That means that only ten players who came through the three matches to qualify last year will be at Ponds Forge. Former champions Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon are in this group that also features Robbie Williams, David Gilbert, Zhang Anda, Mitchell Mann and Robert Milkins, as well as Sam Baird who reached the Last 16 by beating Michael White at the Crucible, Michael Holt who overcame Neil Robertson and of course Alan McManus who made it all the way to the semi-finals with wins over Stephen Maguire, Ali Carter and John Higgins.
McManus joined Ding Junhui as two qualifiers that made up the semi-final line-up in Sheffield, showing that it is possible for players to come through the three match test and then go on strongly at the Crucible.
The battle for tour survival also comes down to these qualifiers, and with £8,000 for winning the first round qualifier, and £0 for a defeat there are a lot of players who could still find themselves in trouble.
Robin Hull is in 65th place right now so he needs to win his match against Reanne Evans to avoid having to start again from £0 in the 2017/2018 season with a fresh two year tour card, that he is all but guaranteed on the one year money list should he finish below 64th.
However all of the players from Gary Wilson in 64th to Ian Burns in 56th are within £8,000 of Hull and could all drop off the tour if they lose in round one. In between Wilson and Burns are guys like Chris Wakelin, Hossein Vafei, Daniel Wells, Li Hang, Alfie Burden and Oliver Lines. Also in that group is Yan Bingtao who is in the first season of a two year tour card, so he will not drop off of the tour but he could prevent someone below from staying on tour. Scott Donaldson is in 66th position, but he is in the same boat as Yan in the first season of a two year tour card. Also within £8,000 of 64th place Gary Wilson is 67th place Ross Muir.
Needing at least two wins to get into the top 64 are the likes of Noppon Saengkham (though he is in he like Hull and Muir is in position for a fresh two year tour card which I will come to in a moment), Dechawat Poomjaeng and Joe Swail. While guys like Rod Lawler, Nigel Bond (also both in position for a fresh two year card), Ken Doherty, Jamie Cope and Martin O'Donnell would all need to qualify to get into the top 64.
Having mentioned it heavily already, the top 8 players on the one year money list who are not already qualified for next season get a fresh two year tour card. Robin Hull leads the way here and is nearly £19,000 clear of the next eligible player outside of the list. Also currently earning one of these spots are Akani Songsermsawad, Rhys Clark, Ross Muir, Nigel Bond, Noppon Saengkham, Allan Taylor and Rod Lawler.
However, each of these players is less than £8,000 clear than the likes of Eden Sharav and Jimmy White who would qualify for a tour card by this method. Meanwhile, Duane Jones, Andy Hicks, Peter Lines, Paul Davison, Jamie Cope, Joe Swail, Fraser Patrick, Sanderson Lam, Martin O'Donnell and Igor Figueredo are all within £8,000 of Lawler and could overtake him and earn a tour spot via this method if results go their way.
Qualifying Section 1:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark Williams Vs Zhao Xintong
Liam Highfield Vs Andres Petrov
Stuart Carrington Vs Alex Borg
Andrew Higginson Vs Michael Georgiou
The very first section in the draw is, for me, one of the hardest to call. For starters there are five very impressive players. Mark Williams has to pick himself back up and get over the long haul flight back from China to play in qualifiers and as other players have shown in the past, that is not the easiest thing to do. He could have done with getting one of the easier players in the draw, but instead has got the toughest of the players outside of the top 80 seeds and one everyone would have wanted to avoid. Last year Zhao Xintong was a Q School top up for World Championship qualifying and he made it count beating Rod Lawler, and coming very close to Kurt Maflin who only won that 10-8. With a year of professional tour experience under his belt now and a good victory against John Higgins to boast, as well as coming very close to other top players like O'Sullivan, Carter and Williams himself on two occasions. That is going to be a tough battle indeed for Williams. Liam Highfield is not the easiest second round opponent for Williams if he manages to get through. Highfield got to the last 16 of the UK Championships where he took the Welshman all the way to a deciding frame and probably could have won. Highfield came within a frame of qualifying for the Crucible last year when he lost 10-9 to Sam Baird after beating Luca Brecel 10-8 and I think he certainly has the talent to qualify.
