World Snooker Championship qualifying draw sees big names battle to make Crucible

The draw for the World Snooker Championship qualifiers has been made, with the action in Sheffield getting underway next week.

The main stages at the Crucible run from April 18-May 4, but there is plenty of snooker played before that, to determine the 16 qualifiers.

The English Institute of Sport hosts the qualifying action from April 6-15, with every player outside of the world’s top 16 hoping to book their spot at the Crucible.

There are plenty of recognisable names in the qualifying draw, including former world champions Stuart Bingham and Luca Brecel, and tournament winners this season in Jack Lisowski and Stephen Maguire.

Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, Zhang Anda and Jak Jones are all players who have gone to the Crucible as seeded players in recent years, but must face the nervy qualifying stage this time round.

The tiered system sees players ranked 81 and below come in at the first stage and would need to win four matches to reach the Crucible.

Players ranked 49-80 come in at round two and 17-48 at round three, with those cueists needing to win just two matches.

Clearly there are lots of either/or situations for the later ties, but highlights of the opening round include 15-year-old Polish sensation Michal Szubarczyk taking on former women’s world champion Ng On Yee.

Shoot Out champion Alfie Burden is in action against one of Britain’s brightest young talents in 20-year-old Liam Pullen.

Two-time Crucible semi-finalist Marco Fu also faces a former women’s world champion in Mink Nutcharut.

The draw is yet to be entirely confirmed as Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is still in the Tour Championship, so his seeding is still to be determined.

Thepchaiya’s result in Manchester also impacts the seedings of Stuart Bingham, Jack Lisowski, Jak Jones, Zhang Anda and Elliot Slessor.

Professionals Sunny Akani and Mohamed Shehab have not entered the tournament.

World Snooker Championship qualifying draw

Round 1 – Last 144

Hatem Yassen vs Fergal Quinn
Haydon Pinhey vs Jamie Clarke
Michal Szubarczyk vs Ng On Yee
Liu Wenwei vs Mark Lloyd
Robbie McGuigan vs Hammad Miah
Yao Pengcheng vs Ryan Davies
David Grace vs Ashley Hugill
Liam Pullen vs Alfie Burden
Liam Graham vs Oliver Sykes
Steven Hallworth vs Kreishh Gurbaxani
Ken Doherty vs Patrick Whelan
Chris Totten vs Daniel Boyes
Haris Tahir vs Connor Benzey
Ross Muir vs Michael Larkov
Marco Fu vs Mink Nutcharut
Farakh Ajaib vs Umut Dikme
Mateusz Baranowski vs Florian Nuessle
Dylan Emery vs Anton Kazakov
Lan Yuhao vs Chatchapong Nasa
Reanne Evans vs Vladislav Gradinari
Liam Highfield vs Oliver Brown
Zhao Hanyang vs Mahmoud El Hareedy
Cheung Ka Wai vs Ashley Carty
Bulcsu Revesz vs Craig Steadman
Bai Yulu vs Daniel Womersley
Huang Jiahao vs Leone Crowley
Xu Yichen vs Stuart Carrington
Gao Yang vs Jimmy White
Ian Burns vs Sahil Nayyar
Alexander Ursenbacher vs Prin Ratmukda
Mitchell Mann vs Wang Xinbo

Jonas Luz vs Peter Lines

Round 2 – Last 112

Iulian Boiko vs Mann/Wang
Scott Donaldson vs Luz/P Lines
Sanderson Lam vs Szubarcyk/Ng
Mark Davis vs Gao/White
David Lilley vs Yao/Davies
Duane Jones vs Huang/Crowley
Michael Holt vs Bai/Womersley
Gong Chenzhi vs McGuigan/Miah
Jiang Jun vs Cheung Ka Wai/Carty
Robbie Williams vs Muir/Larkov
Antoni Kowalski vs Tahir/Benzey
Jamie Jones vs Evans/Gradinari
Robert Milkins vs Doherty/Whelan
Artemijs Zizins vs Emery/Kazakov
Ricky Walden vs Baranowski/Nuessle
Amir Sarkhosh vs Pullen/Burden

Liam Davies vs Fu/Mink
Chang Bingyu vs Ursenbacher/Ratmukda
Jordan Brown vs Burns/Nayyar
Isphreet Singh Chadha vs Totten/Boyes
Liu Hongyu vs Xu/Carrington
Allan Taylor vs Hallworth/Gurbaxani
Lyu Haotian vs Graham/Sykes
Louis Heathcote vs Revesz/Steadman
Julien Leclercq vs Grace/Hugill
Martin O’Donnell vs Zhao Hanyang/El Hareedy
Wang Yuchen vs Highfield/Brown
Oliver Lines vs Liu Wenwei/Llloyd
Fan Zhengyi vs Lan/Nasa
Ben Mertens vs Pinhey/Clarke
Long Zehuang vs Yassen/Quinn

Sam Craigie vs Ajaib/Dikme

Rounds three and four TBC after Un-Nooh’s run at the Tour Championship ends.

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