WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS: Round 2

After four of the eight days of qualifying for the World Championships down at Ponds Forge, the field has been whittled down from 128 to 64, and over the next two days in the second qualifying round that will be halved again from 64 to the 32 that will contest the final qualifying round with 16 places at the Crucible at stake for the winners. Lots has happened so far and there has been plenty of drama, along with some absolute thrashings.

Martin Gould was one of the favourites to qualify before he was beaten 10-6 by Adam Duffy, while Michael White had to come from 4-0 behind in the early stages against Steven Hallworth to eventually win 10-8. Alfie Burden and Nigel Bond have their tour places in jeopardy now as they suffered heavy defeats to Mitchell Mann and Igor Figueredo respectively. Reanne Evans made a very good account of herself against 1997 champion Ken Doherty with Ken edging her out 10-8 in a very tense affair that could've gone to a decider. Rory McLeod meanwhile was torn apart 10-2 by Tian Pengfei, while fellow Chinaman Li Hang mauled Chris Melling 10-1. Aditya Mehta's poor season came to a close with a 10-7 loss to Jak Jones, while Lu Haotian will have to go back through Q School to get his tour card back after losing 10-8 to Andrew Pagett. Some of the top ups from last years Q School order of merit who were invited to play in Sean O'Sullivan and Jamie Rhys Clarke were far from pushed aside as Sean nearly took Ben Woollaston the full distance losing 10-8, while Jamie Rhys Clarke put Ryan Day visibly under pressure (as Day was seen punching the slate with a lot of force on one occasion) before Day got across the line 10-7. David Morris meanwhile played the first decider of the tournament where he was knocked out 10-9 by Lee Walker. One of the biggest results of the round has to go to Steve Davis who rolled back the years against Jamie Cope to win the match 10-9 on the final black and put Jamie Cope's all important top 64 place in some jeopardy. Robin Hull's victory meanwhile means that if he beats Ben Woollaston he'll get into the top 64 and save his tour space, and the only real major surprise of Saturday was to see Kyren Wilson beaten as heavily as he was by Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon.

First Qualifying Round Results:

Michael White 10-8 Steven Hallworth
Craig Steadman 10-5 Rhys Clark
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-8 Barry Pinches
Jamie Burnett 10-8 Alex Borg
Mark King 10-7 Michael Leslie
Marcus Campbell 10-2 Ivaylo Pekov
Cao Yupeng 10-8 Ross Muir
Anthony McGill 10-3 Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Adam Duffy 10-6 Martin Gould
Sam Baird 10-7 Tony Drago
Tian Pengfei 10-2 Rory McLeod
Jamie Jones 10-3 Ashley Carty
Gerard Greene 10-4 Elliot Slessor
Mitchell Mann 10-4 Alfie Burden
Andrew Pagett 10-8 Lu Haotian
Alan McManus 10-5 Michael Wasley
Ryan Day 10-7 Jamie Rhys Clarke
Alex Davies 10-6 Michael Georgiou
Jak Jones 10-7 Aditya Mehta
Jack Lisowski 10-7 Allan Taylor
Gary Wilson 10-5 Eden Sharav
Li Hang 10-1 Chris Melling
Stuart Carrington 10-6 Joel Walker
Peter Ebdon 10-6 Lu Ning
Ben Woollaston 10-8 Sean O'Sullivan
Robin Hull 10-3 Martin McCrudden
Igor Figueredo 10-3 Nigel Bond
Rod Lawler 10-4 Michael Tomlinson
Mike Dunn 10-4 Itaro Santos
Yu DeLu 10-0 Hans Blanckeart
Fraser Patrick 10-3 Brandon Sargeant
Graeme Dott 10-4 Mark Owens
Mark Davis 10-4 Joe O'Connor
Oliver Lines 10-7 Ian Glover
Lee Walker 10-9 David Morris
Ken Doherty 10-8 Reanne Evans
Matthew Stevens 10-5 Ahmed Saif
Peter Lines 10-6 Rodion Judin
Joe Swail 10-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
Dominic Dale 10-6 John Astley
Fergal O'Brien 10-5 Hammad Miah
Chris Wakelin 10-6 Nico Elton
Steve Davis 10-9 Jamie Cope
Kurt Maflin 10-5 David Grace
Mark Joyce 10-6 Ian Burns
Zhang Anda 10-3 Anthony Hamilton
Zhou Yuelong 10-8 Zak Surety
Liang Wenbo 10-4 Chris Norbury
Xiao Guodong 10-1 Ong Jia Jun
Liam Highfield 10-1 Oliver Brown
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 10-3 Kyren Wilson
Jimmy Robertson 10-7 Thor Chuan Leong
Dechawat Poomjaeng 10-8 Daniel Wells
Robbie Williams 10-3 Lee Page
Noppon Saengkham 10-6 Lukas Kleckers
Michael Holt 10-3 Sydney Wilson
Matt Selt 10-8 Lu Chenwei
Jimmy White 10-3 James Wattana
Tom Ford 10-2 Andrew Norman
David Gilbert 10-5 George Pragnall
Luca Brecel 10-0 Saqib Nasir
Andrew Higginson 10-8 Scott Donaldson
Darryl Hill 10-9 James Cahill
Robert Milkins 10-6 William Lemons

