The first round of the World Snooker Championship qualifiers was completed on Wednesday in Sheffield.
Dominic Dale, Scott Donaldson, Lyu Haotian, and Allan Taylor have already made it through to round three at the English Institute of Sport.
For Dale, the veteran Welshman’s 6-3 defeat of countryman Duane Jones was massive in terms of his fight for tour survival.
With Liang Wenbo suspended, pending an appeal, for their third round fixture, Dale is likely to receive a bye through to the final stage.
Taylor’s 6-5 success over Michael Judge was just as important, as despite being provisionally ranked outside the world’s top 64, Taylor could regain a tour card through the one-year rankings.
There are four spots available via that route, and the Englishman has shot to the top position as things stand.
Of course, there’s plenty still to play for over the coming week and it’s bound to get even more tense and dramatic the closer the players get to reaching the Crucible.
The second-round action in the World Snooker Championship qualifiers continues on Thursday with potentially crucial ties involving Michael Holt, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, and Fergal O’Brien taking place.
World Snooker Championship Qualifying Draw
Round 1 (Bo11)
Zhao Jianbo 4-6 Michael Judge
Alfie Burden 4-6 Robbie McGuigan
Duane Jones 6-2 Nutcharut Wongharuthai
Xu Si 6-4 Michael Collumb
Zhang Jiankang 6-4 John Astley
Zhang Anda 6-0 Anton Kazakov
Fraser Patrick 1-6 Michael White
Aaron Hill 4-6 Liam James Davies
Lukas Kleckers 6-3 Soheil Vahedi
Andrew Pagett 6-2 Jimmy White
Hammad Miah 6-3 Chen Zifan
Louis Heathcote 6-5 Ben Mertens
Craig Steadman 4-6 David Lilley
Lee Walker 6-2 Reanne Evans
Barry Pinches 6-3 Lee Stephens
Ben Hancorn 3-6 Dean Young
Rory McLeod 6-2 Ng On Yee
Ian Burns 6-5 Marco Fu
Peter Devlin 6-1 Yorrit Hoes
Jamie Wilson 6-2 Jake Crofts
Chang Bingyu 5-6 Daniel Wells
Peter Lines 5-6 Sanderson Lam
Jamie O’Neill 4-6 James Cahill
Yuan Sijun 6-3 Ross Muir
Mitchell Mann 0-6 Dylan Emery
Gerard Greene 6-1 Rebecca Kenna
Jackson Page 6-1 Sean O’Sullivan
Iulian Boiko 6-4 Michael Georgiou
Farakh Ajaib 6-5 Mark Lloyd
Zak Surety 4-6 Si Jiahui
Lei Peifan 6-0 Sean Maddocks
Wu Yize 6-2 Bai Langning
Round 2 (Bo11)
1. Allan Taylor 6-5 Michael Judge
2. Scott Donaldson 6-0 Robbie McGuigan
3. Dominic Dale 6-3 Duane Jones
4. Lyu Haotian 6-4 Xu Si
5. Sunny Akani vs Zhang Jiankang
(Apr 7, 9:30am)
6. Andy Hicks vs Zhang Anda
(Apr 7, 9:30am)
7. Martin O’Donnell vs Michael White
(Apr 7, 9:30am)
8. Fergal O’Brien vs Liam James Davies
(Apr 7, 9:30am)
9. Nigel Bond vs Lukas Kleckers
(Apr 7, 7:30pm)
10. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Un-Nooh vs Andrew Pagett
(Apr 7, 7:30pm)
11. Michael Holt vs Hammad Miah
(Apr 7, 7:30pm)
12. Mark Joyce vs Louis Heathcote
(Apr 7, 7:30pm)
13. Robbie Williams vs David Lilley
(Apr 7, 2:30pm)
14. Tian Pengfei vs Lee Walker
(Apr 7, 2:30pm)
15. Joe O’Connor vs Barry Pinches
(Apr 7, 2:30pm)
16. Ashley Hugill vs Dean Young
(Apr 7, 2:30pm)
17. Ken Doherty vs Rory McLeod
(Apr 8, 7:30pm)
18. Elliot Slessor vs Ian Burns
(Apr 8, 7:30pm)
19. Oliver Lines vs Peter Devlin
(Apr 8, 7:30pm)
20. Chris Wakelin vs Jamie Wilson
(Apr 8, 7:30pm)
21. Andrew Higginson vs Daniel Wells
(Apr 8, 9:30am)
22. Cao Yupeng vs Sanderson Lam
(Apr 8, 9:30am)
23. Mark Davis vs James Cahill
(Apr 8, 9:30am)
24. Steven Hallworth vs Yuan Sijun
(Apr 8, 9:30am)
