Hey guys, remember when I used to do blogs? Nah, me neither. Being serious though, I’ve gradually been moving away from blogging for… various reasons, but I’m still here right now, and I’m going to talk about the tour survival battle. Is this much later than normal? Yes, but there are still three events left (for some people anyway). So I’m going to go through the tour survival contenders, talk about their seasons, stature and survival chances.
But first, how do people drop off the tour. Well I’ll get into the structure of the rankings some other time, but to simplify things, every person who qualifies for the tour has a two year tour card. At the end of the season, they will be relegated from the tour and have to re-qualify, unless they meet one of three categories (no I’m not mentioning Invitational Tour Cards, only things that the “average” player is likely to be able to achieve.
Catagory A: The Top 64 This is quite self-explanatory. The tour has (approximately) 128 players on it at any one time. If you finish the season inside the Top 64, you are on the tour for the next season. This is the only one of the categories that does not grant the player a new two year tour card; rather, they only get guaranteed one more season and must continue to meet one of the categories.
Catagory B: First year of Tour Card Because WST are loving and caring individuals only concerned about the welfare of their players*, each player gets two years after qualifying for the tour as mentioned previously. So if they are halfway through their card, don’t worry, they have another season yet.
So who are we covering here? Well I looked through the rankings, and found that there’s a nice range of players who you would expect to be in the mix from 60th to 70th on the EOS rankings. Afterwards, I will quickly mention a handful of other notable players. So let’s kick off with…
60TH: aARON Hill (NI) Distance from 65th: +£10,000,Season best, Quarter-Final (Wuhan Open)
What a rise this has been. When Aaron Hill beat Michael White 10-3 in World Championship qualifying last season, many (including myself) thought of it as a huge upset, almost an embarassment for White. Because before then, De Breeze had been a talented player who struggled to produce his game on a consistent basis, despite wins over amongst others, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump. That was, until the Wuhan Open qualifiers, where he randomly obliterated an out-of-sorts Joe Perry 5-0, concluding with a 145 break. Hill would end up reaching the Last 8, for a first career QF, losing a decider to He Guoqiang.
A visit to the Last 16 of the NI Open followed shortly after, and although results have slowed down since, he’s earned £43,000 this season, which puts him comfortably above the cut-off on both the Ranking list (£10,000 above 65th) and the one-year list (£17,500 above the last one-year list card), as well as having chances to add to this total before Worlds, as he has qualified for the World Open and Welsh Open. It’s been a highly impressive season for the man from Cork, and should easily see him secure his place on tour next season. Chances of Survival: 100%
61ST:Julien leClerq (Bel) Distance from 65th: +£6500, Season Best:Last 16 (German Masters)
The Belgian Beast has hovered around the cut-off for much of this season (with his final at the Shootout last season really boosting him), and his season-best result at the German Masters has done him no harm in that respect, elevating him to 61st on the EOS. It was looking like a difficult second album for Julien this term, having only reached the Last 32 once. That was, until the German Masters, when he stormed his way to the Last 16, including a fantastic win over Jordan Brown in the Last 32, and then took a 2-0 lead over Ryan Day in the Quarters, before losing the next five frames (scoring one point in the first four).
Julien is £6500 above the cutoff on the ranking list, and £7000 above the last one-year list card (ironic considering the person holding that card is actually Julien’s best friend). Leclerq also has an extra event to add to his total before Sheffield, as he’s qualified for the Welsh Open (winning a thriller against Alfie Burden to do so). I think it’s likely that Julien will be on tour next season, albeit he may need the one-year list to do so. Chances of Survival: 85%
62nd: Sanderson Lam (Eng) Distance from 65th: +£6000, Season Best:Quarter-Final (Scottish Open)
Sanderson Lam (insert much overused joke about Pandas not being extinct here) has been a pro for six seasons in two stints now (originally qualifying in 2015), but this is by far the best he’s ever been. Relative cannon fodder previously, this season he’s really started to show what he’s capable of, starting at the Championship League where he defeated Zhang Anda and drew with Barry Hawkins, two players who would go on to win an event this season. Results were fitful afterwards, until he surged to a first career QF at the Scottish Open, despite trailing 3-1 in a Best of 7 twice in the event (against Fan Zhengyi in the qualifiers and Liam Graham in the Last 32).
In terms of rankings, he’s in a similar position to Hill, being £6000 above the dreaded drop-off on the regular EOS rankings, and an enormous £15,500 above the last one-year card, it seems like Leeds’ Panda (which is weird because the last time I was in Leeds I didn’t see any bamboo) will be sticking around a bit longer, especially with both the Welsh and World Opens to come (albeit he does have to come through a wildcard round in the latter). And I’m glad, Sandi’s a lovely guy, and losing him from the tour would be un-bear-able (I’m so sorry I couldn’t resist the temptation) Chances of Survival: 100%
63rd: oLIVER lINES (eNG) dISTANCE FROM 65TH: £+5000, Season Best: Last 16 (English Open, Snooker Shootout)
From one Leeds native to another, Oli Lines has survived comfortably the past two seasons, and things are looking pretty good for him this term as well. His season started off positively, going unbeaten in his Championship League group (and beating group winner Chris Wakelin), and then reached the Last 32 of the British Open, quickly followed by a Last 16 in the English Open. Results slowed down after this, although a Last 16 appearance at the Shootout did assist his cause and gave him more of a buffer to the drop zone.
Speaking of that drop zone, he has a £5000 gap to 65th, and an £11,500 gap to the last one-year-list card, which is a sizable gap. He’s another player who has the Welsh Open to look forward to and boost his position further, and I find it incredibly likely that he’ll still be around next season. Chances of Survival: 85%
64tH: Jackson Page Distance from 65TH: +£4500, Season best:lAST 64 (eNGLISH oPEN, Wuhan Open, Northern Ireland Open, iNTERNATIONAL CHampionship, Snooker Shootout, sCOTTISH oPEN)
Jackson Page isn’t someone I thought I’d be talking about here, and you could be fooled by the fact he’s 52nd in the world at the moment, but with a big chunk of money coming off his ranking from the World Championship in 2022 (where he reached the Last 16), he needed a good season this season. And he just hasn’t. He’s the only player on this list who hasn’t won multiple matches in an event this season, winning a mere eight matches this season.
Page has a £4500 gap to the player directly below him, not a huge gap but significant enough, and despite his poor season, he’s just about on course on the one year list, being ranked equal with the 3rd of four one-year-list cards. It’s looking a bit dodgy, but I think he’ll survive. Qualifying for the World Open is a huge boon for him. Chances of survival: 60%
65TH: David lilley Distance from 64th: -£4500, Season BEST: Last 32 (Snooker Shootout, gERMAN MASTERS)
David Lilley is the first man below the cutoff on the EOS rankings, but isn’t in the worst position himself. The Wearsider, going strong at 48 years young, didn’t turn professional for the first time until 2019, just in time for his first season to be disrupted by Covid. But the biography can be saved for another day, what we’re interested in is his 10 wins this season. It wasn’t looking quite so hot when he went into the UK Championship with a paltry two wins all season, but then he started to find some momentum. Wins over Sean O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham (now THERE’s someone who’s not had much fun this season) got him to the last qualifying round, losing to fellow North-Easterner Elliot Slessor. Last 32s in the Shootout and German Masters followed, leaving him where he is now.
But where is he? Well he’s £4500 off survival on the EOS rankings, but unlike Jackson Page has qualified for the Welsh Open as well as the World Open. Simply winning his last 64 match over Ryan Day in Llandudno would see him draw level with Page in 64th, which would lead to a massive scrap in the end game. And on the one year list, he’s got the 3rd of four one-year list cards, which yes, means he’s TIED WITH PAGE ON THAT AS WELL! Like with Page, it seems likely that he’s going to be around next season, whether that be on the one-year list or finishing inside the 64 for the first time in his career. Chances of survival: 60%
66TH: Mark Joyce(Eng) Distance from 64th: -£5000, Season Best: Last 32 (UK Championship)
I’ve generally been quite positive about people’s chances so far, but that comes to a screeching halt here, because Mark Joyce is in trouble. He’s no stranger to this situation (last season was the 2nd time he’s finished a season 64th in the rankings), but whereas the last time he did that he followed it up by having a solid season ending in qualification for the Crucible. This term he’s struggled, his only notable run being winning three matches to qualify for the UK Championship (and even there he survived a decider in Q1 against amateur Iulian Boiko). Being hammered 6-0 by Mark Selby seems to have been damaging though, as he’s only won two matches since.
In the rankings, he’s £5000 below 64th, which doesn’t sound irretrievable, and he is £500 below the last one-year tour card, so that isn’t the worst either. However he has a curse that nobody else on this list has: he hasn’t qualified for either of the two upcoming events, meaning if he’s going to rescue his situation, he HAS to win his first qualifying match in Sheffield to stand any hope of avoiding Q School. He knows how to escape, but it’s far from an appetizing situation for the man from Walsall. Chances of Survival: 20%
67TH: Dylan Emery (Wal) Distance from 64th: -£6000, Season Best: Last 32 (English Open, Northern Ireland Open, International Championship, Snooker Shootout)
I think a lot of people, me included, have been surprised by Dylan Emery. I expected that his first time on tour, he’d really struggle and flounder, like a lot of young players do. But no, Emery has been a little bit of a revelation, albeit on a smaller scale. Despite only reaching the Last 32 this season (four times), he’s consistently won matches, winning his first match in six events, and scoring heavily in the process.
His position isn’t bad in the rankings either. Being £6000 off on the EOS isn’t ideal, but he does have himself nicely positioned on the one-year list, holding the second card and having a £7000 gap to 5th placed Mark Joyce, and all this is coupled with him having qualified for the Welsh Open, brutalizing the soon-to-be retired Fergal O’Brien 4-1 with two tons and a 92 break, and a Last 64 match with Noppon Saengkham, who he already beat in the English Open this season. It’s far from certain, but I think Dylan will be just fine. Chances of survival: 60%
68TH: Ashley Hugill (Eng) Distance from 64th: -£9500, Season Best: Last 16 (European Masters)
Someone else who’s been here before is Ashley Hugill, and he’s got a mountain to climb. The 29 year old from York is a very good player on his day, but just hasn’t built any notable momentum in his career, his best results being isolated. Only seven matches won this season, the Last 16 of the European Masters being the only real highlight, surviving back-to-back deciders against Ali Carter and Xiao Guodong before falling in a plucky display against Mark Selby.
His situation in the rankings is dire though. £9500 off 64th means he’s just about within one World Qualifiers win on the EOS rankings, but still far from in a great position, and on the one-year list, he’s 8th in the list for cards, a full £5000 off the last card. It’s a bad situation for him, and even with qualifying for the World Open (his first win since the UK Championship qualifiers in November), he’ll need a very good run somewhere to keep his hopes alive. Chances of Survival: 10%
69TH: Zak Surety (Eng) Distance from 64th: -£10,500, Season Best: Last 16 (German Masters)
Zak Surety isn’t someone I thought I’d be talking about in this regard at the start of the season. The 32 year old from Basildon hasn’t really made an impact in his previous time on tour, and came into this season having never been ranked above 75th in the world. But he started the season well, recording a famous win over Ryan Day at the European Masters (5-3 from 1-3 down), and then beat Jiang Jun (5-4 from 0-4 down). Losing to eventual champion Barry Hawkins was far from a disgrace, and a promising run to the last qualifying round of the UK Championship followed, including beating Gary Wilson 6-3 from 1-3 down, but his highlight was at the German Masters, putting together a run to the Last 16 for the first time in his career, only to fall to Ali Carter.
Surety’s good runs this season have put him at a career high ranking of 75th (69th on the EOS), but is still a decent chunk away from the Top 64, requiring some more deep runs to close in. However where he excels is on the one year list, his £34,500 giving him the first of those cards, a full £9500 ahead of Mark Joyce. All in all, surviving through that latter list looks incredibly likely for Surety. Chances of Survival:75%
70TH: Ben Mertens (Bel) Distance from 64th: -£11,500; Season Best: Last 32 (European Masters, Wuhan Open)
The last player to cover on the main bulk of this list is Ben Mertens, the second of my Big Beautiful Belgian Boys(TM). Ben’s friendship with Julien is very sweet (I was watching Ben’s match with Shaun Murphy earlier in the season and I swear Julien was on screen more than Ben, who WON THE MATCH), but kind of ironic, because I feel like Ben’s season has been the mirror image of Leclerq’s. Whereas Julien struggled to pick up momentum at the start of the season but has looked stronger as time has gone on, Ben started the season off well, but has tailed off since (he’s won 3 matches since early October). Which isn’t to say there hasn’t been highlights this season, such as the aforementioned win over Shaun Murphy at the Wuhan Open where he played fantastically, and the execution-like 4-0 drubbing of hapless Ahmed Aly where he scored 469 points to Aly’s 11 (yes, 11 in FOUR FRAMES. Against a 19 year old. And people wonder why he hasn’t won a match yet?)
Ben’s situation isn’t the worst here, but it is precarious. He’s £11,500 off on the EOS Rankings, but crucially is £500 ahead of Mark Joyce in the final one-year list slot, and has qualified for the Welsh Open, beating Hammad Miah 4-0 in a match notable only for a bizarre first frame where Ben gave away over 50 points in fouls, and STILL WON THE FRAME because Miah couldn’t buy a positional shot to save his life. It’s not going to be easy to survive, but Ben certainly has the raw talent and ability to get out alive, especially if he’s got control of his tremors. Chance of Survival: 30%
So that’s the main runners and riders, but I’m quickly going to mention a handful of other players who are relevant to the situation.
Lukas Kleckers is the next nearest challenger on the one-year list, being £2500 behind Mertens on there. He’s also qualified for the World Open, giving him a reasonable opportunity to grab a card for next season, albeit it’s a stretch to see him ascend into the 64 for the first time.
Martin Gould and Liam Highfield are being mentioned together because they’re in a very similar situation, both being established pros (since 2010 in Highfield’s case and 2007 in Gould’s), but both facing the mother of uphill battles to survive due to missing events (Gould has only competed in four this season, and Highfield missing the start of the season due to a broken wrist in an e-scooter accident). Liam reached the Last 16 in Wuhan, but has since recorded one win in nearly four months. Both of them are so far down it’s not even funny (80th and 81st on the EOS and 98th and 99th respectively on one-year list). To survive, qualifying for the Crucible is mandatory.
Tell me, who do you think will survive? Do you think Ben Mertens or Mark Joyce can pull off a great escape? Do you think someone like Leclerq or (rather improbably) Hill could slip out? Do you think I was overly mean to Ahmed Aly***? Tell me what you think, and don’t forget to check out ReRacked, the Snooker podcast by fans for fans. Until next time, keep cueing.
NOTES:
*- Some or all of this may, in fact, not be true. **- Ok, so it wouldn’t be “impossible” (although with my average level of concentration, it might as well be), it would just be incredibly tedious and I wouldn’t be in work on Monday. ***- The answer is Yes (although not THAT harsh)
BONUS FACT: This blog took two days to write. And about half an hour to spellcheck, because my laptop holds an ancient grudge against the letter “t”. Either that or it just needs replacing.
“Where’ve you been, you haven’t uploaded a blog since AUGUST!” Sorry guys, I’ve had work… and a podcast… and other interestes outside of Snooker (for which I apologise). But I’m here now, so I can predict the UK Championship qualifiers. There are a lot of big names in here, so a quick reminder of how this works: I will show the section of the draw (to make it easier for you to laugh at me after), quickly talk about my thoughts regarding each section, and then give a more detailed prediction for the final qualifying round. And we’re starting with…
We’re starting at the top, with Ash Carty. The 28 year old from Thurcroft in Rotherham bounced back onto the tour through the Q Tour playoffs, and took advantage by edging through his Championship League group, finishing 3rd in the second group. He then reached his first Ranking QF in the European Masters, seeing off Joe O’Connor, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Ricky Walden before falling to a rampant Judd Trump. He’s had a great season, but will likely face stiff competitoin from Dan Wells, who he beat in the Championship League (I expect Wells to ease past Dorgham).
Ding Junhui then awaits, Ding having narrowly missed out on automatic qualification as a result of Zhang Anda and Tom Ford being the International Championship final (imagine if you’d have told people that a few years ago). Ding’s had sort of a nothing season, reaching a couple of Quarter-Finals before falling to a Chinese underdog each time (Hongyu in the English Open, Zhang in the International Championship). Ding loves the UK Championship though, so expect something good here.
On the other half, Robbie Williams has become a very solid and reliable player. He’s had an unremarkable season, reaching the Last 16 in Belfast and a couple of Last 32s, but otherwise hasn’t done a great deal. I still expect him to easily beat the improving Jenson Kendrick or the Welsh Under-18 champion Oliver Briffett-Payne though, and book a meeting with Matthew Stevens, UK Champion 20 years ago. That could be a sleeper hit, with Matthew more than happy to go for his shots still (much to my chagrin sometimes), and lest we forget he reached the Last 8 four years ago.
SECTION 1 FINAL: Ding Junhui vs. Robbie Williams
It took me about 10 minutes to decide who was winning out of Stevens and Williams, I wouldn’t be shocked to see it go to a decider. Robbie is becoming a very good player, but I don’t fancy many people to deny Ding a place in the UK Championship. The Dragon will dream on, looking for an 8th UK QF, and maybe even the 4th title that slipped from his grasp last year.
SECTION 1 RESULT: DING JUNHUI 6-3 Robbie Williams
Section 2
No great form here. Michael White had a strong return to the tour, albeit he slowed down regarding wins in the second half of the season. This season started well, with a trip to the second group of the Championship League, and then being a frame off the Last 16 in the European Masters. He’s struggled since though, not going beyond the Last 64 since (albeit he did have an absolute thriller of a match against Joe Perry in Belfast). I would expect him to score too heavily for Adam Duffy or Mink Nutcharut, both of whom he’s come from two frames down to beat in their only meetings (Duffy was in 2017, Mink was a few weeks ago in the NI qualifiers).
I’ll take players I expected to kick on after a good run at the Crucible for 1000 please (yes I’m now making Jeopardy references). Si Jiahui was a shock semi-finalist at Worlds, and should have put away eventual champion Luca Brecel. Instead there’s been a slight hangover, not going beyond the Last 32 this season (although to be fair, he’s drawn (in order) Kyren, Selby, Ronnie, and Allen). I know a swallow does not a summer make, but I really thought he’d do more this season than he has. Still big favourite for this section though.
Martin Gould has A LOT of work to do in order to avoid Q School. The Pinner Potter has a measly two wins to his name this season, earning £4000. He is 64th in the world atm. You think that’s bad? A look on the End of Season rankings has him at 79th! Martin needs one thing for Christmas and one thing only: wins, and lots of them (is that two things? Idk). Stuart Carrington could be a tricky first opponent (although Carrington hasn’t done a great deal since bouncing back through Q School), at least I’m presuming Stuart gets past Manasawin, who hasn’t looked any great shakes since joining the tour, but did recently get his inaugural win against Tatiana’s Husband at the Scottish Open.
So was Fan Zhengyi a flash in the pan when he won the European Masters? Erm… probably? He’s clearly a very talented player, but to call him inconsisent would be being kind. Oddly for this point in the season, his best performances came in an invitational event, beating Gary Wilson and Mark Allen before losing 6-1 to Neil Robertson (and if you know how Neil’s playing this season, you’ll know why that’s a shock). You know he’ll get enough big results to stay comfortable on tour, you just don’t know WHEN they’re coming.
SECTION 2 FINAL: Si Jiahui vs. Martin Gould
Judging by this final, I don’t think that Fan’s big run is coming here. Martin’s got his back against the wall rankings-wise, but he’s always capable of big performances, and I always fancy him more in longer formats where his experience pays. This is a hard match to call though, because Si is precociously talented. Going with the experience here, but I wouldn’t be surprised to be wrong (I mean I never am, but you catch my drift)
SECTION 2 RESULT: Si Jiahui 4-6 Martin Gould
Section 3
Look, it’s the return of the “stuff a load of players M18 likes into the same Section just to irritate him” trope. But that’s for the bottom half. At the top, Andy Hicks is another player who wants wins, he’s 68th on the EOS, but has only managed four wins this season, and none since the start of September. Semi-finalist all the way back in 1995 (when this blogger was Mumma M18’s belly), he should be able to beat Ibrahim or Sarkis, who have a combined one win between them this season. Ironically, Ibrahim was the last player Hicks beat, at the English Open qualifiers. As for Thepchaiya, he’s very fast, he’s in no danger in the rankings, he’s probably not flying up anytime soon, ’nuff said. Well, apart from the fact that he had a great opportunity at the International Championship to reach a 3rd Ranking final, but blew a 5-1 lead against Barry Hawkins in the Last 16.
So the bottom half, where I might have something to talk about. Michael Holt had a pretty rotten first season as an amateur, but seems to have regained his eye this season. He should have been in the final groups of the Championship League but for a… suspect match between Zhou and Xiao (I still think Zhou’s performance in that match was very fishy, and if you want to send me hate mail as a result, my Twitter is @exsnookerpro), and has since gone on to win the 3rd Q Tour event (and boy is that a competitive series this year). Holt vs. Fu is absolutely the standout tie not just of Round 1, but one of the ties of the qualifiers.
Big Ben Mertens, another player who could do with wins. 66th on the EOS, 2nd on the one year list cards at the moment, but a disappointing six wins this season have seen him lose ground in the race for the Top 64. 9 tons isn’t a mean feat though, nor was his win over Shaun Murphy at the Wuhan Open. He could come unstuck against one of two vastly experienced players (or he could just blow them away, what am I, a predictor?).
Then we come to Ricky Walden, who is in form this season. As Ricky usually does, it’s gone so far under the radar that it’s not even on the same submarine, but he’s reached a QF and two more Last 16s. I’ve talked about it before, but Ricky just prowls around the table when he’s playing well, everything just looks routine and easy, and he just strokes everything in like nobody’s business. Absolutely one of the favourites here.
SECTION 3 FINAL: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs. Ricky Walden
This is a hard one to call, because both of them have days where they turn up and look completely useless. I’m going for Theppy here, mainly because if I pick him to lose another match in the qualifiers, his fans will probably send me hate mail. (Also he’s bound to do something at sometime, right?)
Yes, I know you probably know who I’m picking in this section, and no, we can’t skip it. Because I want to talk about how David Grace isn’t safe from the Tour Survival battle despite being 54th provisionally. Why? How about 3 wins all season (two against the hapless Jenson Kendrick), a high break of only 88, and the fact he hasn’t won a match since mid September. He should be fine against Anton Kazakov or the quickly improving Oldham amateur Ryan Davies, but this is a shock I can smell. Whoever gets through there faces Wu Yize, who reached his first Ranking Semi-Final in Wuhan, losing to Judd Trump on his 20th birthday (the humanity!), and has done… not much apart from that. That one event accounts for five of his nine wins this season.
Oh Jimmy… after such a sensational return to winning last season, this season has been somewhat of a disaster for the Whirlwind. One win (at the tenth attempt against amateur Duane Jones), a high break of 73, and only four breaks of at least 50 this season. By any professional standard, that is not good in the slightest. By the standards of one of the most flairful and dramatic players in the game’s history, it’s miserable. He’ll aim to find something against Xing Zihao, who has won six matches this season, which would be more impressive if three hadn’t come in the NI Open alone. Still starts as favourite for me though.
James Cahill, erm… he reached the second group of the Championship League, beating Matt Selt… erm… he made two tons including a 140 against Manasawin… yeah, that’s all I’ve got. He’s 70th on the EOS rankings, but I don’t have an enormous amount of faith in him actually climbing into the 64. I’m sorry, I just don’t really think James is that special a player. He’s good enough to be professional (well duh), but I’ve never seen much beyond that really. (And before anyone starts, no, I couldn’t do better, I suck at Snooker and freely admit it. I could smoke him on Snooker 19 though!). And Noppon Saengkham has been his usual Noppon self, solid, consistent, scoring decently heavily without being exceptional, and I maintain he only failed to make the final of the Championship League because the black (I think it was the black) rolled off significantly.
SECTION 4 FINAL: Wu Yize vs. Noppon Saengkham
I’m sorry it’s not more interesting, but realistically I don’t see anyone standing in the way of this. As for this match, Saengkham won their first ever meeting at the European Masters in August, and I don’t see any reason to expect different here. Wu is an excellent player and is here to stay, but Noppon is too consistent for me, too skillful and too calm. Expect this to be a great watch.
SECTION 4 RESULT: Wu Yize 4-6 Noppon Saengkham
Section 5
What a start it’s been to professional life for He Guoqiang. The 23 year old came through the Asia/Oceania Q School, and then in his first event as a pro, he lost 5-0 to Ross Muir (who he’ll probably face in QR2 because Andrew Pagett is allergic to winning). In his second event, he reached the Quarters of the British Open, and went 0-2 up on Hossein Vafaei, before… losing five in a row scoring 63 points. He’s since reached two more Last 16s, and is already 74th on the EOS rankings. Looks like a special talent. He’ll likely also be favourite against Anthony McGill, who reached the Last 16 of the International Championship recently, but hasn’t done anything beyond that this season.
On the other side, Dominic Dale is having a useful season. Only one Last 32, but he’s consistently been winning matches in every event, generally playing quite well. He’ll face either the Latvian teenager (and WSF Junior Championship bronze medalist) Filips Kalnins or Stan “Mini-Murphy” Moody, who is just starting to find his feet as a pro, and he’ll fancy his chances either way. Whoever comes through faces Anthony Hamilton, the Sherriff recording a disappointing seven wins this season, but he’ll be thankful he’s ranked high enough to avoid Zhou Yuelong (their aggregate score from their last four matches is 19-0, with Zhou making 10 centuries in the process)
SECTION 5 Final: He Guoqiang vs. Anthony Hamilton
Going with He on this one. I think Hamilton will just about find a way past Dominic Dale, because that’s sort of what he does these days. Despite all his issues, he finds a way. But I don’t think he’s finding his way past He, who is just going to be too strong for him. I wouldn’t be shocked to be wrong though.
SECTION 5 RESULT: He Guoqiang 6-2 Anthony Hamilton
Section 6
Plenty of great players here. Julien Leclerq has bags of talent, but hasn’t got a lot of wins this season, seven to be exact. It’s disappointing for a player of his quality, but he is still only in his second year as a pro, and is 64th on the EOS rankings, and reasonably placed on the one-year list (just behind his friend Ben Mertens, and I’m not just saying that because they’re Belgian, you quite frequently see them in the crowd for each other’s matches). I like watching Julien play though, he really smacks the cue ball with conviction, and goes for his shots. He faces either Peng Yisong (who continues to struggle as a pro), or Umut Dikme (the German being rewarded for winning the 3rd Q Tour event), and will fancy his chances.
Dave Gilbert is… you know what, you know who Dave Gilbert is, you know about his issues with what I’m going to charitably call “badly timed mood swings” (or less charitably as “having no guts on the big stages anymore”. He’s had a strong campaign so far though, sitting 19th on the one-year list after a Quarter-Final (the NI Open, for the 3rd successive year, losing a decider for the 2nd year in a row), and two more Last 16s, and in these three events, it’s taken Haotian, Selby and Hawkins to stop him. He looks good right now, and doesn’t routinely struggle with qualifiers. Don’t let a ranking of 29 fool you.
And while you’re at it, don’t let Jamie Clarke’s laid back demeanor fool you either, he’s a serious grafter. It’s not been a good term thus far for the Welsh Whirlwind though (in case you’re wondering, the nickname is to commemorate the amount of big amateur finals he lost, hence the Welsh Jimmy White), with only a paltry five wins, and not beyond the Last 64. A recent 4-2 win over Xiao Guodong in the Scottish Open qualifiers will give him some much needed confidence though, with a banana skin up first in the likely shape of London Town veteran Alfie Burden, unless the English Under-18 silver medalist Oliver Sykes pulls off a major shock, albeit the Eastleigh native is dominating the English Junior tour this term.
Boy, Jordan Brown’s bio looked a lot different a couple of weeks ago! The Antrim Ferrari reaching the Semis of the International Championship, his best run in an event since winning the Welsh Open in Feb 2021. That not only skyrocketed him up to 37th in the world, but also accounts for over half of his 9 wins this season, as well as around 2/3 of his money for this season. Whether this was just another flash in the pan remains to be seen, but he’ll see this as a relatively kind draw. Although…
SECTION 6 FINAL: David Gilbert vs. Alfie Burden
It’s funny, because with the possible exception of Sykes (who is very inexperienced at this level), anyone can beat anyone in the bottom section. Alfie has seen much better days, but he’s still very wily and is always capable of pulling off a shock or two. It almost doesn’t matter, because I think there’s more chance of pigs flying than Gilbert losing in the section, but it shows the strength in depth of the tour.
SECTION 6 RESULT: David Gilbert 6-1 Alfie Burden
Section 7
Xu Si came through qualifying last year to reach the Barbican, so can he did it again? Possibly is the answer. He looks like a much more confident player at this level than he used to, although he’s had an iffy start to the season, his only notable run being the Last 32 in Wuhan. He’s got an interesting first match against the talented Ma Hailong (who hasn’t kicked on after a positive start to the season) or Sydney Wilson (the ex-pro from Southend-on-Sea competing in only a second professional event since he dropped off tour in 2017), but you’d expect him to come through.
Lyu Haotian feels like a punter’s trap. He’s the kind of player who has a really impressive performance against a mid-range player, so you put a few quid on him, and then he bombs a match you expect him to win, or in the case of this season, he just gets torn apart by someone playing peak perfection. He does reliably reach the latter stages of events though, and sits an incredible 9th on the one-year list. He reached the Semis in Wuhan, and only was stopped by a frankly devastating display from Ali Carter (five 70+ breaks from the Captain), a Quarter in the European Masters (lost to Selby who made two 70+ breaks), and the Last 16 of the International Championship (losing to sudden world beater Zhang Anda, who made five 85+ breaks). It’s a little bit of a mystery to me why he hasn’t added to his solitary Ranking final (2019 Indian Open final, lost to… well we’ll get there).
Back to the Tour Survival battle, Dylan Emery has been much sronger on tour than I expected. I feared he’d be another youngster who came onto the tour too soon and bottomed out. Instead, he’s been extremely impressive, and is sat 65th on the EOS rankings, the meat in a Big Belgian sandwich (do they eat sandwiches in Belgium? I’ve never been so idk), having matched his 9 wins from last season. If he can avoid running into the Class of 92 (he’s lost to both Williams and Higgins twice this season), he’s got a great chance of sticking on tour. A first match with the improving Robbie McGuigan or the eternally experienced Fergal O’Brien, but I’d expect him to overcome either of them if I’m being honest.
Aaaand this is where it gets difficult. Should Matt Selt be losing to Dylan Emery? No, almost certainly not. Could I see him losing to Dylan? Absolutely. Matt is just one of those players who is amazing one day but awful the next. One Quarter-Final this season, losing 5-1 to Judd Trump in a match where Judd made two tons and STILL didn’t have to play all that well to win, because Selt gave up before he turned up.
SECTION 7 FINAL: LYU HAOTIAN VS. MATTHEW SELT
Going with Lyu for this one. He’s been in amazing form this season, and Matt just blows too hot and cold for me still. He’s getting there, but when he’s bad, he’s very bad, and on a good day, he’s still very beatable if you get a good start against him, because he will push the boat out too much. And when Selt loses, he loses badly.
SECTION 7 RESULT: LYU HAOTIAN 6-1 Matthew Selt
Section 8
Jackson Page’s career feels like it’s sort of stalled a bit. After reaching the Last 16 at the Crucible in 2022, last season he recorded a solitary appearance in the Last 16, suffering a shock 4-0 reverse to Lukas Kleckers. This season, he’s failed to go beyond the Last 64 in any event, including losing two Last 64 deciders in the space of a month to Ryan Day. I fully expect him to beat Jiang Jun or Bex Kenna, the latter being far more talented then her results suggest. The power of experience is underrated, especially in the modern game.
Jamie Jones is the top seed in the top half of this section, and he’s another player who feels like he should be doing better than he is. After a strong showing last season, he’s only won 7 matches so far, his record being remarkably similar to Action Jackson (but for Jamie coming from 1-4 down against Yuan Sijun in the European Masters qualifiers they would have the same amount of wins, Jackson has won one more frame this season). Very good and experienced player though, and when he turns it on, he’s a frightning prospect for anyone.
Bottom half, and Zak Surety is a player I want to highlight mainly because I listened to his appearance on BBC’s Framed podcast a few days ago, and want to talk about how much I admire him being open with his struggles with anxiety issues. He also lives with Elton John, but you’ll have to listen to learn more about that. He’s also got a Last 32 to his name at the European Masters this season, and his performance in coming from 1-3 down to beat Ryan Day was absolutely fantastic, and just shows what the little guys are capable of (for the record, Zak is 77th in the world at the time of writing). He’s in the strange situation of potentially being the underdog though, taking on the extremely capable Allan Taylor or current Q Tour leader Liam Davies, the latest in a long line of Welsh Wonderkids (ironic he’s in the same section as Jackson).
And then this section’s top seed, and the 4th seed in the qualifiers, Gary Wilson. The Tyneside Terror (which I maintain is a great nickname even if it makes him sound like a serial killer) has either reached the Last 32 or failed to win a match in every event this season, no in between (even in the invitational events). I don’t need to tell any of you he’s a very good player though, you already know all that.
SECTION 8 FINAL: Jamie Jones vs. Gary Wilson
I could easily see Jackson beating Jamie, apart from that I feel like this is pretty open and shut (he says regarding a player who lost to a player with one professional career win at this stage last season). I’m not sure who I’m predicting here as I write this, so while I’m waiting to toss a coin, I’ll just say this sounds like an awesome match.
