2008 World Snooker Championship - First Qualifying Preview
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Next Thursday, January 3, Phil Seaton and Donald Newcombe will play a 9 frame match at Pontin's Leisure Resort, in Prestatyn, Wales. There will be no spectators. But they will be playing the first preliminary round of the 2008 World Snooker Championship.
The Preliminary rounds are open to just about anybody. Former professionals tend to compose the early rounds, or players not on tour that were once pros get the chance to enter and make the qualifying stages. After Seaton and Newcombe play their match, the winner will play Colin Mitchell in the second preliminary round. There are 7 other games, so this is in effect, a last 16 round. The biggest names are Sean Storey, who qualified for the main tournament at The Crucible Theatre in 2001, i.e. the last 32. Les Dodd was a prominent player in the 80s, and is still entering the World Championship. Also on the morning of the 4th January, Tony Knowles will play his first game, against Ali Bassari. Knowles was ranked in the top 3 in the world for 4 seasons in the 1980s, and reached the Semi Finals of the World Championship twice in the decade. He had the reputation as a ladies man, and was fined by the WPBSA for "bringing snooker into disrepute", after appearing in a national newspaper with unclothed women. Many viewed this as harsh, claiming that snooker didn't look the fool - Tony did. The 52 year old has since dropped from a career high ranking of 2, which he reached in 1989, but still is a professional. Although the World Championship is his only tournament appearance of the season. Knowles will hope to at least advance to the third preliminary round later that afternoon, again over 9 frames against another winner from Round 2.
On January 5th, the first best of 19 frame encounters begin. The first qualifying round sees the 4 qualifiers from the preliminary competition play the bottom 4 ranked professionals on the main circuit. The biggest name is Patrick Wallace, who reached the Quarter Finals of the World Championship in 1999. He retired from the game in 2006, but has returned to the main tour this season. Also in Round 1 of Qualifying, Liu Chuang, a young Chinese player, and Rodney Goggins, a strong Irish amateur until turning pro this year are the biggest names. Knowles would play Jimmy Robertson should he advance to this stage.
By January 6th, the qualifying tournament will be in full flow. The players ranked from 65-92 join the event (93-96 had to play in Round 1), and they will be the best of 19 frames, as will all of the qualifying matches from now on. There are players represented in this stage from Malta, Thailand, Australia, China, Norway, Belgium and Ireland and of course the UK. Tony Drago was excellent in the late 80s and early 90s. Famed for his speed of play, Drago is now in his 40s, but the Maltese still plays full time on the professional circuit. He will play Issara Kachaiwong, who almost made the last 16 of the 2006 Grand Prix, but has done little else in his career as a professional. He is ranked Number 2 in Thailand, and is expected to be a solid professional over the upcoming seasons. Other talents at this stage include Steve Mifsud, who was Number 1 in Australia in the summer before the Main Tour begun, beating Neil Robertson, Number 7 in the world, on occasions. Liu Song of China reached the Quarter Finals of the 2007 Grand Prix, and is rising through the rankings. He is one of the Chinese players coming through currently in World Snooker. Xiao Guodong is another youngster that will hope to advance, and will consider himself favourite against Munraj Pal of England. Liang Wenbo is another of the Chinese, and after reaching the last 16 of a ranking event already in his career, he will hope to beat Ben Woollaston of England, another player that has reached the main stages of ranking events in the past. Michael White of Wales is just 17, but the professional will hope to win his match against Shailesh Jogia, from Leicestershire in England. White is expected to be a good player in the future, and qualified for the Main Tour as European Under 21 Champion as an amateur.
From this stage, each qualifying round takes two days, and on January 8th, Round 3 begins. Players ranked between 49 and 64 now enter the event. From outside the British Isles, the best player to enter at this stage is Robin Hull, a Finn who will have exceeded his expectations when he reflects on his career. He has dropped down the rankings in recent years however, and will play either the promising youngster from Ireland, David Morris, or Supoj Saenla, ranked 3 in Thailand. Judd Trump is in his second season as a professional, and the 19 year old was English Under 12, 14 and 16 Champion. He qualified for the World Championship in 2007, and the youngster will hope to repeat this performance in 2008. Undoubtedly the biggest name in Round 3 of qualifying is Jimmy White. The 44 year old has been ranked as high as 2 in the world in the 90s, and lost in 6 World Championship Finals, four to Stephen Hendry. He led Hendry 14-8 in the 1992 Final, but was beaten 18-14 as he lost 10 frames in a row. In 1994, White was at the table in the final frame at 17 frames each and in perfect position. But he missed an easy black off the spot, and was beaten 18-17. White then began to slide down the rankings, but revived hopes of a World Championship in 2004, after winning the Players' Championship in Scotland, his first ranking title since 1992. After reaching World Number 8 in 2005, he then fell down the rankings, first to 33, and now to 61. White was undoubtedly the People's Champion since the retirement of Alex Higgins in 1990, but White still hopes to qualify for the World Championship in 2008. He should beat Fraser Patrick or Matthew Selt in his match. It is a shame that the once most marketable man in snooker, that played infront of thousands all over the world, must now play the majority of his games infront of about 20 people in a small room at Prestatyn. The flamboyant dresser, Barry Pinches also enters the tournament at this stage, no doubt wearing the green and gold of his beloved Norwich City.