25. Gao Yang vs Dylan Emery
(Apr 8, 2:30pm)
26. Matthew Stevens vs Gerard Greene
(Apr 8, 2:30pm)
27. Ashley Carty vs Jackson Page
(Apr 8, 2:30pm)
28. David Grace vs Iulian Boiko
(Apr 8, 2:30pm)
29. Pang Junxu vs Farakh Ajaib
(Apr 9, 10:30am)
30. Jamie Clarke vs Si Jiahui
(Apr 9, 10:30am)
31. Stuart Carrington vs Lei Peifan
(Apr 9, 10:30am)
32. Simon Lichtenberg vs Wu Yize
(Apr 9, 10:30am)
Round 3 (Bo11)
33. Ricky Walden vs Allan Taylor
(Apr 9, 2:30pm)
34. Li Hang vs Scott Donaldson
(Apr 9, 2:30pm)
35. Liang Wenbo (pending appeal) vs Dominic Dale
(Apr 9, 2:30pm)
36. Lu Ning vs Lyu Haotian
(Apr 9, 2:30pm)
37. Stephen Maguire vs Akani/Zhang
(Apr 9, 7:30pm)
38. Zhou Yuelong vs Hicks/Zhang
(Apr 9, 7:30pm)
39. Mark King vs O’Donnell/M. White
(Apr 9, 7:30pm)
40. Jordan Brown vs O’Brien/Davies
(Apr 9, 7:30pm)
41. Matthew Selt vs Bond/Kleckers
(Apr 10, 10:30am)
42. Jak Jones vs Un-Nooh/Pagett
(Apr 10, 10:30am)
43. Tom Ford vs Holt/Miah
(Apr 10, 10:30am)
44. Jamie Jones vs Joyce/Heathcote
(Apr 10, 10:30am)
45. Kurt Maflin vs R. Williams/Lilley
(Apr 10, 7:30pm)
46. Ding Junhui vs Tian/Walker
(Apr 10, 7:30pm)
47. Ben Woollaston vs O’Connor/Pinches
(Apr 10, 7:30pm)
48. Martin Gould vs Hugill/Young
(Apr 10, 7:30pm)
49. David Gilbert vs Doherty/McLeod
(Apr 10, 2:30pm)
50. Anthony Hamilton vs Slessor/Burns
(Apr 10, 2:30pm)
51. Jimmy Robertson vs O. Lines/Devlin
(Apr 10, 2:30pm)
52. Fan Zhengyi vs Wakelin/J. Wilson
(Apr 10, 2:30pm)
53. Noppon Saengkham vs Higginson/Wells
(Apr 11, 2:30pm)
54. Robert Milkins vs Cao/Lam
(Apr 11, 2:30pm)
55. Liam Highfield vs Davis/Cahill
(Apr 11, 2:30pm)
56. Ryan Day vs Hallworth/Yuan
(Apr 11, 2:30pm)
57. Ali Carter vs Gao/Emery
(Apr 11, 7:30pm)
58. Sam Craigie vs Stevens/Greene
(Apr 11, 7:30pm)
59. Joe Perry vs Carty/Page
(Apr 11, 7:30pm)
60. Xiao Guodong vs Grace/Boiko
(Apr 11, 7:30pm)
61. Graeme Dott vs Pang/Ajaib
(Apr 11, 10:30am)
62. Gary Wilson vs Clarke/Si
(Apr 11, 10:30am)
63. Alexander Ursenbacher vs Carrington/Lei
(Apr 11, 10:30am)
64. Hossein Vafaei vs Lichtenberg/Wu
(Apr 11, 10:30am)
Round 4 (Bo19)
Tuesday, Apr 12 at 11am and 5pm
winner of match 33 vs winner of match 34
winner of match 35 vs winner of match 36
winner of match 37 vs winner of match 38
winner of match 39 vs winner of match 40
winner of match 41 vs winner of match 42
winner of match 43 vs winner of match 44
winner of match 45 vs winner of match 46
winner of match 47 vs winner of match 48
Wednesday, Apr 13 at 11am ad 5pm
winner of match 49 vs winner of match 50
winner of match 51 vs winner of match 52
winner of match 53 vs winner of match 54
winner of match 55 vs winner of match 56
winner of match 57 vs winner of match 58
winner of match 59 vs winner of match 60
winner of match 61 vs winner of match 62
winner of match 63 vs winner of match 64
Live coverage of the World Snooker Championship qualifiers will be available across Europe on the Eurosport App.
Viewer in all other territories – other than China – will have the option to subscribe to Matchroom.Live.
Featured photo credit: WST
David Hendon seems to believe that Dale has definitely received a walkover into the final round.
Hicks and Zhang have between them produced four centuries in five frames and an 88 in the other.
Yes, I’m sure that’s going to be the case. But as things stand, WST is still showing Liang vs Dale on its website, so just going by that until there’s an official update.