Then you have Stuart Carrington who qualified back in 2015 and has had some good runs this season leading up to this. I really rate Carrington highly and he was one player who I had my on to qualify for the Crucible this season so it is a shame he has landed in this section. Andrew Higginson is also a much stronger player than his ranking would suggest. He made the last 16 at the Crucible in 2012 and probably could have gone on further than that. He has lost out in the final qualifying in 2014 and 2015 much and last week in China he showed very good form to beat Ricky Walden, David Gilbert and come very close to beating eventual champion Mark Selby. If you think Williams will struggle with the short turnaround from China and a tough draw, then Higginson (with the form he has showed in China and his heavy scoring that can come into play much more in this format) could be the man to come through
Then you have Stuart Carrington who qualified back in 2015 and has had some good runs this season leading up to this. I really rate Carrington highly and he was one player who I had my on to qualify for the Crucible this season so it is a shame he has landed in this section. Andrew Higginson is also a much stronger player than his ranking would suggest. He made the last 16 at the Crucible in 2012 and probably could have gone on further than that. He has lost out in the final qualifying in 2014 and 2015 much and last week in China he showed very good form to beat Ricky Walden, David Gilbert and come very close to beating eventual champion Mark Selby. If you think Williams will struggle with the short turnaround from China and a tough draw, then Higginson (with the form he has showed in China and his heavy scoring that can come into play much more in this format) could be the man to come through
Predicted Qualifier: Andrew Higginson
Qualifying Section 2:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Tom Ford Vs Jamie Bodle
Chris Wakelin Vs Elliot Slessor
Matt Selt Vs David John
Hossein Vafei Vs Hatem Yassen
This section is another interesting one with another player who found his form in China. Hossein Vafei made the semi-finals in Beijing with wins over Judd Trump and Joe Perry. Unlike Williams, if he is struggling with the short turnaround and the long haul flight back, he has a nice easy draw against Yassen who has never won a professional match. For me, the Iranian has a genuinely good chance of qualifying for the Crucible when you consider his possible second round draw against an out of form Matthew Selt. Selt's best finish all season was a run to the last 16 of the World Open in the summer. Since then he has not got past the last 32 and only actually reached that stage on three occasions.
Then you have Chris Wakelin and Elliot Slessor, where Slessor has been coming across very confidently on Twitter saying how he has never lost to Wakelin. Wakelin is under pressure for his tour place so that could be a weakness Slessor could pounce on with the confidence he has. His win in Cardiff against Mark Williams impressed me and I would like to see him kick on from that now. I had a similar hope that Wakelin would kick on after making the English Open quarter-finals but that has not quite happened yet, perhaps he will show more of his quality here and go all the way through the qualifiers, as another player that I rate quite highly. However, I am going with the favourite in this section which is Tom Ford. Ford has impressed me this year making the final in Furth and the quarter-finals in Berlin with a maximum included, as well as runs to the last 16 of the English Open and European Masters. His heavy scoring could give him more of an advantage in the long format. 2014 was his most recent Crucible trip and he was very impressive that year, thrashing Luca Brecel and beating Matthew Stevens when he was still in the top 20 before taking eight frames off of Judd Trump at the Crucible.
Then you have Chris Wakelin and Elliot Slessor, where Slessor has been coming across very confidently on Twitter saying how he has never lost to Wakelin. Wakelin is under pressure for his tour place so that could be a weakness Slessor could pounce on with the confidence he has. His win in Cardiff against Mark Williams impressed me and I would like to see him kick on from that now. I had a similar hope that Wakelin would kick on after making the English Open quarter-finals but that has not quite happened yet, perhaps he will show more of his quality here and go all the way through the qualifiers, as another player that I rate quite highly. However, I am going with the favourite in this section which is Tom Ford. Ford has impressed me this year making the final in Furth and the quarter-finals in Berlin with a maximum included, as well as runs to the last 16 of the English Open and European Masters. His heavy scoring could give him more of an advantage in the long format. 2014 was his most recent Crucible trip and he was very impressive that year, thrashing Luca Brecel and beating Matthew Stevens when he was still in the top 20 before taking eight frames off of Judd Trump at the Crucible.
Predicted Qualifier: Tom Ford
Qualifying Section 3:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Robin Hull Vs Reanne Evans
Matthew Stevens Vs Lee Walker
Noppon Saengkham Vs Jak Jones
Anthony Hamilton Vs Craig Steadman
Section three is a brilliant one here. Starting with German Masters champion Anthony Hamilton we have the clear favourite for qualification. Not qualifying for China should help his preparation for this but he is not the only player in this section who falls into that category. Hamilton has played so well this year that it is very tough to go against him, but he has drawn something of a bogey player in round one. Craig Steadman saw off Hamilton at the Welsh Open in February, as well as beating him in two PTC events whilst not even on the tour. The only two times Steadman has lost to Hamilton have been in deciders so he has never been convincingly beaten by him either. As well as that Steadman has had some good results in world qualifying. Qualifying in 2015 with convincing wins against Michael White and Jamie Burnett he showed a lot of class, and lets not forget his win over Steve Davis in 2014 which relegated Davis from the tour. Meanwhile, he took Anthony McGill to a deciding frame in the second qualifying round last year so he is certainly no pushover.
Noppon Saengkham has the talent to qualify, but probably not the same levels of consistency in his player. Whenever I watch him he comes across as a heavy scoring player who is also quite streaky and may also be slightly too aggressive. Meanwhile, we have Matthew Stevens who still very much has the quality to make the Crucible. He did so in 2015 where he beat Mark Williams soundly before losing in the last 16 to O'Sullivan, and last year the ever improving Kyren Wilson saw him off in the final qualifying round. One player that I am a big fan of is Robin Hull and I expect him to go well in qualifying. He has had runs to the last 32 this season including the Scottish Open (where he beat Michael White), the Northern Irish Open, the Welsh Open (where he saw off Ding Junhui), the European Masters (outplaying Mark Williams). This came as well as the German Masters where he made the last 16 beating Luca Brecel and Matthew Stevens. On top of that, in the three seasons that Hull has been fully back on tour and in better health prior to this, he has made the Crucible twice in 2014 and 2015. In 2014 he won four matches that included three comfortable victories to start with and a fourth against Peter Ebdon, when Ebdon was still well inside the top 32. A year later he beat Ben Woollaston quite comfortably and thrashed Igor Figueredo. At his best the difference for me is his power scoring and the amount of big breaks and centuries that he can rattle off. Having not qualified for China he has had a nice amount of preparation time to be ready for this week.
