WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS: Round 2

After four of the eight days of qualifying for the World Championships down at Ponds Forge, the field has been whittled down from 128 to 64, and over the next two days in the second qualifying round that will be halved again from 64 to the 32 that will contest the final qualifying round with 16 places at the Crucible at stake for the winners. Lots has happened so far and there has been plenty of drama, along with some absolute thrashings.

Martin Gould was one of the favourites to qualify before he was beaten 10-6 by Adam Duffy, while Michael White had to come from 4-0 behind in the early stages against Steven Hallworth to eventually win 10-8. Alfie Burden and Nigel Bond have their tour places in jeopardy now as they suffered heavy defeats to Mitchell Mann and Igor Figueredo respectively. Reanne Evans made a very good account of herself against 1997 champion Ken Doherty with Ken edging her out 10-8 in a very tense affair that could've gone to a decider. Rory McLeod meanwhile was torn apart 10-2 by Tian Pengfei, while fellow Chinaman Li Hang mauled Chris Melling 10-1. Aditya Mehta's poor season came to a close with a 10-7 loss to Jak Jones, while Lu Haotian will have to go back through Q School to get his tour card back after losing 10-8 to Andrew Pagett. Some of the top ups from last years Q School order of merit who were invited to play in Sean O'Sullivan and Jamie Rhys Clarke were far from pushed aside as Sean nearly took Ben Woollaston the full distance losing 10-8, while Jamie Rhys Clarke put Ryan Day visibly under pressure (as Day was seen punching the slate with a lot of force on one occasion) before Day got across the line 10-7. David Morris meanwhile played the first decider of the tournament where he was knocked out 10-9 by Lee Walker. One of the biggest results of the round has to go to Steve Davis who rolled back the years against Jamie Cope to win the match 10-9 on the final black and put Jamie Cope's all important top 64 place in some jeopardy. Robin Hull's victory meanwhile means that if he beats Ben Woollaston he'll get into the top 64 and save his tour space, and the only real major surprise of Saturday was to see Kyren Wilson beaten as heavily as he was by Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon.

First Qualifying Round Results:

Michael White 10-8 Steven Hallworth
Craig Steadman 10-5 Rhys Clark
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-8 Barry Pinches
Jamie Burnett 10-8 Alex Borg
Mark King 10-7 Michael Leslie
Marcus Campbell 10-2 Ivaylo Pekov
Cao Yupeng 10-8 Ross Muir
Anthony McGill 10-3 Hossein Vafei Ayouri
Adam Duffy 10-6 Martin Gould
Sam Baird 10-7 Tony Drago
Tian Pengfei 10-2 Rory McLeod
Jamie Jones 10-3 Ashley Carty
Gerard Greene 10-4 Elliot Slessor
Mitchell Mann 10-4 Alfie Burden
Andrew Pagett 10-8 Lu Haotian
Alan McManus 10-5 Michael Wasley
Ryan Day 10-7 Jamie Rhys Clarke
Alex Davies 10-6 Michael Georgiou
Jak Jones 10-7 Aditya Mehta
Jack Lisowski 10-7 Allan Taylor
Gary Wilson 10-5 Eden Sharav
Li Hang 10-1 Chris Melling
Stuart Carrington 10-6 Joel Walker
Peter Ebdon 10-6 Lu Ning
Ben Woollaston 10-8 Sean O'Sullivan
Robin Hull 10-3 Martin McCrudden
Igor Figueredo 10-3 Nigel Bond
Rod Lawler 10-4 Michael Tomlinson
Mike Dunn 10-4 Itaro Santos
Yu DeLu 10-0 Hans Blanckeart
Fraser Patrick 10-3 Brandon Sargeant
Graeme Dott 10-4 Mark Owens
Mark Davis 10-4 Joe O'Connor
Oliver Lines 10-7 Ian Glover
Lee Walker 10-9 David Morris
Ken Doherty 10-8 Reanne Evans
Matthew Stevens 10-5 Ahmed Saif
Peter Lines 10-6 Rodion Judin
Joe Swail 10-4 Alexander Ursenbacher
Dominic Dale 10-6 John Astley
Fergal O'Brien 10-5 Hammad Miah
Chris Wakelin 10-6 Nico Elton
Steve Davis 10-9 Jamie Cope
Kurt Maflin 10-5 David Grace
Mark Joyce 10-6 Ian Burns
Zhang Anda 10-3 Anthony Hamilton
Zhou Yuelong 10-8 Zak Surety
Liang Wenbo 10-4 Chris Norbury
Xiao Guodong 10-1 Ong Jia Jun
Liam Highfield 10-1 Oliver Brown
Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 10-3 Kyren Wilson
Jimmy Robertson 10-7 Thor Chuan Leong
Dechawat Poomjaeng 10-8 Daniel Wells
Robbie Williams 10-3 Lee Page
Noppon Saengkham 10-6 Lukas Kleckers
Michael Holt 10-3 Sydney Wilson
Matt Selt 10-8 Lu Chenwei
Jimmy White 10-3 James Wattana
Tom Ford 10-2 Andrew Norman
David Gilbert 10-5 George Pragnall
Luca Brecel 10-0 Saqib Nasir
Andrew Higginson 10-8 Scott Donaldson
Darryl Hill 10-9 James Cahill
Robert Milkins 10-6 William Lemons

