It's that time of the year once again, and it seems to come around quicker than ever these days. That's right the World Championship begins on Wednesday at Ponds Forge in Sheffield for the qualifying event which is like a tournament in it's own right, where 128 names will be cut down to just 16 that will join the top 16 players in the world who are seeded through to the first round proper at the Crucible. The new format for qualifying sees 128 players, with quite a number of invitations, taking on three rounds of qualifying over the best-of-19 frames in order to qualify and with all players starting in round one anything could happen.
Not only are places at the Crucible at stake, but it is also a good opportunity for some of the wildcard invites, and top ups from the Q School Order of Merit to impress, and perhaps sneak a result or two here and there. Meanwhile, there is also the matter of tour survival, with those outside of the top 64 at the end of the season dropping off of the tour, unless of course they have already, or will go on to, re-qualify via other means. As always there are some big names with plenty of former world champions in these qualifying stages, but you can also bet that some of the young guns from down the rankings will come under the radar to qualify for the Crucible, and their will be plenty of first time Crucible qualifiers, because there is every single year.
We start up then on Wednesday with morning, afternoon and evening sessions throughout the early stages, as the first round of 64 matches concludes on Saturday, while Sunday and Monday sees the 32 second round matches, and the final qualifying round is played out over Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, which will of course only leave two free days from the end of qualifying to the start of the main event itself.
Here then is how the draw shapes up for these all important World Championship Qualifiers:
Section 1
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Michael White Vs Steven Hallworth
Craig Steadman Vs Rhys Clark
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Barry Pinches
Jamie Burnett Vs Alex Borg
The main man in this section is of course the Indian Open winner Michael White, who was unlucky not to qualify automatically for the Crucible, missing out by about £11,000 on the seedings list, and he has been playing some brilliant snooker of late which makes him a big favourite to qualify for the Crucible whoever he is playing. Elsewhere in this section, Craig Steadman was the man who in last years qualifiers, knocked out Steve Davis meaning that Steve dropped off of the professional tour, and since coming back on tour via Q School himself, he has had some much better results and could be dangerous this week. Jamie Burnett qualified for the Crucible last year before losing out to Joe Perry and you certainly couldn't rule him out again but his form is far too inconsistent for him to be a solid pick to qualify in my eyes. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is the other seeded player in this section, and he faces a tough match player in round one taking on Barry Pinches, but Un-Nooh has had a decent 2015 so far, reaching the semi-finals of the Indian Open and the final of the Asian Tour event 3, and as he begins to head in the right direction in terms of ranking, perhaps he will start to fulfil the potential that we all know that he has.
Predicted Qualifier: Michael White
Section 2
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark King Vs Michael Leslie
Marcus Campbell Vs Ivaylo Pekov
Cao Yupeng Vs
Ross Muir
Anthony McGill Vs Hossein Vafei Ayouri
In this section we have a couple of players who are in and around that 64 mark in the end of season rankings to stay on tour. Cao Yupeng is a presently safe but equally dangerous position sitting just less than £8,000 clear of 65th place in 61st, but if he were to lose his tough opening round match with Ross Muir that could seriously plunge him into dangerous position. Marcus Campbell meanwhile needs to qualify you would feel to have any chance of staying on tour for next year as he is £8,000 away from 64th place Tom Ford, though he could've had worse draws than the relatively unknown Bulgarian wildcard he'll come up against in round one. Just a quick note from me that it's great to see Hossein Vafei Ayouri entering this, and even though he has Anthony McGill in the first qualifying round it would be nice to see him at least push him close, but you never know what could happen. Anthony McGill will be one of the favourites to qualify from this section, having had a very impressive season so far, pushing a lot of the top players close this season, and a few deciders could be the difference of a lot of extra ranking money this season, and on current form he is the best player in this section and I'd like to see him qualify to round off his best season yet. Mark King will have something to say about that mind you and he has a couple of decent results over the last couple of months, though otherwise it has been a disappointing campaign for King and he has struggled a fair bit at times, so he could do with Crucible qualification to boost his ranking going into next season.