Noppon Saengkham has the talent to qualify, but probably not the same levels of consistency in his player. Whenever I watch him he comes across as a heavy scoring player who is also quite streaky and may also be slightly too aggressive. Meanwhile, we have Matthew Stevens who still very much has the quality to make the Crucible. He did so in 2015 where he beat Mark Williams soundly before losing in the last 16 to O'Sullivan, and last year the ever improving Kyren Wilson saw him off in the final qualifying round. One player that I am a big fan of is Robin Hull and I expect him to go well in qualifying. He has had runs to the last 32 this season including the Scottish Open (where he beat Michael White), the Northern Irish Open, the Welsh Open (where he saw off Ding Junhui), the European Masters (outplaying Mark Williams). This came as well as the German Masters where he made the last 16 beating Luca Brecel and Matthew Stevens. On top of that, in the three seasons that Hull has been fully back on tour and in better health prior to this, he has made the Crucible twice in 2014 and 2015. In 2014 he won four matches that included three comfortable victories to start with and a fourth against Peter Ebdon, when Ebdon was still well inside the top 32. A year later he beat Ben Woollaston quite comfortably and thrashed Igor Figueredo. At his best the difference for me is his power scoring and the amount of big breaks and centuries that he can rattle off. Having not qualified for China he has had a nice amount of preparation time to be ready for this week.
Predicted Qualifier: Robin Hull
Qualifying Section 4:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Li Hang Vs Fraser Patrick
Mike Dunn Vs Andy Hicks
Nigel Bond Vs Ng On Yee
Stephen Maguire Vs Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn
For me this is a pretty simple section. Stephen Maguire should have too much quality over the best-of-19 frames to lose to any of the players in this section. Mike Dunn actually came pretty close to qualifying last year and actually saw off Li Hang 10-9 on the way. Although from 2012-2014 Dunn lost his opening qualifying match and I could see that happening here too against Andy Hicks. Hicks for me is still good enough to be on tour, having taken a little bit of time away when he dropped off a few years ago. Even though Hicks lost to Dunn in China, I could still see it going either way over 19 frames. Nigel Bond's wealth of experience could be the biggest threat to Maguire and Bond did show some improved form in March when he made the Gibraltar Open semi-finals so don't be surprised to see him push Maguire in round two if they both win their openers.
Predicted Qualifier: Stephen Maguire
Qualifying Section 5:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark King Vs Paul Davison
Zhang Anda Vs Fang Xiongman
Xiao Guodong Vs Tyler Rees
Sam Baird Vs Ross Vallance
Section five is where we find Northern Irish Open champion Mark King. He should have no problem in beating Paul Davison in round one but from there things get very tough in a quality section of the draw, while King has not actually qualified for the Crucible since 2013, when he only needed to win one match to do so. Xiao Guodong has looked in better form this season after struggles in the last campaign. However, Xiao has only ever qualified for the Crucible once and this was in the same season that he made the Shanghai Masters final, putting him in the top 32 back in the days when seeds 17-32 only had to play one qualifying match. Sam Baird meanwhile qualified last year, and beat Michael White at the Crucible on the way to a tight last 16 defeat against Mark Selby. Baird also qualified in 2013 winning four matches to do so as well. This season has not been as impressive from Baird, especially in the second half with a few first round defeats.
The player I am picking out in this section though is Zhang Anda. Zhang has qualified in back to back years, adding to his appearance at the Crucible in 2010. Three appearances at the Crucible is a very good return for a 25-year-old and he has climbed up the rankings this year on the first year of a fresh tour year tour card. Only Anthony Hamilton (German Masters champion), the amazing Yan Bingtao and Scott Donaldson (Welsh open semi-finalist) have done better of those that started the season from £0, putting Zhang at 47th on the one year money list. His runs have seen him make the last 16 of the UK Championships this season as well as the World Open. Going back to his qualifiers form, the Chinese player impressively saw off Mark Davis and fellow countryman Zhou Yuelong who would also have been the favourite going into that clash a year ago. His 2015 run also included a victory against Liang Wenbo and a thrashing of Anthony Hamilton. Someone who could take Stephen Hendry to a decider on their Crucible debut aged 18 is going to be on the radar at this time of year.
The player I am picking out in this section though is Zhang Anda. Zhang has qualified in back to back years, adding to his appearance at the Crucible in 2010. Three appearances at the Crucible is a very good return for a 25-year-old and he has climbed up the rankings this year on the first year of a fresh tour year tour card. Only Anthony Hamilton (German Masters champion), the amazing Yan Bingtao and Scott Donaldson (Welsh open semi-finalist) have done better of those that started the season from £0, putting Zhang at 47th on the one year money list. His runs have seen him make the last 16 of the UK Championships this season as well as the World Open. Going back to his qualifiers form, the Chinese player impressively saw off Mark Davis and fellow countryman Zhou Yuelong who would also have been the favourite going into that clash a year ago. His 2015 run also included a victory against Liang Wenbo and a thrashing of Anthony Hamilton. Someone who could take Stephen Hendry to a decider on their Crucible debut aged 18 is going to be on the radar at this time of year.
