Joe Perry was the major player to exit in the second round of the world championship qualifiers at Ponds Forge over Sunday and Monday. Perry came through round one easily enough but against much tougher opposition in Thailand's Akani Songsermsawad he ended up falling to a deciding frame loss.
Mark Williams has kept his campaign going but only just. He too went all the way to a deciding frame against Liam Highfield who played well on the night and certainly could have seen off the former world champion. The Welshman scraped through 10-9, in an even more tense battle than hiis 10-7 victory over Zhao Xintong where he also had to come from behind.
Meanwhile, 11 times women's world champion Reanne Evans dreams of playing at the Crucible have also ended. She overcame Robin Hull 10-8 in round one but could not find the same form in the first session of her match against Lee Walker. Walker took a 6-1 lead in a scrappy opening session, though the second session was even closer with a number of frames coming down to the colours. Evans fought back to 6-9 but in the end the Welshman ran through a 10-6 winner.
There will also be no Crucible return for German masters champion Anthony Hamilton. In a very tough match with Noppon Saengkham, who is looking to get into the top 64 and save his tour card, though he would get a new tour year card via the one year list otherwise, it went right down to the wire. A late night finish ensued and the Thai ran out a 10-9 winner.
Things were much simpler for Stephen Maguire as he thrashed Nigel Bond 10-3 to make it to the final qualifying round where he will play China's Li Hang. Michael White also had a pretty comfortable victory against Ross Muir, while Martin Gould saw off John Astley to make it into the final qualifying round.
However, Ken Doherty the 1997 world champion has fallen off of the tour. A loss in the second qualifying round against Ben Woollaston means that he finishes the season outside of the top 64 and outside of the top 8 players not already qualified for next season. The same is true for Martin O'Donnell who made a game of it against Hammad Miah from 1-7 down but could not get the much needed victory, as Miah added to his victory against Ricky Walden with a 10-7 triumph. Dechawat Poomjaeng will also have to go to Q School to continue his professional career as 2006 world champion Graeme Dott took care of the Thai in a 10-4 thrashing. Joe Swail fought valiantly with his tour spot on the line, but he too has missed out on survival after losing the final five frames of a 10-8 loss against Luca Brecel.
Last 80 Results:
Mark Williams 10-9 Liam Highfield
Stuart Carrington 10-6 Andrew Higginson
Tom Ford 10-6 Chris Wakelin
Hossein Vafei 10-6 Matt Selt
Lee Walker 10-6 Reanne Evans
Noppon Saengkham 10-9 Anthony Hamilton
Li Hang 10-4 Mike Dunn
Stephen Maguire 10-3 Nigel Bond
Mark King 10-4 Fang Xiongman
Xiao Guodong 10-4 Sam Baird
Ben Woollaston 10-4 Ken Doherty
Zhou Yuelong 10-8 Ian Preece
Jamie Jones 10-8 Alfie Burden
Graeme Dott 10-4 Dechawat Poomjaeng
Fergal O'Brien 10-9 Tian Pengfei
David Gilbert 10-6 Rhys Clark
Akani Songsermsawad 10-9 Joe Perry
David Grace 10-6 Mark Joyce
Luca Brecel 10-8 Joe Swail
Dominic Dale 10-6 Daniel Wells
Gary Wilson 10-7 Peter Lines
Michael White 10-4 Ross Muir
Rory McLeod 10-7 Sydney Wilson
Hammad Miah 10-7 Martin O'Donnell
Michael Holt 10-4 Eden Sharav
Peter Ebdon 10-9 Jack Lisowski
Rod Lawler 10-5 Alan McManus
Jimmy Robertson 10-4 Oliver Lines
Yan Bingtao 10-7 Mark Davis
Alexander Ursenbacher 10-9 Scott Donaldson
Yu De Lu 10-7 Robbie Williams
Martin Gould 10-6 John Astley
Last 48 Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Mark Williams Vs Stuart Carrington
Tom Ford Vs Hossein Vafei
Noppon Saengkham Vs Lee Walker
Stephen Maguire Vs Li Hang
Mark King Vs Xiao Guodong
Ben Woollaston Vs Zhou Yuelong
Graeme Dott Vs Jamie Jones
David Gilbert Vs Fergal O'Brien
David Grace Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Luca Brecel Vs Dominic Dale
Michael White Vs Gary Wilson
Rory McLeod Vs Hammad Miah
Michael Holt Vs Peter Ebdon
Jimmy Robertson Vs Rod Lawler
Yan Bingtao Vs Alexander Ursenbacher
