The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has announced that Ng On Yee and Andres Petrov will be invited to join the field to compete at next month’s Betfred World Championship qualifiers in Sheffield.
Following the initial publication of the qualifying criteria earlier this month, 14 of the players accepted their invitations.
One place was intended to go to the European Under-18 champion but, as Jackson Page had already earned a place through the Home Nations and runner-up Amir Nardeia was unable to participate, the spot was instead awarded to the European Men’s Championship runner-up Andres Petrov.
Like Page, new European amateur champion Chris Totten had received an invitation from his Home Nations appearance earlier in the campaign.
The final invitation is being offered to Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee, who recently claimed her second WLBS World Women’s Championship title in Singapore.
She previously competed at Ponds Forge in 2016, losing out to Peter Lines who will also return this year as World Seniors champion following his victory in Scunthorpe last week.
On Yee joins fellow World Women’s champion Reanne Evans in competing on what is an open and mixed tour in 2017.
A field of 128 players will be looking to qualify to play at the venue stages of this year’s World Championship, which celebrates its 40th anniversary at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The updated list of amateur players to have qualified through the WPBSA criteria is as follows:
Home Nations National Governing Body nominees:
Jackson Page (Wales)
Tyler Rees (Wales)
Ross Vallance (Scotland)
Chris Totten (Scotland)
Jordan Brown (Northern Ireland)
Patrick Wallace (Northern Ireland)
Jamie Bodle (England)
Wayne Townsend (England)
International invites:
Xu Si (China) – World Under-21 champion
Alexander Ursenbacher (Switzerland) – European Under-21 champion
Andres Petrov (Estonia) – European Championship runner-up
Gerard Greene (Northern Ireland) – EBSA Order of Merit
Zack Richardson (England) – EBSA Order of Merit
Peter Lines (England) – World Seniors champion
Reanne Evans (England) – 2016 World Women’s champion
Ng On Yee (Hong Kong) – 2017 World Women’s champion
The draw for the qualifiers will be made following the China Open, which finishes on 2 April.
Tickets for the qualifiers are on sale now – for details click here.