SECTION 8 RESULT: Jamie Jones 6-5 Gary Wilson
Section 9
Lukas Kleckers has said in the past that he plays better when he plays quicker. I just wish he would play quicker, because I feel like he’s got real potential. He’s won four matches this season, but had a fantastic win against Mark Joyce in the English Open (4-3 from 0-3 down), and recorded by far his highest career break of 143 against Gary Wilson in Belfast. He’ll face Rod Lawler (god please no) or Liam Graham in his opener, but he’ll need more than one win to get his quest to stay on tour on track.
Then there’s Ryan Day, who’s had a strange season. He’s had 7 tons, including a 147, and a run to the Last 16 of the International Championship, where he lost a score-fest to Stephen Maguire. Aside from that, he’s not done a great deal. Still fully expect him to come through a kind draw for the last qualifying round though.
On the other side, Ben Woollaston is struggling this season. He did reach the Last 16 of the European Masters before being obliterated by Juddly Trumpington (which I insist everyone refers to him as), but since then has won one match and lost six, the last two being the most damaging, going down to the previously winless Manasawin Phetmalaikul, and then 15 year old Wang Xinbo. Traditionally a solid but unremarkable player, Ben is sliding down the rankings, and is provisionally 58th in the world on the EOS. He’ll be hoping a win over Reanne Evans or Ryan Thomerson will halt the momentum of that. And Cao Yupeng flatters to deceive. Yes he scores very heavily, 11 centuries this season is impressive, but a century wins you one frame, and when it comes down to it, Cao just isn’t winning the frames where he isn’t scoring big, and that separates the champions from the challengers.
SECTION 9 FINAL: Ryan Day vs. Cao Yupeng
I know what I just said about Cao, but I can’t see Ben challenging Cao really with the form (or lack thereof) he’s shown this season. Ryan’s got a very strong H2H against Cao (5-1), and I expect him to smoke Cao here. Cao in stronger form would be a different prospect, but Ryan is a far better player overall, and is simply playing better at the moment.
SECTION 9 RESULT: Ryan Day 6-2 Cao Yupeng
Section 10
The pandas are not extinct, because Sanderson Lam’s professional career is the most alive and his win population more widespread han ever before (fine, I’ll stop the IUCN references). 10 wins this season, two Last 32s, and he’s taken the scalps of Zhang Anda, Mark Joyce, Joe Perry, and Neil Robertson among others. Talking of Perry, his season’s really been the stuff of nightmares, he did well in the Championship League and Northern Ireland Open, but aside from that has barely won a match, and has struggled with injury and a lack of confidence. It’s a shame because he’s such a fine player, albeit I’m not complaining to hearing his commentary more. I don’t see Sanderson struggling against Andy Lee or Joel Connolly, the latter being Northern Irish Under-18 and Under-21 champion at the moment.
Before I talk about the real contenders to qualify from the bottom half, I just want to point you to Iulian Boiko and Liam Pullen, because that could be sensational. Boiko is very unlucky not to be pro right now, and Pullen has looked undaunted as a professional. Also I’m sure Liam would love a potential final qualifier against his Panda practice partner!
Mark Joyce seems to be eternally stuck in the mire of a tour survival battle these days. The man from Walsall Wood is 67th in the world, and has a mere three wins this season, against Haydon Pinhey (an amateur), Victor Sarkis (who is to winning matches what I am to being a supermodel), and Andy Lee (who is yet to taste victory this term). He needs wins and he needs them very quickly, and he could have asked for a much easier first match than the promising Pullen or the #1 ranked amateur from Q School.
Xiao Guodong is the big fish in this section though. 36th in the world feels low for him, but it’s indicative of the inconsistency that still plagues him. He’s reached a 6th career ranking Semi-Final in the British Open, before being Selbyed 6-0, but has also failed to qualify for both the Northern Ireland and Scottish Opens. He has all the attributes to be a top player though.
SECTION 10 FINAL: Joe Perry vs. Xiao Guodong
I know you were probably expecting Sanderson Lam here, but I just feel like Perry’s form might be returning after a difficult start to the season. He’s coming off the back of a Last 16 showing at the International Championship where he had high scoring thrillers against Ishpreet Singh, Michael White and Hossein Vafaei (winning the latter two from 2-3 and 1-3 down respectively). And I’m actually picking him here as well, something about Xiao just isn’t convincing me. And if Joe loses? At least we’ve got his fantastic commentary!
SECTION 10 RESULT: Joe Perry 6-3 Xiao Guodong
Section 11
Oli Lines has been solid this season. The EOS rankings have him 60th in the world, which is just on the right side of the dogfight, but he could do with more runs like his Last 16 at the English Open, which he reached with a high break of only 79, before being eaten alive by John Higgins (albeit with his highest break of the event, 96). He was saying on his appearance on Framed a few weeks back that his mate and occasional practice partner Judd Trump has told him to get “nastier” and more “selfish”, so we’ll see if he can do that against Long Zehuang (who has won once since the Championship League) or Haydon Pinhey, who must be praying to come through the Q Tour so he can’t lose in the last round of Q School for (checks notes) the FIFTH time in a row. The Plymouth marksman is incredibly talented though, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him have a run here.
Joe O’Connor has disappointed me. The way he was going in the middle part of last season, I thought he was a sure-fire star in the making. Instead he shockingly lost to amateur Andrew Higginson in the WC qualifiers, then proceeding to not go past the Last 64 this season. I still remain hopeful for him, but he needs a good run and quickly if he’s not going to end up back where he was. It’s not for lack of scoring form either, as in half of the 8 matches he’s lost this season, Joe has had the highest break of the match.
In the bottom half, Ashley Hugill is just on the wrong side of the relegation battle, being 69th provisionally. He started the season alright with a Last 16 showing in the European Masters, winning back-to-back deciders over Ali Carter and Xiao Guodong before succumbing to Selby, but that win over Xiao in the Last 32 of that event was his last win. That was in AUGUST. Since then he’s lost six in a row, but what better to kick his form into gear than the opportunity to compete in his home city of York? Oliver Brown or Dean Young the opposition, both capable of good runs with a fair wind behind them.
Then Stephen Maguire, who has had a great season with two Quarter-Finals, losing deciders in both of them to Trump and Brown. He’s been playing superbly and looks like a big deal once more. What’s also notable is how heavily he’s scoring, recording 12 tons and 8 more breaks over 80. He’s a different threat this season.
SECTION 11 Final: Oliver Lines vs. Stephen Maguire
Joe just isn’t doing it for me his season, and Oli could really do with a good run to keep his head above water in the survival battle. I don’t think anyone’s beating Mags here though, and he isn’t going to be a pleasant draw for anybody.
SECTION 11 Result: Oliver Lines 2-6 Stephen Maguire
Section 12
Tian Pengfei is still inconsistent, he’s still a very dangerous player when he’s playing well, and he still looks like he couldn’t hit a cow’s backside when he’s not. Only four wins this season for him, but he’s probably not in any danger for the Tour Survival battle, being 49th on the EOS. He faces one of two Q School graduates, in Andrew Higginson (who I expected to do more this season), or Alex Ursenbacher (whose recent win in he Scottish Open qualifiers was his first win in FOUR MONTHS).
Yuan Sijun’s had a very handy season thus far, a QF in Belfast and two more Last 16s sees him 22nd on the One-year list. 13 tons is very decent, and he’s a real confidence player, so if he gets a good start in a match, you’re in trouble. It really felt like he’d lost his way a couple of years back, so it’s good to see him returning to form.
In the bottom half, I think Chris Wakelin is the only realistic prospect down here. Ken Doherty is… somehow still in the Top 80, he’s won 11 matches since the start of last season. I love Ken (not in that way, no Rule 34 thank you), but he just doesn’t feel like a major threat anymore. Mohammed Asif and Duane Jones aren’t exactly any great shakes either though, Jones felt like a breakout star a few years back but his career has tanked since then. Wakelin is a real breakout star, a player who feels like he’s approaching that top level. He just keeps losing to Judd, not just in the NI Open final, but also in the European Masters, 5-4 from 0-4 up.
SECTION 12 Final: Yuan Sijun vs. Chris Wakelin
This is probably the most difficult to predict match in this entire section. Two very strong players, both feel like they could go to the venue stages and really challenge anybody with a fair wind behind them. I just can’t ignore Wakelin’s form at the moment though, he’s where it feels like Yuan could be in a year or two with consistent results (or, you know, an out of the blue win in the Shootout).
SECTION 12 RESULT: Yuan Sijun 4-6 Chris Wakelin
Section 13
Another section where in the top half I’m only going to talk about the top seed, because I don’t think Baipat, Sean the Storm (who has almost as many 147s as he does wins this season (2-1), or David Lilley will cause any significant issues for Stuart Bingham. Bingham has quite honestly had a terrible season, but the Glasses DLC he recently unlocked appears to have made a difference, and he looked good for a deep run in the International Championship until Ali Carter suddenly became the world’s most explosive scorer, making five 93+ breaks. I really don’t see any danger here regardless for him.
In the bottom half, nobody’s exactly pulling up trees this season. Elliot Slessor at least doesn’t find himself in the Tour Survival Battle for once (yet), but he’s only won six matches this season. He beat Lisowski in the English Open but aside from that hasn’t shown much form. He’ll likely battle Louis Heathcote in one of those typical mid-lower tour toss-ups where either player could take it, they’re probably about the same level for me. Ahmed Aly faces Heathcote first, but the American has won five FRAMES this season (not matches, frames), and is coming off the back of Ben Mertens pulverizing him in the Scottish Open qualifiers. Mertens scored 469 points in four frames. Aly scored 11. Yep… And as for Wee Dotty, he’s lost his way after a promising start to the season, he reached the Last 16 of the British Open before being thoroughly outplayed by Hossein Vafaei, should have done the same in the English Open but spurned a 0-3 lead in a BO7 against Ricky Walden, and has since won two matches. No great form here.
SECTION 13 Final: Stuart Bingham vs. Elliot Slessor
Again there’s no obvious contender in the bottom half, because everybody’s just been meh this season. I actually think if Elliot gets to this stage he’ll play better, because he thrives on the big stage. A little too much if anything, which is why he isn’t moving up the rankings, he just doesn’t have the knack of consistently getting through the matches where he isn’t the centre of attention. And that’s not a knock on Elliot, it’s just a harsh reality of a sport where most of the matches don’t have television coverage outside of Discovery+. Players who like the spotlight on them will struggle more frequently unless they get harder draws, which will reduce their chances of winning anyway. Can you tell I’m a Psychology graduate? What’s that, you want to talk about Snooker? Sure, whatever you want.
SECTION 13 RESULT: Stuart Bingham 6-4 Elliot Slessor
Section 14
I AM NOT DOING THE MAMMA MIA BIT FOR HAMMAD MIAH. Not that it isn’t funny, but because it reminds me of a job I really miss, and while I love the place I’m currently working at, I can’t help but be wistful. John Astley looks like a much more confident pro than he used to, but his results aren’t doing it this season. He’s only won a single match since the Championship League, a 6-5 win in the International Championship against Jamie Clarke where he was outscored by his opponent. So of course in the next round, he lost a decider to Ali Carter where he… outscored Ali. Swings and roundabouts you might say. Hammad Miah or the European Under-18 Champion Bulcsu Revesz first for him, Miah having five wins to his name this season, including deciders against Judd Trump (pre compulsion to reach every final this season), and…
Zhou Yuelong I have to talk about because he frustrates me SO MUCH. (and no I’m not referencing the match at the CL against Xiao, I mentioned that during the Michael Holt entry). But after the exploits of last term, it’s been a let-down this time around really, one QF and two Last 32s is nothing for someone of Zhou’s ability and quality. 21 centuries is impressive though, and he’ll be heavy favourite here.
Bottom half, Liam Highfield, hasn’t played much this season, I think literally the day before his Championship League group, he fractured his wrist falling off an e-scooter. And despite that, he’s still had a Last 16 in Wuhan, beating Neil Robertson (5-3 from 1-3 behind) and Zhou Yuelong (I should really rename this section). Liam needs wins though, he’s down in 72nd on the EOS rankings at the moment. Ian Burns (a very capable player on his day who has never really made a huge impact) or Asjad Iqbal (who lost his only match of the season 5-0) up first for him.
Jak Jones is a player I’m disappointed hasn’t kicked on this season (gee, never said THAT before). After such a thrilling run at Worlds to the Quarter-Finals (having arguably the two matches of the tournament against Carter and Allen), he’s just getting going this season, with two Last 32s recently, including an excellent clash with Ronnie at the International Championship (which I missed because I was in work). His clash with Highfield could be one for the ages, I just hope Jak keeps attacking like he did in his run at Worlds.
SECTION OF ZHOU YUELONG AND EVERYONE WHO HAS BEATEN HIM THIS SEASON FINAL: Zhou Yuelong vs. Jak Jones
I was this close to picking Highfield. Literally spent about 20 minutes tossing up (which is why this is the last section to be finished). But I won’t back against Zhou here, he’ll qualify but I don’t expect him to win at the Barbican, I just don’t think he’s quite strong enough mentally at that elite level.
SECTION 14 RESULT: Zhou Yuelong 6-4 Jak Jones
Section 15
Almost there guys! I’m not going to talk about Mark Davis because there’s not much to talk about (other than one of his Last 32s this season resulted in him scoring 7 points in the match). Also, I want to talk about what a great addition to the tour Ishpreet Singh has been. If you listen to ReRacked, you know that I have quickly become a big fan of his, I love his backstory of being an ex pro-gamer, and the fact that he smacks the balls around like they owe him a huge debt. He holds wins over Anthony McGill and Stuart Bingham so far, and I think he’s got a huge future with a bit of experience and tactical nous. I expect him to beat Gao Yang, and look forward to him vs. Davis, a real clash of styles.
Pang Junxu feels like he’s found a nice comfy position for himself in the rankings now. He’s 34th in the world, and at this stage in his career, I think lower reaches of the Top 32 is pretty accurate. He’s a player who will occasionally shock a big name, but mostly just has solid runs against most other players. A Last 16 and Last 32 this season is a little underwhelming, but he’ll be just fine.
In the bottom half, Aaron Hill is starting to fulfill his potential. He reached the Last 16 in Belfast, his best run in an event to date, and De Breeze is a fantastic player who looks more and more confident every time I see him. Jimmy Robertson made me look like an idiot on the podcast during the European Masters when he beat Mark Williams for the first time, minutes after I made a remark about him being unable to beat Willo, so Jimmy, I’m sorry. Just know by making me look like an idiot, you made a lot of people very amused. Been a good season for Jimmy, a Last 16 in the EM and three more Last 32s, and will be a significant favourite here.
SECTION 15 Final: Pang Junxu vs. Jimmy Robertson
This is another tricky one, because I feel like at their “standard” level, these two are very evenly matched. I think either one of these will go into the draw and be a name who nobody wants to draw, but would do well to get past the opening match. As for who wins, the H2H is 2-0 Robertson, but one of those matches was in 2013. Got a slight fancying for Pang here.
SECTION 15 RESULT: Pang Junxu 6-5 Jimmy Robertson
Section 16
The last section. Anyone who’s read this blog for long enough knows I’m a big fan of Scott Donaldson, he’s a fine player and I think he has a very good attitude. A Last 16 in the British Open was useful, and at 48th in the world survival shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve not seen him play this season though, so I don’t know how his Covid vaccine-related tremor is doing now. The improving Rory Thor or the 15 year old Riley Powell first up for him.
Talking of attitudes, a lot of people don’t like Sam Craigie’s, and I sort of don’t get it. He’s a little bit of a grumpy character, sure, and he’s open about the fact that he sees Snooker as a job he happens to be good at rather than a passion project, but I totally respect his attitude. It does feel like his career’s gone as far as he really cares to though, he’s earning enough for his family to have a comfortable life, and that’s really where his aspirations end. I don’t think you can get to the next level without that bit of passion, but he can’t force himself to have that.
In the bottom half, Liu Hongyu has had a great start to life as a professional, the 19 year old reached the Semis of the English Open. Results have slowed a bit since, but he’s incredibly impressive, and I think has a big future. In the short-term, the very capable Martin O’Donnell or European Under-16 champion Jack Borwick from Cairneyhill near Dunfermline in the east of Scotland, and then would meet Hossein Vafaei. Some things never change with Big Hoss – great player, lacks the consistency to really do damage on the tour. I’s frustrating because he’s so good, but he needs to find something, or else his best years are going to start passing him by. The tour is only getting stronger.
SECTION 16 Final: Scott Donaldson vs. Hossein Vafaei
I think both halves of this could be wrong. In the top section it was tough to choose between Donaldson and Craigie, but every time I tip Sam he loses, and in the bottom half, anyone aside from Borwick would be a pretty reasonable choice. Going to back Hoss here though, he is a significant threat to anyone he faces if he can get going quickly and settled.
SECTION 16 RESULT: Scott Donaldson 4-6 Hossein Vafaei
The summer (well… late spring and early summer) is moving time in the world of Snooker. Some people will drop off the tour, others will return, and some will finally reach the promised land. So in this handy guide I will introduce all the players who have qualified for the tour. But first, what am I excluding? The following will NOT be on this list:
Players who finished in the Top 64, for… I’d hope obvious reasons. You don’t need me to tell you who Judd Trump is. (and if you do, welcome, and let me know if you need me to explain what a Snooker is)
Players who gained a tour card through the one year list. They didn’t really drop off the tour, and I consider it a continuation of their tour place more than requalifying. Sorry to all you Xu Si fans out there. There is one exception to this rule however, which will be explained near the end.
Players who were granted an ITC, for broadly the same reasons as above. Additionally, I’m quite sure I don’t need to tell you who Ken Doherty is.
Q School 2023 (Regular, followed by Asia/Oceania)
Alexander Ursenbacher
Alex Ursenbacher has bounced back through Q School. The Swiss Fish (because that is the only nickname I will ever accept for him) was a solid addition to the tour for six years, but dropped off after a nightmare 22/23 season in which he procured a measly eight wins (with two coming in the notoriously unpredictable Shootout). He stormed through Q School though, seeing off Wang Chooi Tan, Daan Leyssen, Chris Totten, Alfie Burden, and finally edging Barry Pinches in a decider.
His emotional interview afterwards showed what it meant to him, and he might just take inspiration in his performances from his good friend Luca Brecel in his quest to re-establish himself as a threat. Look out, because this Swiss is ready to serve some surprises (I made a tennis reference, are you happy now Rob?)
Fun Fact: Alex has a winning record against Ronnie O’Sullivan, leading their H2H 3-1, including a deciding frame victory in the UK Championship in 2020.
Andrew Pagett
Another player straight back on the tour is Andrew Pagett. The 41 year old from Newport first turned pro in 2008 (having been one match away from the tour as early as 2003), but has since struggled to establish himself in four stints on tour. In this latest spell, he regained his tour place by winning the 2020 European Snooker Championship with a 5-2 win over Heikki Niva of Finland.
Sadly he had to defer his card by a year due to requiring major surgery on a perforated bowel, and this seemed to to affect his performances even after taking up his tour card, as he struggled to make an impact, claiming just 10 wins over his two seasons, and going a majority of last season on a losing streak, conceding 11 matches in a row and winning 12 frames in that time. But he came straight through Q School, seeing off Amaan Iqbal, Gerard Greene, Lee Shanker, Daniel Womersley and Iulian Boiko to regain his tour card. With his health issues behind him, will Andrew finally show the form that saw him qualify for Worlds in 2011?
Fun Fact: Andrew won four matches in his first season as a professional. Three of these were against Paul S. Davison. BONUS FACT: Last season, Pagett did not win a match between the Championship League and the WST Classic, a run of EIGHT MONTHS (and a week)
Andrew Higginson
The Widnes Warrior has returned to the tour after a season away. Andrew’s so experienced, he first qualified for the tour in the same year that this humble blogger was born. I think many people thought Higginson would be the next big thing when he reached the 2007 Welsh Open final, but since then he went on to be a journeyman professional, with only two other Quarter-Finals to his name.
After falling off tour in 2022, he went through the Q Tour, reaching the final of the 4th event, before losing a rollercoaster final to Billy Castle 5-4. He qualified for the Q Tour finals as the 9th seed, but lost 4-2 to Harvey Chandler in the opening round. Having been one match from the Crucible at the end of the season (defeating Andy Lee, Louis Heathcote, and Joe O’Connor before going down to David Grace), but at Q School he defeated Labeeb Ahmed, Billy Castle, Hayden Staniland, Fergal Quinn and Haydon Pinhey to regain his place on the tour. Now 45 and with the experience of dropping off the tour for a season, Andrew could be a huge threat to everybody.
Fun Fact: Andrew reached the final of the 2007 Welsh Open, as only the 2nd Professional event he had ever qualified for the venue stages of. So you can’t use a lack of experience as an excuse in anything.
Liam Pullen
Our only debutant from Q School this year, Liam Pullen is ending a season where he really started to emerge into the consciousness of Snooker fans with elevation to the professional ranks. The 17 year old from York has shown promise ever since he beat James Cahill at Q School two years ago (at the age of only 15), having reached the English national finals at every underage level from Under-14 onwards, but this was a breakout season for him, between beating Michael Holt in the English Amateur tour, seeing off Zhao Jianbo in Q Tour Event 3, and reaching the final of the WSF Junior Championship, losing 5-1 to Stan Moody in the final.
But at Q School, he wouldn’t be denied, as he defeated Mark Lloyd, Jed Mann, Gary Britton, Craig Steadman (latter three all in deciders, Steadman from 3-0 down), Sydney Wilson, and Alex Taubman to qualify for the tour. It’s going to be tough, but Liam has all the support he could ask for, he’s shown great ability and steel, and he will be a fine asset to the tour.
Fun Fact: Liam knows a bit about qualifying from Q School, because his regular practice partner qualified from Q School last year – Sanderson Lam
Louis Heathcote
Louis Heathcote is another player bouncing straight back having just dropped off the tour. Funnily enough we’ve already gone over the player who dumped him off the tour, that being Andrew Higginson, who beat him 10-8 in the World Championship qualifiers, despite Louis having four centuries, which is only one less than the record for a Best of 19. Madness I say, madness.
Anyway, Louis first qualified for the tour in 2019 in impossible circumstances. He trailed Si Jiahui (yes, that Si Jiahui) 3-0, and needed a snooker in Frames 4 and 5, before winning 4-3. He’s had some pretty good results on tour; in his first season alone he beat Hossein Vafaei at the UK Championship, seeing off Jordan Brown in the English Open, and dumping Ali Carter out of World Championship qualifying. It’s been more of a struggle since then, despite reaching the Last 8 of the Shootout the next season, and at the end of last season he paid for spurning opportunities to beat Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski at the Welsh Open and WST Classic respectively.
In the first event of Q School, Louis made steady progress, before Alfie Burden saw him off, but in the second event, he beat Paul Deaville, Mitchell Mann, Ben Fortey, Simon Bedford, and finally Ryan Davies (4-3 having been behind three times) to stay as a professional. Now more focused and promising a more professional attitude, will this be the Leicesterman’s time to shine? (personally I hope so, I really like watching Louis play!)
Fun Fact: In 2020, Louis was named World Snooker’s Rookie of the Year
Alfie Burden
Talking of Alfie Burden, it’s the second time that AB of London Town has come through Q School. Having turned professional in 1994 (which for the record means Alfie’s professional career is older than me), AB qualified for the World Championships in 1998, but faded against Tony Drago from 6-7 ahead, losing 10-8. Since then it’s been an up and down career for him, reaching four Ranking event Quarter-Finals, but by his own admission never making the most of his talent. He’s also dropped off the tour twice before, in 2008 and 2021 (after 14 and 11 year stints on the tour respectively)
Alf almost retired (again, he retired briefly in 2020) after he dropped off the tour this time, but driven by a love for the game, he vowed to give it the old schoolboy try at his favourite place in the world, Q School (just ask him, he’ll tell you). In the first event he got to the penultimate round, only for Alex Ursenbacher to see him off. In the second event, he was too much for Andrew Tapper, Alex Taubman, Michael Holt (from 3-0 down), Duane Jones, and finally Iulian Boiko (yes, he did lose in the last round of both events). With his new lease on life, Alfie is training hard for the new season (although I must admit, I don’t remember there being too many snooker tables on sunny Mexican beaches…)
Fun Fact: Alfie has the highest amount of professional centuries of any player who has never been ranked inside the Top 32 (highest ranking of 36)
Stuart Carrington
Stuart Carrington is also bouncing straight back (are you fed-up of this yet? Too bad, there’s one more after this one. Don’t blame me, I’m only the messenger. Anyway, Stuart was a very notable junior, having battles up and down the country with a bloke called Judd Trump (although for some reason, it’s never mentioned on commentary). It’s actually the second time Stuart has come through Q School, having done so all the way back in 2011. Since then, he’s been a twice Ranking Semi-Finalist, has been ranked as high as 38, has been to the Crucible three times (although surprisingly not since 2018), and has made 96 Centuries. However, two years of poor form saw him relegated from the tour, having very narrowly avoided doing so a season ago, surviving by £3500 ahead of Michael Holt.
At Q School this year Stuart was going well in Event 1 until the Last 32, when he lost a 3-1 lead against Iulian Boiko (who will be mentioned more here than anyone who’s actually a professional next season), but made up for it in Event 2, seeing off Pommy Kang, John Parkin, Halim Hussain, Niel Vincent, Daniel Holoyda, and finally Rory McLeod (despite having to wait several hours after the advertised start time of the final round due to McLeod’s previous match overrunning to a comical degree). Now back on tour, Grimsby’s finest will be looking to regain lost glories and find the form which saw him be among the most respected forces on tour for a while.
Fun Fact: Stuart is one of only six players to have made three successive centuries in a match at the World Championship (the others beingSelby(x2), Higgins, Ronnie, Robertson, and Yuan Sijun (albeit Yuan did it in the qualifiers). For the record, Stuart did it against the now disgraced Liang Wenbo. He still lost the match mind you. See, scoring isn’t everything
Dean Young
Edinburgh’s Dean Young completes our Hateful Eightful from the regular Q School. Young qualified for the tour two years ago as a raw 19 year old, but struggled to gain momentum on the tour despite some very good performances, winning a total of eight matches in two years. Defeat to Haydon Pinhey (who he beat to qualify for the tour) in World qualifying relegated him from the tour, sending him to Q School again.
It was a rocky road for Dean in the infernal gauntlet, as he lost in the Last 32 of event 1, and Event 2 saw him survive three deciders (against Brian Ochoiski, Sean McAllister (having been 1-3 down), and in the last round, Florian Nuessle (from 1-3 down, after Florian missed an easy pink for the match in Frame 6). Having served his “apprenticeship” on the tour, will Dean now be able to make his mark?
Fun Fact: In both his successful Q School events, Dean has beaten Florian Nuesseleen route to qualifying. Additionally, in both years there was only one debutante on the tour from Q School (not counting this year’s Asian Q School)
Thor Chuan Leong
Welcome back to Rory Thor (as he is often called). Malaysia’s Number 1 is back on tour having been away for three years. He qualified for the tour initially back in 2014, beating Hung Chuang Ming in the final of the ACBS Asian Championships, but didn’t play a professional match until the following February, and never truly made a huge impact as a professional, reaching four Last 32s. In fact he didn’t actually win a match in a Ranking event until June 2016, when he beat Jack Lisowski 5-2 in the World Open qualifiers.
So he fell off tour, and basically nothing was heard of him in the general Snooker sphere until the 2021/22 Asia/Oceania Q School, but he lost in both events in Round 3, to Dechawat Poomjaeng and Jeffrey Roda respectively. This year though he was far more successful, defeating Hamza Akbar, Kreishh Gurbaxani, Narongdat Takantong, Sharjeel Mahmood Asmat, and Lei Peifan to regain his tour card. Several years older, more experienced and wiser, will Thor be able to get the maximum out of his talent?
Fun Fact: While Rory hasn’t achieved as much as he would have liked as a professional, he has been very successful in the Southeast Asian Games, having won a Gold medal in each of Snooker Singles, Doubles, and Six-Reds.
Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Right, there’s been a little bit of confusion, so I’m going to clear it up now – Manasawin has represented England for nearly all of his career, and was born in Birmingham before growing up in Darlington. However, he is eligible to represent Thailand as both of his parents were born there, and his representation of Thailand has been ratified by the WPBSA.
So with that said, Manasawin Phetmalaikul (praying I’ve spelled that right) has qualified for the professional tour for the first time. The 24 year old from the Thai province of… Birmingham has been making solid progress in recent years, reaching the Last 16 of the WSF Championship back in 2022, beating the likes of Robbie McGuigan and Luke Simmonds before losing to James Cahill, and was finalist in the English Six-Reds Championship in the same year, defeating amogst others, Sanderson Lam, Jamie Curtis Barrett, Daniel Womersley, and Liam Pullen, before losing 8-2 to Sean O’Sullivan in the final.
In June 2022, the man known coliqually as “Quid” (don’t forget, Thai naming customs) relocated to Bangkok, and it seems to have been a good decision, as in the Asia/Oceania Q School, he overcame Hamed Zaredoost, Muhammad Umar Khan, Alvin Barbero, Nattanapong Chaikul, Dhruv Jatan Patel, and Cheung Ka Wai to gain a tour card. Will the latest player off the Thai conveyer belt of talent be Quids in on the tour? (I’m sorry, I had to make that joke)
Fun Fact: Manasawin’s father, Chusak Phetmalaikul, is also involved in Snooker, owning the highly rated Q House Snooker Club in Darlington, County Durham.
Ishpreet Singh Chadha
For the first time since 2014, we will have two Indian players on tour, as Himanshu Jain from last year will be joined by Ishpreet Chadha. The 27 year old former national Six-Reds Champion actually quit the sport he’d followed from young in 2017 following a serious ankle injury, and became a professional video gamer (something I wouldn’t have known had WST not done a piece on him two days before I wrote this).
Information on Ishpreet is scarce online, but the current Indian national Champion turned back to Snooker over Covid, and impressed in victories over Nader Aldoser, Sharjeel Mahmood Asmat, Dhruv Patel, Amir Sarkhosh, Chang Yu Kiu, and Chau Hon Man (making a ton in the process) to qualify for the pro ranks. Now moving to Sheffield with his mother, and being based at Ding’s Academy (which is run by fellow Indian player Lucky Vatnani), will Ishpreet have an Indian Summer on the tour?
Fun Fact: Ishpreet has become the seventh Indian player to join the professional ranks (after Omprakesh Agrawal (1985-87),Yasin Merchant (1992-97), Aditya Mehta (2008-09, 2011-18), Lucky Vatnani (2011-12), Pankaj Advani (2012-14), and Himanshu Dinesh Jain (2022-present). Bonus Fact: Talking of Yasin Merchant, Chadha has been described as a prodigy of his.
He Guoqiang
I’m sorry, this isn’t going to be very detailed, as there isn’t much information on He online. He became IBSF Under-18 World Champion in 2018, defeating Lei Peifan in a decider, 5-4. The same year he went to the Under-21 Championships and made a 147 in his group en route to the Last 16. There is then absolutely no data anywhere to vouch for what he did between then and this year, when he lost in the penultimate round of the first Asian Q School event to Cheung Ka Wai in a decider (despite making a 134 break), before bouncing back in Event 2, overcoming Hamed Zarehdoost, Ka Lam Lau, Kai Sang Yeung, Khalid Kamali, Tsz Ho Lee, and finally Wang Yuchen in a decider (having been 3-1 down). Only time will tell how well He gets on as a professional.
Fun Fact: Look, there’s very little to go on here. The most I can give you is that Guoqiang shares his name with a former senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party. NOW can you see why finding facts about him is so hard?
Q Tour 2023
Martin O’Donnell
Martin O’Donnell is back on tour after a season’s absence. The 37 year old Minister of Defence has shown talent ever since he was English Amateur Championship finalist all the way back in 2006 (losing to Mark Joyce), and in his third stint on tour, will be entering his 10th season as a professional. A journeyman professional for a number of years, Martin broke out reaching the 2018 Shootout Semi-Finals (losing to fellow Londoner Mike Georgiou), before reaching three Quarter-Finals in the space of three months the next season (China Championship, International Championship and UK Championship), but dropped off the tour after the 2021-22 season having won one match since mid December.
Having won Event 2, Martin went into the last Q Tour event in 6th in the standings (having missed Event 5 due to illness), but early defeats for most of his rivals saw him gain an opportunity, ending in a winner-take-all clash with previous tour leader Ross Muir. Martin won 5-1 (having made a 142 in Frame 1), and managed to find his way back onto the tour. Now with a new cue, will Martin find a new lease on life as a professional.
Fun Fact: Many might not remember this, but Martin is actually a former Top 32 player. He was ranked 32nd in the world for a few weeks in October 2020.
Ashley Carty
Also back after a season away, Ash Carty qualified through the Q Tour playoff. He first came to prominence in 2013, when, as a 17 year old, he reached the final of the European Under-21 Championship, losing in the final to James Cahill (slightly surprisingly, Ashley was the older player in the match by around five months). As a 19 year old, he reached the Last 32 of the Welsh Open in 2015, seeing off Michael Holt and Alfie Burden before losing 4-2 to eventual Quarter-Finalist Marco Fu.
In 2018, he qualified through Q School, defeating Himanshu Jain in the final round. It was difficult at times for Ashley, who has reached the Last 32 of Ranking events on seven occasions, including the 2020 World Championship (aka the weird Covid one). At the end of the 2021/22 season, Ashley dropped off the tour, having won only 7 matches during the season.
In the Q Tour, Ashley had a… strange time, in so much as he lost at every stage from the Last 64 to the Semi-Finals at some point, leaving him ranked a mediocre 13th in the standings. But in the Playoffs he overcame Farakh Ajaib (4-3 from 3-0 and 32-10 behind), Hamim Hussain 4-1, Ross Muir 4-2 (from 2-0 down), and finally Florian Nuessele (who was a last minute substitute in the playoffs) 5-2 to qualify. Now back on the tour, will it be a Carty Party for the Thurcroft native? (I’m not apologizing for that one)
Fun Fact: Ashley’s win in the Q Tour Playoffs was actually the first Q Tour final he’d reached this season, having been three points from one in the second event, losing to… Martin O’Donnell.