Predicted Qualifier: Anthony McGill
Section 3
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Martin Gould Vs Adam Duffy
Sam Baird Vs Tony Drago
Rory McLeod Vs
Tian Pengfei
Jamie Jones Vs Ashley Carty
Amongst a few of the young guns in this quarter, Martin Gould is certainly the experienced head of these guys and one of the clear favourites to qualify from this section. Martin has had a solid month coming into the back end of the season, and after skipping to the China Open, that would've helped enhance his preparations following a Players Championship quarter-final and Grand Prix semi-final. Martin has also got a good record of qualifying for the Crucible in recent seasons so he'll certainly be confident that he can do so again. Sam Baird was a Crucible debutant in 2013, so he knows what it takes to qualify and he continues to consistently pick up a good result here and there, but he needs to start putting together much more consistent runs to really climb up the rankings in the next couple of seasons as he should be doing. If he can get past the unpredictable as ever Tony Drago in round one then you never know, he could have another great run this week to qualify. Rory McLeod hasn't really performed much at all this season for me to say that he has a chance of qualifying for the Crucible, and a tough first round match against Tian Pengfei doesn't make things any easier for him as Tian is often a player that will pick up a couple of results here and there against anyone that is struggling, though he never seems to be pushing on enough and even though he has a chance, I wouldn't say he's a good shout for a Crucible place. Jamie Jones however, will be looking to prove that his debut Crucible run to the quarter-finals in 2012 wasn't a one off, and after some good results in the last few events (including beating Stevens and Fu to reach the Last 16 in Beijing) he will be feeling confident and I think he has a good chance of reaching the Crucible again this year, if he can play as well as he has been for parts of this season.
Predicted Qualifier: Martin Gould
Section 4
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Gerard Greene Vs
Elliot Slessor
Alfie Burden Vs
Mitchell Mann
Lu Haotian Vs Andrew Pagett
Alan McManus Vs Michael Wasley
This is one of the toughest sections in the entire qualifying draw to call, with no really stand out players, but also of the 'un-seeded' players, they are all tour pro's, unlike sections where the seeds have been drawn against Q School top-ups or wildcard invites. Alan McManus of course has qualified for the Crucible in the last couple of seasons, making the quarter-finals last year before losing out to eventual world champion Mark Selby. However, Alan has a very tough first round encounter with Michael Wasley who was a first time qualifier in 2014 where he went on to beat my overall tournament tip Ding Junhui in round one. Young Chinese player Lu Haotian throws another interesting name into the mix, Lu has really struggled for results this year and is almost a certainty to drop off of the tour this season despite making an Asian Tour event final in his first season on tour, highlighting his struggle since then. Andrew Pagett is another man who, barring miracles, will also drop off of the pro tour and he's also said on twitter that he won't be trying to get back on, at least not for now, so this is just a tournament of playing for pride for Pagett. Alfie Burden though, is playing for a lot more than pride as he is currently 63rd on the end of season rankings list and only around £6,500 ahead of 65th place he desperately needs a win in the first round against a tricky young opponent in Mitchell Mann. I very much like the look of Mann as a player and was hoping he would get his tour card for this season, which he did and has since made the Last 32 of the International Championship which was a highlight of his season, and if he can get on a run at Ponds Forge I do feel that this section offers a chance for someone to come from lower down the rankings and qualify. Gerard Greene is someone who has been pretty poor this season, struggling for any runs of note and though he is miles safe for this year, he could be embroiled in a tour card battle next season. Elliot Slessor again is playing for pride this week as he will almost certainly drop off of the tour, and after an impressive win against Matt Selt at the China Open, his arms may just loosen up and he could get a win or two this week himself.
Predicted Qualifier: Mitchell Mann
Section 5
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Ryan Day Vs Jamie Rhys Clarke
Alex Davies Vs
Michael Georgiou
Aditya Mehta Vs Jak Jones
Jack Lisowski Vs Allan Taylor
This section in my opinion is all about one man and that is the experienced head of Ryan Day. Ryan made the Last 16 after qualifying last year and will be dangerous if he qualifies again. He's not been in the best of form over the last month or so but I still fancy him to qualify overall here. Michael Georgiou is probably the player from down the rankings in this section with the best qualification chance having had a few good results this season including a Last 16 place at the Welsh Open. His opponent Alex Davies will more than likely be dropping off tour now, and he has in fact already entered Q School again according to the current entry list. Aditya Mehta has also struggled after a good season last season. The way he's been playing I certainly don't fancy him to qualify at the moment but he is good enough if he could start to find a little bit of form in the early qualifying rounds. Jack Lisowski qualified for the Crucible in 2013 but has struggled really for form ever since then and such inconsistency and lack of a good set of results this season or even last, would make him a very risky pick to qualify from this section, and he could just as easily lose to Allan Taylor in round one who will drop off the tour this season but be back next thanks to earning a fresh card by the European order of merit list.