Second Qualifying Round Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Michael White Vs Craig Steadman 
Jamie Burnett Vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Mark King Vs Marcus Campbell
Anthony McGill Vs Cao Yupeng
Sam Baird Vs Adam Duffy
Jamie Jones Vs Tian Pengfei
Gerard Greene Vs Mitchell Mann
Alan McManus Vs Andrew Pagett
Ryan Day Vs Alex Davies
Jack Lisowski Vs Jak Jones
Gary Wilson Vs Li Hang
Peter Ebdon Vs Stuart Carrington
Ben Woollaston Vs Robin Hull
Rod Lawler Vs Igor Figueredo
Mike Dunn Vs Yu DeLu
Graeme Dott Vs Fraser Patrick
Mark Davis Vs Oliver Lines
Ken Doherty Vs Lee Walker
Matthew Stevens Vs Peter Lines
Dominic Dale Vs Joe Swail
Fergal O'Brien Vs Chris Wakelin
Kurt Maflin Vs Steve Davis
Mark Joyce Vs Zhang Anda
Liang Wenbo Vs Zhou Yuelong
Xiao Guodong Vs Liam Highfield
Jimmy Robertson Vs Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon
Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Robbie Williams
Michael Holt Vs Noppon Saengkham
Matt Selt Vs Jimmy White
David Gilbert Vs Tom Ford
Luca Brecel Vs Andrew Higginson
Robert Milkins Vs Darryl Hill


After a lot of games between established players and wildcard invitations came out with walkovers and a lot of easy results were obtained by players against others that were seriously out of form, I expect round two of qualifying to lead to many more close matches going right down to the wire with some dramatic finishes and a few more deciding frames to keep us all entertained, as we go another step closer to finding out who will join the top 16 seeds at the Crucible starting on Saturday April 18th. Personally, I can't see many of these matches being walkovers at all, and I could see a lot of the outsiders winning these matches. Zhang Anda and Li Hang played brilliantly in round one, while Zhou Yuelong is scoring well every time he seems to play. Robin Hull will be incredibly determined as he should be well aware that a victory against Ben Woollaston on Monday will see him get into the top 64 and retain his tour place for next year. Joe Swail is in the same boat as he takes on a mixed bag in Dominic Dale, while Lee Walker already has a victory against David Morris this week and Ken didn't play too well in round one so will be up against it again. As for the rest, I just have good feelings on the likes of Jak Jones and Mitchell Mann, particularly after their performances in round one, while I'd probably put Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is probably the favourite in my book against Jamie Burnett by a distance, despite being the lower seed.

Whatever happens though I'm sure the excitement will peak on Tuesday and Wednesday with the final qualifying round and I will be back to preview that one ahead of Tuesday morning's start.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS PREVIEW

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!

Mark Selby and Gary Wilson to contest Beijing finale

Mark Selby and Gary Wilson will play out the best-of-19 frames China Open final in Beijing after Selby won a brilliant match against Kurt Maflin while Gary Wilson overcame home favourite Ding Junhui in a classic encounter.

Selby's semi-final was the first and at 3-3 in his match with Maflin, Kurt had already made two centuries with one to Mark's name, but the seventh frame was a very nervy frame with the Norwegian leading until the colours, and after missing a chance on the black to the middle to force a re-spot, Selby finished the frame off to go 4-3 in front. That seemed to kill the game from there and when Mark followed up with a 106 to make it 5-3 the writing seemed to be on the wall as the world champion soon completed his win.

The second semi-final between Ding Junhui and Gary Wilson was certainly one that had more swings than a pendulum. After winning the opener with a 68, Wilson was dominated by Ding in the next three frames as the Chinese surged into a 3-1 mid-session interval lead. Gary took the first after the break with a run of 50, while Ding then didn't score a single point in frames 6,7 and 8 as contributions of 60, 68 and 70 put Wilson one away from his maiden full ranking event final at 5-3. Ding wasn't going to let him do it the easy way however, and he followed that up with breaks of 97 and 72 to force the deciding frame, but when Gary's chance came he took and a cool 72 booked his place in his first ever ranking final.

Semi-Final Results:

Gary Wilson 6-5 Ding Junhui
Mark Selby 6-3 Kurt Maflin

Final Preview:

Mark Selby Vs Gary Wilson - On paper once again this final looks like a bit of a miss-match with the World Champion and this seasons German Masters champion taking on a man who coming into this week had only made one full ranking event quarter-final in his career. However, that could've been said with Gary Wilson in a number of his matches he's had this week having to beat the likes of Liang Wenbo, Ricky Walden, Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui just to get this far, and his scoring in doing so has been superb in every single match and he will need to shrug off any early maiden ranking final nerves, in order to continue taking his chances, winning frames in one visit to truly Mark under any pressure in this final.