International Qualifiers
This section is comprised of the winners of International Competitions, being the WSF Open, WSF Junior Open, EBSA European and European Under-21 Championships, the PABSA Americas Qualifier, the APBSF Asia-Pacific Qualifier (because apparently Australia and New Zealand are now in Asia), and the ABSC Africa Qualifier.
WSF Open
Ma Hai Long
Now a warning in advance: this entry is going to be relatively small, because I can find very little information online. Ma Hailong is on the tour for the first time this season, having qualified through the WSF Championship. A snooker prodigy from an early age, Ma took six months out of school at the age of 13 to move 1000 miles from home (which appears to be somewhere in Guangdong province on the South China Sea) to Beijing (in the North of China) and practice at the rather splendidly named “World Snooker College” (which I absolutely would have attended if it had existed slightly closer to Manchester). To put that distance into perspective, Beijing is closer to Russia than it is to Guangdong. It’s the equivalent of travelling from London to Aberdeen and back all in one journey.
2023 really has been Ma’s year though. In January he defeated Jiang Jun to win the regional Guangzhou Snooker Championship, and the next month, in his first ever trip out of China, he defeated the likes of Liu Hongyu and Gao Yang to reach the final of the WSF Championship, where he would defeat Stan Moody 5-0 to become the WSF Champion, and book a two year tour card. As an addendum, he went to the 6-Reds World Championship, and while he went out in the Group stage, he did take Judd Trump to a decider, and I hear that Judd’s supposed to be quite a handy player. He’s come a long way from the player who was in floods of tears after losing a match in front of Yahoo’s Asian Correspondent in 2017 in Beijing, and it will be interesting to see if he can emulate last year’s WSF Championship winner, Si Jiahui.
Fun Fact: Ma went into the final of the WSF Open knowing that he was guaranteed to become a professional regardless of result. The reason for this is that his opponent was Stan Moody, who had already qualified via the Junior Open.
WSF Junior Open
Stan Moody
Miniature Murphy!
He does look like Shaun though, doesn’t he? Stan the Man has been someone who has been known about for a while now. In January 2022, he made his televised debut at the Snooker Shootout, and defeated then Top-32 player Lu Ning on national TV, before making history in Round 2, as he had the LOWEST scoring Shootout match of all time, losing 11-2 to practice partner Oli Lines, before finishing second in the English Under-21 Premier Development Tour to Lewis Ullah.
In the 2023 WSF Junior Championship in Sydney, Moody cruised through his group for the loss of one frame, and then saw off Jayden Dinga (cracking name), Jake Crofts, Iulian Boiko, and finally Liam Pullen to qualify for the tour. This was followed by him being runner-up in the regular WSF Championship, and entering the 6-Reds, where he failed to win a match against James Wattana, Jimmy Robertson and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Mentored by Shaun Murphy, with cue action compliments from Mark Allen, will Moody find tranquillity on the tour? (These puns are getting worse)
Fun Fact: I am NOT going for the BBC documentary, mainly because I’m a terrible snooker fan and have not watched it. Instead, I’m going for the fact that he practices at Levels in Huddersfield, which is about a 20 minute bus ride from my old University.
EBSA European Championship
Ross Muir
Beware of The Glove From Above! Ross Muir is back on the tour, and I must admit, I was amazed when I realised the last time he was pro was back in 2019. The man from Musselburgh in East Lothian was a solid professional for a few years without ever pulling up many trees, with a highest career ranking of 67, but despite some impressive victories over the likes of Neil Robertson, he fell off tour at the end of the 2018-19 season, and briefly retired due to issues related to Retinal Migraines.
Having returned to snooker, he was two matches away from a return to the tour at both the 2020 WSF Championship (losing 4-1 to Iulian Boiko who is probably sick of reading his name by this point), and the EBSA European Championship (losing 4-2 to Andrew Pagett). Having competed in three Q Tour events in 2021-22, he returned to the qualification tour, and lead it all the way after winning the first event, and never failing to reach the Last 32 of any event. Despite this, he narrowly missed out on qualification from the tour, losing a climactic clash to Martin O’Donnell. He then entered the playoffs, but after overcoming a real battle against Peter Devlin (4-2, with both players scoring over 50 points in two frames), and easily overcoming Harvey Chandler 4-1, he lost 4-2 to Ash Carty, despite Ash having scored 6 points in the first two frames.
Not to be deterred however, Ross returned to the European Championships, where in St. Paul’s Bay in Malta, he overcame Umut Dikme, George Pragnall (who he had been duking it out with at the top of the Q Tour all season), Heikki Niva, Shachar Ruberg, Robin Hull and Michael Collumb to win the title and finally regain his place on the tour. Ross is a fantastic player with pedigree behind him, so will he be able to deliver some fear and Lothian in las vegas? (I’m not apologising for this one)
Fun Fact: If you think that Ross has to wear a glove on his bridge hand for medical reasons, you’re… sort of correct? It’s actually because when he was younger, he had issues cueing due to extremely sweaty hands. No really, he had incredibly sweaty hands, and then kept wearing it out of habit.
EBSA European Under-21 Championship
Liam Graham
Another debutante, 18 year old Liam Graham from Cathcart in Glasgow has managed to qualify for the tour. Scottish Under-18 champion, Liam has been a top player in the amateur scene for a couple of years, reached the last 16 of the WSF Junior Championship in 2020 (losing to Ryan Davies), and was two matches away from being European Under-18 Champion two years ago, before losing to Ben Mertens. He was three matches from the tour last season in the WSF Junior Championship, being denied 4-3 by Anton Kazakov despite leading three times (oddly, Anton was the 3rd Ukrainian player in succession Graham had faced, beating Matvei Lagodzinschii and Artem Surzhykhov previously).
He competed in four Q Tour events this season, but failed to progress beyond the Last 32 in any event (although in Event 2 he did beat Michael Holt, before losing a decider to Martin O’Donnell). In the European Under-21 Championship though, he didn’t drop a frame during the group stage, then beat Matvei Lagodzinschii (I’m so sorry if that’s spelled wrong and turns out to be a slur or something), Riley Powell, Artemijs Zizins (who has since become Latvian national champion), Ryan Davies (revenge for 3 years before), and finally… Boiko again!? How is Iulian not a professional again by now? Anyway… Liam beat the Ukrainian whose name I am not going to say again 5-2 to become a pro. With the backing of his influential mentor, will Liam upset the odds and be the latest in a fine line of great Scots?
Fun Fact: Liam has a very powerful man in his corner playing-wise, as when he was a youngster he practiced frequently with one Alan “Angles” McManus. Which I can only presume will make him the favourite of my good friend Charlie(@MrsCobb1979 on Twitter if you want to tell her how much you love Alan as well)
PABSA Americas Qualifier
Ahmed Aly
Ahmed Aly will join the very small ranks of American Professional Snooker Players this season. The Egypt-born Brooklyn native even works with cue sports in his day job, as he manages a Billiards hall overlooking Central Park (no really, the New York Athletic Club), and has even been somewhat mentored by Cliff Thorburn, who described him as having “gained a polish to his game”. Ahmed’s story is fascinating, from playing his first shot on a table in Alexandria, Egypt, formerly owned by infamous playboy King Farouk I thanks to his father in the Egyptian Army, to gaining a degree in Civil Engineering to moving to Brooklyn in his early 20s, to starring in a play on Broadway (making him the second pro to have been in The Nap after John Astley), to meeting his future wife backstage (who now works backstage on Broadway mega hit Hamilton).
Ok I get it, you’re interested in Snooker (either that or you’ve been very confused for the entirety of this blog), so I can tell you that Ahmed is a 6 time national champion in the United States of Manifest Destiny (or whatever it’s called), and in the 2022 Pan-American Snooker Championships, he overcome Phil Snache, Vito Puopolo (who had defeated him for the Pan-American Seniors Championship less than a week before), Noel Rodrigues, and finally Amar Sadeg to qualify for the tour. With such a varied life and so many stories, Ahmed will be a valuable asset to the tour, and at 42, will be out to prove that age is no obstacle (although let’s be real, 42 is no age these days. He’s only two years older than Mark Selby).
Fun Fact: From what I can find (don’t kill me if I’m wrong), Ahmed will become only the second ever professional Snooker player from the USA, after “King James” Jim Rempe (a Billiards Hall of Famer), who reached the frankly dizzying heights of 107th in the world in 1987.
ABPSF Asia-Pacific Qualifier
Liu Hongyu
We honestly don’t know an enormous amount about Liu Hongyu, but he’s qualified for the tour through the Asia-Pacific Federation’s championships. His name first cropped up notably in 2021, when he impressed with his scoring in Q School, making a ton in three consecutive matches during Event 1, before losing in the Last 32 to Lukas Kleckers, despite making a break of 90 in that match. His scoring continued in the other events, as he made a 98 break in Event 2 and a century in the 3rd event, ending up with a record of 4 centuries in 8 matches, which is remarkable for Q School.
In the WSF Championship, Hongyu made two centuries and five other breaks over 80 en route to the Quarter-Finals, and reached the same stage of the Asia-Pacific 6-reds Championship, losing to Wang Yuchen in a decider. But his crowning moment came in the regular Asia-Pacific Championship, where he beat all of the region’s best (and Peter Devlin for some reason), before polishing off Wang 6-1 in the final with a high break of 63. Liu can clearly score, and he has a ton of potential. It will be interesting to see how he gets on as a pro.
Fun Fact: Now it’s getting difficult, there is very little info on Hongyu from what I can find. The most I can give you is that mere weeks before he qualified for the tour through the Asia-Pacific Championship, he lost in the final of the first CBSA World Tour qualifier to Jiang Jun. And before that he reached the QFs of the WSF Championship, losing 4-1 to Ma Hailong despite having the only 50+ break of the match. Some talent this kid.
ABSC Africa Qualifier
Mostafa Dorgham
Mostafa Dorgham became the last player to join the tour for this season mere days ago. So late in fact that he won’t be involved in the Championship League as he won the African championships after the draw was made for the CL. Dorgham has actually competed in the World Championships before, being invited to the Qualifiers back in 2019. Sadly he ran into a very tough opponent in Martin Gould, and lost 10-0, with Gould making five breaks over 90.
At the African Snooker Championship, he cruised through his group for the loss of 0 frames, before beating Rizk Rady, Ahmed Galal (both 3-0), Ahmed Samir (4-2 from 2-0 down), Abdelrahman Shahin (4-3), Mahmood El-Hareedy (4-2), before finally knocking off Mohamed Khairy 5-2 to win his federation’s nomination, and become the 6th Egyptian to play professionally (not including Ahmed Aly who represents America). We will wait and see if Mostafa can turn the tide of African players on tour (who have traditionally struggled), or if he’s going to thrive as a professional.
Fun Fact: If Mostafa is going to do well on the tour, he’s going to have to buck a rather depressing trend, as none of the five Egyptians who have qualified for the tour have (as of this writing) won more than two matches as a professional. Mohammed Ibrahim won two matches last season, Mohamed Khairy won two in the 2013/14 season (in the same event and promptly entered one more tournament for the rest of the season), Basem Elthahan won one match in two years, Hatem Yassan lost 14/14 matches on the tour, and Wael Talaat didn’t enter a single Ranking event in his time on tour. Then again he didn’t actually “win” the federation’s nomination, he was given it after 51 year old Peter Francisco decided against turning pro again. See, the amount I teach you lot is astounding!
CBSA China Tour
Jiang Jun
Right this one’s going to be a little shorter, because there isn’t a huge amount on Jiang Jun. What I can tell you is that he’s a 17 year old who was World Under-18 Champion all the way back in 2019. This year, he went to the CBSA China Tour qualifiers, and defeated Chen Feilong, Long Zehuang, and Luo Zetao, before securing a shock 4-2 victory over fellow teenager Liu Hongyu in Beijing to qualify for the tour for the first time. He’s only 17 still, and has all the potential in the world, so we’ll see what he can do in the professional ranks.
Fun Fact: This isn’t the first time the snooker world has been introduced to Jiang Jun. In 2019 he beat Gao Yang (former pro in his own right) to become World Under-18 Champion. Look, I’ve not got much here.
Long Zehuang
Long Zehuang has also reached the tour for the first time in his career. The 26 year old used to be a regular at Q School, and it’s taken good players to beat him in the past, like Sam Craigie, Lu Ning (before the corruption), Andy Hicks, Peter Devlin and Barry Pinches. He also competed at the 2019 Riga Masters and International Championships, but lost to Sam Craigie (again) and Kurt Maflin (Yeah, I miss him too).
At the China Tour qualifiers, he defeated Wang Lei, Zhang Zhijie, and Deng Haohui, to reach the qualification round, where he made three 50+ breaks in defeating Chen Feilong 4-1 to seal his spot. Having been trying to scrap his way onto the tour for several years, is 2023 the year that Long manages to establish himself alongside the other great names of Chinese snooker?
Fun Fact: Long isn’t a stranger to trying to qualify for the tour. In 2019 Q School, he lead Barry Pinches THREE time in the qualifcation round of Event 3 (gee, remember when we had THREE events?), but lost a decider. Even worse, if he had won one more frame in either of the first two events, he would have qualified through the Order of Merit, edging out Lei Peifan by virtue of having reached further in an event.
Xing Zihao
Again, I have very little to say about Xing Zihao, because there is just so little online. What I can tell you is that he entered the Haining Open in 2019, an event which, while non-ranking, has attracted many professionals in the past. He however, lost 4-0 in Round 1 to Jimmy Robertson. He’s coached by Roger Leighton, and in the CBSA playoffs, his consistent scoring (making 16 50+ breaks in five matches) saw him beat Gong Chenzhi, Lin Shuai, He Guoqiang, and finally the much fancied Lei Peifan to make it onto the tour. He’s following in the footsteps of many modern Chinese upstarts by uprooting his life to relocate to Sheffield, and we will see if he can make an impact on the tour.
Fun Fact: Xing has made a 147 in practice according to (what appears to be) the EBSA website. Look guys, I’m struggling here.
WWS Women’s World Tour Qualifiers
Women’s World Champion
Siripaporn “Baipat” Nuanthakhamjan (I sincerely apologise for any spelling mistakes, I don’t speak Thai)
The good news is the last three players are people there is actually more than two things about online (in fact I barely have to research the last two). Baipat Siripaporn has reached the Main Tour for the first time. The Women’s World Number 9 has been an absolute revelation recently. Baipat, from Chonburi in Eastern Thailand (near the Bay of Bangkok) started playing Snooker as a 9 year old, being coached by her father Pisit (no laughing in the back children), himself twice an Over-40s World Champion (although I can’t find anything about that outside of the Bangkok Post), and has always been incredibly successful. Just some of her accolades include being IBSF World Six-Reds Champion and being IBSF Women’s Under-21 Champion at the age of 15 (beating Mink Nutcharut in the final), having multiple recognised World titles and owning a house by 16, and becoming Thai national champion in Snooker and 9-ball Pool in 2022.
In this year’s Womens World Championship, she defeated Jamie Hunter, Bayarsaikhan Narantuya, Mink Nutcharut, and finally Bai Yulu to become champion, and punch her ticket onto the tour. Baipat is filled with promise and talent, and for someone who is still only 24, she has an incredible amount of experience and success behind her. This is a chance for Baipat to be a standard bearer for not only Chonburi or Thailand, but for women’s snooker as a whole, and I for one can’t wait to see how she gets on as a professional.
Fun Fact: This isn’t the first time Baipat has shocked opponents in the Women’s World Championship. She reached the QFs back in 2017 at the age of 17, defeating amongst others, veteran Laura Evans. She’s had talent for a long time.
Women’s World Number 1
Reanne Evans
What do I say about Reanne Evans? She isn’t just a legend of the women’s game, she is the name in that arena. Dudley’s finest (well… apart from Lenny Henry anyway) won her first women’s world championship in 2005, defeating Lynette Horsburgh in the final 6-4. She retained her title for the next 10 years, including in 2006, when she was over seven months’ pregnant. The things some people will do for a world title eh? She actually had a 90 match unbeaten run in the 2000s and early 2010s, ending with a loss to Maria Catalano in 2011, but now holds 12 world titles (last winning in 2021).
Her record on the Main Tour is… not as good sadly. She was wildcarded onto the tour in the 2010-11 season after a winning run of 61 consecutive matches, and after taking the scalp of John Higgins in the Six-Reds. Sadly she failed to win a match, and fell off tour again at the end of that season (because this was back when you had one season on a tour card not two), and spent years trying to get back on through Q School to mixed results. She’s also had some good results as a guest in World Championship Qualifying, losing 10-8 to Ken Doherty in 2015, and two years later, making history as the first female player to win a match in World Qualifying, with a 10-8 triumph over Robin Hull. In 2021, she and Ng On Yee were the firs recipients of the Women’s World Tour cards as the top two in the Women’s World rankings at the time. However, Reanne (despite some very good performances) only won one match in the two years, albeit a very famous one, against Stuart Bingham in the Shootout.
Going into the 2023 Women’s British Open, Baipat was guaranteed one tour card as the Women’s World Champion, with the other card going to the highest ranked player from the Women’s tour after the British Open. The Women’s #1 at the time was Mink Nutcharut, who is only halfway through her card, meaning that the #2 would take her place, with Reanne having a decent advantage over Ng On Yee. In the end, Reanne overcame Bayarsaikhan Narantuya, Maria Catalano and Rebecca Kenna, before suffering a shock defeat to Bai Yulu in the final. This defeat was irrelevant to Reanne however, as her tour card was secured when On Yee lost to Bai in the Last 8. As a bonus, she finished the season as Women’s World #1 after an early defeat for Mink. With two more years on the tour, will the experienced Evans be able to show all her talent?
Fun Fact: I’m not picking her former relationship with Mark Allen because I’m pretty sure everyone knows about that after… the incident (and the fact idiots won’t stop trolling her on Twitter about it, seriously guys just STOP). Instead, I’ll go for the fact that she reached the Semis of the Womens World Championship when she was 17. In 2002. Yes, she’s been going for two decades (and I’m so sorry to remind you Reanne, time has at least been nice to you)
Extra
Daniel Wells
Ah the final entry. I left Daniel Wells to the end because he’s in the unusual situation of having qualified through the one year list despite not being a professional. So while I said I wasn’t discussing the one year list cards, I made an exception for Dan. Because quite frankly, he deserves some attention. The third member of the (not nearly as vaunted as it should be) Neath Trio (alongside the Lightning and Jamie Jones), Daniel is entering his fourth spell on tour, with this season being his 12th as a professional since he first came through the PIOS series (standing for Pontins International Open Series, I’ll go into it more some other time but it was a tour qualification series at a holiday camp in North Wales) back in 2008.
As early as his first season on tour, Dan was impressing, defeating World Championship Quarter-Finalist Liang Wenbo in the Masters Qualifying Tournament (yes that existed), and coming within a frame of qualifying for Worlds, losing to Barry Hawkins (having won three matches 10-9 to get there). He dropped off the tour at the end of the next season, bounced back through the Welsh rankings, dropped off again the season after, came through Q School, fell off again in 2014 (don’t worry, you’re not the only one getting disorientated), got through Q School in 2015, and dropped off again in 2021 after a season where outside of the WST Pro Series, he won… ONE match. (for those wondering, it was 4-3 over Peter Devlin at the Gibraltar Open). This culminated in him losing 6-4 to Duane Jones in World Championship qualifying, having lead 4-1. He went to Q School, and won one match in three events.
The following season, he was one frame away from a return to the tour through Q School (which would have seen him become only the 3rd player to come through Q School or it’s predecessor four times (after Craig Steadman and Paul Davison, remember him from the Andrew Pagett entry? I wrote that about three weeks ago now!), losing a decider to Adam Duffy. In the 2022-23 season though, Dan got to the second stage of the Championship League, lost a decider in the Last 16 of the European Masters, lost a decider in the Last 32 of the NI Open, reached the Semis of the Shootout (second time in three years that had happened after Craig Steadman (again) did it in 2021), reached the Last 16 of the Welsh Open (and then got to watch Shaun Murphy make a 145 followed by a 147), and the Last 32 of the WST Classic, before watching Mark Selby open the match with breaks of 73 and 105. His performances were enough to see him finish 1st on the one year list for players who didn’t already have a tour card for next season (£47,000), allowing him back onto the tour. A former Ranking-event Semi-finalist, Daniel is more than capable of re-establishing himself on the tour, and it will be very interesting to see how he gets on (because I’m finishing this so late, I know that he’s already got past the first stage of the CL for the second season running).
Fun Fact: Because I don’t quite know enough about the junior scene in Neath in the late 2000s (seriously, what was in that water to have Jamie Jones, Dan Wells and Michael White all come through around the same time?). Rather, I’m going with the fact that in 2007, he was awarded the first ever Paul Hunter Scholarship, allowing him to practice at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield (don’t ask me which club that is now, there’s three big ones in Sheffield). As for the Scholarship, the only other player I can find who received it was Jack Lisowski. We still miss you Paul.
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages (most of whom probably shouldn’t be seeing the language I use at their age!), welcome to the 2022/23 Cueies, the Alternative Snooker Awards where we celebrate the best and worst that Snooker has had to offer in the past 12 months. All of these categories have been posted on Twitter (@M18Snooker), and the answers which I received have been factored into the nominees and results.
And don’t forget, if you disagree with any of these, you’re more than welcome to leave a comment or tag me on Twitter to say as much, because I want to know what everybody thinks. So without further ado, let’s begin with…
Broken Cue Award for Most Disappointing Player of the Season
This award is NOT for the worst player of the season. Rather, this is for the player who has been the furthest from achieving what is expected of them. Context is important, and any extenuating circumstances will be factored in.
NOMINEES:
Neil Robertson – For all his talent and the fact he made more Centuries than anyone else (50, tied with Mark Selby), he’s not won an event other than the Mixed Doubles this season, and his Last 16 at the Crucible was his best run in a Ranking event since the middle of December. By his own standards, his season has been a complete let-down.
Mark Davis – I know he was a frame away from the Crucible, but other than that, his season was absolutely miserable. Eight matches won, three in “traditional” Ranking events (so excluding the Championship League, Shootout and Six-Reds), and this from such a classy player and former Top 16 staple. You associate Mavis with consistency, just not like this.
Stuart Bingham – This might seem a tad harsh, but you have to consider that before the WST Classic, Bingham had won just 9 matches this season in Ranking events, with a single Last 16 to his name. For a player of Stuart’s quality and scoring, that is very poor.
Alexander Ursenbacher – Excluding the Championship League and Shootout, Alex Ursenbacher has won four matches this season. Just four. It’s been a miserable season, and having been as high as 45th in the world barely 18 months ago, he’s now 72nd and has dropped back off the tour. Incredibly disappointing for a player who was really promising a strong spell on tour.
WINNER: Alexander Ursenbacher (Stuart Bingham would have won it but for his late season form)
The Shock and Awe Trophy (Most Surprising Performance)
To clarify, this award is for the player who I think was the most pleasantly surprising at an event this season, whether it be through a shockingly deep run in an event, or the performances in getting that far. There has been a lot this season, so I have narrowed it down to seven.
Honourable mentions for the following: Wu Yize (QF at European Masters), Anthony McGill (SF at the NI Open), Gary Wilson and Joe O’Connor (Winner and Finalist at the Scottish Open), Ashley Hugill (QF at the English Open), Noppon Saengkham (beat Selby, Ronnie and Williams at the WGP), Dan Wells and Dominic Dale (Semis of the Shootout), Julien Leclerq (Finalist at the Shootout), Chris Wakelin (won the Shootout), Tom Ford (finalist at the German Masters), and Pang Junxu (Semi-Finalist at the Welsh Open)
NOMINEES
Ryan Day (British Open) – A very classy player Ryan, that was never in doubt. However going into the British Open, 42 year old Day hadn’t progressed beyond the Quarters of a Ranking event other than the Shootout since March 2019. However an extremely consistent performance saw him run the distance, overcoming such players as Graeme Dott, Yuan Sijun, Robbie Williams (more on that match later) and finally producing a fantastic second session to beat Mark Allen, coming from 7-6 down to win 10-7. Completely out of the blue, a fantastic performance and a 4th ranking title was a real revelation.
Michael White (NI Open) – Come on, give me this one. Because I think most people tempered expectations for Michael when he bounced back onto the tour. Truth be told, if he had beaten Xiao Guodong to get to the last group of the Championship League, that run would have been on the list instead. But what made the run special at the Northern Ireland Open is the way in which he did it. Beating Liam Highfield 4-2 having been outscored by 103 points in the match, Ding Junhui 4-3 (having seen Ding make a ton to equalise at 3-3), Barry Hawkins 4-2, before losing 4-2 to Mark Selby in the Last 16. For the variety of matches he came through having just got back onto the tour, Michael deserves to be here.
Andres Petrov (UK Championship) – Look I’m not just saying this because I’m friends with Andres (at least I think we are, I have no idea what he thinks of me, and dread to think), this was a very surprising run, especially when you consider who he beat. First was Jamie O’Neill 6-5, making his first professional century in the decider (103 break). Then he came from 4-3 and 5-4 down to beat Jackson Page (making a 95 break in the decider), and then 6-4 over Gary Wilson (when Gary waited until Frame 6 to try and play Snooker). Sadly Xiao Guodong decided to ruin everything by daring to beat Andres 6-3, but for someone who hadn’t won a match before the qualifiers, and to win the first two matches the way he did make him worthy of this list.
Sam Craigie (UK Championship) – This really was from nowhere. Going into the UK qualifiers, Craigie’s season record read: W1, D3, L3. But he found something at the UKs, defeating Joe O’Connor (who we will discuss later), Ian Burns, Zhao Xintong and Ryan Day, on his way to the Quarter-Finals, where he put up a very sturdy fight against Mark Allen, eventually going down 6-4 to the eventual champion. For the composure with which he got the run, and the fact that it came from about nowhere, Sam should absolutely be on the list.
Jak Jones (World Championship) – This really was a surprise. Jak Jones went into the qualifiers in a very difficult section, needing to overcome Robbie Williams (which he did eventually), and then Barry Hawkins (which he did in dramatic fashion). At the Crucible, he showed nerves of steel in defeating Ali Carter and Neil Robertson in two fantastic performances, before losing to Mark Allen in an absolute war in the Last 8. For the surprise of the run, and the nerves of steel he demonstrated, Jak deserves to be in the conversation.
Si Jiahui (World Championship) – I don’t think anybody saw this one coming. Si had to come through three matches just to reach the Crucible, doing so with wins over the promising Florian Nuessele, Tom Ford (in arguably the best season of Ford’s career), and Jordan Brown to qualify. When he got to the Crucible, he shocked one of the players of the season Shaun Murphy, then eased past another of the players of the season Rob Milkins, before holding his nerve against Crucible specialist Anthony McGill (who himself had knocked out Trump and Lisowski). It came to an end in the Semis, when fatigue got the better of him against Luca Brecel, but for the spectacular nature of the run from a player who had just bounced back onto the tour, he has to be on this list.
Luca Brecel (World Championship) – This is one that… as stupid as it sounds I almost don’t think it was as surprising. Don’t get me wrong, between the fact he’d never won a match at the Crucible and having only gone beyond the Last 8 of a BBC major once, not to mention taking out Willo and Ronnie, but in a season this crazy, I almost feel like something like this was the only result which made sense. Nevertheless, few would have had the Belgian Bullet on their betting slips.
WINNER: Si Jiahui (I would have loved to put Jak or Sam, but the fact that Si reached the Semi-Finals really shifted it for me).
S CLUB AWARD (Best Entrance Music)
Right, this should be fun. This is looking for the best entrance music for one of the big events. It could be outright good, thematically fitting, or just something that I like.
NOMINEES:
Jimmy Robertson – Mr. Brightside (The Killers) – Should really be the national anthem of the UK this. It’s an absolute CHUNE (that’s what the youth of today say isn’t it?)
David Grace – Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac) – Fleetwood Mac are great, and anyone with Fleetwood Mac as their walk on music is probably going to be on this list.
Robert Milkins – I’m a Cider Drinker (The Wurzles) – It’s the national anthem of the west country, and if I didn’t include this, I probably would have been slain live on Twitter. It’s iconic, and good.
Mark Selby – Underdog (Kasabian) – It’s not amazing or anything, but it’s iconic enough so that I have to list it. I’m pretty sure Underdog has been played at the Crucible more times than it has at Kasabian’s concerts.
Shaun Murphy – Disco Inferno (The Trammps) – Disco Inferno? Sparkly waistcoat? GET THIS MAN ON STRICTLY COME DANCING IMMEDIATELY! Oh yeah, the song’s really good as well.
Jak Jones – Dakota (Stereophonics) – I thought it was just decent but a lot of people on Snooker Twitter seem to like it, so I thought I’d throw them a bone.
Ding Junhui – Luan Shi Ju Xing (Jordan Chan) – Ok, slight thing here. Ding’s theme (which is unbelievably good) is called Breaking News on the WST website. Yet I can find 0 evidence that Jordan Chan has any song of that name, and it sounds just like this one that he’s been using previously (which translates as Chaotic Superstar). So I don’t know if WST are just fibbing or what. Anyway, the song is extremely good, it has a certain strong rhythm to it.
WINNER: Luan Shi Ju Xing for Ding Junhui because I think it’s absolutely fantastic. Please do not kill me for not giving it to Bob the Cider-Drinking Milkman.
Unplugged Microphone Award for Worst Commentator
John Parrott – Same complaints as ever – doesn’t know who anybody is, believes a shot to be “too risky” if it doesn’t put at least three balls on a cushion, and just generally talks like he hasn’t seen the game in the past 10 years.
Stephen Hendry – Always grumpy, lays into players something rotten for mistakes when he himself is hardly ripping up the tour, and had a strange period where he criticised Mark Allen’s style of play in a tournament which Allen WON.
Shaun Murphy – This is a personal one, for accusing Mark Selby of gamesmanship during the World Championship. Your job is to commentate on the match Shaun, not make accusations at somebody because you don’t like how they play. (and this is from someone who likes Shaun’s commentary)
Joe Johnson – Am I the only one who really finds JJ very difficult to listen to? He just constantly sounds like a confused old man who doesn’t know where he is to me. It’s not fun to listen to, and is enough to take me out of matches sometimes.
WINNER: STEPHEN HENDRY for his constant complaining. I swear every time there’s more than five safety shots in a frame Hendry blows another gasket. Also Parrott was a little bit better during Worlds. Emphasis on a little bit.
Golden Microphone Award for Best Commentator
NOMINEES:
Dominic Dale – I could just listen to Dom talk all day. Smooth, silky, and endlessly knowledgeable, Dominic Dale is everything you could really want from a good commentator. He’ll even give you some entertaining stories while he’s at it, and his slightly coy attitude just makes him feel more real and relatable. If you want a commentator who will provide you with things you never realized you wanted to know about the sport, Dom’s your man.
Joe Perry – Joe is just one of those people who feels like he was born to talk about Snooker. Every time I hear him on comms, all I can think of is how much he sounds like he should be talking about this sport. The thing is with Joe, there’s nothing exceptional about him as a commentator really, like him as a player. He’s just very good at everything, he calls the right shots, he doesn’t get involved in players’ personal business, he just talks about the table as it comes. For a snooker purist, he’s the guy you want talking about your sport.
Mark Allen – Of the players who have started to move into commentary in the past couple of years, I think Mark Allen’s one of the best. He’s very relaxing to listen to on commentary, maybe a touch on the dry side but very experienced with the sport, and he’s great at picking up on the little wrinkles with shots and how that shows how the player is feeling about their game. If you want to learn about the psychological foibles of the game, Mark Allen is someone you’re going to like.
John Virgo – Do I really need to explain this? John Virgo is the ultimate showman on the mic, he knows when to keep a relaxed, serene atmosphere, he’s like a kindly grandparent or older uncle, dictating the play to you. But when it’s time to ramp up the tempo, when things get dramatic, he knows how match that with his voice. If you’re after the perfect commentator for a big occassion, who can match any play with the way he speaks, you’re after John Virgo.
WINNER: JOHN VIRGO because of course he is. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the others, but nobody can replicate what JV brings to the table. G’night JV (just kidding, we’ve got plenty left yet)
Most Improved Player:
Joe O’Connor – By every measurable metric, Joe has had an outstanding season. £116,250 earned (previous best was £60,000), finished the season at #33 in the world (previous highest ever ranking was 47), first Ranking final, two Semi-Finals (one more than he had managed in his entire career before this season), 13 Centuries (best return of his career). It’s been a breakout season for Joe, and I’m excited to see what he can do next season.
Si Jiahui – Si has always been extremely talented, but this season he seems to have finally found the way to convert said potential. A first Quarter-Final at the European Masters, a first Semi at the World Championships, some exceptional performances along the way, 18 Centuries (previous best was 12, previous best as a Pro was 8), and having never been ranked above #77 before, ended the season at 36th. After some incredible performances, will be fascinating to see how he does next year.
Pang Junxu – It’s also been a breakout year for Pang, whose rise has been as sharp as it has been impressive. A first Quarter at the German Masters was immediately followed by a first Semi at the Welsh Open, and then following that (not counting the Players Championship as it was an invitational), his first final at the WST Classic. 16 Centuries (previous best of 9), £109,750 earned (previous highest was only £50,000), and ended the season 35th (previous best was #53). It was a fantastic season for Pang, and surely more must follow.
WINNER: Joe O’Connor because I thought he was the most consistently excellent of the three. Si’s earnings are skewed by Worlds, and Pang’s form all came in the back third of the season. But any of them deserve the award in all honesty, I just wanted to pick a definitive winner.
Tournament of the Season
Disclaimer: This is just my opinion. I am basing this award on a number of factors: The quality of the matches, the amount of surprising performances, the amount (if any) of memorable moments outside of matches, and how satisfied I was with the winner/finalist.