January 10th and 11th will see the fourth qualifying round. The players ranked between 33 and 48 enter. Usually, this would be the final round of qualifying, as 48 players make the main event, the top 32 plus 16 qualifiers. But the World Championship is different. The top 16 and 16 qualifiers make the tournament, so there is still one more qualifying round after this one. The biggest names at this stage all were at their peaks in the early 90s. John Parrott is the 1991 World Champion, and is now a fan favourite as a pundit for the BBC. Alan McManus dropped out of the exclusive top 16 in 2006, and has struggled to make it back there in recent years. James Wattana, Thailand's Number 1, has reached the Semi Finals of the World Championship, and won many ranking events. Wattana has the spearhead of a strong amateur game in his native Thailand. He will hope to advance to the last 48 of the Championship. Also entering at this stage are David Gray, who has lost in two ranking event finals, and Andrew Higginson, who made a 147 and lost 9-8 to Neil Robertson in the 2007 Welsh Open Final. Andy Hicks reached World Semi Finals in the early 90s, and he will also begin his entry at the fourth qualifying round stage. Andrew Norman has made ranking event Quarter Finals, and Fergal O'Brien is a former top 16 player. He led Paul Hunter 6-2 in the Final of The Masters, but lost 10-9. Jamie Burnett has made the highest break ever in a professional match, a 148. It is only possible at certain times to make a break higher than 147 (i.e. your opponent needs to foul and concede a free ball), which makes the theoretical highest break a 155. All enter at this stage.
So, by January 11, Prestatyn will bid farewell to the qualifying of the World Championship - but it still isn't over.
There is a change of venue for the fifth - and final - qualifying round. The National Snooker Academy in Sheffield, will see the players ranked 17-32 enter the event. March 7th to 10th will see the 16 matches played, 4 on each day, and the winners will finally get to play at The Crucible Theatre. Still, the matches remain at 19 frames. The biggest name is easily Matthew Stevens of Wales, who has won the UK Championship, but has lost in two World Championship Finals. He led Mark Williams 13-7 and 14-10 in the 2000 Final, but lost 18-16. In 2007, he needed to beat Shaun Murphy, the 2005 Champion, in the Quarter Finals to be sure of a place in the top 16, which would have enabled him to avoid qualification for The Crucible. He led 11-5 going into the final session, and led 12-7. At 12-9 he missed many match winning chances. Murphy ended up winning 6 frames in a row, and lost 13-12. Stevens was out of the top 16. Also at this stage, Dominic Dale, who won the season opening Shanghai Masters, his second ranking event title, and first since the 1997 Grand Prix. Marco Fu of Hong Kong, the 2007 Grand Prix winner may play Alan McManus in his qualifying match, which will then be the best on paper. Fu is undergoing a revival in fortunes at present, and should be in line to return to the top 16 in 2008. Joe Swail and Mark Allen each made the last 16 for Northern Ireland in 2007, putting out Mark Williams 10-9 and Ken Doherty 10-7, respectively. Allen is up and coming, whereas Swail is a seasoned campaigner, reaching the Semi Finals of the World Championship twice so far in his career. Allen has been the runner up in a ranking event this season, losing to Stephen Maguire in the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy Final. Nigel Bond lost in The Crucible Final in 1995, one of Hendry's victims, and he also joins at this stage. The 16 winners of those games will finally advance to the main event. The World Championship.
The last 32 begins on April 19th. There are still 5 more rounds to go if you want to become World Champion. The top 16 players will enter at this stage, and all are formidable opponents. There are World Champions aplenty, John Higgins a defending two-time Champion, Mark Williams twice, Ronnie O'Sullivan twice, Peter Ebdon, Ken Doherty, Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott once. Then you get Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, who have 7 and 6 titles respectively. That said, Davis is 50, and both are sliding down the rankings this season. Hendry is provisionally at 12, whilst Davis is at 27. But they are still two of the best on their day. That makes 23 World Championship titles between them. For those that have never been champion, there lies Neil Robertson, who has won two ranking event titles. Stephen Maguire has won two ranking events including the UK Championship. Ding Junhui has won three ranking events, and is leading the Chinese charge. When you get to the last 32, your chances of progressing are very low to say the least. The matches at least are still 19 frames. But the last 16 and Quarter Finals are over 25 frames, played over three sessions. The Semis and Final are over 33 and 35 frames, played over four sessions. The Semi Final is played over three days, and the Final over two. The matches get longer and longer, and the slog becomes harder and harder. That said, the prize money rises and rises. The winner of the World Championship in 2008 can expect to win £230,000 ($475,000). If you make a 147, you get a bonus of £147,000 ($300,000), and probably the high break prize of £20,000 ($42,000) to yourself too. Millions will be watching on TV, not just in Britain, but all over the world. Ireland, China, Hong Kong and Australia will be streaming the BBC's coverage, and this will also be available to people in the UK over the Internet on interactive.
It takes five months to crown a World Champion, 13 rounds of matches, and three different venues. From such humble beginnings as a Welsh holiday resort, the richest prize in cuesport will begin its most prestigious event next Thursday. Seaton and Newcombe will struggle to make an impression in the event from the media's point of view, but at least they have the chance.