Mark Selby may have not had to beat the same sort of names in getting to the final, as Gary Wilson has done, but whoever he has come up against he has played very well indeed. His opening round win against Mark Joyce saw him go off the boil in the middle after a good start and he finished the match off well eventually, but Selby did also have some neck troubles in the early week which would've been a huge worry after the severity of the neck problems he suffered this time 3 years ago. However, he was very clinical in then beating Elliot Slessor and David Gilbert pretty comfortably, before digging in again to come from never being ahead in the match, but also never being more than a frame behind, to beat Robert Milkins 5-4. Even today when he had Kurt Maflin coming at him with big breaks including two centuries, he hit back as true champions do with the big breaks of his own including two centuries himself, just showing that throughout this week he has been able to handle whatever has been thrown at him, whether the game has been heavy scoring and open, or scrappy and in need of one of his grinding "master of brinkmanship" displays. That just makes me believe that whatever Gary Wilson can throw at Mark Selby tomorrow in terms of big breaks, he simply doesn't have the same experience on the big stage that Mark Selby does over several years and big tournament wins, to deal with what Mark Selby will be able to come up with in response over the best-of-19 frames.


Prediction: 10-6 to Selby

Whatever the outcome is tomorrow though both guys have played brilliantly though as Mark looked for a good event here ahead of the defence of his World Championship, while Gary Wilson can be immensely proud of his run to his maiden ranking event final, which has now taken him up to 37th at least in terms of his seeding for the World Championships, while victory tomorrow would put him up to 22nd in the regard. The snooker played all week has just gone better and better as the rounds have gone on and the standard has been set here ahead of the World Championship Qualifiers and the main event itself, which I expect now to be up there with one of the best in the Championships long history.

Murphy out, Selby and Ding scrape through

It was an eventful day on Good Friday at the China Open as the four quarter-finals all went right down to the wire. Shaun Murphy bowed out as Kurt Maflin played some simply superb snooker in coming back from 3-1 and 4-3 down to win the first of the days three deciding frames. Robert Milkins led throughout his match with Mark Selby at 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 but the "Master of Brinkmanship" did what he does best to get into the semi-finals and secure that Stephen Maguire will be at the Crucible as the 16th seed.

In the afternoon session Ding Junhui and John Higgins played out a thriller with the home favourite taking out Higgins in yet another deciding frame to make only his second semi-final of the season. Finally, Gary Wilson having already matched his best ever full ranking performance that he set in Cardiff this season, went one better by seeing off Barry Hawkins 5-3.

Quarter-Final Results:

Ding Junhui 5-4 John Higgins
Gary Wilson 5-3 Barry Hawkins
Kurt Maflin 5-4 Shaun Murphy
Mark Selby 5-4 Robert Milkins

Semi-Final Preview:

Ding Junhui Vs Gary Wilson - This is certainly a mismatch between a player in Ding Junhui who is looking to defend his title after a poor year since winning this event last year, but all the same he's really showed some great form and all of his class this week, especially in today's match against John Higgins. Gary Wilson meanwhile is in his maiden full ranking event semi-final, having only reached his maiden quarter-final in full ranking event a month and a half ago. With the players Gary has beaten this week he's showed he is well capable of going on further this week and beating Ding, but to play in a major semi-final against Ding in China will be a whole new experience for him and it will be interesting to see how he deals with that. Ding does look very relaxed this week though and he's playing as well as he has done all season now and if he keeps that up I can't see him slipping up in this contest.

Prediction: Ding to win 6-2

Mark Selby Vs Kurt Maflin - On paper this may look like a match that should be won comfortably by Selby as he is the better player and certainly more consistent than Kurt Maflin. However, I for one thought that Kurt Maflin was absolutely superb after the interval barely missing a ball in the four frames he won from 3-1 down to win 5-4 and Shaun Murphy didn't have a chance to win the match really at any stage. Kurt has played well and scored heavily all week, and when he plays like that he is one of the most dangerous players outside of the top 16, and even though he has had a poor season he seems to have come into form just when he needed to here. It's certainly been a battle at times this week for Mark Selby, having to use all his fight to keep coming back today against Robert Milkins, as he did in round one against Mark Joyce when he was struggling with neck pain. Talk about his neck has died down now but you still feel that Mark could be vulnerable this week if someone comes up against him and really takes his chances and Maflin is a player that has been doing that this week. The only thing that may stand in Kurt's way is that every now and again he throws in an unforced error or just goes for one shot too many and things like that could turn this game into Selby's favour.

Prediction: 6-4 to Selby

These should be two great semi-finals and set-up a really enthralling best-of-19 final on Sunday so I looking forward to coming back and previewing that one tomorrow.

Selby, Murphy and Ding into Beijing Quarters

Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui are into the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing after wins in today's Last 16. In the first session of the day, Robert Milkins kept his hopes of an automatic Crucible seeding alive by beating Michael White, ending White's own hopes of getting into the top 16 on the provisional World Championship seedings. Meanwhile, Kurt Maflin put a dent in Robin Hull's tour survival hopes by landing a comfortable victory there. Mark Selby was made to work hard in his match with David Gilbert, despite still coming through a comfortable winner, and Shaun Murphy beat his nemesis Jamie Jones whilst also making a 143 break. However, neither of those two games were televised after the first hour after a fire in the TV truck at the venue wiped out the cameras.

Later in the evening session, TV coverage was back for us to see a decider in the match between Judd Trump and John Higgins which went the way of Higgins. Meanwhile, Gary Wilson reached only his second ever ranking event quarter-final as he beat Dechawat Poomjaeng very comfortably. Home favourite Ding Junhui looked better once again as he was pretty comfortable in the end beating form horse Mark Williams. Finally, Stephen Maguire's fate is now in the hands of Robert Milkins as he lost to Barry Hawkins who seems to be in much better form this week also.