NOMINEES:
Mixed Doubles – The first tournament of its kind (in recent memory), the Mixed Doubles matched up the top four players of the Men’s and Women’s tours (I am NOT getting into an arguement about “Men’s” or “Main” tour, in this case it’s the same thing get over it), and I think we all wondered just how it would go. The answer is that it worked fabulously. The matches were good, they were all played in a tremendous spirit, and the women for me, were the stars. Especially impressive was Rebecca Kenna, who despite being the real outsider of the eight players, played some unbelievable shots and was maybe the best player in the event, Mark Selby, who was looking more like his old self after coming back from all his personal issues, and Mink Nutcharut, who played ridiculously well in the final. Overall, it was a great first go, and a fantastic introduction for people who hadn’t seen the ladies play before. BEST MATCH: Honestly, it’s very difficult to pick. I’d maybe edge towardsMink and Robertson vs. Selby and Kenna in the Round Robin, although picking between their matches is incredibly hard.
UK Championship – The UK Championship this year saw the return of qualifying, and it was… an odd duck. As mentioned before, the qualifiers saw Andres Petrov having a run, while Duane Jones suddenly became a world beater, thrashing Louis Heathcote and Anthony McGill 6-2, Alfie Burden and Tom Ford had an absolute belter in Q3, and Matthew Stevens went 4-0 up in the last Qualifying round, only to then go 5-4 down, only to then find two frames from nothing, giving me near heart failiure in the process, Andy Hicks felled Lu Ning and then fell apart against Lyu Haotian, Liam Highfield made Ali Carter look like a mug from 4-2 down, Marco Fu won matches OUTSIDE OF HONG KONG, and that’s just the qualifiers!
Sam Craigie reached the Last 8 having shown absolutely no sign of that coming for about a year and a half at that point. Jamie Clarke won a frame against Mark Williams needing two snookers on the pink; this after Willo had already taken a very length toilet break for food poisoning. Jimmy f**king White qualified for the venue stages (having won his first two matches 6-0!), Ryan Day won a match at the f**king venue stages of a major event for once (the first time he’d done that in a BBC major for almost FOUR YEARS), Mark Selby and Hossein Vafaei had a great match (quelle surprise), Neil Robertson lost to Joe Perry and then made sure that nobody is ever allowed to complain about not being well enough to play, Shaun Murphy beat David Gilbert in a match where Dave managed to not look like a fish in the Sahara the moment he faced someone ranked in the Top 16, and Matthew Stevens proved that he is 100% incapable of playing even halfway decent snooker against Ronnie.
We had other great moments such as Shaun Murphy going 5-0 down to Lisowski, and then practically doing a lap of honour when he won a frame, Ding proved that the Barbican is basically a home match for him by thrashing Jamie Clarke (6-1), and Ronnie (6-0), and then nearly doing the same to Tom Ford, eventually winning 6-3. In the end, Ding faced a resurgent Mark Allen in the final, and in the mother of all comebacks, the Pistol decided to give Ding a five frame headstart (6-1), before winning 9 of the next 10, as Ding suddenly decided he didn’t want an extra £150,000 after all. All in all, it was a memorable event full of memorable matches. BEST MATCH: This might be an unpopular opinion, but my favourite match to watch was actually Sam Craigie and Mark Allen. It was that or Craigie’s R2 match against Ryan Day, but I’m plumping for the QF.
Snooker Shootout – Please don’t kill me Shootout haters! I’m a terrible Snooker fan, because I bloody love the Shootout. Because the worst thing about Snooker is that sometimes, it all just gets a bit… exhausting. Especially when it’s the same players on television all of the time playing the same sort of shots in the same sort of way. The Shootout is sort of like cheesy 90s music – I know I shouldn’t like it, it’s factually pretty awful mostly, but I just love it.
Best thing with the Shootout is that you never know who’s going to do well in it. Hossein Vafaei continued the proud tradition of defending champions by doing awfully, his loss to Shaun Murphy being the 2nd year in a row that the defending champion failed to get through Round 1, and the 10th year in a row that the previous years champion failed to see Round 3 (the last one to get that far was Barry Hawkins in 2013, and yes, Barry Hawkins did win the Shootout however odd that seems). Thepchaiya seems like a favourite? Nope, he struggled past my fellow Mancunian Ian Martin in Round 1, and then lost to Dechawat Poomjaeng in R2. Ryan Day’s won it before, maybe him? Nope, he scored one POINT against Jimmy Robertson. Matthew Stevens is suited to this? Nah, he lost a blue ball shootout to Dominic Dale. Mark Allen, player of the season? Lost in Round 1 to Jack Lisowski. Ali Carter looked great… right up until Tom Ford beat him. Kyren Wilson’s good under pressure? He lost… in Round 1… to a 14 year old. Although to be fair, Riley Powell practices with Mark Williams (that said, if you don’t practice with Mark Williams and your name isn’t Jamie Jones, Jak Jones or Michael White, are you even a Welsh Snooker player?)
But let’s be real, there was some real stars of the event. Vladislav Gradinari became the youngest player to win a Ranking match as a Professional at the age of 14 (thereby winning more matches than a seven time World Champion last season) Julien Leclerq, the OTHER big beautiful Belgian, who just fired in pots like they owed him money, Liam Highfield, whose Oasis-related antics will never not be hysterical (and single handedly made me want him to win every event in existence now), and of course, the winner, Chris Wakelin. The Shootout is just one of those events that always produces something different. It’s the ultimate equalizer, and that madness makes it thrive. BEST MATCH: How do you… rate matches at the Shootout? It’s like trying to rate your favourite Earthquake. Erm… probably Jak Jones and Chris Wakelin, because it’s amazing to think that Wakelin won the event, due to a miracle break against Jak in the Last 16 when Jak played almost a perfect match. Mad how this sport works…
World Championship – Is it just me, or was this year’s World Championship one of the more fun ones? On the backdrop of stormclouds of controversy regarding the future of the Crucible, sponsorship woes with Cazoo and the Match fixing scandal, the event started in the EIS in Sheffield. I could spend all day talking about the stories from the qualifiers, so I’ll just list a few highlights here (if you want to talk about your favourites, leave a comment or message me @M18Snooker): Liam Davies beating Fergal AGAIN, Andrew Higginson being a match away from becoming the 3rd amateur in four years to reach the Crucible, John Astley almost beating McGill, Barry Pinches of all people making a 140 break, Ng On-Yee almost being Michael Holt, Big Beautiful Belgian Battles, Elliot Slessor ripping Zhou Yuelong apart, and Jak Jones’ brave efforts to qualify, beating Robbie Williams and Barry Hawkins.
Then we got to the Crucible itself. Ronnie looked like one of the favourites, right up until the 3rd session against Luca Brecel. Hossein Vafaei produced a million and one plants against Ding, then did an impression of Ronnie, then lost his head. Si Jiahui beat Shaun Murphy in a rivalry that people should have lost interest in about a year ago, then kept winning matches. Some protestors forgot that Snooker Plus has an Orange ball, not an orange table. Dave Gilbert started well against Stuart Bingham, then decided to become Dave Gilbert again. Jak Jones started well against Ali Carter, we waited for Ali’s comeback, it never happened. Judd Trump was looking forward to thrashing his good friend Jack, but Anthony McGill then did that for him, Matt Selt didn’t play like a total dingus on the big stage for once, Neil Robertson made two 146 breaks, Kyren Wilson made a 147, and David Grace made John Higgins look like The Hobbit.
So Kyren, could this have been this year? Nope, he went 10-0 down to John Higgins. Neil Robertson’s time? He couldn’t get past Jak Jones, who made the joint highest break of his career in the last frame, and trust me, that match was a thrill ride. Jak and Mark Allen then went to war in a match that felt like it was going to last forever. And Allen’s Semi-Final with Mark Selby did last forever (I’m convinced it’s still going now). Si dramatically beat McGill, and then played Luca Brecel’s snooker better than Luca in the Semis, until Luca found something from somewhere, 5-14 became 17-15. And then the final, Luca dominating, playing his best Snooker, Selby making a 147. In the final. OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. What an event. Best Match: Jak Jones vs. Mark Allen, it was one of those matches that just had everything. I was gripped from start to finish, as Jak threw everything at one of the stars of the season.
WINNER: World Championship because it’s a long time since I have lived so vicariously as a Snooker fan as I did over that month or so.
Debutante Ball Award for Most Promising Youngster
Criteria: To be eligible for this award, a player must be both of the following: 1. No older than 23 years old (only counting years, I’m not pedantic), and 2. Have been a professional for three seasons or less (with the season just gone being their 3rd).
Si Jiahui – Si just qualifies for this list, with this being his 3rd full season on the tour. However, I saw a lot of potential in him right at the start when he got on the tour as a raw 16 year old in 2019. In only his 4th ranking event, he reached the Last 16 of the English Open, conceding only a single frame against Soheil Vahedi, Stuart Bingham, and Zhou Yuelong. He dropped off tour at the end of the two years after a poor second season, but bounced back by destroying the WSF Championship, whitewashing Lee Stephens 5-0 in the final, and this season defeated Tian Pengfei, Anthony McGill, Xiao Guodong and Daniel Wells to reach the Last 8 of an event for the first time at the European Masters, and then showcased his talent on the biggest stage of them all at the Crucible. Si is a raw talent, but he is such a promising one, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Ben Mertens – Big Ben strikes and you know it. Ben Mertens is an incredibly promising talent, who has already had some very good results on tour. Having qualified for the tour by winning the European Under-21 Championships (defeating Florian Nussele 5-1 in the final), and then went on to reach the final of the regular European Championship just for the sheer hell of it. Then his most impressive run in his debut season as a pro saw him defeat Barry Pinches, Jackson Page and David Gilbert en route to the Last 16. Ben clearly has a lot of potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing him realize it.
Julien Leclerq – Arguably the pin-up boy of snooker right now, Julien cuts an impressive figure, and some of his performances have followed suit. He qualified for the tour by winning the Q Tour playoffs, including three tons in a 4-0 win over Alfie Lee (son of the disgraced Stephen Lee), and beating two former professionals in Michael Georgiou and Harvey Chandler, Leclerq largely struggled for results in his first professional season, but almost emulated Georgiou when he reached the final of the Shootout, knocking in some devastating long pots along the way before losing out to a century from Chris Wakelin in the final. Despite his struggles, Julien is a fabulous player, and his aggression will surely lead to a good amount of success sooner or later.
Wu Yize – Wu has shown in his first two seasons as a pro that he has all the potential to go far in the game. He has a great attacking flair, and a great cue action. Similarly to Si above, his best runs have come in the European Masters (where he beat Jenson Kendrick, Luca Brecel, Rory McLeod and Ryan Day en route to the Quarter-Finals) and the World Championship (where he saw off Allan Taylor, Tian Pengfei, and Chris Wakelin to qualify). It’s been a good start to life as a pro for Wu, and I’m intrigued to see if he can keep this level up.
WINNER: Si Jiahui because despite my bias towards the two Belgians, I can’t ignore Si’s remarkable run in the World Championship. He’s an unbelievable player, and I really hope he can kick on now.
One Night in Paris Award for Match of the Season
Right, doing something slightly different for this one. Instead of giving deep detailed reasons for a few matches, I am going to list my favourite match from every event this season (excluding the HK Masters which I didn’t really watch, and the Six-Reds, which I only watched the Semis of)
Championship League: Michael White vs. David Gilbert (SF Group 8) European Masters: Judd Trump vs. Farakh Ajaib (Last 16) British Open: Mark Allen vs. Ryan Day (Final) Northern Ireland Open: Anthony McGill vs. Yan Bingtao (Last 32) Champion of Champions: Judd Trump vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan (Final) UK Championship: Sam Craigie vs. Mark Allen (QF) Scottish Open: Joe O’Connor vs. Neil Robertson (SF) English Open: Mark Selby vs. Luca Brecel (Final) The Masters: Judd Trump vs. Ryan Day (Last 16) World Grand Prix: Judd Trump vs. Mark Allen (Final) Snooker Shootout: Jak Jones vs. Chris Wakelin (Last 16) German Masters: Louis Heathcote vs. Cao Yupeng (Last 32) Welsh Open: Ben Mertens vs. David Gilbert (Last 32) Players Championship: Ali Carter vs. Judd Trump (Last 16)* WST Classic: Gary Wilson vs. Pang Junxu (SF) Tour Championship: Mark Selby vs. Shaun Murphy (SF) World Championship: Jak Jones vs. Mark Allen (QF)
WINNER: Mark Selby vs. Shaun Murphy** because Mark Selby vs. Shaun Murphy is always great. It’s like Mark Selby and Hossein Vafaei. And Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan. And Mark Selby and Luca Brecel. I’m seeing a theme here…
Wet Fart Award for Worst Match of the Season
If you keep up with me enough on Twitter, you will likely be aware of this, but this isn’t a long list. There are two matches which were so bad at such a high level that they deserved to fight it out between them. I will explain why they are here (if you somehow don’t know), but the winner of this award will be decided, not by me, but by Twitter. I had a poll up for a week to see which one people hated more. So if you disagree, blame them.
Barry Hawkins vs. Kyren Wilson (European Masters “final”)– This was of a very poor quality throughout. Breakbuilding is not everything in Snooker (although it helps), but for two players of Barry and Kyren’s quality and experience in a Ranking event final, you would have expected so, so much more. 9-3, four half centuries in the entire match, five frames were won with under 70 points, and if you thought the half century stat was bad, it somehow gets worse, because two of them came in THE SAME FRAME. Kyren Wilson won 9-3, and his only 50+ break in the match was a frankly enormous 56. It took him the entire first session to do so. After the match, Kyren had the cheek to blame the standard on the humidity of the arena. Kyren, it’s not like you’re in Cyprus or Greece, you’re in Bavaria, I refuse to believe that the humidity stopped you from playing even slightly well. All in all, this final was a total embarrassment, and failed to live up to the standard of the Semi-Finals.
Ryan Day vs. Robbie Williams (British Open “Semi-Final”)– This was just terrible. And the thing is, it started ok. The first two frames had breaks of 55 and 77, and we thought we were off to a decent start. Sadly, that didn’t continue, as the match devolved into an absolute slogfest afterwards. If we’re being honest, the match just fell apart, with Ryan making a high break of 61, and Robbie not even troubling the 50s. Towards the end, the standard became absolutely hilariously bad, with neither of them being able to convert numerous chances. Ryan ended up winning 6-5, but if we’re being honest, the real losers were the people who wasted three hours watching this dross. And I should know, I watched the entire match.
WINNER: Kyren Wilson vs. Barry Hawkins (69% vs 31%)
Best Twitter Account (players)
Andres Petrov (@SnookerForce) – I love Andres because he’s just an ordinary guy. Social media isn’t an advert for him (apart from when he’s advertising his Patreon, which if you have more money than me you should absolutely look at). Instead, his social media is just him doing stuff and talking about stuff. It sounds silly, but it’s so refreshing to have someone who just talks about anything and everything they want to on there. Also, he makes the English sound inept at their own language, which is always hilarious.
Mark Williams (@markwil147) – Look, I probably don’t need to tell you why Mark Williams is on here, and will be every year until the end of time. Between his constant misspelt tweets which have birthed the truly excellent Willo Explained Twitter account (even if he’s sometimes stumped), his general lax attitude and holding Jackson Page bang to rights, Mark’s always a great laugh on Twitter. Now if only we could do something about his spelling…
Elliot Slessor (@Sless147) – Do you like Geordies? Do you like people who are constantly at least 40% sarcastic? Do you like people who literally don’t give a damn what people think? Elliot Slessor might just be the person for you. Sless is always a great laugh, because there’s no censor where he thinks about what he should post, he just posts whatever he likes, and I love him for it.
Michael Holt (@hitmanholt) – His Twitter bio used to read “Views are my wife’s”, what more do you need? Michael is high on the list of players I’d love to meet in person, he’s just naturally funny, loves his family, and I can’t help but adore his fanatical devotion to Nottingham Forest. Also has an excellent Youtube channel.
WINNER: Michael Holt (although realistically you should check out all of them)
Snooker Fam award for Most Likable Player
(Disclaimer: I am NOT saying any players are unlikable (I can think of maybe two or three players I would consider unlikable at least to some extent. Rather, this is a hypothetical list of players I feel like would be the best to invite to a hypothetical dinner party or other social event (yes, even Autistics attend social events). So if a player you like isn’t here, by all means make your own list).
Mark Selby – As a player, I understand that Mark isn’t for everyone (even if his haters are severely over-exaggerating his slow play), however as a person, I don’t understand how anybody could not like him. Humble, friendly, and with a cheeky grin often, Mark is someone I’d just love to spend some time with, such is the type of person he appears to be, and he is incredibly likable as a person.
Hossein Vafaei – Ok, we had the stuff with Ronnie (even if the interview was hilarious), but come on, has there ever been any indication that Hossein is anything but a lovely person? He’s funny, he clearly cares very much about his craft and his home country of Iran, he’s always very polite, and he was born to entertain the crowd, between that smile and some of the shots he pulls off. Hossein really is one of the good guys of snooker.
Michael Holt – Again, he is just so unbelievably easy to like. As I mentioned above, Michael is just a really cool guy who offers coaching tips for free on Youtube, and is clearly just incredibly hard working and devoted to his family and, of course, to his beloved Tricky Trees. His enslaved husband schtick is hilarious (at least I hope it’s schtick), and I should mention that Amy is also an absolute riot.
Matthew Stevens – Look, it’s my list, ok? But don’t pretend that spending an evening with Matthew wouldn’t be fun. Between his propensity for a pint (pretty sure he said at the Shootout a couple of years ago that he’d be at the bar if he wasn’t playing), and his completely honest attitude from interviews, it would be an absolute hoot spending time with him. Granted there’s no guarantee that he (or anyone trying to match him in drinks) would remember anything the next morning, but hey, I don’t drink, so it would be great. Imagine the stories that someone of Matthew’s vintage in the game could tell you, it would be fantastic.
WINNER: Mark Selby because I think he’d be absolutely fantastic to just have a chat with. If you want evidence of how cool Mark is, he was partying with Luca Brecel and getting the DJ to play “We are the Champions” just hours after Luca beat him in the World final.
Greggs Medal of Honour Award for Player of the Season
Mark Allen (NI Open, UK Championship, WGP Champion, British Open finalist, World Championship and English Open Semi-Finalist)
Mark Selby (English Open, WST Classic Champion, World Championship finalist, Tour Championship Semi-Finalist)
Luca Brecel (World Champion, Championship League Champion, English Open finalist)
Shaun Murphy (Players Championship, Tour Championship Champion, Welsh Open finalist, World Grand Prix Semi-Finalist)
WINNER: MARK ALLEN (this was pretty easy honestly, Mark was the standout by some way, four Ranking event finals, reached the Quarters or better in exactly 50% of Ranking events this season)
So those were the awards. Any you think I should have included? (there are several that I considered but ditched in the making of this). Any results you disagree with? Are you a Shootout hater who is desperate for my blood? Whatever your opinions, I want to hear them, but let’s keep it civilized, k? Until next time, Insert catchy end thingy here
*: It took me over 20 minutes to choose the best match from the Players Championship, honourable mentions for all of Joe O’Connor’s matches, Selby vs. Murphy (again), and Brecel vs. Lisowski **: I really wanted to say the Shootout match just to see the world burn, but I’m scared someone will find my address and hunt me down
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, players of all ages, the draw for the World Championship qualifiers is OUT! (And unlike ITV, I will show you more than five matches). Four qualifying rounds, all Best of 19 over two sessions. Without further ado, let’s begin.
SECTION 1
Since Screenshotting, Player 1 has been revealed to be Ryan Day
So it begins again. And I’m beginning with Ashley Hugill, who for a hot second last April, looked like he could beat Neil Robertson at the Crucible. And when I say for a hot minute, I mean about four frames, until Neil took the kid gloves off. So how has Hugill responded this season? Erm… not very well. He’s reached a Quarter-Final at the English Open. I mean he lost 5-0 to Mark Allen, but it’s something, right? Other than that, he’s not actually been beyond the Last 64 of anything. He’ll be taking on George Pragnall, who let’s be honest, nobody aside from hardcore EPSB fanatics knew ANYTHING about before this season, when he very nearly qualified from the Q Tour, going into the last event in a three way fight with Dan Wells and Ross Muir, only for them ALL to miss out on top spot thanks to a strange turn of results. I’d expect Ash to win, but I’m kind of hoping not, because with who’s next, people have homes to go to.
Ok, I’m being a little unfair here. I like Lukas Kleckers, I’ve seen him play a few times, I quite like his style. He’s a good player, but for whatever reason, the results just haven’t really come for him as a professional. That is, until the WST Classic, where he took out four players to reach a Ranking Quarter-Final for the first time, where he… got to witness Gary Wilson put in one of his better performances, knocking in breaks of 70 (in a frame he LOST), 79, 86, 99 and 103 in a 4-1 win. Let’s be honest, people much higher up the rankings than Lukas would have lost just as badly there. Other than that, he had a Last 32 in the Shootout (the idea of Lukas Kleckers and Rod Lawler at the Shootout will never not be funny when you look at the season’s ASTs).
Ryan Day has, as I write this, been confirmed for the qualifiers for less than a day, after he lost the lottery in the Tour Championship, despite a 147 and a 16 red clearance (no, they were not the same break, nor were they in the same session). From 8-2 down against Mark Selby, he did something most people don’t bother doing when trailing Selby – he fought back, eventually going down 10-7. It’s harsh on Ryan, who’s had the best season of his career (and no it’s not close), earning more than £200,000, and sitting 2nd on the One Year List for most of it after a terrific second session saw him win the British Open against Mark Allen. Other than that, he had a QF at the Player’s Championship, where he… got to watch Shaun Murphy make three tons and an 85. And that was all before the Mid-Session interval!
There’s only two pieces of bad news for Ryan. 1. He’s not actually won a match since the Player’s Championship. 2. He admitted after his match against Selby that he hates the World Championship qualifiers because they’re cramped (I mean to be fair to Ryan, he’s about the same size as your average Giraffe). So who knows how he’ll do here. He’s also been complaining about his tip. Guess who just bought a tip from Andrew “The greatest person in human history” Pagett?
In the bottom half, Fergal O’Brien vs. Liam Davies. Gee, we’ve never seen this match before (he says in sarcastic tones). It’s a repeat from last year, where Liam relegated Fergal from the tour. And it’s a rematch from Q School, when Fergal beat Liam en route to regaining his tour card. Swings and roundabouts. And it was worth it, because Fergal… has won three matches this season. Of which two were in the Shootout. As for Liam, he has had a neat season on the Q Tour, reaching two Semi-Finals and a Quarter, as well as the Last 8 of the Playoffs. Not bad for someone who only turned 16 in June. He was only a few months old when Jungle Run ended, he was only four when Raven ended! (Yes I do measure time in Children’s Television terms, doesn’t everyone?) Regardless, expect a decider here, both their previous meetings have gone the distance, as did half of Liam’s matches at Q School.
Scott Donaldson should really be doing better than he is. The Perthshire player is a very good player, but has only actually won 10 matches this season, which for someone looking to break into the Top 32 a couple of years back is really mediocre. I think it’s summed up perfectly by the WST Classic, where he got fantastic victories over Barry Hawkins (4-0) and Hossein Vafaei (4-2), before suddenly losing 4-1 to Oli Lines, someone ranked 14 places below him in the world, and having a terrible season. Scott just seems unable to string good performances together on a regular basis, and it’s mystifying. He’s had issues with tremors (explained more a bit later on), but I can’t help but feel there’s more to it than that. Expect him to win his first match regardless though.
And Yuan Sijun is a player I can’t work out. Two seasons ago, he started the season 45th in the world, but a season with only two Last 32 appearances saw him plummet out of the Top 64. Since then, he’s rebounded all the way up to the World Number 50 spot, getting seeded through to this stage because of suspensions. He seems to go through phases of being a Top 16 level player, and phases of being bottom 16 level.
SECTION 1 FINAL: (17) Ryan Day vs. (48) yUAN sIJUN
Despite his complaints about the qualifiers, I can’t see Ryan not making it at least to Judgement Day. Maybe if Ashley was in any great form, I could, but I don’t think Lukas or Pragnall are going to be major threats to him. One of two things is going to happen in this one: Either Ryan is going there to prove a point and completely marmalises Yuan, or Yuan doesn’t let him get any momentum up and does the same back. It’s an odd one where I’m more confident on the scoreline than I am on who’s winning. SECTION 1 PREDICTION: Ryan Day 3-10 Yuan Sijun
section 2
Our second section has two players deep in the survival battle in Hammad Miah and Xu Si, but I’m not going to cover them in depth because I did that in my tour survival blog. I’m quite confident in Miah getting past Reanne Evans or Ken Doherty (I honestly think that one could go all the way down to Frame 19), but Xu will have a slightly tougher time against either Zak Surety (who is very underappreciated when he’s playing well) or Farakh Ajaib (who will be featuring in the end of season awards).
Jamie Jones is such a lovely player to watch, but despite having earned £54,000 this season (placing him 31st on the one year list), I feel like his season has been a little bit disappointing, considering he started the season by reaching back to back Quarter-Finals. In a season of diminishing returns, he had four Last 16 appearances by the end of 2022, and then went on to not win multiple matches in an event again until the recent WST Classic. Of the money he’s earned this season, less than 20% of it has been earned since New Year’s Day.
Pang Junxu is someone I’ve admittedly not watched an enormous amount of (I know, I’m a terrible Snooker fan and should hang my head in shame), but from what I’ve seen he’s a very tidy player, and he impressively reached a first final at the WST Classic, falling to Mark Selby, no disgrace. I feel like unless Xu puts in one of his ungodly scoring performances like he has on occasion over the past couple of years, this is an open and shut bracket.
Section 2 Final: (34) Jamie Jones vs. (35) Pang Junxu
Is it too easy to just say this goes to a decider? Probably. This is absolutely horrible to call, because there is one extremely good arguement for each of them to qualify. For Jamie, the arguement is that he knows how to qualify for the Crucible, having done so five times previously. For Pang, it’s that he’s in fantastic form, reaching a Quarter-Final and then a Final in his last two events. Whenever a match is likely to be tight though, I invariably fancy the Cimla Quiff (real nickname). SECTION 2 PREDICTION: JAMIE JONES 10 – 9 Pang Junxu
Section 3
Got quite a bit to unpack here. Ng On Yee has struggled to make an impact on tour despite her huge quality as a player, and in fact has only won four frames in Ranking events since her last win against Jenson Kendrick in the UK Championship. She’ll be taking on Michael Holt, who is… about as unpredictable as ever. If he turns up and plays like he can, he’ll probably qualify for the Crucible from this Section. If he turns up and plays like he sometimes does, he’ll do well to pot a ball against someone who’s safety game is as sound as On Yee.
Oli Lines, as mentioned in the Tour Survival Update, reached a 2nd ranking QF in the WST Classic, having done basically nothing all season. And then you’ve got Anthony Hamilton, who reached the Last 32 of the Classic having lost his previous six matches in Ranking events (including five Last 128 exits on the spin). God only knows who’s falling through this one.
I am praying that Victor Sarkis doesn’t choose this event as the right time to win a match outside of the Shootout, because I am absolutely HERE to see Ben Mertens vs. Julien Leclerq, because I am desperately trying to get #Bigbeefybelgianboysbattlingbigbeefybelgianboys trending on Twitter.
In all seriousness, Ben and Julien are very good friends, and are both incredible to watch. Julien had an awesome run in the Shootout, and has claimed some impressive wins over the likes of Mark Williams and Jordan Brown. Meanwhile Big Ben got to the Last 16 of the Welsh Open, and should have beaten Ronnie at the English Open. Ben’s had issues with tremors since getting his Covid vaccine, but I’m hoping he’s getting past that after recently conversations with Scott Donaldson.
Jimmy Robertson is a very solid player, he just… I’m sorry, there’s just very little to say about him. He’s a technically very good player, he gets reliable if unremarkable results, but he doesn’t seem to do anything notable. His season has been… well it’s been there, he reached the Last 16 in Berlin. There’s no great form from anybody in this section.
Section 3 Final: (a) Michael Holt vs. (78) Julien Leclerq
Let’s be honest, I don’t have a clue who’s getting through this section, but I had to put something, and I honestly think Michael has a decent chance in this section. As for Julien, whoever wins out of he and Big Ben will seriously challenge Jimmy Robertson, who hasn’t exactly been in exceptional form himself this season. As for this match, I think experience counts for a lot here. Julien is still incredibly raw as a talent, and in the highest pressure scenarios, I think that might catch him out. SECTION 3 PREDICTION:MICHAEL HOLT 10 – 5 Julien Leclerq
Section 4
For once, a bracket where I don’t have to reference my Tour Survival blog! I’ll start at the top because I know you want me to start with a certain match on the bottom half. Elliot Slessor has had a surprisingly average season, considering he’s usually either rocketing up the rankings or in a survival battle, and this time he’s sort of in neither camp. He’s reached a Last 16 this season in the German Masters, having gone behind three times in each qualifying round. I can’t see him having too many issues brushing aside Ryan Thomerson, who has a mere three wins in Rankers this season, or Manchester amateur Ian Martin, who beat Marco Fu early doors this season, but then struggled to get results on the secondary Q Tour.
Noel Gallagher Liam Highfield entertained everyone hugely during the Shootout, but the sad fact is that he’s had a pretty naff season other than that, with the UK Championship (where he completely dominated Ali Carter in the last qualifying round from 5-2 behind) being his only other trip to the Last 32. I do like Liam as a player though, and he really seems to have grown mentally in the past couple of years. Expect he and Sless to have a good old battle.
Ok, ok, Cahill vs. Hendry, I get it, they used to be related (emphasis on used to be). Plenty of people have said a lot more on this than I care to, but Cahill will probably rip Stephen a new one. Lei Peifan is a somewhat interesting one, as he had a decent little season last term, reaching a Last 32 at the ScoWelsh Open, and was one ball away from the Crucible, losing to Hossein Vafaei. But this season, he’s mustered three wins, and none since the first Qualifying round for the World Championship. Despite being ranked lower, have James as the favourite for this one.
And there we come to the favourite for this section. Zhou Yuelong is one of only 15 players to have earned six figures this season, and was a finalist in the NI Open, producing a frankly awesome performance against Anthony McGill in the Semis with 4 tons in a BO11. Scoring just one ton in these qualifiers would also take him to 30 centuries for the season, a new personal best. Only 25, he’ll be entering a ninth season as a professional next season. In such a dark time for Chinese Snooker, he is one hell of a hope.
Section 4 Final: (43) Liam Highfield vs. (26) Zhou Yuelong
Seriously, how is Zhou as low as 26th in the world? Anyway, this sounds like a very high scoring match. Liam is a very aggressive and motivated player, and is looking for a 3rd successive appearence at the Theatre of Dreams, having largely outplayed Anthony McGill last year before succumbing 10-7. Zhou meanwhile last played there in 2019, when he beat Mark Allen, before losing the last six frames against Ali Carter. I think Zhou wins here, but if he underperforms, Liam is an excellent player and will punish him. PREDICTION: Liam Highfield 8-10 ZHOU YUELONG
SECTION 5
A real doozy this one, plenty of players worth talking about. Andrew Pagett seems to believe he’s one of the elite players in the world, but Andrew… you might want to show it? One win this season (Hendry as a walkover doesn’t count, even though I would have expected him to win anyway), although that win was very impressive, winning a decider in the WST Classic against Tom Ford having made a 131 break in the match, his highest professional break. He’ll face Gao Yang, whose relegation from the tour last season (if memory serves me well) was only confirmed on Judgement Day when Michael White beat Jordan Brown. He’s been on the Q Tour, where he reached a Semi-Final, and did… not much else.
Duane Jones practices with Mark Williams, but it doesn’t seem to have elevated his game like it did for Jackson Page (who I will be discussing shortly). Duane’s season has been absolutely miserable, winning his first three qualifying matches in the UK Championship, and… that’s actually it. Outside of the UK Champs, Duane has not won a professional match in a YEAR. He couldn’t have been given a much kinder draw for the first match (because he’s somehow still ranked as high as 76 on the WC seedings), but thinking he’d get any further is a HUGE stretch of logic.
Hossein Vafaei, everyone loves him (apart from Ronnie fans who probably still have the hump over quite accurate comments Hossein made last year), and by most metrics, he’s had a pretty good season. Three Last 16s in Ranking events is nothing to sniff at, but it’s just a shame that his best performances came in non-Ranking events, with a QF at the Masters, and a Semi that should have been a final at the 6-Reds, because boy did he fall off hard in that Semi. Still expect his first match to be little more than a warm up though.
The bottom half is a little less easy to call. Ross Muir isn’t a pro… yet, but he will be again next season. The Mussleburgh Machine (yes I did make that one up) was recently crowned European Amateur Champion, having narrowly missed out on qualifying from the Q Tour twice(!), having been edged out for top spot by Martin O’Donnell, and then letting go of a two frame lead in the playoff Semi-Final against Ash Carty, who went on to qualify for the tour himself (but curiously hasn’t been invited to Worlds). He’ll face Oliver Brown, who he beat in qualifying for the German Masters. The Glove From Above (real nickname… I think) should start as marginal favourite, Brown having not won a Ranking match since the UK Championship, when he beat… Ross Muir! (no really, look it up).
Action Jackson Page, reached the Last 16 last year after a very impressive win over experienced campaigner Barry Hawkins (more on him MUCH MUCH later), before the sensei of Twitter beat him 13-1. Talk about tough love, that’s probably why he keeps stealing Mark’s phone! What do you mean you want me to talk about Snooker? What do you think I am – a Snooker Blog? Oh… I suppose you’re right… back to work.
It’s been a rather curious season for A.J., as he seems to follow up tremendous results with awful ones. Beats Thepchaiya 5-1 in the German Masters? Ok, he’ll throw away a lead against Jack Lisowski in the next round and sit there for three frames scoring five points. Beats Bingham 4-1 in the Welsh? Loses 4-2 to Ben Mertens in the next round despite Ben having a high break of 37 (trust me, I looked it up on the WST App, which always works). Defeat Willo and Zhou to reach the Last 16 of the WST Classic, looking for a first QF as a pro? Lose 4-0 to Lukas Kleckers, having scored 42 points! Jackson knows how to win, he just doesn’t know how to be consistent.