Predicted Qualifier: Ryan Day
Section 6
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Gary Wilson Vs Eden Sharav
Li Hang Vs Chris Melling
Stuart Carrington Vs
Joel Walker
Peter Ebdon Vs Lu Ning
In this section we have one of the former world champions in the draw which sees Peter Ebdon, who will still be one of the favourites to qualify from this section. He may be a little inconsistent every now and again but Peter still performs to a very high level when on form and he's had some good runs in some of the minor events this season on the Euro and Asian Tours, so he'll be confident of qualifying this year, to make amends for not doing so last year when he lost out to Robin Hull. Stuart Carrington and Joel Walker is one of the tightest first round matches this year to call. Stuart may be battling to get into the top 64 and have a fresh tour card via the EOoM if he doesn't, but Joel Walker has a lot of potential and is a young man who certainly has a chance of qualifying, as I thought he would last year before he lost out in the second qualifying round from quite a long way ahead. The other man really to watch in this section is China Open runner-up Gary Wilson. He may be in good form at the moment but it's all a very hectic turnaround for Gary even though he doesn't play until Saturday, it's still less than a week after his China Open final to fly home and prepare. That means that someone in that mini section could take advantage, and one man that continues to impress me by picking up some good results more regularly now is Li Hang and he also has a good chance of qualifying in my opinion and I certainly fancy his chances of getting to the final qualifying round but the experience of Peter Ebdon could tell in this section perhaps.
Predicted Qualifier: Peter Ebdon
Section 7
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Ben Woollaston Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Robin Hull Vs Martin McCrudden
Nigel Bond Vs
Igor Figueredo
Rod Lawler Vs Michael Tomlinson
The main point of interest in this section is the tour survival battle, particularly with Robin Hull who needs to get at least two wins to stand any chance of getting into the top 64 and saving his tour place. He has a nice draw to get one of those, and of course having qualified for the World Championships last year by winning four games, he knows he could do it again and he has played very good snooker all season when he has been able to play, so with a section that lacks a really top player or a shedload of experience, Robin could do it again to save his tour card. Ben Woollaston of course will have something to say about that. Having qualified in 2013 and also reaching the Welsh Open final this year he will want to kick on and qualify again for the Crucible to push himself up the rankings further and again you'd fancy his extra bit of quality to see off Sean O'Sullivan in round despite Sean being a good young player. Nigel Bond is another man that could do with a win sitting £8,000 clear of 65th place, if everyone directly below him wins their opening round games wins and he were to lose to Igor Figueredo he could still be dragged into things. Igor did win a couple of games in World Championship qualifying and he is a quality player who has been unfortunate with sponsorship issues not to be able to enter all of the events he could've in the last couple of seasons. Rod Lawler is one man who has had a very steady season this season and that is highlighted by his qualification for both the Players Championship finals and the World Grand Prix based on money won in this seasons events. Rod may not be stunning in terms of his play, but he always gets the job done, especially against those players ranked around him and I fancy him to do a job this year in qualifying and get back to the Crucible, because I think he can do some damage over this longer format.
Predicted Qualifier: Rod Lawler
Section 8
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mike Dunn Vs Itaro Santos
Yu DeLu Vs Hans Blanckeart
Fraser Patrick Vs Brandon Sargeant
Graeme Dott Vs Mark Owens
This section really has one stand out player and that is former world champion, and runner-up on two other occasions Graeme Dott. Last year he didn't qualify after losing his qualifier to Kyren Wilson and of course this season he will want to make amends. This section really is a case of looking to the seeded players as their opponents are made up of two of the lower amateurs on the Q School top-up list while the other two are invites to the event. Of the other seeds looking to challenge Dott, Mike Dunn probably has the best chance as he is a very steady player, and even though I could see him getting into the final round I just can't seem him beating Graeme over a prolonged format, as good and steady as is most of the season over the best-of-9 frames events. Yu De Lu is quite inconsistent and I don't really fancy him to threaten for a place at the Crucible, though if he finds his form at Ponds Forge he could be dangerous. Fraser Patrick has pulled off a few good results and he could definetly trouble Dotty if he isn't on form, which he hasn't really been for much of this season, but again if he's in the mood for a battle which he very often is, it will take someone playing very well to see him off.