Martin Gould Vs Yu De Lu
This is a very mixed line-up for the final round. Defeats for Perry and Walden and other top seeds have opened up opportunities for possible debutants. David Grace and Akani Songsermsawad will yield a debutant whatever the result, as will the match between Yan Bingtao and Alexander Ursenbacher. Hossein Vafei has been in great form and will be looking to make his Crucible debut as will Hammad Miah who defeated Ricky Walden at the start of the week. Lee Walker and Noppon Saengkham throws up a match where the Thai Noppon is looking for his Crucible debut after a very nice win over Hamilton. Walker meanwhile is looking to return to the Crucible for the first time since 2004 and has already dug deep to hold off Matthew Stevens and Reanne Evans.
Grace would be a very popular qualifier and he is a player who has grown in confidence massively since the 2015 UK Championship. His opponent Songsermsawad is a talented player but Grace will be desperate to make the Crucible and very determined to make that dream a reality. As for Yan his debut season has been unreal and despite his age many expected him to make the Crucible before a ball was struck at Ponds Forge. Hossein has already beaten Selt and would have taken huge confidence from his run at the China Open, though Ford has had a very good season and played much more solidly. When on top form he scorers with ease.
Zhou Yuelong came close last year but faces an equally tough match with Ben Woollaston if he is to make his debut. Mark Williams needs to up his game after two very close shaves. Carrington is somehow I have had my eye on for a while and been touting for good things. He is a very heavy scorer on his day and has qualified for the final stages previously which is a definite positive coming into this match. Graeme Dott has breezed through so far dropping just seven frames in his two matches and is another former world champion looking to make it through.
Ebdon is also on that list and his match with Michael Holt should be hard fought, Holt has had the much better season of the two but Ebdon can never be discounted over this format. While Williams has struggled and Perry and Walden defeated, not much has been said of Martin Gould which is probably a good sign after two simple victories. While Yu can cause problems, Gould should have the extra gear required to see him through. Despite a couple of closer matches Gary Wilson has scored very heavily and will be a good match for Michael White who is another to have had a straightforward route thus far.
Stephen Maguire takes on Li Hang to make sure he does not miss out on the Crucible. He will be strongly expected to beat Li, but on his day the Chinese player can score very heavily and always looked the likely final round opponent for the Scot. Li was a deciding frame away from qualifying back in 2015 and will want to put that right now. Rod Lawler is grinding away having already dispatched last year's semi-finalist Alan McManus, and if he can stop Jimmy Robertson getting into his heavy scoring stride which saw off Oliver Lines, then he has a good chance.
Luca Brecel has qualified before, all the way back in 2012 when he was just 17. Having not done so since he is long overdue for someone of his talents. Dominic Dale is one of the tougher opponents you could have though. He was very close to making the semi-finals at the Crucible in 2014 and probably has the edge on the Belgian tactically. Brecel will need to get in early on in frames and up his scoring from the match with Swail if he is to see off someone of Dale's class. Mark King and Xiao Guodong looks another tight match. King has obviously been in great form this season, but Xiao too has had a much better year after slipping down the rankings a little in the year or two prior. The Chinese player is a very heavy scorer and perhaps did not handle the pressure that some of his success in the 2013/2014 season brought him, but he seems to be back on track now. Overall that looks to be another of the tighter 'Judgement Day' games.
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