Last 16 Results:

Ding Junhui 5-2 Mark Williams
John Higgins 5-4 Judd Trump
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Stephen Maguire
Gary Wilson 5-1 Dechawat Poomjaeng
Kurt Maflin 5-1 Robin Hull
Shaun Murphy 5-3 Jamie Jones
Robert Milkins 5-1 Michael White
Mark Selby 5-2 David Gilbert


That sets up another intriguing day of action in the quarter-finals tomorrow with still plenty to play for in terms of World Championship seedings as well as the overall tournament.

Quarter-Final Draw: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs John Higgins - This should be a good match between two players that have struggled at times this season, but have equally won some very good games this week. Ding Junhui seems to be playing a lot better now and I expect him to continue playing confidently and scoring well for the rest of this week now that the tables seemed to have turned for him. His win against Mark Williams the form player right now, was a very convincing one where he seemed to dominate most of the match. John Higgins meanwhile did struggle at times against Judd Trump, showing again some of his inconsistencies in a match, and needed a lot of chances in the middle of the match, the chances that you don't always get as many of against Ding. However, John is cueing well though and the decider he played against Trump showed that once again and that will give him even more confidence to go with that he's picked up from winning in Cardiff in February, but I fancy Ding to just edge out this match.

Barry Hawkins Vs Gary Wilson - Barry Hawkins was another guy that was struggling coming into this event but, again, he has played well this week to start to turn things around heading into the World Championships and he certainly isn't finished yet. Good performances at the back end of his match with Greene and then scoring well against Dale before a good win against Maguire will give him some more confidence and that is really all that Barry needed to start turning things around. Gary Wilson meanwhile will also be full of confidence having reached only his second ever ranking quarter-final with both coming in the last 6 weeks. Gary scored well against Ricky Walden, Liang Wenbo and again today against Dechawat Poomjaeng, so if he gets enough chances against Hawkins then he can certainly beat him. However, as with Ding, I feel like Hawkins is turning a corner this week and I expect that to continue.

Shaun Murphy Vs Kurt Maflin - This should be a brilliant quarter-final between two big hitters here in Murphy and Maflin. Shaun has been tested at times this week against McGill and Jones, but he's hit back well and scored very nicely in the last two games in particular. Shaun is also full of confidence after the season he's had and is playing as well as he's ever done and is striking the ball superbly. Kurt Maflin had very little form coming into this tournament but that hasn't stopped him going on far. The first match of the week when he came from 4-2 and 66-0 down to beat Carter would've been a huge confidence boost and he's been back to his heavy scoring self ever since with three centuries amongst his wins with Dunn and Hull. The one thing that could let Kurt down in this match against such a clinical player is that sometimes if Kurt gets a little over confident he starts to attack a little too much and perhaps leave his opponents too many easy chances, which if he does this tomorrow Shaun will make him pay heavily for.

Mark Selby Vs Robert Milkins - This match now has a lot of weight attached to it as Robert Milkins is eyeing two more wins to reach the final, leapfrog Stephen Maguire in the seedings for the Crucible which would see him qualify automatically. He started the week off poorly against Bond and then having to come from 4-1 down against Surety, but his week seems to have turned around with the match in the Last 16 with Michael White, where White was out of sorts and Milkins sensed an opportunity to perhaps win this and really push for an automatic Crucible spot. That will make him incredibly fired up and determined for the rest of the week, especially now he knows it's in his hands and that two more wins would definetly do. Mark Selby is always a determined character in any match that he plays but he has been struggling at times this week with a sore neck which could be a small occurrence of some of the pain he felt in 2012 around this time in the season. However, Mark is a battler and will still be determined to win this week, but if his neck starts restricting things, it will do so more as he goes deeper and deeper through the week, and the same high breaks he showed against Slessor and Joyce were not matched against Gilbert where he needed plenty of chances, and that is not something you can always rely on against Robert, who sensed an opportunity and scored well in truly determined fashion to take his chances against White today.


So, after a rather strange day in the end at the China Open with some of the goings on off the table with TV coverage, hopefully we can find some normality tomorrow for the quarter-finals as there should be four cracking games. As usual following tomorrow's play i'll have my semi-final preview to come in the evening.

Walden and Fu exit in Last 32

Ricky Walden, Marco Fu and Stuart Bingham were the casualties of the top 16 players in today's Last 32 in Beijing. Stuart Bingham playing in the morning session out in China had a tough opponent in Michael White, who took the win there having been 4-3 behind. That keeps alive White's automatic Crucible qualification hopes, just as Robert Milkins did by beating Zak Surety from 4-1 behind. Meanwhile, Mark Selby's neck pains have eased slightly after his whitewash over Elliot Slessor whilst David Gilbert came from 2-0 down to win 5-2. Stephen Maguire kept his Crucible hopes in his own hands by beating Ryan Day and Barry Hawkins recorded a nice victory against Dominic Dale.

In the second session of the day Kurt Maflin was the victor against Mike Dunn, while Dechawat Poomjaeng whitewashed Jack Lisowski and Mark Williams did the same against Michael Leslie. Shaun Murphy meanwhile saved his best until last to overcome Anthony McGill from 4-3 adrift, while Robin Hull did the same against Mark King.