Predicted Qualifier: Graeme Dott
Section 9
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark Davis Vs Joe O'Connor
Oliver Lines Vs Ian Glover
David Morris Vs Lee Walker
Ken Doherty Vs Reanne Evans
In terms of looking for a qualifier for the Crucible I think it's all about the four seeded players on this occasion. Mark Davis was seeded in the top 16 just a year ago but some disappointing performances in the first half of the season at times and some good runs from the likes of Milkins and Mark Williams saw him lose that place. In the second half of this season however, he has been in much better form and playing like a player who could begin to earn that top 16 place back in the next year if he can keep it up and I fancy him to make a good go at qualifying for the Crucible this year. It won't be easy for him however as young gun Oliver Lines will have something to say about that. Lines has had some impressive wins in his first season on tour including a run to an Asian Tour final, and I can't see it taking him too long in the future to qualify for the Crucible even if he doesn't do it this year. 1997 world champ Ken Doherty did qualify in 2014 after missing out in 2013 in a decider to Matt Selt so he'll be pleased to have managed that, and he even beat Bingham in round one at the Crucible, but since then he has seriously struggled and his form doesn't seem to be anywhere at the moment which will make it tough for him to qualify. David Morris though is another good younger player who could well qualify and the thing that has always impressed me with Davy is his hard working attitude that a lot of players around his age could do worse than to copy. He has reached the Last 16 of the UK Championships two seasons running, so he knows how to cut it in the bigger events, and if anyone is to stop Davis I think it will be Morris that does so.
Predicted Qualifier: Mark Davis
Section 10
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Matthew Stevens Vs Ahmed Saif
Peter Lines Vs Rodion Judin
Joe Swail Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Dominic Dale Vs John Astley
This section of the draw is an incredibly tough one to try and call a winner of who qualifies for the Crucible. Of course Matthew Stevens has the experience of being in two world finals in the past, but in recent years he has struggled for form and any kind of consistency. He didn't qualify this year and the way he has been playing I don't fancy him to do so this year either. I don't think that Peter Lines has the kind of quality that is required these days in order to qualify, as he will get a win every now and again in tournaments but he doesn't seem to be able to put a string of results together, but I wouldn't mind him proving me wrong. Dominic Dale qualified last year and nearly made the semi-finals but for Barry Hawkins coming from 12-11 down having lost the last 6 frames to win the last two and go through. However, Dominic has been very unpredictable this season and I've found it tough to predict him either way throughout the campaign, but unless he turns it on this week that is not the kind of that sees you qualify for the final stages of the World Championships as he did last year. Joe Swail may be 65th on the end of season rankings looking for at least a couple of wins to stay on tour keeping his ranking points as they are, though he will be on tour either way next year thanks to re-earning his card via the European Order of merit list. However, Joe has also had some good results this season and he does sit at 47th on the one year list so he's certainly been playing well and he has always done well in the World Championships over the years so you wouldn't better against him qualifying again, especially given the opportunity that could present itself in this section.
Predicted Qualifier: Joe Swail
Section 11
First Round Draw: (Pick in Bold)
Fergal O'Brien Vs Hammad Miah
Chris Wakelin Vs Nico Elton
Jamie Cope Vs
Steve Davis
Kurt Maflin Vs David Grace
Jamie Cope is the only person from the eight players in this section to have qualified for the World Championships last season, where he pushed Shaun Murphy all the way in round one. However, he's also under a lot of pressure for his tour place currently sitting in 62nd on the end of season money list and even if he is £7,500 clear of Joe Swail roughly, things could unravel if he loses in the first round and he could have much easier draws than Steve Davis. Even though Steve is no longer on the tour, that doesn't mean that he doesn't still have the quality, and one of the things witnessed when he played at the World Seniors and Champion of Champions is that his tactical game is still superb, with just the scoring power starting to leave his game. Fergal O'Brien has had a mixed season and even though he played well at the World Seniors, that is no guide to anything really and he will have to up his game to qualify from a very tough section, but he is one of the better match players in the game and has all of the experience to make it to the Crucible again for sure. Chris Wakelin is the young gun to watch in this section and he has been impressive over the last couple of seasons, particularly in the minor events, but with good runs at the Indian Open to the quarter-finals and the Last 16 of the Players Championship he'll be confident coming into these qualifiers and that combination of youth and confidence can be a potent force in these World Championship qualifiers. Big hitting Kurt Maflin was one of my favourites to qualify last year after a decent season, and had it not been for a run to the China Open semi-finals I would've said the very opposite this year, as he'd had a very poor season until Beijing. However, with the players he beat in Beijing and the scoring power he showed there will make him one of the favourites now to qualify from this section if he can deal with the short turnaround from China where he was still playing on Saturday.