Consistency you want? I present Martin Gould, the old workhorse (although to be fair, 41 isn’t THAT old anymore is it?), who is still going, getting consistently… decent results. It’s not been his best season, mainly exiting at the Round of 64, but he’s done enough to keep his head above water, and you know that Gouldy doesn’t have two bad seasons in a row. He’s still as canny and as calm as ever, he’s still about as exciting to listen to as Smooth Radio, and I kind of love him for it. Sometimes you need some calm in the storm, and sometimes you just want a match where a player just gets in, and goes about his business in a gentle, serene manner, while you sit there and wonder where the days are going. How many days do I have left? Will anyone remember me when I’m gone? Does human life really mean anything?
Section 5 Final: (23) Hossein Vafaei vs. (46) Martin Gould
Sorry, I think I got a little bit distracted there. Back on topic, everything points to Vafaei storming through this section. Every morsel of sense suggests he should get through with ease. But Martin is a funny player as Angles might say, he just has a way of… I don’t know, unsettling opponents sometimes. He’s vastly experienced, and if you’re not careful, he’ll make you play his game, even if he’s playing badly. I still think Hossein gets this, but it’s not going to be easy, and I don’t think it will be pretty. Expect a real grinder of a match here, bloody attritional warfare.
SECTION 5 RESULT: HOSSEIN VAFAEI 10-7 Martin Gould
SECTION 6
Welcome to The North (which for the purposes of Sean O’Sullivan, does NOT include Watford). And in the Top Half, Welcome to Leicester. Andrew Higginson, a former journeyman pro was one of many shocking names to lose out in last season’s lethal lottery that was the survival battle (although unlike a certain Viking whom I am a fan of, at least he’s been heard from since Q School). Beaten Q Tour finalist in Sweden earlier in the season (losing a thriller to Billy Castle), he suffered a shock loss in the Playoffs to Harvey Chandler. Still a very dangerous player on his day, and I fancy him to see off Andy Lee (at least I hope he does, I’m worried about what will happen with three Leicester players left to their own devices!)
I’m trying to be non-partisan here (makes a change I know), but I just want to say how ANNOYING it is that Louis Heathcote and Joe O’Connor are in the same section. Louis is a fantastic player who just… Covid seemed to completely derail a very promising start to life as a professional, and he’s never really regained the momentum. I like Louis, I hope he stays on tour through whatever means, and he seems like a cracking guy.
Joe O’C meanwhile has had a breakout season. Finalist in Glasgow (I won’t forget that match with Neil Robertson in a hurry), and then beat Mark Allen and Luca Brecel to reach the Last 4 of the Players Championship, before losing a very winnable match to Ali Carter. I like Louis, and I think he could beat Joe, but I’m not holding my breath. Also Joe has the best haircut on tour, fight me.
Sean the Storm kicks off the bottom half, being the only player in this section from south of Birmingham (I think Leicester’s North of Brum anyway). Sean’s season began ok actually. You want to know the issue? The last time he won a match (outside of the Six-Reds) was in October. Nearly six months ago. Opposition for him comes from Liam Graham, the European Under-21 Champion who will be a professional next season as a result of his recent title win in Malta, seeing off former pro Iulian Boiko in the final.
Talking of the North, we have the second of 4 (I think) Leeds players in the draw. This time it’s David Grace, who has a 2-0 record against the current World Champion (I know one was a walkover due to an elbow injury, but let’s be honest, it’s because Ronnie was scared). David is in the Survival battle, but he should be fine, although a win wouldn’t go amiss. The highlight of his season was a pair of Last 16s, including the European Masters where he lead Ali Carter four times, before losing 5-4.
I really struggle when writing about Sam Craigie, because… what do I talk about? Great player? Check. Bags of potential? Check. Attitude? Erm… depends who you ask. I thought Sam was finally going to break through when he got to the Last 8 of the UK Championship, before pushing Mark Allen hard. But after that and the Last 16 in the Scottish Open, it’s been a series of Last 64 exits. This bracket is nasty to predict.
Section 6 Final: (30) Joe O’Connor vs. (66) David Grace
Hands up, I was this close to saying Louis Heathcote. But this should be a very good match, two players not afraid to go for their shots, two players who will put everything on the line to win. And I think this is finally Joe’s year. In his four seasons as a pro, twice he’s lost on Judgement Day, and twice he’s been one frame away from Judgement Day. Clearly he’s comfortable in longer formats, and I think this is the time. As for Grace, it’ll be de ja vu, as I think he’s suffering the same defeat as last year. SECTION 6 RESULT: JOE O’CONNOR 10-6 David Grace
SECTION 7
This bracket has a grand total of one player who’s done anything this season. Peng Yisong has largely floundered in his first season on tour, the 19 year old having won four matches in Ranking events (although one of them was against Mark Selby in the German Masters quals), and outside of the Championship League, his highest break is only 75, which isn’t going to be winning many matches. He’s taking on Mike Georgiou, who is a sleeper pick for the best player to not be pro right now, and I have the London-born Cypriot as favourite here.
As mentioned before, there’s one player in this bracket who’s had any kind of decent season. Mark Davis is NOT that player at all (sorry to a certain Mark Davis fan). As mentioned in the Tour Survival blog (which I highly reccommend reading for a bit more info on some players because I’m not recounting info here), Mark has had a dreadful season, and realistically needs to reach the Crucible to stay on tour. A match between he and Georgiou may be worth a watch though on Discovery+ (which I am not sponsored by, but if they want to sponsor me, I wouldn’t complain!)
And now we come to the bracket’s form player (although that’s like calling Leona Lewis the most successful X Factor winner, it’s basically by default). Lyu hasn’t actually done much since back to back QF appearences at the start of the season (British and NI Opens), although he did recently destroy Joe O’Connor 4-1 in a bizarre match where the lowest break was 90. The standard these days eh? Anyway, he’s not done much since but is probably the favourite for this bracket.
On the other side, we have a Panda. In Leeds. That isn’t in a zoo. Sanderson Lam is another player who has perfected the art of looking amazing at Q School, and basically nowhere else. Six wins this season, although he probably should have reached the Last 16 of the Welsh Open. Sanderson is a lovely guy though, and you would expect him to see off Liam Pullen, the WSF Junior Champion. Looking forward to seeing Liam on tour next season though, he’s got a huge future.
Mitchell Mann, as I mentioned in the Tour Survival blog, has been very disappointing. Clearly an excellent player, once a Crucible player may I remind you (and myself), Mitchell just feels like he’s going nowhere sadly, only four wins in Ranking events this season, and he’s not won a match at the venue stages in over a year. He might get past Lam or Pullen, but he isn’t getting past Perry.
Joe Perry had a great season last season. And this season has… existed for him. He reached the Quarters of the UK Championship, defeating an unwell Neil Robertson and a totally out of form Stuart Bingham, but hasn’t done much else notable. Five Last 32 exits (four of which were in a row), and a smattering of early exits. Joe is a mighty fine player though and has bags of experience.
Section 7 Final: (67) Mark Davis vs. (31) Joe Perry
Just call this a judgement call. There are few more motivating things in Snooker than surviving. And Mark Davis knows how to get to the Crucible. But I don’t think he’s winning this match. Joe Perry is a very classy operator, and is clearly very happy to just quietly go about his business in the qualifiers. A routine win for Perry, and Mavis may well be sweating until the last balls are potted. Getting to Judgement Day may just save him on the one year list, but he’ll need some help. SECTION 7 PREDICTION: Mark Davis 5-10 Joe Perry
Section 8
Aww, doesn’t Dechawat and Mink sound like such a lovely match? Dechawat’s been so much fun since he returned to the tour, his antics at the Shootout were great, he’s done jack sh*t other than that (he’s won one other match that wasn’t in the Six Reds), but that’s not really the point of Poomjaeng is it? As for Mink, bags of potential, some great performances (especially in the mixed doubles), and I think she’ll beat Dechawat quite handily.
Matthew Stevens is… still here. Look, I’m trying not to be biased, but I’ve been a Matthew Stevens fan for nearly two decades now (god I feel old saying that). And I don’t care, I still get this exited rush every time I see him playing, especially when he wins. He peaked this season in the British Open, defeating Maguire, Un-Nooh and Steadman (yes that does feel backwards), before being pulped by Haotian in the Last 16 (not the only player to suffer that fate this season). Love Matthew, great player on his day, I still believe he has a title in him at some stage if the stars align well enough (just less falling apart from 4-0 up in qualifiers please, my heart rate can’t take it).
Jamie Clarke, oh boyo boyo something something Snookerbacker and his wife (this joke will be alien to anyone not well versed in Snooker Twitter). Last 16 at the UK Championship for Jamie, winning a very strange match with Mark Williams in the Last 32, including winning a frame needing a snooker on the Pink. Other than that there’s a smattering of Last 32s here and there, but it’s been an oddly uneventful season. He’ll probably be hoping Matthew gets to this stage so we can have a Camarthanshire derby.
Fraser Patrick hasn’t played a competitive match in three months. After losing in the six reds qualifiers at the start of the year, he didn’t appear at the Welsh Open, nor the WST Classic. It’s a pity, because before Christmas he had his best result of the season, reaching the Last 32 of the English Open, before mustering 33 points in four frames against Judd Trump. It was a rather subdued Trump as well, he only performed 19 banana shots, and at no point did the cue ball cry at how hard it had been hit. I’d expect him to see off Barry Pinches (who is apparently still playing) or Ross Bulman who reached the Last 4 of the recent EBSA European Amateur Championship in Malta.
And now we come to the real big fish in this section, Dave Gilbert. The Angry Farmer (he’s not even that angry) has the world’s best man cave. However, his results haven’t been what you’d have hoped this season, a QF in the Northern Ireland Open, where he lost a 4-2 lead against Zhou Yuelong. Other than that, a handful of Last 32s.
Section 8 Final: (54) Matthew Stevens vs. (22) David Gilbert
It’s pretty open and shut – the top half is likely to be the winner of the Camarthanshire-off, and I’ll be amazed if Dave Gilbert doesn’t get through the other half. This is honestly hard to predict, because it’s as simple as if the Dr. Jekyll side of Gilbert is present or if it’s his Hyde side. You’d expect him to be able to motivate himself for this though, and as much as I like Matthew, I don’t think he’s beating a form Gilbert. SECTION 8 RESULT: Matthew Stevens 6-10 DAVID GILBERT
Section 9
Welcome to the bottom half of the draw, something which means… basically nothing now I think of it… Steven Hallworth! Great commentator, very genuine person, reached the Last 16 of the British Open as an amateur this season, eventual Semi-Finalist Robbie Williams beat him there in a decider. He’s facing John Astley, the Gateshead cueman reached the Last 16 of the English Open, going down to Mark Allen. Both impressive players, should be a close match.
It’s been a less impressive season for Craig Steadman (we really do have all the journeymen here), four Ranking wins, a Last 32 appearance in the British Open his highlight. Like the previous two, Steadman is a very solid player, just always seems a step below the level required for tour survival. Whoever he faces, it could be another nailbiter, Steadman has this way of making himself difficult to beat.
Talking of difficult to beat, Anthony McGill is granite at the Crucible. Semi-Finalist three years ago, Quarter-Finalist two years ago, made eventual runner-up Judd Trump work hard last year. This season’s rule of thumb has been that you have to play extremely well to beat Anthony. He had a SF in Belfast (including an all time classic with Yan Bingtao where he won the decider from 62-0 down), only to be undone 6-4 by Zhou Yuelong, who made four tons. Duane Jones made four breaks above 86 in the UK Championship, N. Robertson made three breaks above 87 in the Scottish Open, and Murphy made two tons in the Welsh Open. You would anticipate few issues for McGill here, this is his format.
You know how last season, Si Jiahui and Michael White had fantastic seasons as Amateurs? Yeah, well Dan Wells has been them this season, and then some. Six Last 32s and three Last 16s, including a Semi-Final at the Shootout. That’s lead to Wells being 37th on the One Year List. For reference, this season Daniel Wells has been statistically a better player than JOHN HIGGINS. And yet technically he’s still only the 3rd best player from Neath, a town with a population of around 50,000. Anyway, before I inflate his ego too much, he’s almost certainly going to be on tour next season through the one year list, and I expect him to cruise past Himanshu Jain, who has not only won just two matches this season, but has a high break of just 66 in his first season as a professional.
Did someone say Journeymen earlier? (If your answer is no, what’s the rush? Why skim read?) Anyway, Ben Wollaston, WST’s resident coffee snob has… listen it’s hard to talk about players like Ben. Technically sound, no reason why they shouldn’t be near the top of the game, but at the same time, no reason why they should. Ben is good in every department, but never quite seems to have taken the next step and elevated his game. He’s ended each of the past 10 seasons ranked between 27 and 46, which I think sort of sums his career up – more than solid enough to make a career out of snooker without ever really becoming a superstar. Gee, should really do a deep dive on this subject at sometime… Anyway, Ben will be disappointed with his season, he’s only been beyond the Last 64 twice, and once was the Shootout. The other was a Last 16 at the British Open though, where he beat Mark Williams 4-1 along the way, before losing to Jamie Jones of Neath. So this is a sort of opportunity for revenge against a medium-sized town in Wales.
And then we come to Cao Yupeng, who has been so average this season it’s genuinely impressive. Out of nine ranking events (excluding the Championship League which is a different format), Cao has gone out in the Last 32 five times, including each of the last 4 events. You want to know the last time he didn’t reach the Last 32 exactly in a Ranker? December. The most indefensible of these was in the German Masters, where he lost a decider to Louis Heathcote 5-4, having lead 3-0 (even if one was a Respotted Black). Tough one to call this, three very good candidates in the bottom half (sorry Himanshu, you at least have the best facial hair in the bracket).
SECTION 9 FINAL: (20) Anthony McGill vs. (a) Daniel Wells
I was all set to go with McGill vs. Wollaston, but the more I thought, the more I realised that over Best of 19, I just cannot see Ben beating Dan Wells. And Cao’s been uninspired this season as well. And hey, we could have back to back Neath Amaterus in the Crucible (Michael White did it last year). But I’m not predicting a repeat, Anthony is such a good player over a long format, he has this knack of knowing the right shot, I call it “John Higgins Syndrome”. SECTION 9 RESULT: ANTHONY MCGILL 10-5 Daniel Wells
Section 10
Ah, I’m supposed to be rooting for Jimmy here (because everybody is), but I can’t. Even so, an absolutely brutal top half. A few years ago, saying Marco Fu vs. Martin O’Donnell would be a first round match in the World Qualifiers would have sounded ridiculous, but time progresses, and now Marco is the World Number 103 and Martin has spent this season battling away on the Q Tour, which he ended up topping the standings of. I think this could be a sleeper hit of the entire qualifiers.
Jimmy White should be on tour by right next season rather than with an ITC, and contrary to probable belief, I couldn’t be happier. Because to be honest, giving him ITCs constantly rather than letting him survive of his own accord is demeaning to Jimmy, who practices much harder now than he did when he was in his pomp. I don’t need to tell you Jimmy’s had an excellent season (not least because I already waxed lyrical about him in the TS blog). I’m just not sure how he’ll do here though – he admitted to running out of steam in the Last 16 of the WST Classic. Father time catches up with everyone eventually.
Noppon Saengkham is the top seed in this section, and it’s been a season of excellent progress for the 30 year old, reaching two Semi-Finals, the first time he’s reached multiple in the same season. He’s actually a bit unfortunate this season that both times he’s run into an inspired Mark Allen, losing 6-1 each time. He’s also had a couple of Last 16s, and in general has been excellent this season. Don’t be afraid to stick some money on him.
Right, if you’ve been on Snooker Twitter recently, you’ll know about a competition called the World Cup of Snooker Twitter. I went out in the group stages (predictably), but a certain Andres Petrov messaged me to let me know he’d voted for me. As a result I now want him to win every event until the end of time. The season’s been a bit of a struggle though, although he did show a lot of talent in the UK Championships, winning three qualifying matches (including against Jackson Page and Gary Wilson), before going down 6-3 to Xiao in the last qualifying round. I reckon he’ll be too much for Stan Moody though, the 16 year old from Halifax securing a tour place for next season as WSF Junior Champion.
Zhang Anda I talked about in great detail a few times before, most recently in the Tour Survival blog, but to sum up: great player, massively underperformed his potential throughout his career, should finish in the Top 64 for the first time ever this season. Andres does have a decent chance here though – when Zhang is good, he’s incredible. When he’s not, he is REALLY bad. There is no in between, and even when he’s good, he has this tendency to miss important balls randomly. See also Kurt Maflin, Michael Holt, Ricky Walden etc. – they always have a miss in them.
Now now Xiao, as mentioned above he denied Andres a place at the Barbican, and capitalised on this win by… losing a pretty poor match to Judd Trump 6-5. You look at the scoring in that match and think it must have been amazing, but in reality it was chock full of poor shots and missed opportunities. It’s a pity, because Xiao has had a fantastic season, reaching a pair of Quarter-Finals in the World Grand Prix and German Masters, even if I think he’ll be disappointed at losing the momentum after going 3-2 up on Lisowski in Berlin.
SECTION 10 FINAL: (32) Noppon Saengkham vs. (37) Xiao Guodong
I love Andres, I think he’s a really cool guy, but I like getting things right, and I just don’t see him beating Xiao over BO19. This match though? Sounds like it rules. Two very high scoring players in form, whoever wins will be a nasty draw at the Crucible (unless Noppon draws Allen again, in which case he’ll win 1 frame). I really fancy Noppon here, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Xiao turns up and just rips him apart, Xiao has the habit of doing that. SECTION 10 PREDICTION: NOPPON SAENGKHAM 10-8 Xiao Guodong
Section 11
Right, this might be a shorter one, because looking at this for just a few seconds, I can already tell you six players who aren’t winning this section. Bulcsu Revesz (a name I have no ability to pronounce) is the European Under-18 Champion, and is clearly one for the future. I’m excited to see what he can do against Jamie O’Neill, who I’m pretty sure has been fined more than he’s earned this season. Andy Hicks, who has reached the Last 32 once this season, is a former World Semi-Finalist. It was… only 28 years ago. He’ll probably win his first match.
Graeme Dott feels like an increasingly fading force in the game. The 2006 World Champion reached the Last 16 of the British Open, but that’s the only time this season he’s won multiple matches in an event (excluding the non-ranking Championship League). It’s been a real struggle this season, a real disappointment after he did well last term.
Haydon Pinhey has to be turning pro soon, right? The 26 year old from Plymouth has reached the last match in a Q School event three years in a row, but has lost out each time (to Jamie Wilson, Dean Young and Jenson Kendrick). He recently reached the Last 32 of the WST Classic, but lost out to Lukas Kleckers. He’s up against Dean Young, who denied him a tour card two years ago, and I think it’ll be close. Dean has shown promise as a professional but is clearly well below the level of consistency he needs to be. He is only 21 though, so he’s got a long future.
Awaiting next is Peter Lines, who needs to reach the Crucible to stand any realistic chance of avoiding Q School (he could do so by reaching the last qualifying round, but he’d need a bunch of players above him on the one year list to lose their opener. Suffice to say I don’t think that’s happening.
And now we come to the very clear favourite for this section, Matthew Selt. Matt was a bit of a journeyman for a while, but in the past couple of years, he’s become quite reliable in terms of winning matches. His season hasn’t been that good though, reaching a couple of Last 32s including the UK Championship. His best results have come in the Championship League, where he competed in all 7 groups, making 23 centuries along the way, but didn’t quite make the Winner’s Group. Still a very heavy favourite for this section though.
SECTION 11 FINAL: (40) Graeme Dott vs. (29) Matthew Selt
This is actually quite hard to call, because Selt does have a tendency to blow up in big matches (at this stage last year, he lost six out of the last seven frames from 6-4 up against Thepchaiya, two years ago he lost 10-3 to Barry Hawkins at the Crucible, three years ago he lost 10-1 to Kurt Maflin etc. etc.), but he is still an extremely good player. Dott on the other hand is still a canny fellow, but I don’t think he’s the same player he was twelve months ago. I’ve got Selt for this one but I wouldn’t bet on him being one of the harder draws at the Crucible. SECTION 11 FINAL: Graeme Dott 4-10 Matthew Selt
Section 12
International flavour to this section – we have Egypt, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the most foreign of them all – The West Midlands. Mohammed Ibrahim has had a tough first season on tour, winning only twice. The Egyptian has shown a decent amount of ability though, and I’m interested to see how he does next season. His opposition is Anton Kazakov, who hasn’t won a match since the Championship League right back in August, when he beat Tom Ford, although he did just make his first professional century in the WST Classic, but lost 4-3 to Jackson Page having lead 3-1.
Mark Joyce is another player who, repeat after me, I mentioned in my Tour Survival blog. As I touched on there, Mark is really up against it in terms of tour survival, so he needs something big here. You’d expect him to beat Ibrahim or Kazakov, but I’m not sure the Walsall Wood cueist has a win over Thepchaiya in his future.
I’m about to make myself very unpopular here, but there’s something I read on Twitter last week (forgive me that I don’t remember who said it) that I agree with – Thepchaiya is one of the most overrated players on tour. I’m not claiming for a moment that he is anything other than a very good player, but I don’t think he’s nearly at the standard that most people think he is. I’ve seen things talking about him being Top 16 level, and I think that’s incredibly generous at best, and bordering on delusional at worst. Still think he’s getting through this half though.
Down at the bottom, it’s been a very impressive first season at this level for Dylan Emery. The former wonderkid just turned 22 the other day (for the record, today for me is the 2nd April), and while he’s only won six matches, he’s put in some damn good performances. Breaks of 107, 100, and 89 against Li Hang in the English Open qualifiers, a 98 break at 3-0 down to Mark Allen in the English Open, a 113 break in coming from 3-1 down to beat Tom Ford in the Scottish Open qualifiers, and a 134 and 104 against Adam Duffy in the UK qualifiers, there’s been signs that Dylan is very capable at this level. Opposition is provided by Ma Hailong, the Guangzhou teenager also qualifying for next season’s professional ranks by winning the WSF Championship. And yes you will be getting another Meet the Contestants, but not until after Q School has concluded for reasons which should be obvious.
Ian Burns hasn’t had a good season, but he did do quite well at the UK Championship, beating Kazakov 6-3 (from 3-1 down), Steadman 6-4 (from 3-1 and 4-2 down), and the bloke we’re talking about in about four lines’ time, Ricky Walden 6-3 (from 5-1 up for a change). Sadly for Preston’s finest (well since Ian McCulloch called it a day anyway), it’s the only time he’s won multiple matches in an event this season. I think he’ll do well to get to Ricky.
Well I did say “about” four lines. So Ricky. Remember last year when we were talking about Ricky’s revival and how he’d had a great season? Yeah, well that comeback lasted as far as the second event of this season. He reached the Final Groups in the ranking Championship League (seriously WST, just CHANGE THE NAME OF ONE OF THEM), but wouldn’t taste the Last 16 this season until the German Masters, and even that was with a walkover in the Last 32 against a suspended Yan Bingtao, and coming from 4-2 down in the Last 64 against Adam Duffy. It’s really not been Ricky’s year, but he’ll still fancy his chances here.
SECTION 12 FINAL: (45) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs. (24) Ricky Walden
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if either half of this prediction is wrong. There’s not a lot to go off in terms of form here, unless you want to really read into Theppy reaching the final of the Six-Reds, which can only give you so much I feel. Regardless, I think Thepchaiya’s winning here, he’s got a solid record in qualifying having qualified four of the last five seasons. I feel like his style somewhat suits longer formats, because his mistakes will be balanced out by the brave shots that do go in. Also he could have had a much worse draw here, if he had just 1000 less on his current ranking, he’d be facing Vafaei, and that would be a much different prospect. SECTION 12 RESULT: THEPCHAIYA UN-NOOH 10-6 Ricky Walden
section 13
This is another funny section, because you can argue the most impressive players aren’t in the last qualifying round. Nor is it referring to Michael Judge, because I find him GUILTY of having not won a match since the UK Championship qualifiers. In fact since the turn of the year, his highest break is 59, laughable at this level. In fact he’s won five matches since the start of LAST SEASON. I sense he’ll be easy pickings for Florian Nussle, who had one of the matches of the season in the European Masters qualifiers, being pipped on the colours in a decider against Matthew Stevens despite being the better player, and was one match away from turning professional in the Q Tour Playoffs, losing to Ashley Carty (who bizarrely isn’t in these qualifiers).
I name-dropped him earlier, Si Jiahui is here. He’s not set the world alight this season, but he’s the 3rd highest ranked player who is on the first season of their tour card (just behind Julien Leclerq and #1 is in the next section (you can probably work it out from there). Si had his first Ranking QF early doors at the European Masters, taking out an impressive murderer’s row of Tian, McGill, Xiao and Wells, only being stopped by eventual champion Kyren Wilson. I expect him to beat Nussle, to book a meeting with…
Tom Ford. Model T has been one of the stars of the season. Mr. Happy actually had an awful start, losing to Anton Kazakov in the Championship League, Lines Jr. at the European Masters, and Mitchell Mann at the British Open. Since then, he’s been in a Semi-Final at the UK Championship (losing 6-3 to Ding having trailed 5-0), the Quarters of the Shootout (losing to Dan Wells), culminating in the German Masters final, having won a decider against Jack Lisowski from 52-0 behind. In the final he met Ali Carter, and went 2-0 up… before losing 10 of the next 11 frames in a performance that could be generously described as “poor”, and less generously as “sh*t”.
Since then, Cheerful Charlie has reached another Semi, but it was the Six Reds, which we’re not interested in for the purposes of this. I would think he could see off Si, but you never quite know what you’re getting with Tom, he blows very hot and very cold seemingly at random.
In the south half, Asjad Iqbal is a very smiley person. He had an interview done in his native tongue earlier in the season, and I was amazed at just how proud he is of his culture and where he’s come from. He had a decent run to Q3 at the UK Championship, overcoming two very experienced campaigners in Gerard Greene and Barry Pinches, before shockingly leading Hossein Vafaei 4-3, only to lose 6-4. It’s been a promising start, and you expect he’ll beat Jenson Kendrick, who, for all his talent, is yet to taste victory as a professional, although curiously he’s only lost to nil once this season (excluding the Shootout), and that was to Kyren Wilson. So it’s not that he can’t be at the level, he just isn’t at the level frequently enough.
Dominic Dale, a player who we uncovered a number of conspiracies about recently (get this – he’s using a fake name!) reached the Semi-Finals at the Shootout this season, marking his first Ranking Semi since 2016. Much of a muchness other than that, got to the last qualifying round of the UK Champs, losing to Jimmy White, he’s had a couple of Last 32s, nothing much aside from that. He’s a wily old campaigner with a devious mind though, and I think he’ll be too clever for Asjad.
Jordan Bomber Brown. Antrim’s second favourite son (at least in Snooker terms) started off the season quite well, with a Last 16 and a couple of Last 32s. But his season has completely derailed since he wasted a 2-0 lead against best mate Mark Allen at the UK Championship (incidentally if you want sheer masochistic comedy, watch Jordan’s reaction to the draw, it’s probably floating around the endless void that is YouTube), as he has since won two matches in Ranking events. Good player, bad form, tale as old as time.
SECTION 13 FINAL: (25) Tom Ford vs. (59) Dominic Dale
Going for a surprise in this one. Tom’s season has been very good, but I just feel like he’s about due a terrible performance, it’s just how he seems to work. Dom may not be the flashiest player, but if you’re in danger of having an off day, he is not somebody you want to be trifling with. It doesn’t make sense in the formbook, but when you have a hunch, there’s often a reason. Just don’t let Rob Walker encourage him to start singing afterwards, he’ll never stop. SECTION 13 RESULT: Tom Ford 3-10 DOMINIC DALE
Section 14
Oh Mikey Boy! Michael White (who I am petitioning to now call Mikey Lightning) is here, and as teased above, he’s earned more money than anyone else who is on the first year of their tour card, having got himself £34,500 this season. The thing with Michael is, even when he’s lost, quite often he’s played well, like when he took John Higgins to a decider at the WST Classic, or when he somehow didn’t beat Mark Williams 4-0, and ended up losing 4-2 – he largely played brilliantly for four frames. He’s had a QF at the Shootout this season (an event he always seems to do quite well in), and reached the Last 16 at the NI Open, where he beat Highfield, Ding, and Hawkins, only being stopped by Mark Selby. I fully expect him to beat Aaron Hill (who has won six matches and has proven incapable of keeping a lead) or Baipat Siripaporn, the 23 year old having recently been crowned as the Women’s tour champion.
Chris Wakelin beat Michael in the Shootout. He went on to win the entire event, his first professional title. It’s far from the only good result this season though, as he reached the Last 8 at the German Masters, defeating Astley, Woollaston, Si and N. Robertson, before falling to eventual runner-up Rob Milkins, who even made a 147 in that match. Chris is eternally underappreciated, but on his day he can hang with the best of them, and doesn’t lack belief. Expect him to be dangerous
Allan Taylor reached Judgement Day last season, but was ruthlessly polished off 10-1 by Scott Donaldson. So Allan has responded to that great run by… winning three matches this season. The thing is, it’s not like they were weak players either – one was against Jenson Kendrick, but the other two were over Yuan Sijun and Jordan Brown, hardly bottom tier professionals. He’s won at least two matches in World Qualifying in two of the last three seasons though, and I expect him to see off the Latvian 18 year old Filips Kalnins, who reached the Semis of the WSF Junior Championship, before falling to Liam Pullen. Kalnins shows promise, but is likely well away from becoming a professional.
Wu Yize is a very interesting prospect. The 19 year old from Lanzhou on the banks of the Yellow River qualified for the tour through impressive performances on the CBSA China Tour, and has among other results, beaten Luca Brecel 5-1 (European Masters Last 64), beaten Ryan Day (European Masters Last 16), beaten Jamie Jones 6-4 (UK Championship), won five frames in a row against Matthew Stevens from 4-0 down (UK Championship, lost 6-5 eventually), and beaten Zhou Yuelong 4-0 (Welsh Open qualifiers). He also seems to have a slightly odd way of standing over the shot, sort of feels like how a giraffe would play (tbf it’s taken fourteen and a half entries for me to say something weird). Taylor will have to find his A game to stand a chance I feel.
Tian Pengfei confuses me, this is a well established fact. He was a Semi-Finalist at the Welsh Open, beating Holt, J. White, Carter, Higgins and O’Sullivan (the last one was 5-0), and then threw in a pretty lousy performance against Milkins in the Semis. What is it with this section and losing to Rob Milkins? Anyway, he’s also had a couple of Last 16s, and if he turns up in form, is a devastating opponent. If he doesn’t, god only knows.
SECTION 14 FINAL: (76) Michael White vs. (48) Tian Pengfei
Very difficult bracket to call, three very good candidates in Wakelin, Tian and White (four if you squint slightly with Wu). And I’m backing my boy on this one. Michael’s scoring has always been somewhat of a barometer for how he’s playing, and his scoring this season has been pretty good. Only 8 centuries this season, but he’s been doing well with his chances when he’s been in the balls. Tian is good but I never have faith in him stringing together two good performances. SECTION 14 RESULT: MICHAEL WHITE 10-7 Tian Pengfei
Section 15
The bracket of poor form (again). Stuart Carrington is in huge danger of dropping off the tour, and probably needs to reach the Crucible to avoid that fate. It’s a shame for a player who a few years back I was convinced was the next big thing in Snooker. He was around the Top 32, he was regularly reaching the Last 32/Last 16 of events, and was one of the most consistent scorers on tour. Now he’s provisionally 68th in the world on the EOS rankings and has won 15 matches in two years. He’s had two Last 32s this season, but not much else. He’ll take on either Iulian Boiko, the Ukrainian wonderkid or Muhammad Asif, who has managed three wins this season and hasn’t gone beyond the Last 64 at any point.
Fan Zhengyi has established himself as a decent threat this term. He’s shown promise with a pair of Last 32s, actually coming in back to back events at the Shootout and German Masters. His best result of the season though wasn’t in a Ranking event, as he was a Semi-Finalist at the Champion of Champions. Nothing too much other than that though, and I remain unconvinced that his Welsh Open win was a breakthrough so much as a fluke.
If you think Stuart Carrington is in danger though, look at Alex Ursenbacher. The Swiss Fish (because that nickname will never not be funny) has earned only £14,500 this season, and sits 82nd on the End of season rankings. Alfie Burden or Bex Kenna his opponent, Kenna has won only 7 frames this season in Ranking events, but looked very good in the World Mixed Doubles, or Alfie Burden, whose best results came in the UK Championship qualifiers, losing a very good 3rd qualifying round match to Tom Ford.
Finally the big name in the section, Stephen Maguire. And would you believe, he’s also had a bad season. It started alright, with a Last 16 in Belfast and the last 32 in the Scottish Open. Since then though it’s been an unmitigated disaster, winning two more matches. Despite all that, he’s still the favourite for the bracket. Says a lot when you think about it.
SECTION 15 Final: (34) Fan Zhengyi vs. (33) Stephen Maguire
Look, I’m sorry for the lack of quality insight here, but there’s only so many ways you can say “X Player has been terrible this season but he has a chance because everyone else has been”. I’m going for Mags on this one because he’s Stephen Maguire, and he always finds a way to qualify for the Crucible. It’s just what he does, at this point I’m pretty sure he would only play in this event if he could get away with it. Fan has done nothing to convince me he’ll win here, and I’m not even convinced he’ll beat Carrington, which speaks volumes. Maguire to win here, and to be bigged up as one of the scariest draws when in fact that’s only true about 10% of the time. SECTION 15 RESULT: Fan Zhengyi 4-10 Stephen Maguire
Section 16
And finally, Section 16 and my opportunity to talk about how much I like watching Jak Jones play. I enjoy watching the more considered players, when you can see the process, and Jak is absolutely one of those players. Ironically he actually should have beaten Chris Wakelin at the Shootout, only for Wakelin to pull out a couple of miracle pots to edge him en route to winning the tournament. He also reached the Last 16 at the Welsh, beating Mark Williams on the way but losing out to Pang Junxu. I… was just expecting a little more from Jak I’ll be honest. Adam Duffy or Billy Castle will be the opposition, Castle having been quite impressive on the Q Tour this season and a likely candidate for Q School success.
