One surprise was the loss of Yu De Lu to Paul Davison, after Davison has had a struggle this season since regaining his tour place a year ago. Ben Woollaston who I thoroughly expected to qualify was beaten by Chris Wakelin in a deciding frame, while Tian Pengfei who I also expected to have a good run at qualifying lost out 10-7 to the equally talented Hossein Vafei Ayouri.
The biggest surprise was the 10-5 defeat of Jamie Jones to Pakistan's Hamza Akbar who recorded his first win as a professional. Jimmy White's qualifying campaign fell at the first hurdle after three successive frames from 9-7 down saw Gerard Greene keep his tour survival hopes alive with a 10-9 victory.
Zhao Xintong showed once again what a threat he is to the pro's with a 10-9 win over Rod Lawler, after being 6-2 at one stage in the opening session. Zhang Yong saw off Joe Swail 10-7 to record another surprise victory, while Nigel Bond overcame Andrew Higginson in another deciding frame. Jamie Clarke overcame Jamie Burnett as I expected him to in a deciding frame, ending what has been a poor season for Burnett and will not help his seemingly fading enthusiasm for the game.
There were easy wins for the likes of Ali Carter, Kyren Wilson, Ding Junhui and Ryan Day, though Michael Holt had life harder than expected after leading Michael Wild 9-0 at the end of the first session. Wild won the first six in the next session before Holt secured a 10-6 win.
In terms of the race for the top 64, as well as the win for Greene, there was a comeback win for Stuart Carrington who would have been knocked off tour with defeat to Hammad Miah who led 9-7 before Carrington came back to win 10-9. Ian Burns also came through a tight match with Duane Jones 10-8. Craig Steadman, David Morris, Cao Yupeng, Zhang Anda, Liam Highfield, Peter Lines and Anthony Hamilton all kept their slimmer chances afloat with easy round one victories.
Defeats for Michael Georgiou, Joel Walker, Zak Surety, Michael Wasley, Chris Melling, Michael Leslie, Steven Hallworth, Lu Chenwei, Ian Glover, Lu Ning, Barry Pinches and Tony Drago mean that they will have to go through Qualifying School in order to regain their professional status for next season.
First Qualifying Round Results:
Ding Junhui 10-4 Greg Casey
Ross Muir 10-5 Sean O'Sullivan
Nigel Bond 10-9 Andrew Higginson
Gary Wilson 10-4 Leo Fernandez
Hamza Akbar 10-5 Jamie Jones
Ian Burns 10-8 Duane Jones
Gerard Greene 10-9 Jimmy White
Peter Ebdon 10-6 James Wattana
Chris Wakelin 10-9 Ben Woollaston
Anthony Hamilton 10-3 Sydney Wilson
Robbie Williams 10-7 Gareth Allen
Mark Joyce 10-7 Zak Surety
Mike Dunn 10-7 James Cahill
Li Hang 10-8 Lu Chenwei
Noppon Saengkham 10-6 Michael Georgiou
Graeme Dott 10-8 Brandon Sargeant
Robert Milkins 10-3 Ka Wai Cheung
Scott Donaldson 10-6 Joel Walker
Kurt Maflin 10-8 Sanderson Lam
Zhao Xintong 10-9 Rod Lawler
Mark King 10-3 Fraser Patrick
David Grace 10-5 Brendan O'Donoghue
Peter Lines 10-1 Ng On Yee
Michael Holt 10-6 Michael Wild
Alan McManus 10-5 Michael Wasley
David Morris 10-5 Chris Melling
Stuart Carrington 10-9 Hammad Miah
Jimmy Robertson 10-0 Tyler Rees
Hossein Vafei Ayouri 10-7 Tian Pengfei
Ken Doherty 10-6 Andy Hicks
Alfie Burden 10-7 Tony Drago
Ryan Day 10-2 Daniel Wells
Kyren Wilson 10-3 Jason Weston
Martin O'Donnell 10-8 Kuldesh Johal
Zhang Yong 10-7 Joe Swail
Matthew Stevens 10-2 Josh Boileau
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-9 Akani Songsermsawad
Paul Davison 10-9 Yu De Lu
Craig Steadman 10-3 Michael Leslie
Anthony McGill 10-1 Hatem Yassin
Luca Brecel 10-8 Steven Hallworth
Liam Highfield 10-2 Luke Simmonds
Sam Baird 10-8 Thor Chua Leong
Tom Ford 10-2 Darryl Hill
Jack Lisowski 10-2 Alex Taubman
Rory McLeod 10-7 Lukas Kleckers
Lee Walker 10-0 Conor McCormack
David Gilbert 10-5 Rhys Clark
Matt Selt 10-2 Igor Figueredo
Mitchell Mann 10-7 Kishan Hirani
Dechawat Poomjaeng 10-4 Eden Sharav
Robin Hull 10-7 Barry Pinches
Fergal O'Brien 10-4 Steve Davis
Zhou Yuelong 10-3 Dylan Craig
Zhang Anda 10-2 Bratislev Krustev
Mark Davis 10-7 Adam Duffy
Ali Carter 10-2 Mateusz Baranowski
Cao Yupeng 10-0 Rodion Judin
Oliver Lines 10-5 Lu Ning
Dominic Dale 10-6 Ian Glover
Xiao Guodong 10-6 Allan Taylor
Jamie Clarke 10-9 Jamie Burnett
Jamie Cope 10-4 Ashley Hugill
Liang Wenbo 10-2 Joe O'Connor
Second Qualifying Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Ding Junhui Vs Ross MuirGary Wilson Vs Nigel Bond
Ian Burns Vs Hamza Akbar
Peter Ebdon Vs Gerard Greene
Anthony Hamilton Vs Chris Wakelin
Mark Joyce Vs Robbie Williams
Mike Dunn Vs Li Hang
Graeme Dott Vs Noppon Saengkham
Robert Milkins Vs Scott Donaldson
Kurt Maflin Vs Zhao Xintong
Mark King Vs David Grace
Michael Holt Vs Peter Lines
Alan McManus Vs David Morris
Stuart Carrington Vs Jimmy Robertson
Ken Doherty Vs Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Ryan Day Vs Alfie Burden
Kyren Wilson Vs Martin O'Donnell
Matthew Stevens Vs Zhang Yong
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Vs Paul Davison
Anthony McGill Vs Craig Steadman
Luca Brecel Vs Liam Highfield
Tom Ford Vs Sam Baird
Jack Lisowski Vs Rory McLeod
David Gilbert Vs Lee Walker
Matt Selt Vs Mitchell Mann
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Robin Hull
Fergal O'Brien Vs Zhou Yuelong
Mark Davis Vs Zhang Anda
Ali Carter Vs Cao Yupeng
Dominic Dale Vs Oliver Lines
Xiao Guodong Vs Jamie Clarke
Liang Wenbo Vs Jamie Cope
With the way some of these guys played in round one and the way certain players had to grind through for their victories, while others scored much more fluently and heavily I like the look of the majority of these picks for round two.
So then, after some very one sided matches in round one of World Championship qualifying, the second round should see some closer ties across Sunday and Monday ahead of the final qualifying round on Tuesday and Wednesday and the start of a very busy week in the lead up to the World Championships proper starting at the Crucible. There's still a lot of guys in contention to make their Crucible debuts too, which is always something to look out for going into the final round or two.
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