GUEST BLOG: Sam Craigie

Ahead of a week of important qualifiers in Preston for the Indian Open, European Masters and World Open tournaments, we've caught up with current world number 76 Sam Craigie, as he offers his thoughts on how things went last season, the start of the season in Riga as well as looking ahead to the weeks ahead.


Things started off for Craigie in Preston with qualifiers for the Riga Masters and China Championship and while he made it through to Latvia, he just fell short of the mark for China.

"I was delighted to win my first match as I came from behind against Soheil. I also made a good clearance in the decider which always feels good. I was disappointed after losing to Fergal as I started to feel in control, but I didn't really get a chance in the last 2 frames. Overall my safety let me down in both games so I have been working hard on that.

Soheil seemed very dangerous and fearless which will win him matches but will also lose him matches, no doubt he'll keep improving with that approach." 

Proof of the dangerous Soheil Vahedi, as Craigie describes, was shown as he took home the bronze medal in the recent World Games. However, as the season began there is a certain rustiness to remove after nearly two months without a competitive match.

"I started well in my first match, but when the pressure hit then you realise your not quite match sharp. I was just happy to scrape over the line in my first match to settle the nerves."

Onto Riga Craigie went and his Last 64 opponent was Jamie Jones where he enjoyed a 4-3 success before losing out 4-2 to Mark Davis. 

"I enjoyed Riga. I was obviously happy to beat Jamie from 3-1 down, but he struggled at the end of the match so I didn't really feel confident in my game going into the next match against Mark. I thought the venue was great as a whole, the tables weren't great but it seems there's no answer for that."

Last season certainly showed some promise for Craigie but with a few tight loses in the big money events, the Englishman (to use a Golfing term) feels as though he has left a couple of shots out on the course. 

"Last season could of been a lot more successful than it was, unfortunately a few things went against me at crucial times. I always believe there's lots of things to work on, which could possibly be my down fall, we'll see."

With the hard work very much in progress he will be looking to keep improving all the time, especially as he is still very much a young man at 23. Given his current ranking though Craigie is keeping his goals for this year very simple. 

"I don't really know what to expect this season, but my goal is just to remain on tour. If I reach the top 64 I'll be delighted, if I regain another 2 year card (via the one-year money list) I'll still be happy."

Onto the upcoming qualifiers, and one that Craigie will be looking forward to is the World Open having qualified last year before beating Marco Fu in the Last 64 at the venue. 

"I'd love to qualify for the World Open again and have another shot over there, it will be a tall order as I play Judd Trump in the qualifiers, who I believe will dominate the game in years to come. I can only try my best and see what happens." 

A draw against the home favourite means that Sam will not be in Preston on Thursday or Friday for European Masters qualifying. 

"I'm also looking forward to the European Masters where I'll play Luca Brecel in Belgium, another great player.

We've had a few good games in the past, it should be a good experience playing him in front of his home crowd."

So, with that bit of extra time away from the match table, Craigie opens the door on his perfect day at home. 

"My perfect day off would be, an early game of golf, a few drinks, go out for a nice meal, then a good film at night."


It looks like we have another keen Golfer amongst the professional snooker ranks, maybe in the future it would be fun to see a joint Golf and Snooker challenge. In the much nearer future though are the Preston qualifiers, where Sam Craigie will face Ben Woollaston on Tuesday August 1 in Indian Open qualifying, and Judd Trump on Monday August 7 in World Open qualifying. Following that will be a trip to Germany at the end of the month for the Paul Hunter Classic where Craigie already has a walkover into the Last 64.


Don't forget to keep an eye on the blog this week as I will be in Preston from Tuesday to Friday for the Indian Open and European Masters qualifiers producing day by day insights on all the snooker on show as well as doing a couple of LIVE BLOGS on some of the non-streamed matches. You will also be able to follow my updates on Twitter @CueActionBlog 

World Games: Snooker Event Preview

For the fifth time in it's history, snooker will be involved in the World Games, which takes place in Poland on this occasion with 16 players all bidding to become snooker's next gold medallist.