Predicted Qualifier: Zhang Anda
Qualifying Section 6:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Ben Woollaston Vs Chris Totten
Ken Doherty Vs Jason Weston
Zhou Yuelong Vs Christopher Keogan
Ian Burns Vs Ian Preece
This section comes with one of the players who I would probably pick out as long as he did not draw one of the top guns. Before we get to him though there are others to mention. You have to feel for Ken Doherty this season. The 1997 world champion has toiled with his form all year and it looks likely now that he will be relegated from the tour. He has an easy enough round one qualifier, but unless his form really turns around and we see some of the old Ken then, he may only be at the Crucible as a pundit. Ben Woollaston has only qualified for the Crucible once back in 2013. Last year he lost in the first qualifying round to Chris Wakelin and he was beaten in round two in 2015 by Robin Hull having been a top 32 in both seasons, as well as in 2014 when he lost to Jamie Burnett. Ian Burns is under pressure to win his first round qualifier just to make sure he will not fall off of teh tour in dramatic fashion with so many players between him and the top 64 line, who could all pass with a first round victory if Burns loses. Last year Burns made the final qualifying round but lost convincingly to Peter Ebdon.
That leaves rising chinese star Zhou Yuelong as my pick to qualify. Last year he was denied in the final qualifying round by Zhang Anda, while Liang Wenbo shot him down in his first World Championships. He has improved greatly with each year on tour, and this season has seen his best ranking performance as he made the quarter-finals at the China Open, along with the last 16 at the UK and International Championships which helped him qualify for the World Grand Prix. For me he is the strongest player in this section.
That leaves rising chinese star Zhou Yuelong as my pick to qualify. Last year he was denied in the final qualifying round by Zhang Anda, while Liang Wenbo shot him down in his first World Championships. He has improved greatly with each year on tour, and this season has seen his best ranking performance as he made the quarter-finals at the China Open, along with the last 16 at the UK and International Championships which helped him qualify for the World Grand Prix. For me he is the strongest player in this section.
Predicted Qualifier: Zhou Yuelong
Qualifying Section 7:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Alfie Burden Vs Adam Duffy
Jamie Jones Vs Jamie Barrett
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Chen Zhe
Graeme Dott Vs Allan Taylor
Dechawat Poomjaeng is the first player to come to in section seven. The Thai player who made the last 16 at the Crucible 2013 has failed to win a single match on the tour since the Shanghai Masters qualifiers at the end of August. On that form it is hard to see him qualifying. Alfie Burden and Adam Duffy looks like a tight contest to me. Duffy impressed me in 2015 when, despite not being on the tour at this stage he overcame Martin Gould and Sam Baird and very nearly qualified for the Crucible. If the game does go close I fancy Duffy to get over the line. Graeme Dott has slipped down the rankings in recent times, sitting well outside the top 32 in the one year money list. He still qualified last year though, and over the long format it is hard to rule him out and I would expect him to make it to the final qualifying round.
My choice though is Jamie Jones. Jones made the quarter-finals of the world's back in 2012 beating Shaun Murphy along the way. Jones overcame Ding Junhui in a classy run to the quarter-finals of the UK Championship where he probably should have beaten Marco Fu and made it to the last four. Jones may have been comfortably beaten by Hamza Akbar last year but he qualified in 2015 with two comfortable wins before beating Duffy 10-8, and I think Duffy will be one of his victims on the way back to the Crucible again.
My choice though is Jamie Jones. Jones made the quarter-finals of the world's back in 2012 beating Shaun Murphy along the way. Jones overcame Ding Junhui in a classy run to the quarter-finals of the UK Championship where he probably should have beaten Marco Fu and made it to the last four. Jones may have been comfortably beaten by Hamza Akbar last year but he qualified in 2015 with two comfortable wins before beating Duffy 10-8, and I think Duffy will be one of his victims on the way back to the Crucible again.
Predicted Qualifier: Jamie Jones
Qualifying Section 8:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Tian Pengfei Vs Zhang Yong
Fergal O'Brien Vs Gerard Greene
Rhys Clark Vs Wayne Townsend
David Gilbert Vs Patrick Wallace
Fergal O'Brien has not qualified for the World Championships since 2010, which for a player of his experience and for the quality of match play he can produce that comes as a big surprise. His five century performance against Barry Hawkins in the UK Championships showed he still has the class to make it back to the Crucible. Despite a run to the last 16 of last weeks China Open, that included wins against Anthony McGill and Martin Gould, Tian Pengfei is 86th on the one season money list which is very low. Based on a season with so few highlights it is hard to see him winning three matches at Ponds Forge. Rhys Clark is the other seeded player in this section, though he is outside of the top 64 on the one and two year ranking lists. He did have a couple of good runs in October making the last 16 of the European Masters and the English Open back to back.