Finally, the evening session saw birthday boy Ding Junhui called out to renditions of Happy Birthday ahead of his comfortable win over Mark Davis, while Judd Trump was also a comfortable winner against Peter Ebdon and John Higgins beat Graeme Dott in the all-Scottish clash. However, Ricky Walden suffered a surprise exit to Gary Wilson, while a comeback from 4-2 to 4-4 from Marco Fu wasn't enough to put Jamie Jones off as he secured another fine victory.

Last 32 Results:

Ding Junhui 5-1 Mark Davis
Mark Williams 5-0 Michael Leslie
John Higgins 5-2 Graeme Dott
Judd Trump 5-1 Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Dominic Dale
Stephen Maguire 5-4 Ryan Day
Gary Wilson 5-2 Ricky Walden
Dechawat Poomjaeng 5-0 Jack Lisowski
Robin Hull 5-4 Mark King
Kurt Maflin 5-3 Mike Dunn
Jamie Jones 5-4 Marco Fu
Shaun Murphy 5-4 Anthony McGill
Michael White 5-4 Stuart Bingham
Robert Milkins 5-4 Zak Surety
David Gilbert 5-2 Zhou Yuelong
Mark Selby 5-0 Elliot Slessor

So, another busy day is finished and from here on in things are a lot less hectic as we get down to just two sessions of play across four tables for some more fascinating action in the Last 16.

Last 16 Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs Mark Williams - This really is the stand our game of the draw with the home favourite Ding Junhui taking on the tours form horse at the moment in Mark Williams. Ding seems to be playing a lot better in the first couple of games this week but he hasn't really been pushed this week so far by Marcus Campbell or Mark Davis but it will be a very different story against Williams. After reaching several last 16's, quarter-finals and semi-finals in the last couple of months which is something Ding has failed to do, with this being his first Last 16 appearance since Shanghai last September. Mark is so full of confidence that he'll believe he can beat Ding and he knows exactly how dangerous Ding is despite the run he's been on coming into this.

Judd Trump Vs John Higgins - This should be another good game as they always are between Trump and Higgins. Higgins has been slightly more inconsistent in his performances in the last couple of years but he always seems to push Trump hard and run the games close whenever they meet. Judd meanwhile is in really good form this week having made three centuries across his two games so far this week against Higginson and Ebdon and even though Higginson pushed him in round one he responded really well and is in great form at the moment to deal with anything that anyone can throw at the 2011 champion in Beijing.

Barry Hawkins Vs Stephen Maguire - These two guys have been threatening to meet in tournaments now in a while but because of Hawkins poor form they haven't as yet until now. Barry seems to be playing a lot better this week and scoring very nicely so he will be a little more confident of turning his fortunes around after a very poor run of form. Stephen Maguire meanwhile is under a lot more pressure as he tries to secure his top 16 seeding for the Crucible and that will make him more determined to get the result here but he's in for a very tough match again.

Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Gary Wilson - This match is another one with two players with a great opportunity. Gary Wilson reached his first ranking event quarter-final just last month at the Welsh open and will be looking for more of the same here having already beaten Liang Wenbo and scored heavily today to thrash Ricky Walden today. Meanwhile, Dechawat Poomjaeng has played well also this week to come from 3-1 down to beat Neil Robertson before whitewashing Jack Lisowski in round two. I think Wilson is playing slightly better of the two though and I think he will edge this match which is a very close one to call.

Kurt Maflin Vs Robin Hull - This all Nordic clash between Norway's Maflin and Finland's Hull should be a good one, and it is a very important one for Robin Hull. Robin of course has benefited this week from a bye into the Last 32 after Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal but he still had to win his wildcard match against Yan Bingtao to get there and then beat Mark King today. In the process Hull has made a couple of centuries and played well to win both games and keep his hopes of tour survival alive. At the start of the week Hull was just over £12,000 adrift of 64th place Tom Ford, while now he is just over £7,000 behind, but another victory here against Maflin would certainly open things up for him more. Kurt meanwhile has already beaten Ali Carter and Mike Dunn this week, coming from 4-2 down against Carter and making two centuries against Dunn. This match is a tough one to call, but in the events he's entered this year Hull has been much more consistent than Maflin, but when Maflin plays well he's very tough to beat just as Robin is.

Shaun Murphy Vs Jamie Jones - The only way to start previewing this match is by pointing out that Jamie Jones is turning into a bit of a nemesis on the table for Shaun Murphy having beaten him again recently at the Welsh Open after several wins against him previously as well and he always proves a tough player for Murphy to beat. Jones will be confident having already overcome Stevens and Fu this week and knowing that he can beat Murphy and that he's playing well, there's no reason why he can't produce the result tomorrow. Shaun meanwhile played very well in his match today against Anthony McGill making 50+ contributions in every frame that he won in his 5-4 victory including a century to force the decider and a very cool 72 in that decider. Shaun continues to strike the ball well and will be confident that he win when he's put under pressure and given a good game as he was today, and he knows that he'll get a good game against Jones tomorrow.