In Colombia four years ago Aditya Mehta beat Liang Wenbo to the gold, while Igor Figueiredo missed out on the bronze to Dechawat Poomjaeng. Nigel Bond stepped up to the podium in Taiwan as he picked up the 2009 gold, with David Grace taking silver and the bronze going to Mohammed Shehab as he edged out Soheil Vahedi.

2005 saw the World Games head to Germany where Gerard Greene picked up the gold against Ding Junhui. Bjorn Haneveer won the bronze against Mark Allen adding to the gold medal that the Belgian four years earlier in Japan.

This year there is an important change as snooker at the World Games becomes a mixed event. Women's world champion Ng On Yee is joined by Belgian Wendy Jans making up the two female players in the field. Defending gold medallist Aditya Mehta is also in the field along with English top 16 hopes Ali Carter and Kyren Wilson. 2016 world amateur champion and current tour player Soheil Vahedi is also in the field along with 2016 world under 21 champion Xu Si and runner-up Alexander Ursenbacher who are the two other tour players in the field.

2016 world amateur finalist Andrew Pagett and european men's runner-up Andres Petrov are two of the non-tour players in the field that also include Kacper Filipiak competing on home soil, the impressive Declan Brennan, former professionals Michael Judge and Peter Francisco while Australian Shaun Dalitz and Pakistan's Mohammad Bilal complete this global field.

World Games Main Event Draw: 

Ali Carter Vs Shaun Dalitz

Wendy Jans Vs Declan Brennan

Aditya Mehta Vs Kacper Filipiak 

Xu Si Vs Mohammad Bilal 

Soheil Vahedi Vs Peter Francisco

Andrew Pagett Vs Alexander Ursenbacher

Ng On Yee Vs Michael Judge 

Kyren Wilson Vs Andres Petrov

Ali Carter and Kyren Wilson will be two obvious favourites for this event but with the format being best-of-5 frame matches throughout the event, anything can happen and no results are guaranteed given such a short format.

Declan Brennan could do very well in this event and gain some valuable experience. From what I have seen and heard about him he is a quality player who can score very heavily and I expect him to make his way on to the tour inside of the next couple of years.

Defending champion Aditya Mehta will be determined to get another medal after his performance four years ago. The Indian has not necessarily had the best year or so on the table in terms of results but a good run here could give him a lot of confidence for the year ahead.

2016 world under 21 champion Xu Si is certainly a danger man. At the start of the season I picked him out as one of my players to watch for the coming season, and a medal in the World Games would be an early justification of that call and proof of his talents. Beating Mark Williams in a best-of-11 at the International Championship last year shows he can compete with the higher grade of players, so he could do very well on the big stage this week.

In the bottom half of the draw Alexander Ursenbacher is a certain dark horse. We have seen already this year that he is a heavy scorer and very talented having earned his place back on tour. In Andrew Pagett he faces an experienced ex-tour pro who could easily have a good run himself. Pagett nearly earned a place back on tour on a couple of occasions in the last year, losing in the final of the world amateur championships and the semi-finals of the european amateur championships.

Soheil Vahedi is the world amateur championships and has already made a bit of an impression as a tour pro, playing alongside Hossein Vafei in the Iranian world cup team that made the quarter-finals earlier this month. That run could inspire him to do his nation proud once again here in Poland and get himself onto the podium.

Finally, it is also worth mentioning Ng On Yee who should be inspired coming into this week straight from the Hong Kong Masters where she has played a big part. Playing exhibitions with against Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White in Hong Kong in front of a huge crowd will give her some good practice for the Games, and the motivation to make her huge crowds of supporters proud. 

All in all, it looks to me like a wide open tournament given the field and the short format. The winner will more than likely be someone who is up for the challenge and embraces everything that these games have to offer. Viewing it as a privilege rather than another week on tour could be the key to success and someone like Kyren Wilson is usually someone that fits that description, always embracing new challenges. For many others it is a great opportunity and I expect the likes of Ursenbacher and Xu to impress and potentially pick up a medal themselves, whilst Brennan could also provide an upset or two along the way.  