David Gilbert is the hot favourite to qualify from this section. He qualified last year and in 2014 as well as his most impressive run in 2012 when he was much lower in the rankings and not only completed the four wins to qualify (including a 10-4 thrashing of Fergal O'Brien in the final qualifier), but then beat Martin Gould at the venue to make the last 16. His overall quality and very heavy scoring should make the difference. His ride last year was pretty easy to make the Crucible and his heavy scoring showed as he forced O'Sullivan to up his game in the last 32 for a 10-7 victory.
David Gilbert is the hot favourite to qualify from this section. He qualified last year and in 2014 as well as his most impressive run in 2012 when he was much lower in the rankings and not only completed the four wins to qualify (including a 10-4 thrashing of Fergal O'Brien in the final qualifier), but then beat Martin Gould at the venue to make the last 16. His overall quality and very heavy scoring should make the difference. His ride last year was pretty easy to make the Crucible and his heavy scoring showed as he forced O'Sullivan to up his game in the last 32 for a 10-7 victory.
Predicted Qualifier: David Gilbert
Qualifying Section 9:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Joe Perry Vs Zack Richardson
Mei Xi Wen Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Mark Joyce Vs Jordan Brown
David Grace Vs Thor Chuan Leong
There is one huge favourite in this section, but it is worth remembering that Joe Perry would not be in qualifying had he played better over the course of the last year. There are still stumbling blocks in this section. David Grace should get past Thor in round one, but I do not fancy him to qualify having not had the best of seasons. At 72nd on the one season list that tells you what you need to know about his form. Mark Joyce is only 57th on the one season rankings and despite many years of trying he has never made it to the Crucible which does come as a little surprise. His form in China, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan before pushing Ding Junhui close in the last 16, showed that he could cause an upset and qualify but if he meets Perry in the final qualifier I do not see it happening.
Potentially the biggest threat to Perry is the winner of the Mei Xi Wen and Akani Songsermsawad clash. Songsermsawad has some good results to boast from this season, but having seen him close up in Cardiff, Mei Xi Wen looks very impressive. On form he is a heavy scorer and could do well in these qualifiers over the long format.
For me though this section is about Perry. At times he has been vulnerable and exited in the early stages of tournaments, which is the main reason he finds himself at Ponds Forge in the first place. Over 19 frames against weaker opposition though he should not have too many problems, and I do believe that Mei Xi Wen (who has beaten Mark Allen, Mark Williams and Martin Gould this season) is his biggest threat.
Potentially the biggest threat to Perry is the winner of the Mei Xi Wen and Akani Songsermsawad clash. Songsermsawad has some good results to boast from this season, but having seen him close up in Cardiff, Mei Xi Wen looks very impressive. On form he is a heavy scorer and could do well in these qualifiers over the long format.
For me though this section is about Perry. At times he has been vulnerable and exited in the early stages of tournaments, which is the main reason he finds himself at Ponds Forge in the first place. Over 19 frames against weaker opposition though he should not have too many problems, and I do believe that Mei Xi Wen (who has beaten Mark Allen, Mark Williams and Martin Gould this season) is his biggest threat.
Predicted Qualifier: Joe Perry
Qualifying Section 10:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Luca Brecel Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Joe Swail Vs Sanderson Lam
Dominic Dale Vs Boonyarit Kaettikun
Daniel Wells Vs Adam Stefanow
Another tough section to call here in group 10. Luca Brecel is the higher seed but you would not know it based on his efforts this season. A quarter-final appearance at the UK Championships is his best effort by a long way. He sits down in 46th on the one season money list having suffered a number of first round defeats, which gives his opponent Sean O'Sullivan plenty of cause for encouragement. Joe Swail has had a potentially career ending season. Down in 96th on the one season list and 70th on the provisional end of season rankings, he will probably need to qualify for the Crucible to have any chance of being on the tour next year. That makes my two biggest contenders the two Welshman. Dominic Dale came within one frame of making the semi-finals at the Crucible in 2014 so he certainly still has what it takes to compete over this format, being such a smart tactical player and great match player when on form.
My choice though is young Daniel Wells to make his Crucible debut. Wells has really impressed me this season, having climbed to 42 on the one season list which is enough for now to put him in the top 64 going into the qualifiers. He cannot afford to lose in round one if he wants to stay there but he would still get a fresh tour card via that one year list. Two last 16 runs in China are the highlights most recently in Beijing and at the start of the season at the World Open. His heavy scoring is impressive and many people have touted him as someone who can climb up the rankings and he is starting to prove that.
My choice though is young Daniel Wells to make his Crucible debut. Wells has really impressed me this season, having climbed to 42 on the one season list which is enough for now to put him in the top 64 going into the qualifiers. He cannot afford to lose in round one if he wants to stay there but he would still get a fresh tour card via that one year list. Two last 16 runs in China are the highlights most recently in Beijing and at the start of the season at the World Open. His heavy scoring is impressive and many people have touted him as someone who can climb up the rankings and he is starting to prove that.
