and for me he is one of the best players not currently in the top 16, so I expect him to beat Jimmy Robertson and qualify. Michael Holt's record of qualifying for the Crucible is good and Robbie Williams only made his debut last year, and while Holt has been playing well, Williams has had to battle against Poomjaeng to get his win, so he'll need to step up if he's to beat Holt. Tom Ford has played well so far to beat David Gilbert and after qualifying last year, he'll now be confident of doing so, but Matt Selt is one of the most improved players of the season and if he's feeling better than he was at the start of his match with Jimmy White I think he'll edge Ford. Finally, Robert Milkins has been making hard work of a couple of games against non-tour players so far this week and he can't afford to do that against an experienced pro like Andrew Higginson. To go with that, Higginson scored as well probably as he has done for three years in his win against Luca Brecel and that followed another tough game on paper against Scott Donaldson, but I think this will be an open game which will suit both players, and go down to the wire, but I personally favour Higginson.
Whatever the outcomes of the matches are we will have a nice mix of players at the Crucible this year and plenty of possible debutants are still going so I'm sure we'll see a couple of those come through along with plenty of experience, but not before a load of tense matches down at Ponds Forge to decide it.
Next up for me is to preview the World Championship final stages at the Crucible with the first round draw taking place at 10am on Thursday ahead of the start at the same time on Saturday morning. There may even be a surprise to come from me before then...
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