The tournament begins on Wednesday with first round matches taking place on Wednesday and Thursday before the quarter-finals on Friday, semi-finals and the bronze medal match on Saturday and the final on Sunday with the medal ceremony to follow later on the same day. 

Hong Kong Masters Preview

On Thursday, the game's best players will launch a brand new invitational event as the Hong Kong Masters arrives on the tour. Eight players make up the field in this short event that will be played on one table at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

The home hero Marco Fu will get the event underway on Thursday as he takes on Barry Hawkins. Following that will be the world champion Mark Selby against former world champion Neil Robertson in what has been one of the great head to heads of this decade.

The second day brings in one of last season's form players Judd Trump as he faces Shaun Murphy in what is a match-up that produced a black ball finish in the quarter-finals of last year's International Championship as well as a classic Crucible quarter-final in 2013.

Completing the line-up are two of the greatest ever players as Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins will look to bring their best for the Hong Kong fans. This is another stand-out tie and a head to head between two players who have continued to display their best into their 40's.

Hong Kong Masters Full Bracket Draw: 

Mark Selby Vs Neil Robertson
Marco Fu Vs Barry Hawkins
Judd Trump Vs Shaun Murphy
John Higgins Vs Ronnie O'Sullivan


If there is one disappointing absentee it would be China's number one Ding Junhui but that should not take away from what is a thrilling eight man field. Quarter-finals on Thursday and Friday are played over the best-of-9 frames before best-of-11 semi-finals on Saturday and a best-of-11 frame final to close out the week on Sunday.

The Sunday will also see a couple of exhibition games featuring women's world champion in Hong Kong's Ng On Yee, along with two more legends of the game, Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White.


Out of the eight players, Barry Hawkins and Judd Trump have been in decent form having just made the final of the Snooker World Cup as representatives of the England team. John Higgins, Neil Robertson and Marco Fu had slightly less success in the World Cup as each of their respective teams fell in the group stages.

Mark Selby meanwhile will be in competitive action for the first time since his third Crucible triumph, having withdrawn from the Riga Masters and skipping the World Cup. Ronnie O'Sullivan will also play a competitive match for the first time since Sheffield, while Shaun Murphy takes to the match table having not competed for 7 weeks since China Championship and Riga Masters qualifying where he claimed one win from the two games.


Selby is the tournament favourite, with Trump second favourite but in a tournament with the game's best players over a fairly short distance any one of them could come out the winner if they play to their best, setting up an exciting tournament.

Snooker World Cup Quarter-Finals

After a few thrills and spills on the final day, the qualifiers for the knock-out stages of the snooker world cup have been confirmed.

At different stages of their respective final group games both China A and B teams were in danger of falling at the first hurdle and not making the quarter-finals. China B were in trouble at 2-1 down to Malaysia with Brazil only needing to better their result by a frame, and they were 2-1 up against Wales at the same time. Brazil failed to take their chances in frame four and even though they won the last for a 3-2 victory, China B managed to turn things around to win 3-2. Therefore, the duo of Zhou Yuelong and Yan Bingtao go through on head to head having seen off Brazil 4-1 earlier in the group.

Meanwhile, China A faced a winner takes all match against Hong Kong with Belgium ahead of both sides and looking like qualifying. Belgium were in trouble at one stage as they faced a 3-0 deficit against the Republic of Ireland but winning the final two frames there was enough to top the group.

China A however faced a final frame decider after Liang Wenbo lost both of his singles game. In the decider Fu missed a black when in on 51 and Ding calmly cleared to send Hong Kong home and march on to the quarter-finals.

Things were much more straight forward in the other groups. Australia had to better Iran's result to qualify for the qualifiers, but that quickly became impossible as Iran cruised to a 5-0 win. That was more than enough for Hossein Vafei and Soheil Vahedi as the Australians lost 4-1 to England, just as they had against Iran the a day earlier to squander their advantage in the group.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland and Thailand led the way in Group D coming into the final day and knowing that any victory against Israel and Cyprus respectively would be enough. Scotland were the chasing side and needed to win big against India to put the pressure on, but could only manage a 3-2 win which was matched by Northern Ireland against Israel. Thailand meanwhile secured a second 5-0 whitewash in successive days to finish as group winners.