Predicted Qualifier: Daniel Wells
Qualifying Section 11:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Gary Wilson Vs Josh Boileau
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Peter Lines
Ross Muir Vs Gareth Allen
Michael White Vs Aditya Mehta
Section eleven is one that could go a few different ways. If on form, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh could qualify easily. Although, for much of the season this has not been the case having suffered a number of first round exits which, despite semi-finals at the World Open and the Paul Hunter Classic, have seen him at 51st on the one season list. Peter Lines earned his spot as world seniors champion and I fancy his chances of beating Thepchaiya and potentially having a run at Ponds Forge. The pressure is on Gary Wilson to win in round one against Josh Boileau as the man in 64th on the provisional end of season list. Again like Wells in section ten he is almost guaranteed a fresh two year card via the one year list, should he fall outside of the top 64. Boileau has not showed enough for me to think he will give Wilson too much of a challenge in round one, and the former China open finalists scoring ability should be enough to get him through. Ross Muir is also in the tour survival battle and if he could get past Gareth Allen in round one, his slower style may frustrate Michael White.
I still think White is the clear favourite in this section, and he looked to be in good form last week in Beijing. He beat Ali Carter on the way to the last 16 and made a few centuries in his opening round match. That heavy scoring is enough to get him on a roll in matches and blow some of the lower ranked players away. As a Crucible quarter-finalist in 2013 and someone who still has a bright future it would be a disappointment not to see him qualify.
I still think White is the clear favourite in this section, and he looked to be in good form last week in Beijing. He beat Ali Carter on the way to the last 16 and made a few centuries in his opening round match. That heavy scoring is enough to get him on a roll in matches and blow some of the lower ranked players away. As a Crucible quarter-finalist in 2013 and someone who still has a bright future it would be a disappointment not to see him qualify.
Predicted Qualifier: Michael White
Qualifying Section 12:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Rory McLeod Vs Darryl Hill
Kurt Maflin Vs Sydney Wilson
Martin O'Donnell Vs Jackson Page
Ricky Walden Vs Hammad Miah
This is a potentially fun little section. Walden has been an automatic qualifier every year since 2012, when he lost his qualifier 10-2 to Jamie Jones which may not be the best omen. In 2011 he famously lost at the Crucible 10-6 to Rory McLeod and had a lot to say afterwards and it would be somewhat ironic if they met in the final qualifying round here. McLeod has had an average season at best though and while he should easily make the second round anything beyond that will be a challenge if he is not on top form. Last week at the China Open, beating Liang Wenbo on the way to the last 16, McLeod showed glimpses of what he could do, but there has not been enough sign of that this season. There is the small matter of "Action" Jackson Page and given what we all saw in Cardiff and his exploits in Cyprus at the Under 18, Under 21 and Amateur European Championships, it would be no surprise to see him get a win here against Martin O'Donnell. O'Donnell himself is under pressure to have a good run and stay on tour so that may open up an opportunity for Page who is really under no pressure at all.
Kurt Maflin is a decent shout here for me. His best run came in Cardiff to make the quarter-finals, as well as coming through the tiered qualifiers to make the Shanghai Masters. As well as that are last 16's at the World Open and the Irish Open helping him to 35th on the one year list. Maflin may have only qualified once back in 2015, but he was impressive in taking Selby all the way in round one. He made the final qualifying round last year narrowly losing out to Milkins. If he can get on top of McLeod early with some trademark heavy scoring and not let McLeod grind him down then he should overcome that. My worry for Walden is his alarming dip in form with too many early exits and some of the back and shoulder issues he has had. With back issues he may struggle over the long format and make life difficult for him, and I think that makes Maflin a good alternative in this section.
Kurt Maflin is a decent shout here for me. His best run came in Cardiff to make the quarter-finals, as well as coming through the tiered qualifiers to make the Shanghai Masters. As well as that are last 16's at the World Open and the Irish Open helping him to 35th on the one year list. Maflin may have only qualified once back in 2015, but he was impressive in taking Selby all the way in round one. He made the final qualifying round last year narrowly losing out to Milkins. If he can get on top of McLeod early with some trademark heavy scoring and not let McLeod grind him down then he should overcome that. My worry for Walden is his alarming dip in form with too many early exits and some of the back and shoulder issues he has had. With back issues he may struggle over the long format and make life difficult for him, and I think that makes Maflin a good alternative in this section.
Predicted Qualifier: Kurt Maflin
Qualifying Section 13:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Michael Holt Vs Hamza Akbar
Jamie Cope Vs Eden Sharav
Peter Ebdon Vs Michael Wild
Jack Lisowski Vs Jimmy White
Section 13 is going to be unlucky for a few, in terms of tour survival and qualification prospects. Eden Sharav needs to beat Jamie Cope in round one to give himself a chance of getting a fresh two year tour card via the one year list. Cope himself needs at least win but more likely two or all three to save himself having to go to Q School. Sharav has had a couple of better results in recent weeks though and Cope has struggled all season long so I would marginally favour the Scotsman. Peter Ebdon qualified a year ago, but he is another who has struggled this season sitting in 62nd place on the one season list, and he is not someone I would favour to go all the way in this section. Jack Lisowski and Jimmy White is one of the ties of the round. White needs at least a win here to have any chance of getting a two year tour card via the one year list, and his form at times this season has been a lot better. Reaching the last 32 at the Scottish Open and the German Masters are some of his better runs along with a quarter-final at the Paul Hunter Classic. In fact, sitting in 78th on the one year list Lisowski is only a few places ahead of White. He has been in better form having scored very heavily on the way to the quarter-finals of the Gibraltar Open. Lisowski though has been one of the disappointments of the last couple of years in that he has not yet kicked on and moved up the rankings, and has instead fallen the other way.