Predicted Qualifier: Kurt Maflin
Section 12
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark Joyce Vs Ian Burns
Anthony Hamilton Vs
Zhang Anda
Zhou Yuelong Vs Zak Surety
Liang Wenbo Vs Chris Norbury
Again, this is another section where it is tough to pick out a clear favourite to qualify. Mark Joyce and Anthony Hamilton overall have had poor seasons, with Mark getting the odd result but never looking overly impressive at any stage, which isn't the basis for me to tip him to qualify. Anthony however has really struggled and is in danger of dropping off of the tour next season if things don't improve. He still has the quality, but he doesn't have the consistency and when you couple that with a lack of confidence that makes things incredibly tough. His first round draw could've been a lot easier than Zhang Anda, and Hamilton will have to step it up a lot just to win that one. Liang Wenbo would be an obvious favourite for this section but while at times this season he's been playing really well, he's also lost a lot of matches you'd expect him to win and it all comes back to that old word consistency, something Wenbo seems to have very little of. If he is to win three qualifying games he's going to need to find a bit of consistency. Zhou Yuelong however has really impressed me this season in certain tournaments. He has blown a lot of higher ranked players totally out of the water with his heavy scoring power and again he seems like a really confident young player, which as I say is what I'm looking for in a young player to qualify for the Crucible, a confident young player who will go for their shots and score heavily when they get in, and I certainly think he's capable of qualifying.
Predicted Qualifier: Zhou Yuelong
Section 13
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Xiao Guodong Vs Ong Jia Jun
Liam Highfield Vs Oliver Brown
Kyren Wilson Vs Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Jimmy Robertson Vs Thor Chuan Leong
This again looks like a section to focus on the seeded players as one of the invites in Ong Jia Jun I have no idea about, while Oliver Brown is a very good amateur who has pulled off plenty of results but he is up against another very strong young player in Highfield. Focussing on those seeded players, both Xiao Guodong and Kyren Wilson qualified last year to make their Crucible debuts, while Liam Highfield has earned his tour card back this year and played very impressively and he could very possibly do the same this year. Kyren has had a mixed season and it is always difficult to follow up after your Crucible debut in next years qualifiers the lower you are down the rankings. Xiao Guodong meanwhile is much more consistent now and is a very strong player who always seems to score well when in amongst the balls which is key if you are to go through the three best-of-19's to qualify, because you don't want to have battle hard in every game with the extra energy it expends. The only other guy I haven't mentioned here is Jimmy Robertson, and again in my opinion Jimmy doesn't quite have that consistent base level of performance to get him through three qualifying matches, so if he is to make the Crucible he would have to play at the top of his game.
Predicted Qualifier: Xiao Guodong
Section 14
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Daniel Wells
Robbie Williams Vs Lee Page
Noppon Saengkham Vs Lukas Kleckers
Michael Holt Vs Sydney Wilson
In this section we have one of the more consistent qualifiers for the Crucible in Michael Holt, while Dechawat Poomjaeng made the Last 16 on his Crucible debut in 2013, and Robbie Williams beat Fergal O'Brien on a re-spotted black to qualify last year and make his debut. Dechawat again is a very hard player to predict. On his day he can beat some of the top players and play really well as he shows in 2013 and last week at the China Open, but on other days he can't string much together and doesn't really look much like winning too many matches in a row. Robbie Williams however has had a very poor season since making his Crucible debut a year ago, and with some players that seems to happen a lot to some players after they make their Crucible debut because I think that adds too much expectation to kick on and after the season he's had Williams may be very low on confidence and I don't expect him to qualify again this year. Noppon Saengkham is a very dangerous Thai player who certainly isn't afraid to go for his shots, but this doesn't always seem to work for him and you could argue that he goes for quite a few ridiculous shots, before going on to miss too many easy ones and that isn't the consistency that he would want from his game. Michael Holt though, hasn't had the best of second halves to a season, but a run to the Players Championship quarter-finals should give him a bit of extra confidence. Michael expects a lot from himself, but only because he knows he can do so much better. For Holty he doesn't just want to keep qualifying he wants a run at the Crucible to the quarters and beyond because he knows he's capable of doing so when at his very best.