I have a grudge against Robbie Williams now, because the two worst matches I’ve ever sat through both involved him. There was a terrible match against Ricky Walden at the Crucible a few years ago (which criminally was televised over Michael White and Sam Baird), and then there was a match with Ryan Day at the British Open which would have been frankly hysterical if a) it wasn’t a RANKING EVENT SEMI-FINAL, and b) people didn’t have to pay to get into the arena for it. More on that in the end of season awards.
Almost home. Gerard Greene is… around. It’s been a rather miserable season for him – outside of the Shootout, he’s not won a match since AUGUST, and barring a miracle he’ll be headed to Q School. He’ll take on David Lilley or Rory McLeod, and boy did Lilley miss an opportunity last season against Ding on Judgement Day, he was by far the better player in the first session.
Finally we come to Barry Hawkins, it’s 10 years since he last had to qualify. That year he beat 2nd seed Mark Selby 10-3. Now I’m not saying history repeats itself, but Mark is the 2nd seed this year. Funny thing is, Barry has been a Ranking finalist this season. The final on the other hand, erm… it was certainly a match. But when the most interesting thing that happened is the handshake before the match, you know it wasn’t very good. Still I can’t see him losing this half of the bracket, he’s basically been gifted a free win (although if he faces McLeod it will still take about three weeks).
SECTION 16 FINAL: (53) Jak Jones vs. (18) Barry Hawkins
I mean the bottom half is basically a gift for Barry. As for the top half, it’s Jak or Robbie, and out of sheer bitterness I’ve gone for Jak. I do think Jak could win this, but I’m just not prepared to back against Barry here. He’s a very good player, he’ll be a terrifying draw for whichever seed draws him (I want to see him face Ronnie because Hawkins Ronnie Ding would be a truly terrifying section). SECTION 16 RESULT: Jak Jones 5-10 BARRY HAWKINS
Hi guys, been gone a couple of months (again), I’ve had a lot on in my personal life, but I’m hoping to update you more on that in the close season. Anyway, this is the Tour Survival update after the WST Classic (an event which wasn’t a thing when I published the last Tour Survival blog). Like before, I’m covering players from 60 to 75 on the provisional End of Season list, and like last time, I will include their current rankings on both the two year and one year lists. These won’t be in great depth though, other than covering what each player needs to do in order to survive at the World Qualifiers.
60TH: LU NING
Well this is a good start isn’t it? Lu is suspended, and the trial of the suspended players is taking place DURING THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Don’t ask me why. Anyway, being suspended beyond the World qualifiers means that he is likely going to fall off the tour, even if he doesn’t get suspended. Oh, you didn’t hear about the suspensions? Well don’t worry, I made an entire video about it! (Click Here to watch the video). So I’m moving straight on to 61. VERDICT: Probably not going to survive
61st: Oli Lines (Current ranking: 65, One-Year Ranking: 78)
What a difference a week makes. Going into the WST Classic, Oli was being pulled right into the survival battle, having mustered two wins in ranking events all season. But from nowhere, he put a run together, seeing off Mitchell Mann, Neil Robertson, Lyu Haotian and Scott Donaldson, before being edged out by Pang Junxu in the Last 8.
That run earned him £11,000, putting him £9500 over the drop zone. One win in World Championship qualifying will probably see him home safely, but he’ll need a win most likely, because he isn’t far enough ahead to resist the amounts from World Qualifying, and he is still £6000 short on the one year list. VERDICT: Probably fine with a single win
62ND: Dominic Dale (Current Ranking: 56, OYR: 47)
Well our darling Dom is still around (having, let’s be honest, lucked into surviving last season), and he’s been significantly better this season. Since we last talked, he’s gained another £4500 from a Last 32 appearance at the Welsh Open, crucifying Neil Robertson 4-0, before losing to Yuan Sijun in a match that had a peculiar number of breaks of exactly 60 (Yuan had two 60s, Dom had a 60, the referee had a 60… ok maybe not the last one, but you get the point)
Dom is actually better off than Oli as he’s placed rather handily on both lists. On the two year list, £8500 is not inconsiderable, and on the one year, he’s currently in line for the 3rd wildcard should he depart the 64. So well done Dom, if that is indeed your real name… VERDICT: Barring a number of results conspiring against him, the Spaceman will sing another season.
(Oh, and I’ve just looked it up, it turns out he actually ISN’T called Dominic, he’s called Chris. Honestly, next you’ll be telling me he’s not even Welsh!)
63RD: David Grace (Current ranking: 69, OYR: 53)
From our resident singer (and cue nerd) to our resident painter. David Grace, already the second player featured from Leeds (but not the last one), reached the Last 16 of the Welsh, defeating Ryan Thomerson, Ronnie O’Sullivan (by walkover, apparently because of an elbow issue, but we all know he was just intimidated by Dave’s height), and Jamie Jones, before being outgunned by fellow “Northerner who wasn’t always a Snooker player” Gary “The Geordie Dinosaur” Wilson (no I’m not letting go of that nickname).
In this closest of survival battles, David is actually in a very similar position to international man of mystery Mr. Dale, being £1000 behind him on the two year rolling list, and having a £2500 gap behind him to 4th on the one year wildcards. Nervy times, but I think he’ll be fine. VERDICT: Similar to Dale, Grace will be fine barring a chain reaction of conspiring results.
64th: zHANG aNDA (cURRENT rANKING: 68, oyr: 58)
Has Zhang missed his chance? At the WST Classic, he won a topsy turvy match 4-3 against everyone’s favourite Rapper come ITV Game Show contestant come Snooker player Peter Devlin, and then lead eventual champion Mark Selby 2-0, before losing 4-3.
There’s not a great deal to say about his position in the rankings, because he’s in a very similar position to the previous two. He has a £6500 gap over his nearest rival on the rolling list, and on the one year list, he is quite literally sandwiched between 3rd and 4th, seperated from both by a mere £500. It’s tight, but you feel like Zhang may never have a better opportunity to finish in the Top 64 for the first time. VERDICT: Zhang is not as nicely placed on the one year list as some of his rivals. Similar to Oli Lines, winning a match is a must, but one should be enough on one of the lists
65TH: Hammad Miah (Current Ranking: 70, OYR: 59)
Does anyone remember Hammad Miah’s mad dashes to get to Q School two years ago? It was worth it, because he currently sits at his highest ever ranking, of 70th, and he’s set to go even higher. He lost in the Last 64 of the WST Classic, Jamie Jones dispatching him in a decider with a break of 131, the 5th time this season that Miah has fallen at that stage of an event.
Despite this, picking up money in most events has given him the last of the four wildcards provisionally, and he has a gap of £3000 on the one year list to Mark Joyce, while on the rolling list he trails Zhang by £6500. All in all, Hammad’s future is in the balance. Verdict: Could go either way, but I fancy him to survive on the one year list if nothing else. One win at the World qualifiers would likely suffice.
66th: mARK JOYCE (Current Ranking: 55, OYR: 67)
Do not be fooled by Mark Joyce being 55th in the world right now – he is in big trouble. He has the money for qualifying for the Crucible coming off his ranking after Worlds, and after a positive start to the season (winning two of his group matches in the Championship League and reaching the Last 32 of the European Masters), the wheels have fallen off, winning a mere four matches in Ranking events since then.
On the rolling list, he’s level with Miah, £6500 adrift. He’s fifth on the race for a one year list card, £3000 behind Miah. For reference, he’s well behind Grace and Dale as well, so he can’t just rely on Miah moving into the Top 64 to solve his issues. Troubling times for the Walsall Wood native, and a very uncertain future. VERDICT: Doesn’t look particularly good for Joyce, he likely needs multiple wins. It feels like he’s too good to drop off tour, but then again, I thought the same about Holt and Maflin.
67TH: xu Si (Current Ranking: 71, OYR: 57)
Another player who is in unchartered territory by being in the survival battle is Xu Si. The five season professional reached the Last 32 of the WST Classic, seeing off Ding and Un-Nooh before losing to Ali Carter, his 4th Last 32 of the season.
The wins at the Classic were incredibly important when it comes to ranking points, as it has seen him move into the 3rd spot on the one year list cards, and he is within £11,000 of the Top 64 on the rolling list, relevant because entering in the 2nd qualifying round, that means that one win could technically move him into the Top 64, with defeats for the three players above him. It’s looking promising for Xu, but the job is far from done. VERDICT: One win and Xu should be fine. Losing his opener in the World Qualifiers will almost certainly condemn him, but I expect he’ll stay on through the one year list.
68TH: Stuart Carrington (Current Ranking: 62, OYr; 69)
Stuart is in big trouble still. The WST Classic draw didn’t do him any favours, matching him up with a Last 64 clash with Kyren Wilson. A 4-0 defeat there has left him drifting. Theoretically one win away on the rolling list (if the four players above him lose), realistically that isn’t going to happen though, the one year list is realistically his only major hope. VERDICT: Carrington knows how to reach Judgement Day, but has not done so in the past two seasons. He’ll probably need to do that again to survive.
69TH: lI hANG (sUSPENDED)
Li Hang is suspended, and will drop off the tour at the end of the season as a result. NEXT! VERDICT: DNF
70TH: lIANG wENBO (sUSPENDED)
FFS! As Above, NEXT! VERDICT: DOA
71ST: Mark Davis (cURRENT rANKING: 67, OYR: 96)
How expensive could the WST Classic be? Mark Davis came from 3-0 down against Mark Allen to level the match up, and had his chance in the decider, but ended up going down to the Pistol. As things stand, Mavis is deep in the mire, and it’s hard to see a way out. Excluding the Shootout, he’s not been in the Last 32 of an event since the English Open in November 2021.
Being £19,500 off on the rolling list means he would HAVE to reach Judgement Day to stand any chance of surviving, and he’s down in a miserable 96th on the one year list, meaning he would need a frankly absurd TWELVE players to lose their opening match to get up there with one win. Dark days for Dark Mavis. VERDICT: Mavis has qualified for Worlds 12 times before. If he’s going to avoid Q School, he’ll need to do it again, and I just don’t see it. Too many form players.
72ND: Jimmy White (Current Ranking:73, OYR:42)
Yes, I am surprised to see Jimmy here. The man who’s had more ITCs then I’ve had hot dinners has moved up 18 places from season’s start, now sitting 72nd in the world. He’s done incredibly well this season, and holds the 2nd of the one year list tour cards. I would fully expect to see him next season, and this time, on his own merits. Kudos Jimmy, you proved me wrong. VERDICT: Top 64 may be a stretch, but he’ll almost certainly earn his card via the one year list.
73rd: Mitchell mann (Current Ranking:73, oyr: 94)
We’re really getting amongst the dead men now. Mitchell Mann has not had a good season by any means, after a promising spell last season. Only five wins this season, Mitchell hasn’t left the Last 64 successful since last season’s Welsh Open. His situation is similar to Mavis, except for having £1000 more on the one year list (which probably says more about how bad Mavis has been this season), and he’s £21,500 off on the rolling list, meaning he HAS to qualify for the Crucible if he’s surviving in that aspect. VERDICT: I mean miracles do happen, but surely he’s not going to. Just watch me be wrong now.
74th: Louis Heathcote (Current Ranking: 75, oyr: 80)
Louis is a little more worth talking about here than Mitchell, simply because he’s higher up on the one year list. He’s £9500 on the one year list, meaning that theoretically, he could make up the difference with one win. Realistically though he’s missed a big opportunity recently, being 2-1 up on Judd Trump in the Welsh Open, before losing the next 3 frames by a combined 19 points, and then coming from 3-1 down to lose a decider in the WST Classic against Jack Lisowski. One never knows, but it seems unlikely. VERDICT: Louis reached Judgement Day back in 2020, and he’s not playing badly. It’s unlikely, but I’d love to see him survive, and it’s not out of the question.
75TH: Peter Lines (Current Ranking:76, oyr: 101)
Basically needs a miracle (or, like, 10 more players to get suspended) VERDICT: LOL! (Ok, Peter has qualified for the Crucible before at least. The bad news? That was 25 YEARS AGO!)
THE ONE YEAR LIST
As you are probably well aware of by now, there are four additional tour cards other than the Top 64, for the four players outside of the illustrious 64 who have earned the most over the course of the season. Don’t forget, this is open to ALL PLAYERS. INCLUDING AMATEURS. Currently the four players in question are:
Daniel Wells (a), £42,500
Jimmy White, £34,000
Xu Si, £27,500
Hammad Miah, £26,500
Any player who does not earn a tour card through any of these avenues will have one more chance, but it’s a chance few want to have to take – the daunting Q School. Round after round of cut-throat Amateur competition, and it’s tougher this year, with only eight spots from the regular Q School (as well as a further eight through the Asian equivalent).
So what do you all think? Will Jimmy survive without needing an ITC? Will Carrington, Joyce or Mavis make it? Am I being unfair to Peter Lines? (the answer to the last one is probably, but not by much). Let me know, and stay tuned, World Championship Qualifiers predictions coming up… whenever the draw is out, seriously WST just release the damn draw, there’s only one spot not confirmed, you can do an either/or for three players surely!
Gee, it’s been a while since I was here. If you’re wondering where I’ve been, I decided to take a break for a little while, my mental health has been… let’s just say it’s been below where I’d like it to be. You can blame education job agencies and Boost energy for that one. Anyway, it’s January, so it’s time for a Tour Survival Blog, to see who the runners and riders are. Unlike last year it’s not chock full of huge names (last year was BRUTAL), but there’s still a lot of talent in and around the drop zone.
But first, a couple of ground rules. Firstly, I will only be discussing players ranked from 60th to 75th in the world. The reason for this is that the way the rankings currently sit, there’s no convenient number above or below for me to accurately show the fight. If I did £10,000 above or below, that would only be going down to the World Number 69 (not making the joke), and that feels subpar, especially with the suspended players. However if I did £20,000 either way, that would include players as high as Martin Gould in #49, and I’d be here for an eternity.
The second rule is that the rankings I am discussing are as of the end of the World Grand Prix. I am planning on doing a couple more updates if I get chance, but please DO NOT message me after the Shootout telling me that all of a sudden Louis Heathcote is in the Top 64. I am many things, but clairvoyant is not included in that. Trust me, if I could see into the future, I’d be a heck of a lot richer than I am now. Anyway, let’s begin.
60. Zhang Anda (Current Ranking:69, sEASON rANKING:50)
Zhang Anda is a strange case. The man from Shaoguan in Southern China is in his twelfth season as a professional (in three spells), and has reached three Ranking event Quarter Finals. Yet Zhang has never been ranked in the Top 64, having peaked at #65 in 2016. He is an extremely talented player, and in recent seasons has developed a little bit of a repuation for being a ferocious scorer, but has always struggled with consistency.
Things are looking good for Zhang reaching a 13th season as a pro however. He has a provisional £6000 gap to #65 on the EOS rankings currently, and a solid season sees him right in the mix for a one year list card, sitting right behind Daniel Wells who is currently occupying the first of the four tour card slots (more on that later). All in all, it’s not been a spectacular season for Zhang (he hasn’t progressed beyond the Last 32 this season), but he’s still in a good position to finish inside the 64 for the first time in his long career.
61. Pang Junxu (Current ranking:53, Season Ranking:45)
Pang Junxu has done incredibly well since qualifying for the tour in the Summer of 2020, but still finds himself under a little bit of pressure to stay in the Top 64 at the end of the season. This has been the worst of Pang’s seasons on tour, simply because he’s not reached a Last 16 yet, but the Jiangsu native has been solid nethertheless, reaching the Final Group of the Championship League (and claiming draws with Ricky Walden and Stuart Bingham there having claimed Carter and Ronnie as scalps previously), and a couple of Last 32s in the NI and English Open.
That’s why he’s in an enviable position, being not only inside the Top 64 on the EOS rankings, but also being a full £7000 clear of the last one-year list tour card, sitting in 45th having earned £27,500 this season. A strong end to the season will likely see Pang move back up towards his current ranking of 53, and I would full anticipate seeing him around for years to come.
62. Dominic Dale (CUrrent Ranking:58, Season Ranking:55)
I wouldn’t normally say players would be “happy” to be in a tour survival battle, but Dominic Dale is in a significantly better position than 12 months ago. Last year, he ended up staying on tour by the skin of his teeth, thanks to a win against Duane Jones sending him through two rounds of World Championship qualifying (as a result of Liang Wenbo being suspended for domestic assault), and other players around him failing to take advantage. It’s been a reasonable season for old Dom, with a Last 32 appearance in the European Masters being his first in nearly a year, and reaching the Last 48 of the UK Championship, falling to Jimmy White in battle of the old boys (for the record, Dom is 51, which actually isn’t that old anymore)
Those performances have helped him to 55th on the one year list, being only £1000 behind Zhang, a position which would currently earn him the fourth and last card from the list, and leaves him well placed to reach a 31st season as a professional. Not bad from the… erm… 5th most famous member of the class of ’92?
63. Oliver Lines (Current Ranking:61, Season Ranking:115)
If ever there has been a 180 flip in the survival battle from last season, this is it. 12 months ago, Oli Lines was on the fringes of the survival battle at the start of the season, but an incredible season saw him secure safety at a relative canter. Twelve months on, and the complete opposite has happened – Oli has been drawn into the survival battle after winning only three matches this season (and one of those was in the recent 6-reds qualifiers).
As a result, Oli is way down in 115th on the one year list, with only £6000 on his ranking. Therefore it appears that his World ranking is the only way he’s going to be avoiding another trip to Q School. It’s amazing how twelve months can change so much about a player’s fortunes.
64. David Grace (Current Ranking:68, Season Ranking:67)
We’re really in the nitty gritty now, and David Grace is right in the middle of that battle. David feels like he’s always either in the survival battle or just above it, but he really is at the centre of the storm now. Currently ranked 68, he’s provisionally in the 64, but not by much.
In terms of the World rankings, he is only in the 64 by a meager £1000 (well technically £500 but… we’ll get to that in a moment), and on the one year list, he’s behind the current last tour card by only £2000, a figure which decreases to a mere £500 if Hammad Miah (ranked 66) is the one to overtake him. David is at the centre of the storm, and he’s a player for whom every outcome is likely.
65. Li Hang (Current Ranking:64, Season Ranking:69)
Erm… I haven’t got much to say here. Li Hang is suspended from the tour as a result of the Match Fixing Scandal (I am getting round to doing a video on it, but I’ve been super busy recently). I’m not discussing him because there is no indication if or when he’ll be back if he’s found innocent.
66. Hammad Miah (Current Ranking:71, Season Ranking:53)
Despite being outside of the coveted 64, Hammad Miah is actually in a relatively healthy position. Currently at a career high ranking of 71, Hammad has been consistently winning matches this season, having only failed to do so at two ranking events so far. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s things like that which can make the difference between staying on tour and having to go back to Q School.
And it is making a difference. Hammad is provisionally 66th, only £1000 behind David Grace, but perhaps more importantly, he holds the third of four one year list cards, a full £3000 ahead of his nearest threat to take the card off him. The way he’s played this season, it seems likely that Miah will survive on the tour in some form and live to fight another season.
67. Mark Joyce (Current Ranking:55, Season Ranking:65)
Mark Joyce is in a survival battle again. Having finished the 2019/20 season as the World Number 64, and been on the outskirts of a survival battle throughout last season, he’s on the outside looking in this year. With points for reaching the Crucible two years ago coming off in April, his ranking of 55 is slightly false, and he’s provisionally in 67th, £1000 outside of the 64.
It’s a remarkably similar story with the one year list as well. Mark is £1500 outside of the tour card slots through that list, but would be the beneficiary if Miah were to move ahead of Grace into the Top 64, by virtue of having £500 more than Grace this season. It’s extremely tight, but having finished no higher than 54th in 6/17 seasons on tour, Mark is used to this kind of fight.
68. Liang Wenbo (Current Ranking:56, Season Ranking:150)
Again, Liang is suspended, as he has been nearly all season. I have nothing else to say here, aside from the fact that he hasn’t won a match this season anyway, hence his comical ranking.
69. Xu Si (Current Ranking:72, Season Ranking:60)
Xu Si is one of the most improved players on tour this season. The 25 year old from Jieyang has been largely anonymous in his four previous seasons as a pro (aside from a random Semi-Final at the Indian Open), but this season has been far improved, with Last 32 appearences at the British Open (where he beat survival rival David Grace before being turned into wallpaper paste by Judd), and the UK Championship (where he had three breaks in the 90s against Tian Pengfei before somehow only winning one frame against Jack Liswoski).
These runs have helped Xu to a provisional ranking of 69, £8000 off the 64 (this is where the gaps to the Top 64 become more than just the odd win here or there). The one-year list is looking far friendlier though, being 60th means that he has the precious gift of the last one year list tour card, £1500 ahead of Mark Joyce. It’s a high pressure situation to be in, but Xu is right in the fight this time.
70. Stuart carrington (Current Ranking:60, Season Ranking:77)
I feel for Stuart Carrington, his career appears to have gone into freefall in the past couple of years. For a few years it felt like Stuart was the next big success story in Snooker, another journeyman who gradually worked his way up the rankings. It got to the point where in February 2019, he was only £16,500 off the Top 32, he was ranked as high as 38 at one point. Now he’s provisionally 70th in the world and has reached one Last 32 since the start of last season.
I’d love to say there’s some good news for the decorated Junior, but there sort of isn’t. £12,500 in arrears to #64 means that Stuart would need a significant run in an event or multiple wins at the World Championship to climb back up, and his £15,500 banked this term means he’s £6500 off on the one year list, which again, would require a decent run in an event. It’s looking bleak for Stuart, but one thing he can hang his hat on is that he’s come through Q School before. The first one, in 2011.
71. Mitchell Mann (Current Ranking:73, Season Ranking:85)
Another player it’s not been a good season for is Mitchell Mann. Last season it looked like Mann was starting to go places, even if his results didn’t always show it he made a habit of giving big names a run for their money. This season, he’s not seen anything beyond the Last 64 of any event, and he’s only won four matches (excluding six-reds).
Mann is £13,000 away in the provisional rankings, tucked in right behind Stuart. He is significantly worse off on the One year list though, a full £9000 behind the last card. Mann’s going to have to better his season-best showing of the Last 64, and his season best earning from an event of just £3000 (British Open, Scottish Open, European Masters) if he’s going to avoid the dreaded fate of going back to Q School. It’s time that the Iron showed some Steel (come on, don’t tell me you hadn’t noticed that this had been short of humour).
72. Mark Davis (Current Ranking:63, Season Ranking:108)
This one’s been coming. The man rather affectionately known as “Dark Mavis” has been a mainstay of the tour since 1991, and at one point spent seven seasons in a row rooted within the Top 32. Now though, things have changed. It is nearly fourteen months since he reached beyond the Last 64 of a Ranking event (2021 English Open). If you want to see a Last 16 from him, you need to go back almost FOUR YEARS (2019 WGP).
This has been by no means a banner season from the Battler from Hastings either. Excluding the Six Reds (where he lost 6-0 to Ben Mertens in the 3rd qualifying round), he’s secured a paltry three wins, and £10,500 in the bank sees him sat in a dismal 108th place on the one year list, a full £14,000 off a tour card, and £15,000 away on the EOS rankings. It’s not impossible, but barring an incredibly strong end to the season, Mavis could be off to Q School.
73. Peter Lines (Current Ranking:74, Season Ranking:94)
For some players, dropping off the tour is the culmination of a poor run, for others the quick end to a dream. But some players just won’t let it go. Peter Lines has qualified through the old Pontins Tour (I’ll do a thing on secondary tours at sometime), he has qualified through the English Amateur Play-Offs twice, and he was (at the time) the oldest player to come through Q School, doing so at the age of 49 (a record broken last year by Fergal O’Brien)
Now though, he’s in a survival battle… again. It’s been a rather miserable season for Peter, a frankly awful two wins (excluding the six reds and walkover in the English Open), and £11,000 from this season. He’s £11,000 off a tour card right now on the one year list, which at this stage is a huge obstacle to overcome. It’s looking a lot like the Leeds cueman is going to be trying to regain his record at Q School.
74. Louis Heathcote (Current Ranking:84, Season Ranking:81)
Oh Louis, you’ve got yourself in a pickle here. This one really dismays me because Louis is such a fine player, I’ve watched him quite a few times and he is a real talent. But it feels like he was one of the big victims of Covid, because he had a mighty fine first year on tour, but it feels like he’s lost his way since. He’s not gone beyond the Last 64 in a Ranking event this season (more on that in a moment), just £9000 earned this season, £13,000 away from the one-year list cards, and is nearly £20,000 away in terms of the Top 64.
But, Louis has something going for him, as he is one of only two players in this article (alongside Pang Junxu) who has qualified for both the Welsh Open and German Masters, which instantly adds £7500 to his ranking for the season. That puts him right back in the mix, especially if he can have a couple more good runs. His form’s looking up, and Louis could yet survive.
75. Lei Peifan (Current Ranking:75, Season Ranking:91)
And finally we have Lei Peifan. The 19 year old was one frame from the Crucible last season, almost running the entire gauntlet of qualifying before being edged on the last colours by Hossein Vafaei, a player ranked 93 places above him in the world. So many including me thought he would really start to break out this season. But the opposite has happened, with a mere three wins, and £11,000 banked. He’s started to make some progress after failing to win a frame in four of his first seven matches this season (including a match with Shaun Murphy where he managed two points in four frames), but still has a long way to go.
He is £500 behind Heathcote on the EOS rankings, and as of now, has technically earned more than Louis this season, but unlike the Leicester man he has not qualified for either the German or the Welsh. Needing £11,000 to catch up on the one year list, it seems likely that Lei will be back to Q School come May.
oNE yEAR lIST
The following players are the players who are currently in the Top 4 of the One Year List out of everybody not in the Top 64. Just to confirm in case anybody is uncertain, if one or more of the four biggest earners outside of the Top 64 is an amateur, they WILL get the tour card still. That is very relevant when you see who is top of these rankings.
Daniel Wells (a), £26,000
Jimmy White, £23,500
Hammad Miah, £23,500
Xu Si, £22,500
As of now, Mark Joyce is the closest to breaking into this list, being £1000 behind Xu. At the end of the season, if two or more players are tied for the last tour card, they will be ranked on countback, starting with the World Championship, and going back from there. If they are still tied after all of that, the card(s) will be decided with a full on fist fight*.
This is now your opportunity to tell me what you think. Do you think that Mark Joyce or someone else will overhaul one of the four for the one year list card? Who do you think will be lucky Number 64? Do you think the tour cards should be determined with a karaoke contest to ensure Dominic Dale stays on? I sure do. Whatever you think, leave a comment, comment on Twitter (@M18Snooker), and don’t forget to follow my other account Snooker Facts (@snooker_facts) for facts which aren’t just made up, they’re unbelievable. Until next time, that’s the Table Talk.
*: I have no evidence for this, I just like the idea of Louis Heathcote knocking Mark Joyce spark out and instantly becoming everyone’s new hero.
Right, just a quick one this time because the qualifiers predictions nearly killed me. You know how these work, I’m going through the matches, giving my thoughts, making jokes about Liam Highfield’s haircut, the usual. Remember if you enjoyed, let me know, maybe leave a comment, or recommend me to someone else who loves Snooker. Without further ado, let’s begin.
(1) Zhao Xintong vs. (47) Sam Craigie (H2H: Zhao 2-1 Craigie)
Now THIS is a great match to kick off the tournament with. Two young, hungry players who are the best they have ever been right now. Zhao was immense in winning the title last year, and he will enjoy every moment of being introduced as the defending champion. It feels like he’s finally managed to marry his attacking flair with a good tactical game, and that makes him a strong contender for the title.
But he doesn’t have an easy match, because Sam Craigie is quickly becoming a very scary draw. The man from Walkerville in Newcastle scored extremely heavily against Ian Burns on Judgement Day, and if there is one thing he doesn’t lack, it’s confidence. The last time they met was on a big occassion as well, the 2021 World Championships on Judgement Day, with Sam winning a decider with an 89 break. Sam joked after his win against Burns that all his matches have been taking an eternity recently, and I think this will be another one. Not because it will be slow, but because it will go all the way.
Prediction: (1) Zhao Xintong 6-5 (47) Sam Craigie
(16) Ryan Day VS. (81) Jimmy White (H2H: Day 7-3 White)
Ryan Day back in the Top 16, who had that on their betting slip for this season? The Dynamite won a 4th Ranking title at the British Open, producing one of his all time great performances in the process. Ryan will be eager to do well here, as he’s only actually been past this stage once, in 2017, when he reached the Semi-Finals having come through three deciders. He’s scoring well this season, but I still think his tactical game is a little bit suspect.
Jimmy White qualifying for the UK Championship winning four matches, who had that on their betting slip for the season? I think i need to quickly clarify my comments regarding ITCs – I hate the system. I don’t hate Jimmy White. I still think Jimmy does have a lot to offer, and I think he’d be perfectly capable of qualifying for the tour again through his own means.
What we saw from Jimmy in the qualifiers was nothing short of extraordinary. Four matches won, five frames lost, including a shock win over Stephen Maguire. He was absolutely fantastic, and if he carries that form over, he’s going to be a very tough opponent, especially with his wealth of experience. But I can’t ignore Ryan’s form this season. Expect this to be fun.
Prediction: (16) Ryan Day 6-4 (81) Jimmy White
(9) Mark Allen vs. (22) Jordan Brown (H2H: N/A)
I mean I think Jordan cursed this to happen when he said he didn’t want to face his best mate. I call it the Dave Gilbert theorem (after his comments before the Worlds draw earlier this year). Mark Allen sits atop the one year list, with £130,000 to his name already this season. And if you’ve seen him play you’ll know why, he looks back to somewhere near his best. He’s beautiful to watch in the balls, and he’s incredibly difficult to play against because he has such a wily tactical game as well.
Jordan Brown is someone I’m a big fan of, I think he’s a very capable player. A tremendous scorer on his day, Jordan had to fight all the way in qualifying, having trailed Si Jiahui 4-1 before reeling off five on the spin, and then came through a real fight 6-3 against Zak Surety. He wasn’t at his best in the qualifiers, but he’ll enjoy the occasion, and this match will be played in great humour. Jordan will undoubtedly up his game against his mate, but I think he’ll need brotherly love to win.
Prediction: (9) Mark Allen 6-2 (22) Jordan Brown
(8) Kyren Wilson vs. (26) Matthew Selt (H2H: Wilson 5-5 Selt)
Forgive me for saying this isn’t one of the more interesting matches. Kyren Wilson is a good player, great even, but… I just find him kind of boring. That’s not a slight at him as a person, he seems like a fantastic guy who is devoted to his family, but as a player, I just don’t find him especially interesting to watch. He has had a decent recent record in the UK Champs though, reaching a Semi and a Quarter in the past two years. I still just feel that he’s a little vulnurable in earlier rounds to someone who is playing well and takes their chances.
Matt Selt is not a nice draw. After slaughtering Hammad Miah 6-1, he came from 3-1 down against a very experience campaigner in Anthony Hamilton, winning five of the last six frames and making a 140 in the match. Selt doesn’t have a great reputation when it comes to pressure situations and the TV tables, but he did beat Joe Perry and Judd Trump en route to the Last 16 last season. Kyren’s the favourite, but I don’t think the Warrior’s winning this battle.
Prediction: (8) Kyren Wilson 4-6 Matthew Selt
(5) Mark Selby vs. (20) Hossein Vafaei (H2H: Selby 4-2 Vafaei
If this looks familiar, it’s the 3rd year in a row these two have faced off at the Barbican. They met in the Last 64 last season, with Vafaei winning 6-2, avenging a 6-2 reverse from the previous year’s Last 32. This is actually their seventh meeting, but their fifth since the start of 2020.
Mark doesn’t need an introduction, he’s one of the greats, and he’s always a major contender. He’s had his issues mentally as we all know, but he looked good at the Champion of Champions, brushing aside Lee Walker and having a fantastic match with John Higgins, before losing out in the Semis to Judd Trump, although he did have his fair share of bad luck in that match, although it must be said that Judd always looked the more threatening in the balls.
Hossein Vafaei was complaining after his qualifier successes that he was struggling with his cue action. He had a rocky road to qualify, having thrown away a 3-0 lead to trail Asjad Iqbal before claiming a 6-4 win, and then fluking match ball spectacularly to beat Robbie Williams 6-4 in a scrap. He’s absolutely on the verge of being a World-class player, but there’s just too many inconsistencies with his game. He apparently wants to work with a more experienced player to tune up his game a bit, and someone on Twitter (I’m so sorry I don’t remember your name, if you’re reading give yourself a shout out @M18Snooker) came up with a great suggestion in Nigel Bond. He’s had as much experience as anyone, he’s not on the tour anymore, and he was coaching before it was cool. I’m backing Selby here, I just think he’s more reliable at the moment.
Prediction: (5) Mark Selby 6-3 (20) Hossein Vafaei
(12) Jack Lisowski vs. (73) Xu Si (H2H: Lisowski 2-0 Xu)
On the evidence of the qualifiers, this could be very attacking. Jack Lisowski really felt like he’d come of age at the World Championship, and really should have beaten John Higgins, having outplayed him for large portions of the match. He’s been a bit disappointing this season though, with only a Last 16 to his name. It feels like he’s come to a point in his career where he has to start winning soon if he’s going to establish himself as a major threat in events.