Quarter-Final Draw: 

QF 1: Wales Vs China A
QF 2: Belgium Vs China B
QF 3: England Vs Northern Ireland
QF 4: Thailand Vs Iran


The quarter-finals are pretty tough to call and evenly matched in my view. Wales were on fire in the first four games before struggling against Brazil by which time they were already through as group winners. China A nearly fell to the final day pressure, and Liang Wenbo losing both of his singles matches is a worry as they come into this game. Ryan Day will be full of confidence after his Riga win and Mark Williams was a semi-finalist that week too so they should thrive of each other and I think they may edge it.

Belgium and China B is an interesting clash. Jacobs has done a decent job so far partnering Luca Brecel and if he can continue with strong support tomorrow than Belgium have a great chance once again. China B did struggle at times during the group stages, nearly falling to the final day pressure and being thrashed by Wales in the penultimate game to leave them vulnerable. Having already beaten China A and Hong Kong in the group stages though you have to give Belgium a very good chance again here.

England and Northern Ireland is my pick of the round. Barry Hawkins and Judd Trump have been flying as they topped Group C for the loss of just three frames. However, in an easy enough group they have not really been tested thus far and that should change here. Mark Allen has been playing really well for Northern Ireland who made a couple of centuries in the group stages. They too won all five games in a much more difficult group that saw 2015 runners-up Scotland take an early bath. Joe Swail is the weaker player of the four here, but that does not mean he will fail in his two singles outings here. This match could potentially rest on the two doubles frames, with both sides finishing on a 4/5 win rate for doubles frames in the group stages, with England losing doubles against Australia and Northern Ireland losing to Scotland in the doubles.

Thailand and Iran is a tale of two sides who flourished towards the end of the group stages. The Thai duo of Thepchaiya-Un-Nooh and Noppon Saengkham won their final two matches with India and Cyrpus by 5-0 scorelines. That saw them top the group despite losing to second place Northern Ireland. Iran meanwhile were struggling to qualify after a 4-1 loss to England, but they recovered their deficit with Australia by beating the Aussie duo 4-1 in the penultimate match. They then ensured that Neil Robertson and Kurt Dunham had no way back by thrashing Malta 5-0 in the final game. It is difficult to judge where the key battles could be as the Thai's are a very aggressive duo, a tactic that can be very hit and miss. Neither duo is necessarily that experienced in the latter stages of big tournaments. Soheil Vahedi is a new tour pro, though did win the World Amateur Championship which will give him good experience. Hossein Vafei has really broken through in the last nine months reaching the semi's in Beijing in April as well as the Northern Irish Open quarter-finals. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh has had a few semi-finals but never gone on, despite his potential, while Noppon Saengkham's best is a quarter-final in the China Open in 2016. Therefore, it is a huge match for both sets of players and may be the nerviest of the four quarter-finals.



The knock-out stage games are played as best-of-7 frames ties with frames 1 and 2 being singles, with frames 4 and 5 being the reverse singles and frames 3 and 6 being played as doubles frames. If required, the seventh and deciding frame would be played as a singles frame with the participating players being nominated by the captain's.

According to the initial World Snooker release the winner of Quarter-Final 1 should play the winner of QF 4 and the winner of QF2 should face the winner of QF3 in the semi-finals, though this has not yet be reaffirmed during the tournament as yet. The semi-finals and final are both to be played on Sunday.

World Cup: Group Stage: Final Day Permutations

After four days of jostling for position between the 24 sides making up the four groups of the Snooker World Cup, the final day of group fixtures has arrived, with plenty of teams still in with a chance of qualifying for Saturday's quarter-finals.

There could yet be a few upsets as 2015 runners-up Scotland could exit the competition, while other seeded sides in Australia, Hong Kong and the China A team need good results on the final day to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

The teams are ranked based on frames won throughout the group stages, with any ties being settled on the head to head between the two sides in the group.