Predicted Qualifier: Michael Holt
Section 15
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Matt Selt Vs Lu Chenwei
Jimmy White Vs James Wattana
Tom Ford Vs Andrew Norman
David Gilbert Vs George Pragnall
This section has particular implications on the tour survival battle as well as the obvious. Tom Ford is currently sat in that all important 64th position that everyone below him will be trying to get to. He is currently just under £6,000 clear of Joe Swail in 65th position so a first round victory which you would expect him to get against Andrew Norman would put him in a much happier position. Tom Ford did in fact qualify for the Crucible last year, but a poor season this time around means that he's in this position, and he hasn't really looked like winning more than a couple of games in a row for the best part of the season. Jimmy White looks like he will have to rely on the fresh tour card he's earned via the European Order of Merit in order to get back on tour next year and again he's not had the best of seasons in ranking events and just like Ford he doesn't look like winning more than a couple of matches in a row. David Gilbert and Matt Selt are the main men I've been debating here in terms of picking a qualifier from this section. Matt Selt made his debut in 2013, but this season he has been much improved and is now a capable top 32 player who would still be expecting to qualify, but he will need to play as well as he has done in the middle part and through the second half of this season. Don't count David Gilbert out though as in my mind he should be in the top 32 and would be but for the odd blip here, currently sitting just outside the 32. He qualified in 2012 when he made the Last 32 and he qualified again in 2014, missing out in the final qualifying round to Marco Fu who was on the fringes of the top 16 in 2013. When David is playing well as he showed in China to beat Perry and Yuelong, he scores very heavily and is confident, and it's only when he's not quite at the top of his game that he starts to get frustrated and perhaps his temperament could be let him down a little bit, otherwise Gilbert is a top player.
Predicted Qualifier: David Gilbert
Section 16
First Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Luca Brecel Vs Saqib Nasir
Andrew Higginson Vs Scott Donaldson
James Cahill Vs Darryl Hill
Robert Milkins Vs William Lemons
The final qualifying section sees Robert Milkins as one of the stand out names, and he was another one of the players who was chasing an automatic spot at the Crucible in the last couple of months, and coming into the Welsh Open he was seeded 16th, before Mark Williams and then Michael White overtook him as Williams consistently went further than Milkins in tournaments, and even though he didn't qualify, White came closer than Robert after winning in India. However, it wasn't Robert's worst season ever, with a European Tour final, a ranking event semi-final and a couple of ranking quarter-finals. The only thing that sometimes lets him down in matches is that his head starts to go, and as we saw against O'Sullivan at the World Grand Prix things can badly start to go wrong. If he can keep under control he can qualify for the Crucible without any trouble, so long as he plays well. James Cahill is one of the young players from further down the rankings that could be a threat in these qualifiers and of course his run to the Last 16 of the UK Championships shows that he has the potential, but he hasn't really backed that up with anything before or since to highlight that he could make the Crucible. He also faces a tough opening round tie with Darryl Hill from the Isle of Man who has earned a tour card for the next two seasons after this by winning the European U21 Championships so he's a lad that could cause an upset or two potentially. Andrew Higginson however, has struggled this season not really looking like putting many results together, losing a lot of games that you would've expected him to win when he was 18th or 19th in the rankings in 2012. He seems to lack the same consistency that he had back then and perhaps the same motivations now that he is slipping down the rankings. One lad that won't be lacking motivation however is Luca Brecel. Luca was the youngest ever Crucible qualifier when he won four qualifying matches to get there in 2012. He hasn't qualified since, and had struggled in the last couple of seasons before seeming to turn a corner at the back end of 2014. Luca has started working once again with coach Chris Henry, who of course has helped Shaun Murphy turn around his fortunes in the last couple of years, and that seems to have helped Luca not only in terms of his temperament which appears to be a lot stronger as he looks to be maturing a lot more now as a snooker player. His safety game has also improved greatly to accompany his long potting and heavy scoring ability that has always been strong with the young Belgian. For me he is a much stronger candidate than ever to qualify for the Crucible.
Predicted Qualifier: Luca Brecel
As you can see from my predictions I've gone for a mixture of youth and experience, first timers and Crucible regulars to qualify for the main event starting on the 18th April. As I say we start on Wednesday 8th and finish on Wednesday 15th and i'll be back after each round to round-up what's happened and what we have to look forward to in the upcoming rounds.
Meanwhile, if you want to know who is playing when, and which matches will be on the streamed tables that will be shown on the World Snooker streaming service and the usual betting sites, follow this link:
http://livescores.worldsnookerdata.com/SessionList/Tournament/13833
Last of all I hope you all enjoy these upcoming days and weeks as much as I will do!