Xu Si (whose name I still don’t know how to pronounce) was one of the more surprising names coming through qualifying, seeing off Andrew Pagett, Jimmy Robertson, and Tian Pengfei. The key to this was heavy scoring, as while he only had a single century, he had nine 80+ breaks. He’ll be here to prove a point, and if he produces his qualifying form, he’s got a good chance. I just wonder if the occasion might get to someone who has tasted such limited success previously, and against a more mature Jack, will he get the chances?
Prediction: (12) Jack Lisowski 6-1 (73) Xu Si
(13) Shaun Murphy vs. (19) Dave Gilbert (H2H: Murphy 4-3 Gilbert)
I’m saying it now, this is probably tie of the round. Shaun is six places higher in the world, but maybe starts as the outsider here. His season’s been similar to Lisowski’s, with the Last 16 being as far as he’s been, although he has at least been more competitive in his losses. We all know that Shaun is elite on his day, he just doesn’t have his day often enough anymore, which is probably as much due to his high risk style as anything. One of the best to watch though.
Dave Gilbert will never be happy with his game. Even after breezing through qualifying with a 6-2 win over Lei Peifan followed by a 6-0 win over a poor Mark King, he was making excuses about how he never plays snooker anymore. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Dave would be a serial winner by now but for his mentality. You can’t be one of the top players in the world unless he sees himself as one. Maybe a win here will cheer old Eeyore up.
Prediction: (13) Shaun Murphy 5-6 (19) Dave Gilbert
Ok, this could be a fun one. Neither man afraid to go for their shots. And I’ve got reasons to dislike both of them! Judd is… in the most tactful way I can put this, a serial moaner. He keeps complaining about the state of the game and it not appealing to the younger generation. The thing is, he has been approached by three people in authority (Hearn before he stepped aside, Steve Dawson and Jason Ferguson) about a meeting to discuss these things. So what’s going on? Is Judd someone who has a lot of words but not many ideas? Are all his ideas stupid? Or are the authority figures not following up on their promises?
What was that? You want to hear about his season? Honestly, you read a couple of blogs and suddenly get entitled. No wonder Backer only blogs once a year now. But I am nothing if not a generous god, so Judd’s season: by Trump’s standards, a big load of balls. A Quarter Final in the European Masters, a Last 16 in the British Open, and a final in the Champion of Champions where he made a 147 at 6-1 down. So yeah, by anyone else’s standards, pretty damn good. By Judd’s standards, a whole lot of nothing.
Xiao Guodong is someone who I’m… not surprised to see here, I think he’s one of the game’s great underachievers in modern times. He’s made 13 tons this season (including four in one match against Xu Si at the European Masters), and narrowly missed out on the Championship League final match by one frame behind Luca Brecel (who he actually beat in that Stage 3 group). He’s not failed to reach the Last 32 stage of an event this season. Xiao is in good nick, and if Judd isn’t careful, this could go badly wrong for him. But I’m wary to back against Trump, Judd likes open games and testing opponents, and Xiao hasn’t beaten him since 2012, so it’s all looking like roses for the Ace.
Prediction: (4) Judd Trump 6-3 (34) Xiao Guodong
(3) Neil Robertson vs. (30) Joe Perry (H2H: Robertson 15-1-12 Perry,
Oh Snooker gods, you truly are a mystifying and sometimes cruel mistress (if you’re not female I apologise, it’s just that every good man has a better woman with a whip). For those who don’t know, Joe was instrumental in getting Neil settled into UK life after the Aussie swapped Melbourne for Cambridge, and they’ve spent many an hour playing together.
There’s not much to say about Neil’s season, as he’s only played in three events, two of which were invitationals (HK Masters and Champion of Champions). He’s fresh off the CoC, where he lost in Round 1 to Fan Zhengyi in a match which was somehow awful and excellent in the same match. There were three 90+ breaks in the match, but every frame seemed to be chock full of terrible shots. Other than that, two Semis, including the NI Open, where he was going brilliantly until an inspired performance from home favourite Mark Allen took him out.
As for Joe, his season has quite frankly been awful. In the qualifiers, he limped past Yuan Sijun 6-5 without even reaching a 50 break, before completely ripping Graeme Dott apart 6-0 in no time at all, to the point where Dott visibly aged about 20 years in the match. Two good mates, again it will probably be played in good spirit and there will be a warm handshake at the end of the match, but Neil loves this event when he’s not the defending champion.
Prediction: (3) Neil Robertson 6-2 (30) Joe Perry
(14) Stuart Bingham vs. (42) Liam Highfield (H2H: Bingham 1-1 Highfield)
Stuart Bingham is going to be top of many people’s watch list for players to have a deep run. And here’s where I tell you why I’m not so sure. He’s just not quite looked himself this season, he had a good run in the Championship League (despite losing 3-0 to amateur snooker player and professional rapper Peter Devlin), but since then it hasn’t clicked. He looked alright in the European Masters, even coming from 4-1 down against Ali Carter in the L32 only to get blown out by a 103 break in the decider, but since then has two L64 exits, more recently a 4-0 loss to David Lilley in Belfast. It just isn’t quite there for Stuart right now, and when Stuart Bingham is not in top form, he is very suspect.
And he won’t have enjoyed seeing the way Liam Highfield played in the qualifiers. Highfield, who went into the recent English and Scottish Open qualifiers having not won a match this season, scored five breaks between 66 and 56 in a 6-1 win over Ashley Hugill, and followed that up by coming from 5-2 down against Ali Carter to win a decider. Liam isn’t flashy, he isn’t gifted with flair, but he is gifted with steel and grit, and I think this could be a career defining win for the World Number 42.
Prediction: (14) Stuart Bingham 5-6 (42) Liam Highfield
This one promises to be a match with real flair. Luca Brecel is very exciting to watch, he goes for his shots, he’s fast, he’s aggressive, there’s a real visceral feel to watching him, almost this sense that anything could happen, and it usually does. Let’s not forget, this is the guy who had a phase of carrying two cues into a match with him. He won the Championship League despite not winning all of his matches in any of the three groups, and he reached the Last 16 of the NI Open in typical Brecel fashion – two whitewashes and a decider. He even lost 4-0, to… erm… well…
Surprise, it’s a rematch! Lyu turned Brecel into a spectator in Belfast, restricting the Bullet to 58 points in four frames. Lyu has been one of the players of the season despite never really recieving the plaudits he deserves, he reached the QF of both the British and NI Opens, and the Final group of the Championship League, where he lost all three matches, including 3-0 to… erm… well… you get the picture, where he was restricted to 54 points in three frames. What I’m saying is that this is a bit of a coin toss. But I’m inclined to follow my head here. Brecel is just so inconsistent, and on a good day, he’ll go far. On a not so good day, Lyu just makes more sense.
Prediction: (11) Luca Brecel 2-6 (36) Lyu Haotian
(6) John Higgins vs. (32) Tom Ford (H2H: Higgins 11-3 Ford)
I know what you’re thinking, and yes the Head to Head does make for grim reading for Ford. But let’s be fair and give this it’s fair shake. John hasn’t had a good season, winning only five matches so far. He had great matches in Belfast against Fergal O’Brien and Jackson Page (both of which he arguably should have lost), before being dominated by Robert Milkins in the Last 32, and looked good against Hossein Vafaei in the Champion of Champions, before being outfought by Mark Selby. It just feels like John has stopped believing in himself again.
Tom Ford absolutely believes in his own abilities though. He had to dig deep to come from 3-0 down against Alfie Burden to win a decider against the veteran, and then scoring heavily against Noppon Saengkham saw him to this stage. A couple of things to note with the 11-3 Head to Head record are that five of Ford’s eleven losses went the distance, and also that Ford has won their last two meetings by an aggregate score of 9-2. But it’s a Triple Crown event, and John always finds a way at this stage. Sorry Tom, mark this down as #6
Prediction: (6) John Higgins 6-5 (32) Tom Ford
(7) Mark Williams vs. (49) Jamie Clarke (H2H: Williams 3-1 Clarke)
This is a funny one, because while these two have faced off four times, only one of them has been in a traditional event, with two in the Six-Reds World Championship, and another in the Shootout earlier this year. Mark has had a good season so far, although at this point I don’t think he really cares that much. A couple of Semis, a couple of Quarters, you know, the usual Top 16 drill. He’s as daunting an opponent as ever.
Jamie Clarke really feels like he’s becoming an established player. He did go into the World Qualifiers earlier this year in danger of dropping off the tour, and was one frame away from doing so. Qualifying for Worlds did wonders for his ranking though, and solid victories over Pang Junxu and Duane Jones (both 6-3). Jamie is more than good enough to win this, he’s clearly got the game and it feels like he’s overdue a statement victory. But I never back anyone from Wales against Willo, and when Jamie loses big matches, boy does he lose them. But he is favourite to win the award for nicest smile.
Prediction: (7) Mark Williams 6-0 (49) Jamie Clarke
(10) Barry Hawkins vs. (39) Ding Junhui (h2h: Hawkins 9-7 Ding)
Ok, maybe this is tie of the round. Funnily enough these two haven’t played since 2018, when Hawkins beat Ding in the World Championships for the 3rd time. Barry has been good this season, he reached the final of the European Masters before losing to Kyren Wilson in a strong contender for worst match of the season, and has a couple of Last 32s as well. It just feels like he needs an open match, because he gets too bogged down otherwise.
As for Ding, I just don’t know. He had a very odd match in the qualifiers with Rob Milkins where he was great until frame ball in the 7th, where he fluked the red, then spent the next two frames looking completely at sea, before missing match ball in the 10th, only for Milkins to immediately let him off with one of the worst shots I’ve ever seen. As he has got older, I feel like Ding has got worse and worse at coping with the pressure situations. I don’t see that changing here.
Prediction: (10) Barry Hawkins 6-2 (39) Ding Junhui
(15) Yan Bingtao vs. (21) Zhou Yuelong (H2H: YAN 0-1 Zhou)
Would you believe that these two fine players have only met once, and it was in 2016? Yan really looked like he turned a corner at Worlds this year with that win over Selby, and he’s become a frightning draw because he just always fights. He got to the Last 16 in the European Masters but suffered a shock loss to Jamie Jones, and had promising runs in the British and NI Opens cut short at the Last 32 stage by final frame deciders (against Jordan Brown at the British, and against Anthony McGill from 62-0 ahead in NI). He’s difficult to beat this season, but players of this quality will find a way.
Now we’ll see if Zhou is at the standard. He had his tremendously entertaining run to the final of the NI Open, and in the qualifiers looked deadly against Michael White (who seemed to be cursed in that match) and Jak Jones. He’ll find scoring heavily difficult against Yan though, the Tiger is a very canny operator.
Prediction: (15) Yan Bingtao 6-3 (21) Zhou Yuelong
(2) Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. (60) Matthew Stevens (H2H: O’Sullivan 18-6 Stevens)
The battles these two have had up and down the years. Ronnie already has two trophies this season, but hilariously he is 94th on the one year list at the moment because both trophies have been from invitationals. It’s difficult to know why Ronnie still turns up and plays apart from “because he can”. He clearly cares, but it’s debatable how much or how often he does.
Talking of players who talk like they don’t really give a crap, Matthew Stevens, who is the second Welshman in this draw who needed a win in the Worlds qualifiers and ended up reaching the Crucible. Matthew edged a thriller with Wu Yize to get here, having lead 4-0 before losing five in a row, only to win the last two (the 91 break in the 10th is one of the best pressure breaks you’ll ever see, especially with how slow the table was playing by that point. Matthew is battle tested, but history doesn’t favour him. You never know, but I can’t see it sadly.
Prediction: (2) Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-1 Matthew Stevens
Helooooo there, it’s me, your favourite incompetent results predictor (well apart from Pav anyway, everyone loves Pav), and today (whenever this eventually comes out, probably in 2024 knowing me) I am looking at the UK Championships and specifically, who I think will qualify.
Now the format has changed this year, so that the Top 16 are automatically in the final stages in York. Players ranked 17-49 enter in Q3, 50-80 in Q2, and everyone else in Q1. Yes this is very similar to Worlds. And no, I don’t like it as much here. I know that people got fed up of the “throw everyone in from the start” format, but I felt the UK’s format worked just fine, I liked the idea of everyone being matched up based on their ranking. Not to mention that it made the previews a bit less… wordy (consider this a warning, this will be pretty wordy, I’ll try and only elaborate where I need to though).
Anyhoo, before I get on a twenty minute rant about changing things that don’t need to be changed, in this Psychic Zone, I’ll put screenshots of each bracket, and then quickly run through my thoughts about the players, matches, and anything else that is vaguely relevant (and boy do I mean vague, do I love me a tangent). Anyway, onto the predictions.
[Editor’s Note: I apologise for the somewhat inconsistent formatting in these predictions, I have been having major issues with WordPress not wanting co-operate, and if I want the predictions out on time, I don’t have the time to work out what’s going on. Nothing’s unreadable by any means, it’s just that the formatting is a little… wonky.]
Bracket 1
And so we begin, but where? Well, I’m going to begin with Reanne Evans, who as I’m sure you’ve heard on commentary every single time she plays, is a 12 time Women’s World Champion. She’s struggled as a professional though, which somewhat mystifies me. She’s a very good player, she knocks in some tremendous pots, she’s got a great tactical game, I just feel like her positional play holds her back. From what I’ve heard the tables play significantly different on the Main tour to the Women’s tour, which would explain a hell of a lot. She had a great chance at the Northern Ireland Open, but lost to Mark Selby despite being by far the better player for much of it.
She hasn’t been blessed with an easy draw either, as she is facing the highest ranked player in the first qualifying round, Duane Jones. The man from Mountain Ash (real place in South-East Wales) missed out on entering a round later on countback behind… well we’ll get to him in a minute, has had a very poor start to the season, yet to record a win himself or a century for that manner (and no, a 99 break does not count). Duane can seriously play (lest we forget he was a ranking semi-finalist in 2019), it just has to all come together for him. You would expect him to see off Reanne, but one never truly knows.
Also on this bracket we have the player who edged out Duane on countback, Louis Heathcote. Louis is incredibly talented, but after a promising start to life on tour in the 19/20 season, but he’s another player who seems to have been totally derailed by Covid, and hasn’t regained his form since. He still has the occassional good result, and he scores decently enough, but so often seems to lose frames from 50 or 60 up. And to explain the countback, he and DJ were tied on money on the ranking list, but Louis is ranked ahead of DJ due to winning his NI Open qualifier (4-2 against Dean Young, Jones lost 4-1 to Matt Selt).
And whoever comes through that will face the recent NI Open Semi-Finalist, Anthony McGill. Multiple time winner of the prestigious “Player you’d most like to have a quiet pint down the pub with” award, Ant produced an all-time great comeback in the decider against Yan at the NI Open, only to lose to four centuries in a Best of 11 from Zhou Yuelong. Ant is kind of difficult to discuss, because by his own admission, he lacks… motivation sometimes, really only getting up for the big events. He’s still enormous favourite in a kind bracket though.
So the big question then becomes, who faces him? Himanshu Jain and Peng Yisong are both new on tour this season, and Jain in particular has looked rather tidy as a player from what I’ve heard. I haven’t seen him play yet, but I’ve heard pretty decent things, and he’s recorded two wins already this season, earning himself £5000. He’ll need to improve his scoring, with a high break of only 66 this season, but I feel relatively confident in backing him against Peng Yisong, who has floundered since drawing with Judd Trump and Jamie Clarke in the Championship League, and is still yet to taste victory as a professional.
Talking of Jamie Clarke, the world’s smiliest Snooker player awaits Jain or Yisong. Jamie is a very funny player to predict, because there is ZERO in between with him. He either looks absolutely immense or extremely ordinary. His results this season show that as well, especially in the Championship League, where he came through a group with Judd freaking Trump (going unbeaten in the group), before failing to even score a frame in three matches in Stage 2 against Dan Wells, Luca Brecel, and Chris Wakelin. If he’s playing well, Jamie is a massive threat in this bracket.
If you want to talk about players coming through hard groups in the Championship League though, Pang Junxu was probably the rank outsider in his second stage group, against the ferociously talented Yuan Sijun, the veteran Ali Carter, and the Ronnie O’Sullivan of Snooker, Ronnie O’Sullivan. And he didn’t even really underperform in the third stage, drawing with Stuart Bingham and Ricky Walden, before losing to Lu Ning. Other than that it’s been much of a muchness for Pang this season, a Last 32 in Belfast his best effort, where he lost 4-3 to Luca Brecel despite waiting until Frame 3 to score.
May I remind you though that this is Pang’s third season as a pro. And yet he’s already in the World’s Top 50. He has a little history with this event as well – in his first season as a pro, he came to the UK Championships ranked 106, and defeated Tom Ford, Noppon Saengkham, and Stephen Maguire, going down to Lu Ning (yes, him again). Clarke and Pang has the potential to be an absolute scrap, and it’s a match I absolutely would like to see. As for who wins it, that’s a bit more difficult.
SECTION 1 FINAL: (17) Anthony McGill vs. (49) Jamie Clarke
No joke, this took me about 20 minutes to decide between Clarke and Pang. And I still think I’ve probably gone with the wrong pick. I just think that if Clarke is in decent nick, then he has just a little more experience and a little bit more at the top end of his game. McGill and Clarke arguably has even more potential to be a war of attrition than Pang and Clarke. I don’t see Clarke winning this one though, sorry Snookerbacker.
Section 1 Prediction: (17) Anthony McGill 6-4 (49) Jamie Clarke
Bracket 2
Right, Bracket 2, where we find our second female player, a ranking Semi-Finalist this season, an amateur on a quest to win every amateur event he can find, and someone who’s managed to outlast their own nickname. I’ll start with Liam Davies, who is the current World Under-16, Under-18 and Under-21 Champion, and European Under-18 Champion. Yes, ALL of them. Including the Q Tour, Liam has already played 45 matches this season, winning 37. He’s a cracking talent, and I fancy him to beat Alfie Burden, who has largely looked outclassed since returning to the tour after his very short retirement.
Alex Ursenbacher has managed to outlast his own nickname (seriously, I HATE “Federer of the Baize”, can he not have his own identity?), but he isn’t lasting in tournaments this season, recording two Last 64s as his peak. It’s been a tough start to the season, which he could have done without as he’s currently way down in 80th on the EOS rankings. Alex needs wins, and he’s got some hope if he gets to Round 3 where Tom Ford awaits, the man from Leicester being on a three match losing streak, and has an awful record in this event, having one Semi-Final and a Last 16 to his credit in his career.
On the other side, Bex Kenna has really struggled as a professional, but was arguably the best player in the entire event at the Mixed Doubles, producing some fantastic shots. You get the feeling that she just needs A win to get some sort of confidence in her, and she’ll have a decent opportunity against Andy Lee, who has looked good without looking amazing this season, although he was one frame away from beating defending (and eventual) champion Mark Allen at the NI Open, losing 4-3 from 2-0 up. It’s a good opportunity for Bex to get a win on the board, although she’s very much second favourite.
The winner of that might just have a shot in Round 2 as well, because Mark Davis has had a frankly disastrous past 12 months as a player, having not gone beyond the Last 64 since the English Open last November. This season, Davis has lost all five matches he’s played against professionals (recording a win and draw against amateur Ross Muir in the Championship League), and hasn’t even taken a frame in his last two matches (please note this is being written the day before his English Open qualifier). Such a solid player, it just feels like Davis is only going backwards, and being 73rd in the EOS rankings, needs to find something in his locker to avoid Q School.
Then we come to who I believe is the near-guaranteed winner of this half – Noppon Saengkham. Noppon really feels like he’s getting very close to being a truly top tier player, he just needs to stop capitulating in the big matches (and believe me he’s not the only player I think that of). He hits the ball just so nicely though, and he’s by all accounts one of THE hardest workers on tour, he never stops practicing.
Section 2 Final: (32) Tom Ford vs. (33) Noppon Saengkham
Yeah, after all the spiel of how open the top half of the Section is, I just couldn’t back against Ford. Ursenbacher isn’t exactly in inspiring form, and I can’t see Alfie or Liam getting through three matches. I don’t see this being a contest, unless Ford finds something that he’s not shown this season, or Noppon severely underperforms. If you’re thinking of putting money on anyone to qualify, put it on Moo (evidence for that nickname at the end!)
Section 2 Prediction: (32) Tom Ford 1-6 Noppon Saengkham
Bracket 3
Don’t be blinded by big names and bright lights, there’s more to this section than a certain Milton Maverick. Let’s start with James Cahill, a player with a ton of potential… unless you ask me. I’m sorry, I don’t like being down on players here, but I just don’t see it in him. If anyone has seen something more, be all means tell me, but pretty much whenever I’ve watched him, he’s just perfectly average. He’s also lost his last four matches. You would probably back him to beat European Under-18 semi-finalist Liam Graham, the Glaswegian shows promise but is yet to make much of an impact at the highest levels.
The rest of this mini-section is quite interesting. Dominic Dale must have felt like he won the lottery last season, as Liang Wenbo’s suspension (and yes, if his newest suspension isn’t addressed before I get to his section, I will address it there) meant that winning one match got him into the final qualifying round for the World Championship, and gave him £20,000, keeping him safe from tour relegation. Dom has… actually not had an awful start to the season, He reached the Last 32 at the European Masters, and wasn’t far off defeating Mark Williams, and also impressed at the Championship League, only losing to Dan Wells.
And then we have Li Hang, winner of the “Oh yeah, this guy exists” award. I don’t think I’ve ever found anyone with an opinion on Li, aside from “yeah, he… is a Snooker player”. He’s just one of these that goes about his work quietly and efficiently, but I’ve seen him REALLY play a few times, he’s a ferocious scorer when he’s given the opportunity.
Jimmy White, something something ITCs, something something “but he’s a legend”, to be honest I’m growing weary of the arguement. You all know my opinion on it, if you don’t know my opinion on it, read my previous blogs or ask someone who does read them, and they’ll tell you my opinion. Pardon? I’m not talking about Jimmy as a player? Yep, there’s a reason for that. Next. (Oh and he’s up against Victor Sarkis, but I don’t have much to say about him, he’s played one match. But he did win his first ever frame as a professional, so that’s nice).
Mitchell Mann is a player who really felt like he was making a breakthrough last season, but it all feels like it’s gone a little bit wrong since, although he has recorded an impressive win over Tom Ford this season as a highlight. He’s a fighter though Mitchell, and he’s always got a chance. And then we finally come to Stephen Maguire, who has been scoring pretty freely this season, scoring five tons in four matches at the NI Open, taking him to seven for the season, which for the record is eight less than he managed in the whole of last season, and two less than he managed before the World Championship last season. So, predictions.
Section 3 Final: (40) Li Hang vs. (25) Stephen Maguire
I’ll be honest, I can see either half of this prediction being wrong if Li throws in a poor performance or if Mitchell can find his form. And this is one that can go either way, Maguire is a fantastic player, but Li feels like he’s been lurking on the borders of becoming a significant force for a while. He was incredibly impressive on his run to the Last 16 in Belfast, beating Jack Lisowski and Si Jiahui on the same day due to scheduling issues. Li Hang, it’s time to emerge from the shadows, this could be your time.
Section 3 Prediction: (40) Li Hang 6-3 (25) Stephen Maguire
Bracket 4
Bracket 4, where we have an ancient relic, a panda, a big bird, and some real threats to do well. I’ll start off with Sanderson Lam, who I recently learned is still only 28, which I find remarkable, it feels like he’s been around for donkey’s years (for the record, he turned pro in 2017). I should root against him because he beat Kurt Maflin in Q School, but let’s be real, he’s just too easy to like. Plus I refuse to back against anybody whose nickname is “Panda”. He should get through his opener with Amaan Iqbal, the 16 year old from Rutherglen near Glasgow, and then, the lottery begins.
The lottery that I call Tian Pengfei. Tian is… an odd bird (an odd Big Bird if you want to use his nickname), because while some players struggle to put good performances together, Tian’s performances seem to change completely DURING matches. He can be making breaks galore one minute, and then randomly a new frame begins and he becomes a cross-eyed halfwit, I just… I will never understand how Tian works. He has all the tools, but he just doesn’t seem to have any form of consistency.
Last year’s World’s showcased that perfectly, he was 5-0 and 8-1 up on Graeme Dott in the last qualifying round, before eventually winning 10-8, and then at the Crucible, lead John Higgins 4-1 and 6-3, before losing 10-7. One day we’ll work out why Tian’s performances are so random, I think it probably has something to do with the position of the sun or something. Anyway, I’d expect him to beat Sandi, but… erm… who knows to be honest. He could turn up and make five centuries, or he could turn up and start playing inside out (wouldn’t that be a sight?)
And the winner of that faces Chris Wakelin. I like Chris, but he’s really not done much this season. In fact, he’s lost his last five matches, most recently 4-1 to Lei Peifan in the English Open qualifiers. It’s not like he’s not scoring either, he has made seven 50+ breaks in this run of losses, peaking with a 94 in the Scottish Open qualifiers against Theppy (give me a break for the shortened name, I have to type it out later anyway). He’s a good player, he’s got a lot of heart, he’s a lovely guy, but I can’t back someone who’s on a losing streak. Then again, he is up against Tian potentially, so…
While I work out that quandary, I’ll discuss Andrew Pagett, who by most accounts, believes himself to be god’s gift to snooker… and most other things. I’m sure he’s not that arrogant, but he’s not done himself any favours in the past. He’s at least dropped last season’s habit of scoring 40/50 points in a frame and still losing it constantly (well, apart from the match with Jordan Brown at the NI Open), the problem is that’s not translating to wins.
Now I need to addrss something quickly. In my German Masters draw reactions on Youtube (link at the top), I referred to Stephen Hendry as playing like “an arthritic cricket”. I must stress, I am extremely sorry, it was incredibly insulting, and I hope that the community as a whole does not think ill of me for it. I have already mailed an apology to Britain’s Chief Cricket, and am awaiting a reply as soon as they learn how to use writing equipment. Could he beat Pag? Eh, probably. Could he beat Xu Si? Possibly, although Xu looks much improved this season. Could he beat Jimmy Robertson? LOL.
Xu Si, I’m more concerned about how you pronounce his sodding name. Is it Xu Si or Xu Siu or Xu Su (the latter two are what Eurosport appear to believe interchangably)? Seriously, if I have any Chinese speakers (don’t ask me which Chinese, there’s about five different ones), could you please tell me how it’s pronounced, it’s doing my head in. And Jimmy Robertson has been… typically solid. Unremarkable but solid. But unremarkable but solid gets you a long way in this game.
Section 4 Final: (56) Tian Pengfei vs. (24) Jimmy Robertson
You wouldn’t believe how close I was to predicting Sanderson Lam for Tian’s spot. But Tian is having an alright season, he’s already won 8 matches this season (for the record, he won 7 matches last season). This is a funny match because you get the feeling it could be an amazing watch, or it could be a comedy of errors and scrappy frames. Ultimately though, I like safe and solid.
Section 4 Prediction: (56) Tian Pengfei 2-6 (24) Jimmy Robertson
EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this section was written up, Stephen Hendry has withdrawn from the UK Championship, giving Andrew Pagett a bye. As for why they didn’t just call someone else up from Q School’s Order of Merit, erm… don’t ask me.
Bracket 5
I’m not even pretending to not be biased here. Michael White has had a fantastic 2022, he has won TWENTY professional matches during the year. For the record, that’s more than Shaun Murphy (13). He’s started this season well, so well that he’s provisionally 19th on the one year list. This is a player who 12 months ago was preparing to work shifts as an Amazon delivery driver is now reaching the Last 16 of ranking events and has £22,500 from this season already. I’ve been particularly impressed with his safety when I’ve seen him this season, he’s just becoming very hard to beat. Michael, just want to say I’m proud, Hayley’s proud, and all your other fans on Twitter are proud (you know who you are and I love you all). Up the #LightningLegion!
Anyway… I don’t see Michael having too much issue with Sheffield’s Jake Crofts, the WSF Junior Championship Finalist in only his second ever match at professional level, and I make him favourite against Zhang Jiankang, who has won less matches in two and a bit season as a professional (12) than Michael has won since the start of April (14). As for Zhou, the recent NI Open finalist, that’s a little bit of a coin toss. Zhou REALLY should have done better against Allen in that final, from 4-1 he just fell apart at the seams, losing 9-4, but on the other hand, you can’t discount his performance against McGill, four tons in a BO11 is simply phenomonal.
Julien Leclerq is someone I find immensely exciting. He’s one of these young guys who has no off button, he’s all attacking all the time. This leads to a lot of large breaks and shot of the season candidates, but it also leads to him being incredibly easy to take advantage of if you can pose him enough issues. He is a prodigious talent though, and I hope he stays around for years to come. His opponent is Mohammed Ibrahim, the Egyptian who took his first ever professional frame with a century recently against Dave Gilbert, but ended up losing 4-2 in a quality match to the former Crucible semi-finalist.
Geez, a third player from the same Championship League group. Mark Joyce secured Michael White’s progression from that group, partly by beating Jack Lisowski, and partly by being completely inept against Michael in their match. Aside from that, he’s not done much this season, a Last 32 appearance in the European Masters accounting for two of his six wins this season. He’s still good though, and would be heavily favoured against his less experienced opponents.
Finally we have Jak Jones. I like Jak, I find watching him very interesting. He’s not had a particulary strong start to the season though, and has lost his last three matches. But I have faith that this is only a blip, Jak has become a bit of a bogey draw to a lot of players in the past couple of years. If he gets a good wind behind him, watch out.
Section 5 Final: (21) Zhou Yuelong vs. (44) Jak Jones
This is the first bracket where I can genuinly say that I had some trouble deciding on both sides. On the top it seems likely that it’s Zhou or White, but I can’t look past Zhou reaching the final of the NI Open. And on the bottom, I nearly went with Mark Joyce, but I just have this feeling that Jak Jones could do something big here, it would be typical for him to be under the radar and suddenly produce a good run. Sorry Zhou, no four tons here.
Section 5 Prediction: (21) Zhou Yuelong 3-6 (44) Jak Jones
Editor’s Note: Since writing this section up I’ve listened to Dylan Emery’s appearance on the WST Podcast, and learned that Jak and Michael actually practice together. So now I REALLY want to see that match. Doesn’t change my prediction though.
Bracket 6
Section 6, where we have a butcher, a singer, a dragon, and someone who ran the London Marathon on this episode of Rhyme Time. I’ll begin with Farakh, the Accrington Butcher who… represents Pakistan because Snooker’s residency rules don’t apply to nicknames. Farakh has been more impressive as an amateur this season than he was in his time as a pro. To sum it up, he’s won three matches already this season, something which took him until the middle of January in both seasons as a professional, and was a cruel in-off away from beating Judd Trump at the European Masters, this after beating Mark Allen and Marco Fu. His opponent is Chen Zifan, who according to Mink Nutcharut (via Phil Haigh), is a very good karaoke singer. That makes… erm… one of us.
Wu Yize is an interesting one. He was great last season, including a run to the Last 32 in this event, and clearly has a lot of attacking flair. And this season he was two frames away from the Semi-Finals of the European Masters. But he’s inconsistent and has won only one match since the EM. I would expect him to beat Chen or Farakh, but he’s not a shoe-in. He might have trouble with a very consistent opponent in Jamie Jones however, Jamie is a player you always expect to pick up wins because he’s just so solid in every department.
Ng On Yee, multiple time Women’s champion, but it’s really not happened for her on the Main Tour. I don’t think she’s been outclassed per se, but I simply don’t think she scores heavily enough. I’ll admit I’ve not been the most avid watcher of the women’s game (mainly due to time), but from what I’ve heard, she’s not the heaviest scorer even there. She’s got a great tactical game, and I sort of fancy her against Jenson Kendrick, the Stoke Storm hasn’t managed a first win as a professional yet.
This is where it gets awkward, because I feel like Matthew Stevens is the favourite for this route despite being ranked 23 places lower than Fan. Matthew has had a pretty good 2022, having had a dreadful 2021, and reached the Last 16 of the British Open, before being creamed by an in-form Lyu Haotian 4-1. He’s playing decently this season, but as always with Matthew, you wonder how well he could play with a bit more motivation behind him.
As for Fan, I… sort of don’t know what to make of him. The Welsh Open win was a miracle run, but since then he’s won two matches, both of which have come in the past few weeks. He did face Neil Robertson at the NI Open though, and even though he lost 4-2, he totally outplayed Neil scoring wise. I get the feeling he is a really great player, but we just aren’t quite seeing it.
Section 6 Final: (28) Jamie Jones vs. (60) Matthew Stevens
Yeah, you probably saw this one coming. This is the easiest one I’ve had to predict so far in terms of who reaches the Section final, but predicting the match is difficult, because they are very similar players. Both have a good all round game, both should be challenging regularly, but both have the habit of throwing in somewhat lackadaisical performances. I feel like Jamie’s the better player right now though, so that’s my prediction.
Section 6 Prediction: (28) Jamie Jones 6-2 (60) Matthew Stevens
Editor’s Note: Since I wrote this section up, Fan has gotten to (as of writing this note) the Semis of the Champion of Champions. However I stick by what I said, and feel like Fan is a big match player who if anything will suffer from the change in format. Again, prediction remains the same.
Bracket 7
Now I know, you’re expecting this bracket to be totally dominated by the two talented Chinese players at the end. But there are other threats you can’t afford to underestimate here, so I’ll start with Lukas Kleckers. I like Lukas, and he was extremely impressive at Q School. But it’s not going to plan for him this season. Only two wins, and none since late September. I honestly feel like he’s one of these who would be better if he played a little quicker. Just let instinct guide you a bit. His opponent is Lewis Ullah, the 20 year old from Burnley ended last season as England’s top ranked Junior, and had a couple of decent showings at Q School with a pair of Last 32s. I’d expect Lukas to win but Lewis can clearly go so it could be close.
Stuart Carrington is a very lucky boy. He was incredibly close to falling off tour last season, but was saved by the skin of his teeth. No less than FOUR players (Holt, Maflin, O’Donnell, Cao) were one win away from demoting him. This term he’s already reached the Last 32 at the European Masters, a feat he didn’t manage in the whole of last season. You just wonder if we’re one decent run away from seeing Stuart find himself again, and this would be a really good opportunity to do so.