Michael Holt is a clear favourite here to qualify. Holt has made it to the Crucible in three of the last four years, and impressively overcame Neil Robertson in the first round at the main venue a year ago. His form has come on a fair way as he has showed by getting into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters, International Championship and China Championship this season as well as the Riga Masters final. To continue progressing as he has been in the last year or so he needs to qualify here and have another crack at one of the top players on the biggest stage.
Michael Holt is a clear favourite here to qualify. Holt has made it to the Crucible in three of the last four years, and impressively overcame Neil Robertson in the first round at the main venue a year ago. His form has come on a fair way as he has showed by getting into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters, International Championship and China Championship this season as well as the Riga Masters final. To continue progressing as he has been in the last year or so he needs to qualify here and have another crack at one of the top players on the biggest stage.
Predicted Qualifier: Michael Holt
Qualifying Section 14:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Alan McManus Vs Kurt Dunham
Rod Lawler Vs Xu Si
Jimmy Robertson Vs Cao Yupeng
Oliver Lines Vs Duane Jones
Alan McManus is the man to come to first in section 14. Having made the semi-finals at the Crucible last year you would expect him to go well again this time around. However, since that run he has failed to hit the same heights. At 74th on the one season list he has struggled to find the spark to get his season going. He reached the last 16 at the World Open and the last 32 at the Paul Hunter Classic early in the season, but has failed to get past the last 64 in a single event since. A run like that would not give many players confidence going into the world qualifiers. Then we come to Rod Lawler who is also struggling and has to win against Xu Si to have any chance of staying on tour. He is currently in the final spot for a fresh two year tour card, and is well outside the top 64, more than likely needing to get to the Crucible to get back inside. His opponent Xu Si is someone who has earned his invite as the World Under-21 champion, but he has also impressed as a wildcard in some of the Chinese ranking events. He saw off James Wattana at the World Open, before beating Wang Yuchen and most notably, Mark Williams at the International Championship. The match against Wang also featured a 145 break which was the joint highest break of the TV stages, and shows that he has plenty of talent. Much like Page he is under no pressure and playing against someone who has plenty riding on the game, and that could allow him to relax and take advantage.
Jimmy Robertson has had an average season, playing well early by making the last 16 at the Riga Masters and the last 32 at the World Open. The last 32 at the UK Championships with a victory over Mark Davis was his best thereafter. Robertson qualified in 2015 and played pretty well despite losing to Marco Fu at the Crucible. He also qualified in 2011, and fell at the final hurdle in qualifiers a year ago. This section provides an opportunity for someone with no names jumping off the page so Robertson has to be one of the favourites. I am going to go for more of an outside pick and someone that has beaten Jimmy Robertson 6-0 this season in Oliver Lines. That 6-0 win for Lines came in the UK Championships and followed up a 6-2 win over Judd Trump who has been in great form all season long. He reached the last 16 in India too at the start of the season beating Graeme Dott before losing to Shaun Murphy and even though his form can still be a bit hit and miss he is starting to make progress. With a father who can teach you a lot about the professional circuit, and plenty of matchplay skill the longer format is where you should do best and that could be the case for Lines junior.
Jimmy Robertson has had an average season, playing well early by making the last 16 at the Riga Masters and the last 32 at the World Open. The last 32 at the UK Championships with a victory over Mark Davis was his best thereafter. Robertson qualified in 2015 and played pretty well despite losing to Marco Fu at the Crucible. He also qualified in 2011, and fell at the final hurdle in qualifiers a year ago. This section provides an opportunity for someone with no names jumping off the page so Robertson has to be one of the favourites. I am going to go for more of an outside pick and someone that has beaten Jimmy Robertson 6-0 this season in Oliver Lines. That 6-0 win for Lines came in the UK Championships and followed up a 6-2 win over Judd Trump who has been in great form all season long. He reached the last 16 in India too at the start of the season beating Graeme Dott before losing to Shaun Murphy and even though his form can still be a bit hit and miss he is starting to make progress. With a father who can teach you a lot about the professional circuit, and plenty of matchplay skill the longer format is where you should do best and that could be the case for Lines junior.
Predicted Qualifier: Oliver Lines
Qualifying Section 15:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Yan Bingtao Vs Sam Craigie
Mark Davis Vs Mitchell Mann
Scott Donaldson Vs Wang Yuchen
Robert Milkins Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
The penultimate little group here is arguably one of the toughest to call. Of the four seeded players, Yan Bingtao and Scott Donaldson are two of the three best players to have started from £0 this season with the best being Anthony Hamilton who won in Berlin. In all Milkins sits 27th on the one year list with Yan 29th, Davis 32nd and Donaldson 34th. Any one of those four could qualify. Not only that but Mitchell Mann won three matches to qualify last season, including victories over Selt and Poomjaeng as well as making the final qualifying round the season before. Sam Craigie (along with Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao) was one of my three players to watch this season and could do damage if he can find his heavy scoring over the long format. Additionally, Alexander Ursenbacher won the European Under-21 title less than a month ago which will earn him a tour card to re-join the pro ranks from next season.