These are how the groups stands and the permutations for those with a chance of making the top two tomorrow:

Group A: 

Current Standings: 

1) Wales - 17 

2) China B - 12

3) Brazil - 12

4) Malaysia - 8

5) Norway - 6

6) Finland - 5

Permutations:

- Wales are guaranteed to finish top of the group as long as they pick up at least a single frame in their final group game with Brazil. 

- As China B overcame Brazil earlier on in the group stage and therefore have the "head to head" edge, they only need to match Brazil's result in the final game. China B take on Malaysia in the final game, while Brazil play Wales needing to better whatever result the China B team produce. 

- Malaysia could still mathematically make it into second place. However, they would need to beat China B 5-0 in the final game and hope that Brazil lose 5-0 to Wales, making it a very unlikely possibility. 

- Finland and Norway cannot mathematically qualify for the quarter-finals. 

Group B: 

Current Standings: 

1) Belgium - 15 

2) China A - 14

3) Hong Kong - 13

4) Republic of Ireland - 7

5) Germany - 6 

6) Egypt - 5

Permutations: 

- China A play Hong Kong in the final round of group matches which makes that a winner takes all clash. If Hong Kong win 3-2 the two sides will be tied on 16 points but as Hong Kong will have the head to head on China they would go through. 

- Belgium need two frames in their match with the Republic of Ireland to be certain of going into the quarter-finals. One frame would be enough if China A beat Hong Kong 3-2, while a 4-1 win for China A means that Belgium will be in the top two even if they fail to pick a frame up. 

- To top the group Belgium need to match the amount of frames China A gain if they win, or be no more than one behind the amount of frames Hong Kong gain if they beat China.

- The Republic of Ireland, Germany and Egypt cannot qualify. 

Group C: 

Current Standings: 

1) England - 18 

2) Iran - 11

3) Australia - 11

4) Malta - 8

5) Switzerland - 7

6) Pakistan - 5

Permutations: 

- England are certain of their place in the quarter-finals as group winners no matter what happens on the final day. They will play the Group D runners-up in Saturday's quarter-finals. 

- To qualify Iran simply need to match the result that Australia get against England, with Iran playing Malta. A tie between the two sides takes Iran through after Iran overcame Australia 4-1 earlier in the group giving them the head to head. 

- Australia therefore need to better the amount of frames that Iran gain in their match. 

- Malta can still mathematically qualify if they were to beat Iran 5-0 or 4-1. A 5-0 victory would be enough if Australia lose as Malta have the head to head against Australia if the sides finish level, while a 4-1 win would see them through if Australia lose 4-1 or worse. 

- Switzerland and Pakistan cannot mathematically qualify. 

Group D: 

Current Standings: 

1) Northern Ireland - 13

2) Thailand - 13

3) Scotland - 11

4) Israel - 11

5) India - 8 

6) Cyprus - 4 

Permutations: 

- Northern Ireland will be certain of qualification for the knock-out stages with any victory in their final match with Israel. A 3-2 loss would also be enough as long as Scotland do not beat India 5-0, as a tie between the two would see Northern Ireland through on the head to head. 

- Thailand will also be certain of qualification for the knock-out stages with any victory in their final match against Cyprus as any tie with Scotland or Israel will see Thailand through, as they have the edge on the head to head. Two frames won against Cyprus will be enough as long as Scotland do not win 5-0 against India. 

- Scotland will have realistically win 4-1 or 5-0 to have any chance due to their inferior head to heads against Northern Ireland and Thailand, meaning that they cannot afford a tie. 

- Israel will have to beat Northern Ireland by a minimum of 4-1 to have any chance, but would probably have to win 5-0 depending on the results of Scotland and Thailand as a tie with either would not be good enough due to inferior head to heads. 

So, there's still plenty to play for in each of the four groups going into the final set of games. Just a reminder that the winner of Group A plays the runner-up in Group B, the winner of Group B plays the runner-up of Group A etc. in the quarter-finals on Saturday, before the semi-finals and final follow on Sunday. 

