Matthew Stevens Survives Judgement Day in Qualifiers

The Welshman will return to the scene of some of his biggest victories and most painful defeats as a professional.

Matthew Stevens was among the last players who secured a World Championship berth after emerging from Judgement Day on Tuesday in Sheffield.

Eight players had already guaranteed their spots on Monday at the English Institute of Sport.

Stevens duly joined them with a 10-5 triumph over Ricky Walden, and the 42 year-old will be hoping to rekindle the sparks of yesteryear when he regularly challenged for the sport’s flagship competition.

A constant force at the business end of the World Championship at the beginning of his career, Stevens finished runner-up in 2000 and 2005 with narrow 18-16 final defeats to Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy respectively.

Two of his countrymen had contrasting fortunes in the final round of the preliminaries.

While Jamie Clarke overcame Akani Songsermsawad to safeguard his debut at the Crucible, tour stalwart Ryan Day suffered a disappointing 10-6 loss to Jordan Brown.

Brown, who like Clarke won three matches in total, is one of five players in this year’s line-up who will make their debuts on the famous stage in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, 2006 world champion Graeme Dott won’t be involved in the main event for only the second time since 1999.

The Scot suffered a 10-6 reverse in what was always looking like a tough fixture with Martin Gould.

The biggest margin of victory on day two of Judgement Day was recorded by Anthony McGill, who hammered Sam Baird 10-1, while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh raced to a 10-7 success against Liam Highfield.

In an entertaining battle in which both competitors attacked at a frenetic pace, the Thai won the last three frames with breaks of 85, 106, and 72.

English duo Mark King and Tom Ford complete the World Championship draw after their triumphs over Ian Burns and Stuart Carrington.

The highly-anticipated draw for the last 32 takes place on Wednesday morning at 11am BST.

Featured photo credit: WST