How the World Snooker Championship qualifying draw looks after two rounds

Two rounds from the 2023 World Snooker Championship qualifying draw have almost been completed in Sheffield.

But the preliminary event is only at its halfway stage, with two more victories required to reach the Crucible Theatre next week.

Eight matches in the second of four qualifying rounds are still to conclude on Saturday afternoon at the English Institute of Sport.

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But most of the lineup for the penultimate hurdle is now known, with the remaining higher seeds finally entering the fray.

That means the introduction of the likes of Ryan Day, who just missed out on an automatic berth after finishing 17th in the world rankings list, and former World Championship finalist Barry Hawkins.

David Gilbert, Anthony McGill, Hossein Vafaei, Joe Perry, and 2006 world champion Graeme Dott are other familiar faces joining the action at this point.

The tension and the nerves will only intensify for all the snooker players as the final qualifying round in the draw known as Judgement Day comes into view.

There are already several intriguing ties to look forward to over the coming days.

Arguably the standout tie is an all-Welsh affair between Jamie Clarke and two-time Crucible runner-up Matthew Stevens.

Jackson Page, one of the most promising young talents from Wales, faces Martin Gould while Andrew Higginson, one of at least three amateurs who will compete in the third round, meets Scottish Open finalist Joe O’Connor.

British Open champion Day, meanwhile, will begin his qualifying campaign against either Lukas Kleckers or Ashley Hugill.

Hawkins, who won’t be a top 16 seed for the first time since 2012, takes on former world seniors champion David Lilley.

Elsewhere, former world number two Stephen Maguire is challenged by Alfie Burden and three-time ranking event winner Ricky Walden plays Ian Burns.

In addition to the obvious goal of being involved in the last-32 draw next week, there is also the subplot of tour survival developing in the background.

Defeats for Marco Fu, Michael Judge, Stuart Carrington, Gerard Greene, Alexander Ursenbacher, Reanne Evans, and Ng On Yee have consigned them, among others, to tour relegation.

There is a scrap around the top 64 mark on the official world rankings to see who else will join them.

The likes of Mark Joyce, Oliver Lines, Hammad Miah, Mark Davis, Xu Si, and Peter Lines are all scrambling for valuable ranking points.

World Snooker Championship Qualifying Draw

Round 2

Saturday, 2:30pm BST
Lukas Kleckers 3-5 Ashley Hugill
Scott Donaldson 9-0 Liam Davies
Xu Si 7-2 Zak Surety
Hammad Miah 4-5 Ken Doherty
Oliver Lines 4-4 Michael Holt
Julien Leclercq 4-5 Ben Mertens
Elliot Slessor 5-3 Ian Martin
Lei Peifan 4-5 James Cahill

Round 3

Monday, 10am and 7pm BST
Ryan Day vs Kleckers / Hugill
Yuan Sijun vs Donaldson / Davies
Jamie Jones vs Xu / Surety
Pang Junxu vs Miah / Doherty
Anthony Hamilton vs O. Lines / Holt
Jimmy Robertson Leclercq / Mertens
Liam Highfield vs Slessor / Martin
Zhou Yuelong vs Lei / Cahill

Sunday and Monday, 2:30pm BST
Hossein Vafaei vs Andrew Pagett
Martin Gould vs Jackson Page
Joe O’Connor vs Andrew Higginson
Sam Craigie vs David Grace
Lyu Haotian vs Mark Davis
Joe Perry vs Sanderson Lam
Jamie Clarke vs Matthew Stevens
David Gilbert vs Barry Pinches

Saturday, 10am and 7pm BST
Anthony McGill vs John Astley
Cao Yupeng vs Ben Woollaston
Noppon Saengkham vs Martin O’Donnell
Xiao Guodong vs Zhang Anda
Graeme Dott vs Andy Hicks
Matthew Selt vs Peter Lines
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Mark Joyce
Ricky Walden vs Ian Burns

Sunday, 10am and 7pm BST
Tom Ford vs Si Jiahui
Jordan Brown vs Dominic Dale
Chris Wakelin vs Aaron Hill
Tian Pengfei vs Wu Yize
Fan Zhengyi vs Iulian Boiko
Stephen Maguire vs Alfie Burden
Robbie Williams vs Jak Jones
Barry Hawkins vs David Lilley

Featured photo credit: WST