Robert Milkins Vs Michael White - This match just stands out for me in this round as one of such huge importance when it comes to the seedings for the Crucible. Whoever the winner is from this game will have their hopes kept alive of qualifying automatically for the World Championships while the loser will definetly have to go through three qualifying rounds. Michael White has been able to put himself in this position by going on a roll to win his first ranking title at the Indian Open and having already come through two deciders this week, one very impressively from 4-3 down to Stuart Bingham, he will fancy his chances and be confident of going on a lot further this week. Robert Milkins meanwhile seems to be struggling just a little bit more having to come back from 4-1 down against much easier opposition on paper at least, than Michael White's and having lost 4-0 to Chris Wakelin at the Players Championship after a busy month or so, he may be starting to feel the effects of such a busy schedule.

Mark Selby Vs David Gilbert - Mark Selby may be struggling with a little bit of neck pain but he is still going strong in this tournament and he says that from the Last 64 to the Last 32 the pain has eased and he is playing very well when he is getting in and amongst the balls, which is always a good sign of how Mark's game is looking. Meanwhile, David Gilbert has had two very fine wins already this week to beat Players Champion Joe Perry and score very well from 2-0 down in his match against Zhou Yuelong to take all of the next five. David as I say is a very dangerous player and a great scorer on his day, and he's beaten Selby before so he can certainly cause the world champion some trouble.


We may be down to 16 players now but it is still no easier to pick a winner of this weeks China Open because to me it just looks so open as a whole and i'll be intrigued to watch how all of this unfolds again tomorrow and come back later on in the day to preview the action for the quarter-finals.

Robertson out in Beijing first round

The major big name casualty in the first round of the China Open was fourth seed Neil Robertson as he lost out in a decider to Thailand's Dechawat Poomjaeng who came back from a 3-1 interval deficit. Elsewhere on day one, Barry Hawkins got a much needed win over Gerard Greene as did Ding Junhui against Marcus Campbell. Stephen Maguire kept his Crucible seedings battle under control beating David Morris, while Ricky Walden thrashed Cao Yupeng. Ali Carter was unlucky to see Kurt Maflin come back from 4-2 and 66-0 down to win 5-4. To end the day (or begin the next take your pick) Peter Ebdon managed to hold off Zhang Anda who came back from 4-2 to 4-4, and in the end Peter came through the decider at 12.40am Beijing time.

Day two began with John Higgins having a bit of a battle with Yu De Lu before coming through to win there, whilst Robert Milkins was also at 3-3 with Nigel Bond at one stage before coming through to win there. Marco Fu whitewashed amateur player Ashley Carty, whilst Jamie Jones won the battle of the Welsh stars with Matthew Stevens. Joe Swail lost an important match for his top 64 hopes as Zak Surety beat him from 4-2 down. Michael White came through a decider later on in the afternoon session against Ken Doherty while new Players Champion Joe Perry was beaten by David Gilbert. Mark Selby struggled in the second half of his match against Mark Joyce but still managed to scrap through in that one, whilst things were much more simple for Stuart Bingham against Peter Lines. Meanwhile in the final session Judd Trump survived a slight scare to beat Andrew Higginson while Mark Williams beat wildcard Zhao Xintong from 2-0 down and Shaun Murphy was a comfortable winner against Jamie Cope.


Last 64 Results:

Ding Junhui 5-1 Marcus Campbell
Mark Davis 5-3 Kyren Wilson
Mark Williams 5-2 Zhao Xintong
Michael Leslie 5-1 Joe O'Connor
John Higgins 5-3 Yu De Lu
Graeme Dott 5-3 Daniel Wells
Peter Ebdon 5-4 Zhang Anda
Judd Trump 5-3 Andrew Higginson
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Gerard Greene
Dominic Dale 5-3 Jimmy Robertson
Ryan Day 5-1 Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire 5-1 David Morris
Ricky Walden 5-0 Cao Yupeng
Gary Wilson 5-3 Liang Wenbo
Jack Lisowski 5-4 Alan McManus
Dechawat Poomjaeng 5-4 Neil Robertson
Robin Hull W/O Ronnie O'Sullivan
Mark King 5-3 Jamie Burnett
Mike Dunn 5-3 Fergal O'Brien
Kurt Maflin 5-4 Ali Carter
Marco Fu 5-0 Ashley Carty
Jamie Jones 5-3 Matthew Stevens
Anthony McGill 5-1 Alfie Burden
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Jamie Cope
Stuart Bingham 5-1 Peter Lines
Michael White 5-4 Ken Doherty
Zak Surety 5-4 Joe Swail
Robert Milkins 5-3 Nigel Bond
David Gilbert 5-3 Joe Perry
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Anthony Hamilton
Elliot Slessor 5-3 Matt Selt
Mark Selby 5-3 Mark Joyce

So, despite a couple of upsets in round one we still have a fantastic line-up for tomorrow's last 32 games in Beijing and there should be some exciting snooker to come once again. But will there be any fools on April 1st?

Last 32 Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Ding Junhui Vs Mark Davis - Ding Junhui's comfortable victory over Marcus Campbell in the opening round was his first at the venue stages of an event since the UK Championships and to be fair he wasn't punished whatsoever for his mistakes and didn't seem to be looking all that confident either after a confidence bashing few months. Mark Davis meanwhile is in good form at the moment with quarter-finals in all of the last three events (Indian Open, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals). He's beaten some good players in those events (including Neil Robertson twice) and he'll be a lot more confident than Ding Junhui will be at the moment as he's been playing a lot better and more consistently and he's really under no pressure in this match with Ding Junhui again having all of the home expectation.