Second Qualifying Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Michael White Vs Craig Steadman 
Jamie Burnett Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark King Vs Marcus Campbell
Anthony McGill Vs Cao Yupeng
Sam Baird Vs Adam Duffy
Jamie Jones Vs Tian Pengfei
Gerard Greene Vs Mitchell Mann
Alan McManus Vs Andrew Pagett
Ryan Day Vs Alex Davies
Jack Lisowski Vs Jak Jones
Gary Wilson Vs Li Hang
Peter Ebdon Vs Stuart Carrington
Ben Woollaston Vs Robin Hull
Rod Lawler Vs Igor Figueredo
Mike Dunn Vs Yu DeLu
Graeme Dott Vs Fraser Patrick
Mark Davis Vs Oliver Lines
Ken Doherty Vs Lee Walker
Matthew Stevens Vs Peter Lines
Dominic Dale Vs Joe Swail
Fergal O'Brien Vs Chris Wakelin
Kurt Maflin Vs Steve Davis
Mark Joyce Vs Zhang Anda
Liang Wenbo Vs Zhou Yuelong
Xiao Guodong Vs Liam Highfield
Jimmy Robertson Vs Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Robbie Williams
Michael Holt Vs Noppon Saengkham
Matt Selt Vs Jimmy White
David Gilbert Vs Tom Ford
Luca Brecel Vs Andrew Higginson
Robert Milkins Vs Darryl Hill


After a lot of games between established players and wildcard invitations came out with walkovers and a lot of easy results were obtained by players against others that were seriously out of form, I expect round two of qualifying to lead to many more close matches going right down to the wire with some dramatic finishes and a few more deciding frames to keep us all entertained, as we go another step closer to finding out who will join the top 16 seeds at the Crucible starting on Saturday April 18th. Personally, I can't see many of these matches being walkovers at all, and I could see a lot of the outsiders winning these matches. Zhang Anda and Li Hang played brilliantly in round one, while Zhou Yuelong is scoring well every time he seems to play. Robin Hull will be incredibly determined as he should be well aware that a victory against Ben Woollaston on Monday will see him get into the top 64 and retain his tour place for next year. Joe Swail is in the same boat as he takes on a mixed bag in Dominic Dale, while Lee Walker already has a victory against David Morris this week and Ken didn't play too well in round one so will be up against it again. As for the rest, I just have good feelings on the likes of Jak Jones and Mitchell Mann, particularly after their performances in round one, while I'd probably put Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is probably the favourite in my book against Jamie Burnett by a distance, despite being the lower seed.

Whatever happens though I'm sure the excitement will peak on Tuesday and Wednesday with the final qualifying round and I will be back to preview that one ahead of Tuesday morning's start.