We know all of what Yan has achieved but this over the long format is surely his biggest test. If he makes the Crucible at the first attempt and at such a young age too, he will surely be touted by many as a future world champion. Milkins has qualified in three of the last four years for the Crucible, including the last two years since the flat format for the qualifiers has been bought in. Last year he overcame Scott Donaldson in the second qualifier before another tough match with Kurt Maflin. In 2015 he came through a decider in the final round against Andrew Higginson in a match that was a joy to watch. When he missed out on the Crucible in 2014 it was to Michael Wasley 10-9 on a re-spotted black in the final qualifying round and we know what Wasley went on to do by beating Ding, so it took a good performance to send Milkins home. Mark Davis too has had a solid season with a few quarter-finals but he has failed to push on, and for me he has the marginally tougher draw compared to Milkins. Last year Davis was knocked out by Zhang Anda 10-5, though he did qualify in 2015 against some pretty easy opposition at the time. This will certainly not be an easy ride, so with Milkins form in the qualifiers since the flat format came in and as his only defeat in the last four years of qualifying was a narrow one, he is my choice.
We know all of what Yan has achieved but this over the long format is surely his biggest test. If he makes the Crucible at the first attempt and at such a young age too, he will surely be touted by many as a future world champion. Milkins has qualified in three of the last four years for the Crucible, including the last two years since the flat format for the qualifiers has been bought in. Last year he overcame Scott Donaldson in the second qualifier before another tough match with Kurt Maflin. In 2015 he came through a decider in the final round against Andrew Higginson in a match that was a joy to watch. When he missed out on the Crucible in 2014 it was to Michael Wasley 10-9 on a re-spotted black in the final qualifying round and we know what Wasley went on to do by beating Ding, so it took a good performance to send Milkins home. Mark Davis too has had a solid season with a few quarter-finals but he has failed to push on, and for me he has the marginally tougher draw compared to Milkins. Last year Davis was knocked out by Zhang Anda 10-5, though he did qualify in 2015 against some pretty easy opposition at the time. This will certainly not be an easy ride, so with Milkins form in the qualifiers since the flat format came in and as his only defeat in the last four years of qualifying was a narrow one, he is my choice.
Predicted Qualifier: Robert Milkins
Qualifying Section 16:
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Robbie Williams Vs James Cahill
Yu De Lu Vs Itaro Santos
John Astley Vs Igor Figueredo
Martin Gould Vs James Wattana
The first person I want to come to in this final qualifying section is Igor Figueredo. The Brazilian has made the last 16 of the Welsh Open and Gibraltar Open this season having only started his season at the Northern Irish Ope final in November. Figueredo made it to the final qualifying round in 2015 with wins over Nigel Bond and Rod Lawler despite only playing a handful of events that season also. While Astley has also had a good season in this match I will give Figueredo a marginal edge. Meanwhile there is Yu De Lu who starts with an easy first round game, though he has never qualified for the Crucible and in all honesty I do not see him starting this year either. His best run of the season saw him make the Scottish Open semi-finals where he was fortunate, winning all of those games in deciding frames. Aside from that he has had an average season and I think he lacks the quality to make it out of this section.
Martin Gould was an automatic qualifier last year and only just missed out this year, though his season has not been the greatest by the high standards set after his 2016 German Masters win. In 2015 Gould lost in the first qualifying round to Adam Duffy though, and his world championship record is neither good or bad.
My choice though is going to be Robbie Williams. Williams has qualified three years in a row and he is a very difficult player to rule out at this time of year. Despite an average season he has still had a couple of last 16 performances, but he has not always had a lot of form coming into the World's in previous years. The sorts of players he has defeated show that he is more than capable of coming through this section, where Gould is probably the only player he would not be a favourite against. This is a very tough section to call given Williams record which is why I have gone for him.
Martin Gould was an automatic qualifier last year and only just missed out this year, though his season has not been the greatest by the high standards set after his 2016 German Masters win. In 2015 Gould lost in the first qualifying round to Adam Duffy though, and his world championship record is neither good or bad.
My choice though is going to be Robbie Williams. Williams has qualified three years in a row and he is a very difficult player to rule out at this time of year. Despite an average season he has still had a couple of last 16 performances, but he has not always had a lot of form coming into the World's in previous years. The sorts of players he has defeated show that he is more than capable of coming through this section, where Gould is probably the only player he would not be a favourite against. This is a very tough section to call given Williams record which is why I have gone for him.
Predicted Qualifier: Robbie Williams
This looks like a fascinating draw for the qualifiers with some really intriguing matches, not just in terms of the first round but for the potential second and third round qualifiers. Picking all 16 qualifiers correctly is tough work, if you think you can manage it tweet me your thoughts @CueActionBlog
I will also aim to update my blog throughout the qualifiers with reports and draw news so keep looking out for that. World Snooker have also revealed news that, once the 16 qualifiers have earned their places at the Crucible, the first round draw will take place on Thursday April 13 at 10am live on the World Snooker Facebook page.
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