Stan Moody, Liam Pullen, and Antoni Kowalski will each play at the Crucible Theatre for the first time after emerging from Judgement Day of the World Snooker Championship qualifiers on Tuesday.
All three rising stars of the game came through titanic tussles at the English Institute of Sport to continue their memorable journeys in Sheffield.
There was a great atmosphere inside the venue with a big crowd adding to the overwhelming sense of achievement for the trio.
Moody, suffering from tonsillitis and on medication, defied the recommendation of his doctors to pull out of the tournament.
The 19 year-old, who becomes the first British teenager to qualify for the Crucible since Judd Trump in 2007, won’t regret his choice after prevailing from a 10-9 thriller against Jiang Jun.
Moody trailed 6-5 but underlined his potential by winning five out of the concluding eight frames with breaks of 127, 113, 104, 71, and 70.
“The doctors said to me, ‘we know you are going to say no, but we want you to stay in [hospital],'” Moody told the World Snooker Tour.
“I said, ‘no, I’ve got a match to play.’ And I’m glad I did. I’m very happy. I don’t really know what to say.”
“But it has been a dream of mine since I started playing. To do it so young, I’m over the moon.”
Pullen said that the roar from the crowd when Moody got past the winning line initially put him off, but he admitted that seeing his young countryman qualify ultimately gave him inspiration to do the same.
“To be honest, it was quite off-putting seeing him win,” the 20 year-old, who lost to Moody in the 2023 WSF Junior Championship final, told WST.
“I felt like if I lose now, I’d let everyone down. When Stan won, I needed to wait for the crowd to die down a touch before carrying on.”
Pullen played very well to establish a three-frame lead over Noppon Saengkham, but the experienced Thai fought back to restore parity.
It was anyone’s game at 8-8, but Pullen pulled clear again at the finish to clinch his Crucible debut having begun the competition in the very first round of the qualifiers.
“I’m very proud, to be fair. I’m still in the same tournament, and I’m going to go to the Crucible and try my best.”
“I appreciate everyone who has helped me along the way. All sorts were going on, but I’m just happy to get over the line.
“I felt like I really played well up to 8-5 and then the game was changing, so I’m just happy that I stuck in there.”
Kowalski, meanwhile, will become the first player from Poland to compete at the Crucible Theatre after edging past Jamie Jones with a 10-8 scoreline.
With his tour survival on the line, the 22 year-old outlasted the former quarter-finalist in a low-scoring scrap to successfully safeguard his professional status.
“The best explanation will be that I never cry,” a tearful Kowalski told Rob Walker shortly after his match ended.
“That’s the perfect explanation of how much this means to me. I’m over the moon obviously.”
“But this is the only time in history that I’ll think more about saving my tour card other than playing in the theatre of dreams.
“I don’t know what to say, because there are too many emotions in me right now. My girlfriend and parents will come to the Crucible, so it’s going to be a special moment.”
While the main story on day one of Judgement Day undoubtedly revolved around the up-and-coming youngsters, there were moments of joy for the experienced contingent too.
Matthew Stevens, who was a beaten World Championship finalist all the way back in 2000 and 2005, secured his return to the Crucible for the first time in four years.
The Welshman beat former world champion Stuart Bingham in a final-round clash of two heavyweight competitors.
Two-time former semi-finalist David Gilbert will also be in the draw for the first round proper after ousting Aaron Hill from the competition for the second year on the trot.
There were victories elsewhere for Hossein Vafaei and Pang Junxu, two players who reached the last 16 twelve months ago.
Four-time ranking event runner-up Zhou Yuelong qualified as well after backing up his 10-3 destruction of Robbie McGuigan with a similarly convincing 10-4 defeat of Michael Holt.
The second Judgement Day takes place on Wednesday, which will in turn see the conclusion of the intense ten-day qualifying event in Sheffield.
2026 World Snooker Championship qualifiers
Judgement Day 1
Results
Stuart Bingham 7-10 Matthew Stevens
Hossein Vafaei 10-4 Gao Yang
Aaron Hill 6-10 David Gilbert
Michael Holt 4-10 Zhou Yuelong
Jiang Jun 9-10 Stan Moody
Antoni Kowalski 10-8 Jamie Jones
Jackson Page 8-10 Pang Junxu
Noppon Saengkham 8-10 Liam Pullen
Judgement Day 2
Wednesday, Apr 15 at 11:00 and 17:00 BST
Jak Jones vs Luca Brecel
Lei Peifan vs Ryan Day
Xu Si vs Gary Wilson
Zak Surety vs Zhang Anda
Ali Carter vs Anthony McGill
Liam Highfield vs Oliver Lines
Fan Zhengyi vs Ben Mertens
He Guoqiang vs Jack Lisowski
Featured photo credit: WST
Wonderful to see him do well. On another note: I do wish they would use a more suitable, professional person to interview people and not the MC who is very ‘touchy’ and makes a lot of folks cringe. Stop touching… it never happened in the past (the 70s onwards) and it shouldn’t happen now.
When it went to 9-9, I thought Moody would likely lose — he just wasn’t able to sustain any momentum, and his opponent was doing pretty well taking advantage of his chances.
If he was ill, then it’s a plus that he has an extra day to rest before the start of the WC.
Will be interesting to see who his opponent will be — for some reason, I think Moody vs Ding would be a good matchup — and winnable for Moody.
I’m always glad to see the veterans regaining a footing after dips in form but seeing some young blood that isn’t from China is good news for the sport. A Chinese world champion to keep the sports popularity high there, and some young non-Chinese players coming through are two good signs for future health. Better than if it was a veteran reigning champ, and veterans qualifying I’d say.
Hi Sean to each his own, on opinions I understand. In North America, everyone is cognizant of people suing people left right and centre. In Europe people are much more compassionate and that includes tender physical contact. I mean there is not a calculator that can count how many times Trump has sued someone and he is the President. In my opinion Rob Walker is a great announcer and his skills are not only wanted in snooker. While many pundits like Steve Hendry are more interested on making themselves look important, Rob Walker consistently puts the excitement and fun towards the fans and the sport. Now the men that used the services of Epstein, that is not only illegal but goes against everything that is decent. Like I said, just my thoughts. Maybe you never lived in Malta like myself or travelled to Italy where it is embedded in their culture. The Brits where known as cold and stuffy back in the day. In the end, as long as the citizens are happy, there is no right or wrong, just different. Have a great day sir.
The comments on Youtube were just so rude and crude. It seems like there are a lot of snooker haters because as a fan, I would never say the things they said about Gary Wilson, Rob Walker and the entire snooker coverage. I never use social media except for SNOOKERHQ because all the people here come across as respectful. I thank you for that.