Lyu Haotian really is a very good player, and this season has recorded back to back Quarter-Finals, which has rocketed him up from 45th to 36th in the world. He’s sat tantalisingly near a return to the Top 32, and if he has a particularly good run here, could even challenge his previous highest ranking of 24th. He’s absolutely a favourite for this section
On the bottom, Dean Young. Still… well… young, he’s struggled as a professional but not for want of talent or trying. I’ve seen him put in some very good shifts, and I think he’s been a little bit unlucky at times, but he still only has a single win this season. He’ll face Lee Stephens, the WSF Championship finalist who has done little of note since, but by the sounds of it has been making some progress on the Seniors circuit. This could be another close one, Stephens seems to be a very scrappy player, and Young doesn’t strike me as a player to take the game by the scruff.
Andy Hicks is a player you think about maybe twice a year. Usually you’d only really think about how good a player he is when either a) he has his rare strong run in an event, b) he’s on a tv table, or c) Quinten Hann comes up in a pop quiz. This isn’t meant as a slight on him either, he’s just not one of these that really catches the eye often. He did have a very good run to the Last 8 of this event last season though, his first Quarter Final excluding the Shootout since (checks Wikipedia) 2004. I’d expect Hicks to beat Young or Stephens, and he’d have a chance against Lu Ning, who as I’ve mentioned on here before is a real fighter, but rarely seems to hit the heights he promises. He did reach the Championship League final this season though, so there’s that.
Section 7 Final: (36) Lyu Haotian vs. (29) Lu Ning
Yeah, none of the others did it for me in terms of their game right now. If Carrington had been on the same side as Lu I might have wavered, but no. I actually fancy Lu here, I don’t necessarily fancy Lyu against opponents who are likely to keep things tight and not give away easy chances. He’s great in the balls, but I’ve never fancied him as someone who is great at making their own chances. Lu on the other hand is a predator who will wait for a mistake and then smack you down.
Section 7 Prediction: (36) Lyu Haotian 3-6 (29) Lu Ning
Bracket 8
Talking of predators who will smack you down, Liang Wenbo… is suspended again. As of writing (1/11/22), there is no conformation on what’s happening regarding him and the UK Championship, so I’m just going to presume that whoever wins in the 2nd round gets a bye. If it makes any difference to anybody, I wasn’t predicting Liang to win his match anyway. So onwards and upwards.
Mink, everyone loves Mink don’t they? The two things uniting Snooker fans these days is their love of Mink and their acceptance that I’m always right, even when I’m wrong. Mink has had one win this season, but the way she’s played probably deserved more. Her comeback against Chen Zifan in the English Open quals recently was fantastic, only to be put down by an 81 break in the decider. I think she’ll learn a lot against Fergal, he’s a canny old dog and knows every trick in the book. In fact he co-authored the book.
Robbie Williams is the pick in the top half for me though. He’s not done much aside from the British Open, where he reached the Semis before losing to Ryan Day in a match which could very generously be described as “scrappy”, or more truthfully as “a shitshow”. I hope that match didn’t affect him too much, because he’s been rising very well in recent years and has become very reliable, but outside of that run he’s only actually won one match this season, in the Championship League. I fancy him to put that right here.
Forgive me, but there’s not a huge amount to talk about on the other side. Barry Pinches has won once this season and only six times since the start of last season, Asjad Iqbal got pumped 4-0 in his only professional match so far (having not even succeeded in Q School, thanks Thanawat for being banned from the tour), and Gerard Greene hasn’t gone beyond the Last 64 of any non-Shootout event in nearly 21 months. It’s not that I don’t want to talk about them, it’s that I literally have nothing interesting to say other than that Greene is another example of representing the wrong country (he was born in Chatham, which the last time I checked was still in Kent**)
Right, are we allowed to like Big Hoss again? I was under the impression that once he “insulted” Ronnie before the World Championship everyone was supposed to no longer like him, such was the uproar over questioning the game’s lord and saviour. Seriously though, I don’t see how anyone could dislike Hossein, he seems like the nicest guy, his Shootout win was genuinely emotional when you know the context and how hard it was for him to even get to play on the tour, and he just speaks so well, he is growing into a fantastic representative of the game. As for his season, aside from his 147 against Ng On Yee, nothing has really occurred. Well, aside from the European Masters visa issue which he apparently didn’t both telling anyone about, but hey, it’s something I guess.
Section 8 Final: (52) Robbie Williams vs. (20) Hossein Vafaei
This is the first match in this entire section where I feel like there’s any real conversation on who’s going to win (unless someone knows a lot more about Asjad Iqbal than I do), but this one could be very close. Both are very solid players, both have the game, and both are very much on the rise in the game. I don’t really know who I’d back here, Vafaei has generally had the better season, but Robbie has a ranking semi under his belt. It’s almost one of the classic coin tossers, but I just have a feeling. Stop giggling. There is nothing funny about the term “coin tossers”.
Section 8 Final: (52) Robbie Williams 5-6 (20) Hossein Vafaei
Bracket 9
Ok, this is quite an interesting one, everyone here has some sort of argument for getting through the qualifiers. I’ll kick off with Fraser Patrick, who has had a somewhat bizarre season. Outside of the Championship League (where he beat Graeme Dott but lost to Haydon Pinhey), he’s scored two wins this season, both of which have been very comfortable against veterans (4-1 against Burden, 4-0 against J. White). Last season he had a Last 16 run in the European Masters, beating Stuart Bingham and Martin Gould along the way, so he can really play, he just doesn’t show it often enough. I do fancy him against Crafty Ken, who… to be honest is in a similar boat, he can still very much go but rarely produces enough.
Lei Peifan came from nowhere really to get one frame away from the Crucible, falling to Hossein Vafaei. Oddly, four of his seven matches this season have been whitewashes, and he’s faced Doherty once already this season, drawing 2-2 in the CL. If Lei wants to challenge though, he’ll have to improve his scoring, with his highest break this season being a paltry 61, the second lowest of any professional behind Stephen Hendry, who has only played twice this season.
Now when you see Dave Gilbert in this section, you instantly think that he’s the obvious choice for this section. And to be fair, he has earned that right. He is by far the highest ranked player in this section, and should have reached the semis in Belfast, having lead Zhou 4-2 and 36-1, before falling in a decider. The big disappointment is his Championship League defence, where he was solid enough in the first group, before crashing out of the second group, but not before having a match of the year candidate with Michael White where there was THREE tons and a 70 break. In a FOUR FRAME MATCH. (if you can’t remember, Michael won 3-1, making two 130+ breaks). So yeah, Dave, playing well, but still fragile mentally and he isn’t the greatest frontrunner.
On the other half, Ross Muir is a player I have always enjoyed seeing play. It’s easy to forget because of the fact he’s an amateur still, but he’s reached four Last 16s in his career, including last season at the British Open, including wins over Ryan Day and Rory McLeod (who is never fun to try and beat). He and Oliver Brown could be close, it’s been a tough start to the season for Brown, having only beaten Stephen Maguire. Yes, THAT Stephen Maguire. Snooker is some weird shit.
Mark King is one of those average players from a snooker hotbed. You know, the kind that just gradually pick up results, they’ll occasionally have a good run but mostly they’ll just exist, picking up enough wins here and there to know that they’ll always be safe from the threat of the tour survival battle. Comfortably mid table in football terms. Don’t pretend you didn’t cry a little when he became a ranking event winner though.
Ben Woollaston is one of those average players from a snooker hotbed. You know, the kind that just gradually pick up results, they’ll occasionally have a good run but mostly they’ll just exist, picking up enough wins here and there to know that they’ll always be safe from the threat of the tour survival battle. Comfortably mid table in football terms. No, seriously, Ben should be way higher in the rankings. Some players never seem to play well when I watch them. Ben ONLY seems to play well when I watch him.
Section 9 Final: (19) Dave Gilbert vs. (46) Ben Woollaston
King vs. Wooly was a very tough call, but when I’ve seen him this season, Ben has looked extremely solid. I don’t back him against Gilbert though, unless Dave has one of his typical confidence collapses again. And he only usually does that against the Top 16. Remember Dave, you’re a former World semi-finalist, you can play. As for Ben, I’d love to see him have a good run, he’s such an underrated threat.
Section 9 Result: (19) Dave Gilbert 6-3 Ben Woollaston
Bracket 10
Now THIS is a meaty bracket. This is absolutely cut throat, and some very fine players aren’t making it all the way. John Astley was last year’s resident Giant Killer, and his return to the tour has been… very, very decent. He’s not picked up statement wins quite like Si or White, but he has five wins to his name this season, including victories over Lines Jr., Wu Yize and Ben Woollaston. I’ve always found John to be a very steady player, I’m a little surprised he’s never been in the Top 64, having peaked at 65. I would put money on him against Robbie McGuigan, who last year became the youngest ever Northern Irish Amateur Champion, beating the record held by his own Stepfather. You might have heard of his Stepfather, he’s called Mark Allen. But yeah, Robbie, massive talent, but I think he’s some way off the professional level yet.
Would you believe me if I told you that Yuan Sijun has already got wins over three of the World’s Top 8 this season? (the answer is probably yes if you’ve been paying attention this season and don’t have a memory as bad as mine). But yeah, he’s beaten Ronnie in the CL, Selby in the EM qualifiers, and John Higgins en route to the Last 8 at the British Open, losing a tight match 5-4 to eventual champion Ryan Day, only losing to a 124 break in the decider. Other than that one run he’s not hit the heights of last season, but is immensely talented.
Can I just say how nice it was for Joe Perry, the perpetual bridesmaid to finally win something last season? It’s a good job he did do well there as well, because his season other than that absolutely sucked! One Last 32 appearance, and five exits in the Last 128. If you can believe it, last season it took him until February to get beyond the Last 64 of any event. And then he duly won two matches after February. He’s a very nice player to watch, and Joe is always dangerous when he’s on form. But if he isn’t, he is in shark infested waters.
David Lilley is… a strange case, in so much as even when he’s playing well, he doesn’t look like he’s playing well. He always just looks slightly scrappy to me, as if something’s going to go wrong at any moment. It’s hard to explain. He’s up against Joel Connelly Jr., who let’s be honest, is probably wondering what the hell he’s done to deserve being in this fearful ocean of a section. He’s also a full 32 years younger than David Lilley, at 15 years old. For context, he was born in October 2007, when I was in Year 8.
David Grace is a mighty fine player I tell you. And not just because he beat Ronnie. Grace is one of those who has always dealt with a bit of a physical disadvantage. But for him, the disadvantage is the fact that he’s about the same height as Blackpool Tower, and has the wingspan of a particularly lanky albatross. I fancy him against Lilley or You’ve got school tomorrow, which would lead to the rather amusing sight of Giant David vs. Tiny Graeme.
Ok, Graeme probably isn’t that small. Listen, I’ve been at this for the best part of a week, I’ve got to think of something to talk about. The Dotty Dynamo is another player who’s had one good run this season, reaching the Last 16 of the British Open but losing to Day. If both of them are playing well, Dott and Grace could low key be one of the best matches of the qualifiers.
Section 10 Final: (67) Yuan Sijun vs. (62) David Grace
Yep, I fancy both of these two to overcome their more illustrious opponents. I wouldn’t be surprised to be wrong on both however. Nor would I be surprised if I go the wrong way on this one. Interestingly, these two have never played each other before, so there’s sod all to go on. I’ll plump for Yuan though, sorry Kathi.
Section 10 Prediction: (67) Yuan Sijun 6-4 David Grace
Bracket 11
Section 11, and if you thought Section 10 was swimming with sharks, now the water’s filled with blood (in a purely metaphorical sense, I’m not suggesting they’re going to get into some kind of knife fight). Ben Mertens has shown a lot of promise this season, but after the way he was sweeping the board in the amateur classes, I was somehow expecting a little more from him. He’s a heavy scorer though, which will make his clash with Martin O’Donnell very interesting. I’m still shocked that the Minister of Defence is an amateur.
Thepchaiya is fast, everyone knows this. He’s a great player when everything comes together, the operative term being “when everything comes together”. It doesn’t do that often enough, which is why he’s down at 59 on the rankings list. He’s not had a good season either, not winning multiple matches at any event thus far. I think he’s in trouble here.
I’m not sure what I think of Ding’s chances either. How the mighty really have fallen, Ding now ranked down at 39. He’s looked good recently though, responding to a shock loss to Michael White in Belfast by making back to back tons against Elliot Slessor in the Scottish Open quals, and following that up by making three in a row against a helpless Ian Burns in the English Open quals. Other than that though, Ding hasn’t been great this season, with only three other wins.
While I consider that half, I’ll talk about the revelation that has been Dylan Emery. Let’s be honest, most hardcore Snookerites knew a bit about him already, but I don’t think many could have predicted just how well he’s taken to being a professional, having won a match at every event so far, and making two tons and an 89 in a 4-0 win over Li Hang in the English Open quals recently. So shocking it was, my eyebrows were so raised they nearly flew away (which would have looked very strange in Costa Coffee). Dylan has certainly established himself as a threat to be respected, and I find it hard to believe that Adam Duffy (who is in this weird space still of being too good to not be pro, but outclasses as a pro)
Zhang Anda still has never been in the Top 64, which completely blows my mind, because a) he’s been around for so long, and b) he’s that damn good. He’s an incredible scorer, as shown by the fact that he’s made multiple 140+ breaks this season, including a 147 against Anton Kazakov. Emery and Zhang could be an incredibly high scoring affair, and I would be envious of anyone there.
Now I’m going to talk about Rob Milkins and not make and jokes about him delivering, because that joke has been milked to death and I don’t want him to get all Moo-dy with me, and he’d be within his rights to be cheesed off at all the jokes. Fine, I’ll talk about Snooker. Rob shocked everyone (not least himself) by winning the Gibraltar Open last season, and this season has been pretty alright, with a pair of Last 16s. Rob is incredibly experienced, and is rightfully the favourite in this section.
Section 11 Final: (a) Martin O’Donnell vs. (27) Robert Milkins
I’ll be honest, nobody in the top section was quite doing it for me, so why not have a punt? I absolutely think Martin has a fighting chance here, he’s not just good playing a grind game but is a decent scorer when he gets going. But I struggle to not back Milkins when he’s feeling as good about his game as he is now. Just hope Martin’s feelings aren’t hurt… or yog-hurt, I’ll stop now.
Section 11 Prediction: (a) Martin O’Donnell 3-6 Robert Milkins
Bracket 12
Zak Surety kicks off this section, and boy have the professional ranks been tough for him. A reasonable eight wins in his return season (four of which were in the Pro Series) were followed up by a miserable four wins last season, and only one so far this. He’s good, but it shows just how difficult it is to make progress on the tour these days. Bradley Ferguson is his opponent, the man from Flint having reached the final of the Welsh Under-21 Championships, only to lose to Liam Davies.
Elliot Slessor has always been an interesting character, but generally speaking I don’t know of anyone who dislikes him. It’s been a relatively quiet season for Elliot, with nothing beyond the Last 64, and although he’s comfortable now on the EOS rankings, that could change very quickly. I would certainly expect him to beat Ferguson or Surety, but it’s a toss up against Martin Gould, who has got his act together after a terrible start to the season.
Do I thing Jiahui can play? Si! (sorry, always wanted to make that joke). Si Jiahui is a very talented player who quite frankly should never have dropped off the tour. After qualifying for the tour over the course of last season (again and again and again), he proved a point by reaching the Last 8 of the European Masters, before falling to Kyren Wilson, which is no disgrace. Si is a truly explosive scorer, a very attacking fellow, as actually is Allan Taylor. I expect Si to win but a shock is by no means out of the question.
Chang Bingyu is interesting here. An extremely good player, it feels like he’s having a slight hangover from last season. He finished last season awfully, winning one match after Christmas, and while he did start this season off by winning a tricky Championship League group, he’s not done much since. If he’s near his best, he’ll be a force. If not, he may struggle against Si or Taylor.
And the big name in this part is Jordan Brown, who has been scoring even better this season than he did last. Eight tons already, and a Last 16 and Last 32 make up what has been a very decent start to the season, which has put him just about in striking distance of the Top 16 if he were to have an exceptionally good run here. I wouldn’t bet on that necessaliry, but I would bet on him having the best chance of qualifying from this section. Then again, I said that about him at the World qualifiers, and then he lost to a Welsh amateur who had to win three other matches to reach that stage, so Brad, if you’re reading this, there’s hope.
Section 12 Final: (54) Elliot Slessor vs. (22) Jordan Brown
Yeah, I didn’t say there was realistic hope. But who knows, young Bradley (come to think of it 21 isn’t even particularly young anymore, tbh Snooker has sort of lost it’s sense of old and young) might surprise everybody. But this is my prediction regardless, and sorry Elliot, but I’m backing Bomber Brown here, could be an explosive match. Two feisty competitors, and it will make fantastic television. If it happens obviously, which with my record, would be the biggest surprise of the lot.
Section 12 Final: (54) Elliot Slessor 4-6 (22) Jordan Brown
Bracket 13
The top of this section might be the oldest section I’ve ever seen. When the youngest player of the four is 43 year old Ali Carter, you know it’s not a young section. Michael Judge has not only lost his last five matches, but he’s not actually made a 50 break in the last two, losing them both 4-0. I know Michael is a fine player, but you can tell that he was away for 10 years, he just hasn’t quite looked at the quality. Dechawat won his first match back at the English Open quals, and is apparently as madcap as ever, which is all I ever needed to know.
Peter Lines is… well he’s Peter Lines, he’s very much an acquired taste. Only a single win this season (because a walkover does not count as a win), but you know that Peter’s always good for a couple of wins at a random time, experience counts for a lot. As for Ali, you never quite know, he could suffer a shock or he could end up getting to the Quarter finals, it just depends if he can find his scoring boots.
An all Northern England matchup on the other half, York’s Ashley Hugill against Oldham’s Ryan Davies. Ryan looked extremely promising a couple of years ago, but it doesn’t feel like he’s quite come on as far as people might have expected. That might just be due to the increasing power creep of the amateur circuit, but I did expect more from him. As for Ashley, I think Ashley is really good. He’s another who just lets himself be dragged down too easily and overthinks situations. This could be good.
Anyone who reads my blog regularly enough knows that I’m a fan of Scott Donaldson, I like watching him play, and I find him to be a very honest and studious kind of player. He’s not won multiple matches at any event this season, but he did look good in qualifying for the Scottish and English Opens, so the best could be yet to come. As for Liam Highfield, I don’t quite know what’s gone wrong this season for the missing member of Oasis. He’s won back to back deciders for the Scottish and English Opens qualifiers, which are actually the first two matches he’s won this season, having been on a streak of seven successive losses dating back to the end of last season. It really feels like Liam has turned a corner in his career in the past couple of years, so we’ll see if it’s just a blip, or whether this is the sign of something going wrong in his game.
Section 13 Final: (23) Ali Carter vs. (42) Liam Highfield
You can see my answer to the quandary above, I don’t think Liam’s career is in any danger. In fact, I actually think he’ll win this one. Liam is quietly becoming one of the more reliable players around, and is a solid all-around player with very few glaring deficiencies in his game. Ali is incredible on his day, but sometimes I just start to question his reliability in the closer matches or against more tenacious players who won’t let him pull away. If Ali gets a good start it’s a long way back, but otherwise, he just won’t shake Highfield off. This scoreline would be in The Hindu Times (@M18Snooker on Twitter if you got the reference)
Section 13 Result: (23) Ali Carter 3-6 (42) Liam Highfield
Bracket 14
Section 14 begins with Aaron Hill, someone who is finally starting to make good on his potential. Having come through Q School, he’s already reached the Championship League Semi-Finals, and reached the Last 32 in Belfast, beating Judd Trump along the way. Aaron has always had the potential, but by his own admission he didn’t really commit enough after the famous Ronnie win in his first season on tour. He faces Muhammad Asif (or Mohammad Asif, which made him difficult to find on Cuetracker), who… I don’t know what to make of him yet. He’s had two matches on tour so far, a convincing 4-0 loss to Graeme Dott, and an impressive 4-2 win over Oliver Brown which could very easily have been 4-0.
Hammad Miah is another player in decent nick, he’s also qualified for the English and Scottish, and reached the Last 32 in Belfast, before losing to Mark Selby in a match where he apparently should have won but for a few runs of the ball and a few dodgy shots here and there (not that I’d know, I was watching White v Hawkins on the Player on my phone). I could see Miah doing some damage if given the opportunity. As for Matt Selt, popular as ever, I actually think he’s a decent guy. With only one win this season though, you get the feeling he’s vulnerable, especially when whoever he faces has at least one match to get their eye in.
It’s good to see Marco Fu back playing well. It’s a pity he couldn’t win the HK Masters, but he did at least make a 147 in front of his adoring home fans. Aside from that though, he’s only won a single match this season. Bai has only played two matches this season, and they’ve been against Zhao Xintong and Ricky Walden, so him having only won one frame is understandable. I still feel like we’ve never really had chance to see how good he actually is as a pro, because of all the Covid-related disruption. Literally no idea who wins this one, there’s too many unknowns.
Oli Lines is coming off the back of a very decent season last season, but this term has been nowhere near as good. Two wins so far, nothing especially convincing, but Oli is always capable, and spending time with Judd can only improve his potting at least. Anthony Hamilton meanwhile, has won one match more than he had at this stage last season. He’s also made 9 tons this season, which is only 7 off his best ever total for a season (16 tons in 97-98 and 10-11). I don’t know what the current status with his eyesight is, but based on how he’s playing this season, it’s not bothering him too much.
Section 14 Final: (26) Matthew Selt vs. (39) Anthony Hamilton
I struggled a little with the top half, because nobody is in good enough form to make me think that they’re the automatic favourite. I just think if Selt finds about 50-60% of his game he’ll be enough to get to this stage. He’ll need a lot more than that to beat the Sherriff though, Hamilton has been scoring heavily this season. Unless Matt can find what he’s been missing this season, I don’t think this would be close.
Section 14 Prediction: (26) Matthew Selt 1-6 (39) Anthony Hamilton
Bracket 15
Sean the Storm is opening up the penultimate section. To be honest, Sean has largely looked pants as a professional. Until this season when he’s actually not been half bad. It would have been better for him but for two decider losses in quick succession against Slessor in the British Open, and Kyren at the NI Open, but he’s picked up wins this season against players who look likely to be down and around the lower portion of the rankings like Jamie O’Neill and Lukas Kleckers, which is sort of what you need to be doing to survive beyond the two years. Wins over the top players are always nice, but it’s the ones against your direct rivals that you need to take, because not only are you adding to your ranking, you’re stopping them adding to theirs. He takes on Callum Beresford, the promising 21 year old from Sheffield who had a good run to the Last 16 of the European Under-21 Champs. Could be interesting.
Cao Yupeng has had a very… nothing season so far. In so much as it hasn’t been good, nor has it been exceptionally bad, he’s not been involved in a single whitewash all season, but he’s only made two breaks above 74. So he’s not really winning frames in one visit, which is always a concern. You would expect him to beat Storm or Beresford, but I don’t fancy his chances against Xiao, who is 11th on the one year list having reached the final group of the Championship League, and having two Last 32s and a Last 16 to his name. It’s amazing how much consistency can do for you, he’s 11th on the OYL despite not even reaching a Quarter-Final. It’s just that he’s been winning matches consistently. But he did knock Michael out of the CL, which I am still incredibly bitter about (I’m only half serious)
Am I the only one who finds the bottom half more interesting? That’s not a general life question, that’s more of a comment about the bracket. You’re still taking that as a euphemism aren’t you? Get your mind out of the gutter dear reader! I would never suggest such a thing (I am not writing this with a straight face!).
Jamie O’Neill has probably had more misconduct allegations against him than he has had wins in the past year. This season, he’s won five. No, not five matches, I meant five frames. His highest break this season is a quite frankly immense… 41. I’ve made higher breaks than that in person, and I’m an Autistic with no sense of depth perception or cueing straight. I know I’m being mean here, but let’s face facts, his season has been a disaster so far. He’s facing Andres Petrov, the Tallin Lamborghini (god this is testing my spelling), who just won a match as a pro for the first time in a tense decider with Victor Sarkis. I would just about back Petrov here, just because of the bounce from winning for the first time.
Action Jackson, reached the Last 16 at the Crucible (equalling his best ranking event result). Only a Last 32 to talk about for the Ebbw Vale boy this season, where he got mowed down 5-0 by David Grace (revenge for the World qualifiers). Fully expect him to beat O’Neill or Petrov, and could well beat Gary Wilson, the Wallsend Wolverine (still an awesome nickname) should be a Top 16 player, but for whatever reason his game doesn’t quite seem to come together. Being an ex Taxi driver though, he’s probably much better at Snooker than he is at driving (can you tell I don’t have a high opinion of taxi drivers?)
Section 15 Final: (34) Xiao Guodong vs. (66) Jackson Page
Gary Wilson has never had a great record at this event. He’s entered it nine times since returning to the circuit in 2013, and gone out immediately on four occasions. So I’m going to suggest Jackson gets this far. If he plays like he did on his run to the Last 16 in Sheffield, Jackson will be a major challenge. Otherwise, should be comfortable for the X-Factor.
Section 15 Result: (34) Xiao Guodong 6-3 (66) Jackson Page
Bracket 16
And so, we come to our final section, and we’re starting with Rod Lawler, who won his first match after coming through Q School against Mink in the CL. Since then though, it’s played Six, lost Five, and one draw in the CL against Scott Donaldson. He recently recorded his highest break of the season, but being Rod, it was only 63. He’s up against a tour new boy on Ryan Thomerson, the man from Montrose near Melbourne also won his first match on the tour, against Ng On Yee, but hasn’t won a match since. I expect Rod’s experience to be critical here. (and if you’re wondering, Thomerson’s highest break this season is 99, the most annoying break in the game).
Joe O’Connor is someone who confuses me. Because I can’t work out if he’s underachieving or overachieving, I’ve concluded it’s probably an odd mixture of the two. He’s recorded a Last 32 this season, but outside of that had won only one match until the recently English and Scottish qualifiers. One thing I’ve learned with Joe is that the breaks he makes are in no way an indication of how he’s playing. He could make 80+ breaks but still be playing like a drain, or he could be playing brilliantly and have a high break of 30. He’s just such a perplexing player, and the sport needs more of them.
Then we come to Smiley Sam as I’m now calling him. If you thought Joe was confusing, Sam is a downright enigma. He has so much talent, but all I ever seem to hear is about how he isn’t professional and how he lacks commitment. And he’s gone on record on the WST podcast to talk about how he’s different to other players because he purely sees Snooker as a job, and I wonder if that’s why he’s not getting further in the game – he’s almost got to the point where he’s making enough, and that’s it. Obviously I could be way off the mark here, but it just sort of feels that way. He’s got all the talent in the world, I just want him to use it.
If you thought Gary Wilson in the last section had a bad record in the UK Championship, then boy oh boy have you not seen Ian Burns’ record in this event. Nine appearances, SEVEN first round losses. His best run was in 2019, when he whitewashed Matt Selt, and then beat Michael Holt, before John Higgins put him to the proverbial sword. He takes on Anton Kazakov, who will be hoping for an early birthday present; he turns 18 on Tuesday.
Steady as he goes, Craig is here, and having his typical nondescript season, four wins but nothing all that flashy. Steadman never seems to suffer a lot of heavy defeats, but conversely, he rarely seems to have long impressive runs in events. He just picks up results here and there and at the end of the two years is always in the conversation regarding tour survival. One slight issue for Craig though – he’s never won a match in the UK Championship. EIGHT attempts. In order, he’s lost to Bond, Hamilton, Zhou, McGill, Jamie Jones, Ford, Fu, Walden. So not the easiest opponents, but even so, he’s never won a match here. If he and Ian face off, we’re practically breaking new ground here!
And if Craig wins, guess who he faces next! I can’t believe Ricky turns 40 next Friday, it doesn’t seem like he should be that old. I know 40 is no age in this era of the game, but… I’m getting side-tracked here. Ricky’s season really has been a tale of diminishing returns, having started with finishing 2nd in Final Group 1 in the Championship League, and then reaching the Last 32 of the European Masters, but he hasn’t done much since. I like watching Ricky as well, he just prowls around the table. It’s hard to imagine anything getting in his way in getting to the end of the section.
Section 16 Final: (50) Joe O’Connor vs. (18) Ricky Walden
I am going to start this off by telling you that I’m going for Joe O’Connor here. Joe is a player who as I mentioned above, I can’t quite work out. But I think this could be a great opportunity for a statement run. Nobody else in this section is exactly in sparkling form, Joe scores about as heavily as anyone here, and I feel like he’s been waiting for a breakout opportunity. By rights, Ricky should probably win this section. But Snooker doesn’t work on by rights. It’s between the two players and the table, and I just fancy Leicester’s #4 on this occasion.
Section 16 Prediction: (50) Joe O’Connor 6-3 (18) Ricky Walden
So after all that, there are my predictions. But if it’s taken you as long to read these as it has me to write them up (which is about 3 millennia), then here’s a quick recap of my 16 qualifiers, so you can screenshot, and point and laugh when it goes as badly as I said.
So the World Snooker Mixed Doubles was on this past weekend, and I got to watch… some of it. I would have loved to see more, but sadly, watching evening sessions tends to be a little bit of a struggle with three people who would rather watch… let’s be honest, absolute twaddle (but I can now exclusively tell you that Pretty Little Liars on Netflix is the single least interesting programme in history). So I’m going to quickly give a few thoughts about it.
First though, I feel it fitting to mention here that something important has changed in my life. No, I’ve not learned to tell good jokes, I’m not sure anybody on Snooker Twitter can do that. No, the thing that’s changed is that I now have a job (yes, a real job that pays real money). Therefore, my time is significantly more limited. I’ll update whenever I can, but just understand if you go a while without seeing anything new from me. Anyhow, back to Snooker
The Format
I liked it. I like when Snooker deviates from the norm and experiments with things like Doubles or Shot Clocks or matches that can end in Draws, I find it pretty neat. The format felt snappy, it felt like it didn’t outstay its welcome, but still gave a reasonable amount of action. As for the Doubles format itself, I’ve seen a lot of debate as regards whether it should be players alternating shots or visits to the table (i.e. if Player A pots a ball, should they or their partner take the next shot).
And this might feel like a strange statement, but honestly, I don’t really give a sh*t. It’s just as good either way, and trying to think from a neutral perspective (more on that slightly later), I feel like you get to see more of both players’ styles if they alternate shots in a break, but the way they did it, you get more of a feel for what kind of player someone is.
Put it this way – as a neutral, watching Mark Selby’s large breaks, you could easily get the sense of the kind of player Mark is – meticulous, organised, very tactical. And then you can watch a similarly high break for Ronnie O’Sullivan, and again, get the sense of the kind of player he is, more natural, point and click, and incredibly quick without ever looking like it. I don’t have any significant complaints about the format, at least none that aren’t just personal preference (mid-sess interval after three frames in the final feels silly).
The Commentary
FAN-TAS-TIC. The Commentary is my big highlight of this. Throughout the two days, they struck the perfect balance between being regular Snooker commentators for Snooker fans (i.e. discussing shot selection, positional play and all that nerdy stuff), while also being a great gateway for casuals. Because you need to remember, this wasn’t all stuffed away on ITV4, the afternoon sessions were on ITV1. You cannot underestimate the greater scope that gives, the amount of people with no interest in Snooker beforehand who would just stick it on because there’s nothing better on.
Each player had the best side of them shown, their career highlights were explained but they weren’t hammered home excessively, and the state of the women’s game was explained beautifully (saying there was 38 players on that tour when Reanne won her first World Championship compared to 180-odd now, I can’t remember the exact number), while talking about Reanne’s accomplishments (and yes, I did note that they used Mink’s time at the table to advertise the hell out of the Champion of Champions, and no I don’t blame them in the slightest).
It’s difficult to explain, but you can just tell when commentary stops being “good” and starts being “professional”. You could hear that not only did the commentators know who was playing and all the rules etc., but they were intimitely familiar with the players and had spent time around them as human beings. They know everything you might want to know as well as need to know, you don’t get that professional feel enough in my opinion. And if this is where you’re expecting the “However, I didn’t like”, you’re going to be waiting a long time, because I have no complaints.
The Presentation
Not a lot to say here, it was just another ITV event. It had the same spacious yet impersonal look that all the ITV events seem to have. It all looks very nice, very built for purpose. You just don’t get the same kind of crowd involvement that you do in some other events, I think that Snooker sometimes works best in smaller venues just because you get an intimate atmosphere, and it really feels like the crowd are part of the show.
As for the venue, I get that it was a first time event so you’re not sure what ticket sales are going to be like, and also because all of the players are at least somewhat UK-based, you wanted a venue that is in the UK, and obviously not every venue is reasonable/affordable/available. But surely you could have done better than Milton Keynes?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the Marshall Arena is a lovely arena, and it does very much look the part, and it’s an arena where WST probably have a decent relationship with the owners considering the amount of events that were held there during peak Covid times, but the very fact that it’s been used so much, and especially the fact that the British Open began in the same venue the next day, makes it feel like the Mixed Doubles was just tacked on at the last moment because they had a couple of extra days booked. I’m not saying that’s how it was, I’m saying that’s the perception based on all the evidence.
Overall though, I think the Mixed Doubles was a huge success. The reception to the event was very positive, the crowd was good, the presentation was fantastic, and you really got the feeling the players were enjoying it (especially Ronnie and Reanne who spent as much time chatting as they did playing, and Bex who seemed to love the opportunity and played fantastically). It was an excellent event, and hopefully next year it will return, either expanded or in a better venue or even both.
But what did you think of the event? Did you enjoy the format? Did you think there were things which needed work? Do you think I should get reviews like this uploaded in the same month as the event? And a little game for you all, try and guess what my new job is (I’ll give you a hint: I’m not working as a male escort). Until next time, [insert cool catchphrase here]
M18 SNOOKER BLOG 