Ken Doherty: From Relegation to Riga Rise

Just two months ago, Ken Doherty had been relegated from the professional snooker tour after losing out 10-4 to Ben Woollaston in the second round of World Championship qualifying.

After being given an invitational tour card by World Snooker along with Jimmy White at the Crucible during the 40th anniversary celebrations though, the 1997 world champion has just fallen a deciding frame short of reaching his first ranking final in 11 years, as he reached the Riga Masters semi-finals.

Yet, if you take the shoot-out out of the equation, Doherty only completed one victory on tour after the Northern Irish Open at the end of November. This makes the run of four victories in Riga plus two wins in Preston to qualify for the venue in Latvia and the China Championship a somewhat remarkable turnaround.

So, what is different for the 47 year-old? For one the pressure of fighting for tour survival has proved too much for many players before him and will continue to do so for many years. The pressure of fighting for your very livelihood is something that can never be underestimated.

With a two year guarantee thanks to the invitational tour card, this pressure seems to be a distant memory from watching Doherty play. In fact I was at the Preston Guildhall watching Shaun Murphy and Zhang Anda in the China Championship last 128 when the Irishman was taking on Gary Wilson on the next table. In this particular match he seemed to me to be playing with great freedom as if he did not have a single worry in the world, particularly when he made a century break to move 2-1 in front.

Doherty would eventually win this match 5-1 dominating from start to finish and it was very impressive to watch as he rolled back the years in many ways. Even though this qualifier was for the China Championship event, this could have been a pivotal factor in his run to the last four in Latvia. Wilson was again the opposition as he started out on Friday morning at the Riga Masters and with the confidence of three weeks ago still running high he whitewashed the 31 year-old with a high break of 81, and a crucial steal in the first frame setting him on the way.

Next was a match-up with Robin Hull, who had also dropped off tour at the end of last season but had earned a fresh two-year card by his performance on last year's single season money list. This one was on the streamed table and neither player appeared to play their best. Both players missed a few in the opening three frames and Hull took a 2-1 lead before Doherty kicked into gear. A magnificent 126 break levelled the match and the six time ranking event winner found his stride at the right time. Despite a break of 62 from Hull in the sixth frame at 3-2 down, he could not force a decider and after going in-off in a battle on the final black, Doherty was gifted the victory with a bit of good fortune that often comes with a good run.

The man he played on the table next to in Preston was his last 16 opponent as Doherty took on Zhang Anda on Saturday evening. Just as Zhang did on the Saturday night three weeks previously against Murphy, he made a century break in a losing cause, with his 113 break in the second frame not being backed up by anything else of note as Doherty completed another 4-2 victory to march into Sunday's quarter-finals.

A tough match waited here as he played Scotland's Anthony McGill, but McGill did not start the match anywhere near his usually high standards. Doherty rolled quickly into a 3-0 lead, taking the first frame on the pink and pumping his fist to show just what this all means, before a break of 51 in the third put him in complete control. McGill made him sweat by pulling the match back to 2-3 but Doherty avoided the decider and put himself into a first semi-final for six years with a 4-2 triumph.

Another Scotsman awaited in the last four in the shape of Stephen Maguire. This one was a twisting, turning affair right from the off. Maguire led 1-0 and 2-1 before falling 3-2 and 4-3 behind. Doherty had a massive chance to win when Maguire left the last red on in frame eight but he could not take the chance putting it on the far middle jaw, and narrowly missing out on the final in the deciding frame missing the final red again in much more difficult circumstances and leaving it for his opponent to clinch the match.


With £15,000 in his pocket after this weekend and two years on tour guaranteed there is no reason Doherty cannot do similar to what Anthony Hamilton did last year and climb right back up the rankings. He has already said he is going to put 100% in and see what comes of it which is a positive sign for his supporters, and with the lack of pressure producing much freer performances like in the China Championship qualifiers, there could be plenty more great victories to come from the Darling of Dublin.

The next stop for Doherty is to partner Fergal O'Brien and represent the Republic of Ireland in Snooker's World Cup from July 3, and with O'Brien putting some good performances together himself they could be dark horses to go all the way in Wuxi.