Mark Williams Vs Michael Leslie - Even though Michael Leslie has beaten Mark Allen in qualifying, and then amateur Joe O'Connor 5-1 in the first round, he's going have to be at the very top of his game to beat an in form Mark Williams here. Michael hasn't really done much in his time on tour so far, so this could be a good tournament to go prove to people he can cut it on tour. Mark meanwhile after a couple of poor frames at the start of his opening round match against Zhao Xintong, he soon warmed into the task and won five on the bounce for victory. Mark's in good form over the last month and a half particularly and on that run these are the matches he's been eating for breakfast.

John Higgins Vs Graeme Dott - This is a repeat of the World Grand Prix last 32 tie from just a couple of weeks ago where Dott beat Higgins in a deciding frame despite Higgins playing the better snooker of the two on that day. Graeme seemed to struggle a little today as he lost three frames in a row to go 3-2 down to amateur Daniel Wells at one stage and it took three frames in a row for Dott to win. John meanwhile was also pegged back from 3-1 to 3-3, but he played two very impressive last two frames to get the victory and I think if he can play well for a large part of this match again then he'll probably scrape the victory, but one thing is for certain, not an inch will be given in this match and I expect it to be closely fought.

Judd Trump Vs Peter Ebdon - Judd Trump has been in really good form of late, and today in round one he was happy with conditions making two centuries against Andrew Higginson who made one of his own and gave Judd a very tough match. A new mature Judd has been able to dig in hard when things start to turn around in matches and go against him as he showed throughout the World Grand Prix and that will be an important trait against Peter. Ebdon made very hard work of his first round win against Zhang Anda where he once led 4-2 before winning 5-4 in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Peter has been pretty inconsistent in the last couple of weeks with a poor performance against Anthony McGill in Thailand and he doesn't seem to have been much better in the first round and even though he made the Grand Prix quarter-finals, he did play very poorly in parts of both matches. Any weakness shown by him tomorrow will be pounced on by Judd, that is for certain.

Barry Hawkins Vs Dominic Dale - Barry Hawkins got an important win the other day after a series of poor results in previous events, and he actually played some good snooker to beat Gerard Greene in round one so that will boost his confidence. Dominic Dale also seemed to play well in parts of his first round match against Jimmy Robertson. However, Dominic has been pretty inconsistent of late, playing well at times in tournaments and matches, but also playing pretty dire snooker at others as he did against Selby in Thailand. I think this could be yet another confidence boosting match if Barry can knock in some decent breaks and if Dale isn't at his best then I feel that Hawkins will probably edge the victory.

Stephen Maguire Vs Ryan Day - Stephen Maguire firstly has a little bit extra to think about this week and that is his Crucible seeding. Will he secure the 16th seed or have to qualify? Well, a comfortable victory against David Morris in round one will help things as it leaves the likes of Michael White needing a semi-final if he is to lose this game. Stephen has been in good form for large parts of the time since the UK Championships and his record here at the China Open is pretty good so he'll be feeling confident coming into this match. Ryan Day meanwhile had a good win in round one against Liam Highfield and will want to do better this week after losing a couple of first round deciders in Bangkok and Llandudno. I think this will be close but I fancy Maguire to just edge through here.

Ricky Walden Vs Gary Wilson - Ricky Walden played good snooker and was very convincing against Cao Yupeng as he very often is in China as one of the best players in Asian conditions currently playing on the tour in my view. He seems to find his rhythm so much easier in China which helps him to some good results and he always seems to be in good form out there. Gary Wilson played well in round one and showed some of the form that saw him get to the Welsh Open quarter-finals in his win against Liang Wenbo and he'll be a tough opponent here for Walden. I'd fancy Wilson a lot more if this was in the UK where Walden is a lot more inconsistent, but Wilson certainly doesn't have as much experience in China as I feel Ricky has now so I fancy him to win this.

Dechawat Poomjaeng Vs Jack Lisowski - Both of these guys had good wins in deciders in round one with Poomjaeng beating Neil Robertson, while Lisowski came from 4-2 down to beat McManus. Lisowski is long overdue a good week after struggling quite a bit since he got to the China Open quarter-finals in impressive fashion two years ago, so he will have good memories of Beijing. Dechawat is a player who continually seems to get results but to me he isn't a particularly impressive player in terms of very much that he does apart from his general potting. Throughout his match with Neil his positional play wasn't particularly good and he over hit a large number of shots unable to get to grips perhaps with the pace of the table. Lisowski on his day is the much better player of the two here and as I say it's about time he started showing it more often starting with this week.

Mark King Vs Robin Hull - Robin Hull may have had a Last 64 walkover over Ronnie O'Sullivan but he did have to play a wildcard match so has still got here by winning a match, and in that match against tough young wildcard Yan Bingtao he played some superb snooker. A series of impressive breaks (including a maximum attempt that broke down on 112) saw him breeze through a potentially difficult match and again make many ask questions of how his tour card is in any danger at all. A win in this match tomorrow would again help his cause as he is still around £9,000 behind 64th place Tom Ford in the rankings. Mark King came through a battle today against Jamie Burnett but he was in good form at the Players Championships in Thailand playing good snooker beating Hawkins and pushing Trump close. However, if Hull plays how he did against Bingtao in this match, King will need to show all of this form once again.

