A total of 128 players have been whittled down to just 32 with Judgement Day next up on the 2023 World Snooker Championship qualifiers schedule.
The remaining contenders will vie for the 16 available spots at the Crucible Theatre, desperate to join the world’s top 16 in the first-round draw on Thursday.
Eight matches will take place on Tuesday with the other eight fixtures pencilled in for Wednesday at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
Judgement Day in the snooker qualifiers is a thrilling mini event in its own right, and one that serves as an appropriate appetiser for the main course that gets under way on Saturday morning.
Judgement Day Draw
Tuesday, 11am and 5pm
Anthony McGill vs Cao Yupeng
Anthony McGill has featured at the Crucible Theatre every year since reaching the quarter-finals on his debut in 2015, and he emerged from a dramatic penultimate-round clash with John Astley that went the distance.
His opponent Cao Yupeng, who overcame Ben Woollaston 10-6 in the third qualifying round, is bidding to qualify for only the second time in his career.
Noppon Saengkham vs Zhang Anda
Zhang Anda’s performances in this year’s preliminary tournament already means that he is guaranteed to join the top 64 in the world rankings for the first time.
Noppon Saengkham will be the favourite to progress, however, with the Thai having reached the World Championship second round in both of his last two Crucible appearances.
Graeme Dott vs Matthew Selt
One of numerous ties that could go down to the wire, former world champion Graeme Dott entertains Matthew Selt.
The latter has just three Crucible appearances to his name, in stark contrast to Dott who has graced the stage on 20 occasions – but not since 2019.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Ricky Walden
Every time Thepchaiya Un-Nooh has qualified for the Crucible, he has encountered a giant of the game in the first round and lost.
To give himself a fifth opportunity to go beyond the last 32 he will have to oust Ricky Walden, a semi-finalist back in 2013.
Si Jiahui vs Jordan Brown
There weren’t too many lower-ranked players who upset the higher seeds in the third round at the EIS, but Si Jiahui was one of them.
The Chinese beat Tom Ford and is a win away from a dream debut at the age of 20, but standing in his way is former Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown.
Chris Wakelin vs Wu Yize
Another young Chinese competitor hoping to qualify for the first time is Wu Yize, who destroyed Tian Pengfei with a 10-2 scoreline in the last round.
The 19 year-old meets Chris Wakelin, a player with envigored confidence following his maiden ranking success at the Snooker Shoot Out.
Fan Zhengyi vs Stephen Maguire
Fan Zhengyi is a third up-and-coming star from China who could make a Crucible debut, but it doesn’t come much tougher than Stephen Maguire.
The Scot hasn’t produced his best form for a number of seasons but is still a dangerous threat, and none of the seeds would like to see a player of his experience and quality feature in the main draw.
Jak Jones vs Barry Hawkins
By his own admission, Barry Hawkins didn’t play well in his opening victory against David Lilley, but he got the job done in the end.
Jak Jones went the distance with Robbie Williams, and if he’s to upset the former Crucible runner-up he’ll likely have to produce that kind of gritty performance again.
Wednesday, 11am and 5pm
Ryan Day vs Scott Donaldson
At certain stages of the campaign it looked as though Ryan Day was going to seal an automatic berth in Sheffield, but Ding Junhui snuck in front of him right at the end during the Tour Championship.
Day was far from happy with his performance but managed to hold on to beat Ashley Hugill on Monday, with Scott Donaldson next up for the Welshman.
Xu Si vs Pang Junxu
In a season where the Chinese contingent has been decimated by suspensions, there are actually a lot of players from the country featuring in Judgement Day of the snooker qualifiers.
The showdown between Xu Si and Pang Junxu ensures that there will be at least one Crucible rookie in the lineup in 2023.
Anthony Hamilton vs Jimmy Robertson
The last time Anthony Hamilton qualified, he subsequently withdrew from the tournament amid the then ongoing pandemic crisis.
It would therefore mean a lot for the Sheriff to get back to the sport’s spiritual home, albeit Jimmy Robertson represents a tricky task in the final round of the qualifiers.
Elliot Slessor vs Zhou Yuelong
There were some doubts about Elliot Slessor’s tour survival before this competition started, but all of those have been firmly put at ease after an excellent run in Sheffield.
Zhou Yuelong will be the favourite in this tie, but Slessor will be motivated by the fact that his only previous appearance at the Crucible was in 2020 when the event was staged behind closed doors.
Hossein Vafaei vs Jackson Page
Both Hossein Vafaei and Jackson Page made Crucible appearances for the first time twelve months ago, with the latter going on to reach the last 16.
Many will be disappointing that one of the pair will have to miss out this year in the World Snooker Championship qualifiers, but it promises to be an exciting Judgement Day duel nevertheless.
Andrew Higginson vs David Grace
It came as a bit of a surprise when Andrew Higginson lost his tour card last year, but competing as an amateur top-up in 2023 he has fought his way through to the last qualifying round.
Victory would guarantee the Englishman a fresh two-year pro card, but David Grace will have a lot to say about that.
Mark Davis vs Joe Perry
A huge clash between two of the game’s longest-serving characters, Joe Perry faces a Mark Davis who is still battling to safeguard his tour survival.
The English duo previously faced each other at this very stage in 2018 when Perry prevailed with a 10-7 scoreline.
Matthew Stevens vs David Gilbert
Finally, one of the ties of the round sees former World Championship runner-up Matthew Stevens challenge 2019 semi-finalist David Gilbert.
Both players are capable of making big breaks but equally known for manic meltdowns, so this one could provide some edge-of-the-seat drama.
Judgement Day
Draw and Schedule
Tuesday, 11am and 5pm
Anthony McGill vs Cao Yupeng
Noppon Saengkham vs Zhang Anda
Graeme Dott vs Matthew Selt
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Ricky Walden
Si Jiahui vs Jordan Brown
Chris Wakelin vs Wu Yize
Fan Zhengyi vs Stephen Maguire
Jak Jones vs Barry Hawkins
Wednesday, 11am and 5pm
Ryan Day vs Scott Donaldson
Xu Si vs Pang Junxu
Anthony Hamilton vs Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor vs Zhou Yuelong
Hossein Vafaei vs Jackson Page
Andrew Higginson vs David Grace
Mark Davis vs Joe Perry
Matthew Stevens vs David Gilbert
How to watch Judgement Day
There will be free coverage available on the Facebook and YouTube channels of the World Snooker Tour.
CLICK HERE for Facebook and CLICK HERE for YouTube.
There will also be live matches on discovery+ in Europe, WST’s streaming partners in China, and on Matchroom.Live for other territories.
Featured photo credit: WST
Eight Chinese players left in. Only six players left have never previously featured at the Crucible.