Kurt Maflin Vs Mike Dunn - Both of these guys had to come from behind in their opening round encounters to get this far. Kurt Maflin was seemingly dead and buried at 4-2 and 66-0 against Carter but somehow he ended up winning 5-4, but he still didn't knock in many impressive breaks and he's been in very poor form all season long. Mike Dunn meanwhile played very well from 3-1 down against Fergal O'Brien and he has the good memories of last years run to the semi-finals to inspire him on as he looks to try and repeat some of that again this week. It should be a close game this and is a very tough one to call, but Kurt just doesn't seem to have very much form behind him at all at the moment where Mike has played some decent stuff in the first round.

Marco Fu Vs Jamie Jones - Marco Fu is due for a good run this week and wasted no time in knocking out amateur Ashley Carty in round one 5-0 including a good 133 break and I think this could be the week he regains some form after a couple of early round exits. Jamie Jones won't make things very easy for him though as he played decent snooker to get to the Last 16 of the Indian Open and beat Matthew Stevens in the first round, as well as beating Shaun Murphy in the Welsh Open. Jones is an impressive young lad, but Fu is very underrated when he's in good form and if he can play well this week he could go really far once again.

Shaun Murphy Vs Anthony McGill - This should be a very close game, especially as Anthony McGill has been pushing a lot of the top players all the way in recent times. In the German Masters he came from 4-1 to 4-4 before losing 5-4 to Selby, he came from 3-0 to 3-3 before losing 4-3 to both Mark Davis at the Indian Open and Stuart Bingham at the World Grand Prix, while Joe Perry needed a comeback from 3-1 down to beat him 4-3 at the Players Championship. Shaun Murphy meanwhile is still cueing well as he did to win the Masters and reach the German Masters final earlier in 2015, but he has had a lot of recent complaints about the table conditions and he needs to start putting that out of his mind as it seems to affect him more than any other player in the game. If Shaun can concentrate on the game then I'm sure he will play well because as I say he is striking the ball very well and feels very confident.

Stuart Bingham Vs Michael White - This again is another tough match to call between two very much in form players. Michael White has very much broken through on to the big stage now after winning the Indian Open three weeks ago, and he'll be feeling full of confidence despite a couple of blips since then. He had to go through a decider to beat Doherty in round one while he also lost in the Grand Prix and Players Championship first round, so he may still have a bit of a hangover from that India win. Stuart Bingham meanwhile has come close in the last couple of events with a Players Championship and Grand Prix semi-final to his name since winning the Championship League in February and the hunger will very much be there for Stuart to have a good run and then convert that at the end of the week into some more glory. When the pair met at the Welsh Open Bingham was a comfortable winner there, and while I don't think this will be comfortable I do think Stuart is the favourite to edge it.

Robert Milkins Vs Zak Surety - Robert Milkins is the clear favourite in this match as a much higher ranked player than Zak Surety, but that doesn't mean to say he will win. Zak had a good win against Joe Swail from 4-2 down in round one and even though he has struggled a little for results this year on tour he's also had some very tough matches just as this one is for him. Robert Milkins still has a slight carrot dangling for him here as the provisional 18th seed for the Crucible and even though he is a way behind Michael White as the closest challenger to current 16th seed Stephen Maguire, he could still make it if he got to the final and Maguire goes out in the next round or two, so it is important for Robert to keep going and believing, which another victory tomorrow will help.

David Gilbert Vs Zhou Yuelong - Both of these players had good wins in the Last 64. Zhou Yuelong has had some good results all season and seems to be a very strong scorer when on form which he showed in abundance today against Anthony Hamilton and if he keeps that up tomorrow it'll be incredibly tough to beat. David Gilbert meanwhile came from 3-2 behind to beat Players Champion Joe Perry 5-3 today and he is a very solid and dangerous player to come up against with a lot of experience. Gilbert was in good form in the Championship League earlier in 2015 and I felt that he would eventually convert that into a good run in a ranking event and thus far he has failed to but this week could be his week for a few more good results as he is a solid player and a very heavy scorer like Yuelong is when they're both in form so I expect this to be a good match and one that comes down to the scrappy frames.

Mark Selby Vs Elliot Slessor - On paper this looks like it should be a very comfortable win for world champion Mark Selby. However, Mark had to battle hard today after playing some good snooker to lead 3-0 at one stage, Mark Joyce took advantage as Selby went off the boil and he could be seen rubbing and holding his neck a few times, and he has confirmed that he had a neck twinge yesterday and is suffering some pain, particularly after slipping during the interval. As a fellow sufferer of bad neck pains in the past (which it personally took me a long time to get rid of and I still suffer with now on occasions) these things can crop up at any time it seems and still be as painful as before and are particularly horrible as a snooker player so hopefully he won't suffer as badly as he did three years ago. Elliot Slessor meanwhile had a good win against Matt Selt in round one but with all of Mark's experience and battling qualities against a player that hasn't impressed in his last two years on tour and still appears to be inexperienced, the only way I can see Slessor winning is if he plays brilliantly or Mark continues to struggle badly with his neck.


Things really start to hot up now in Beijing with one round a day from here until the completion of the tournament and with still much to play for in terms of seedings for the Crucible, you can expect it to be another exciting day tomorrow in the last 32, and i'll be back again tomorrow with a preview of the Last 16 matches.