Before the drama of the Crucible there are 10 days of intense tension at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield as the 16 qualifiers for the World Snooker Championship are decided.
Only the top 16 in the world rankings go straight to the Crucible, with 16 more joining them, but having to scrap it out in qualifying to earn passage to the sport’s most famous arena.
There are some amateurs, some youngsters, but also a string of household names involved, including the likes of Ding Junhui, Stephen Maguire, Dave Gilbert, Jimmy White, Ken Doherty and Ricky Walden.
How to watch the World Championship qualifiers
Eurosport Player and the Eurosport app is the place to watch the qualifiers in Europe. For coverage in all other areas, click here.
World Championship qualifiers draw
There are four rounds of qualifiers, with some players facing all four, while higher ranked players must only win two matches to make the Crucible.
As explained by WST: ‘Round one pits players ranked 81 to 112 against those seeded 113 to 144
‘In round two, those 32 winners will face players ranked 49-80.
‘In round three, those 32 winners will face players ranked 17-48.
‘In round four, those 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.’
The first three rounds are best of 11, with the final round played over a best of 19.
Monday 4 April – chronological order
Round One
Zhao Jianbo v Michael Judge – 10:30am
Xu Si v Michael Collumb – 10:30am
Zhang Jiankang v John Astley – 10:30am
Zhang Anda v Anton Kazakov – 10:30am
Alfie Burden v Robbie McGuigan – 3:30pm
Duane Jones v N Wongharuthai – 3:30pm
Fraser Patrick v Michael White – 3:30pm
Aaron Hill v Liam James Davies – 3:30pm
Lukas Kleckers v Soheil Vahedi – 8:30pm
Andrew Pagett v Jimmy White – 8:30pm
Hammad Miah v Chen Zifan – 8:30pm
Louis Heathcote v Ben Mertens – 8:30pm
Tuesday 5 April
Rory McLeod v Ng On Yee – 10:30am
Barry Pinches v Lee Stephens – 10:30am
Chang Bingyu v Daniel Wells – 10:30am
Yuan Sijun v Ross Muir – 10:30am
Ian Burns v Marco Fu – 3:30pm
Peter Devlin v Yorrit Hoes – 3:30pm
Jamie Wilson v Jake Crofts – 3:30pm
Peter Lines v Sanderson Lam – 3:30pm
Craig Steadman v David Lilley – 8:30pm
Lee Walker v Reanne Evans – 8:30pm
Ben Hancorn v Dean Young – 8:30pm
Jamie O’Neill v James Cahill – 8:30pm
Wednesday 6 April
Farakh Ajaib v Mark Lloyd – 10:30am
Zak Surety v Si Jiahui – 10:30am
Lei Peifan v Sean Maddocks – 10:30am
Wu Yize v Bai Langning – 10:30am
Mitchell Mann v Dylan Emery – 3:30pm
Gerard Greene v Rebecca Kenna – 3:30pm
Jackson Page v Sean O’Sullivan – 3:30pm
Iulian Boiko v Michael Georgiou – 3:30pm
Round Two – draw order
Allan Taylor v Michael Judge – 8:30pm
Scott Donaldson v Robbie McGuigan – 8:30pm
Dominic Dale v Duane Jones – 8:30pm
Lyu Haotian v Xu Si – 8:30pm
Thursday 7 April
Sunny Akani v Zhang Jiankang – 10:30am
Andy Hicks v Zhang Anda – 10:30am
Martin O’Donnell v Michael White – 10:30am
Fergal O’Brien v Liam Davies – 10:30am
Nigel Bond v Lukas Kleckers – 8:30pm
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Andrew Pagett – 8:30pm
Michael Holt v Hammad Miah – 8:30pm
Mark Joyce v Louis Heathcote – 8:30pm
Robbie Williams v Steadman / D Lilley – 3:30pm
Tian Pengfei v L Walker / R Evans – 3:30pm
Joe O’Connor v B Pinches / L Stephens – 3:30pm
Ashley Hugill v Hancorn / D Young – 3:30pm
Friday 8 April
Ken Doherty v Rory McLeod – 8:30pm
Elliot Slessor v I Burns / Marco Fu – 8:30pm
Oliver Lines v P Devlin / Hoes – 8:30pm
Chris Wakelin v Jamie Wilson/Crofts – 8:30pm
Andrew Higginson v Chang Bingyu/Wells – 10:30am
Cao Yupeng v P Lines / S Lam – 10:30am
Mark Davis v Jamie O’Neill / Cahill – 10:30am
Steven Hallworth v Yuan Sijun – 10:30am
Gao Yang v M Mann / Emery – 3:30pm
Matthew Stevens v Gerard Greene / Kenna – 3:30pm
Ashley Carty v J Page / Sean O’Sullivan – 3:30pm
David Grace v Boiko / Georgiou – 3:30pm
Saturday 9 April
Pang Junxu v Ajaib/Lloyd – Apr 10:30am
Jamie Clarke v Surety / Si Jiahui – 10:30am
Stuart Carrington v Lei Peifan/Maddocks – 10:30am
Simon Lichtenberg v Wu Yize/Bai Langning – 10:30am
Round Three
Ricky Walden v A Taylor/Judge – 3:30pm
Li Hang v Donaldson/Mcguigan – 3:30pm
Lu Ning v Lyu Haotian/Xu – 3:30pm
Stephen Maguire v Akani/Jiankang – 8:30pm
Zhou Yuelong v Hicks/Anda – 8:30pm
Mark King v O’Donnell/M White – 8:30pm
Jordan Brown v F O’Brien/Davies – 8:30pm
Sunday 10 April
Matthew Selt v N Bond/Kleckers – 10:30am
Jak Jones v Un-Nooh /Pagett – 10:30am
Tom Ford v Holt/Miah – 10:30am
Jamie Jones v Joyce/Heathcote – 10:30am
Kurt Maflin v R Williams/Steadman/Lilley – 8:30pm
Ding Junhui v Tian Pengfei/Walker/Evans – 8:30pm
Ben Woollaston v J O’Connor/Pinches/L Stephens – 8:30pm
Martin Gould v Hugill/Hancorn/Young – 8:30pm
David B Gilbert v K Doherty/McLeod – 3:30pm
Anthony Hamilton v Slessor/Burns/Fu – 3:30pm
Jimmy Robertson v O Lines/Devlin/Hoes – 3:30pm
Fan Zhengyi v C Wakelin/J Wilson/Crofts – 3:30pm
Monday 11 April
Noppon Saengkham v Higginson/Chang/Wells – 3:30pm
Robert Milkins v Cao Yupeng/P Lines/Lam – 3:30pm
Liam Highfield v Mark Davis/O’Neill/Cahill – 3:30pm
Ryan Day v Hallworth/Yuan – 3:30pm
Allister Carter v Gao Yang/Mann/Emery – 8:30pm
Sam Craigie v M Stevens/Greene/Kenna – 8:30pm
Joe Perry v Carty/Page/S O’Sullivan – 8:30pm
Xiao Guodong v Grace/Boiko/Georgiou – 8:30pm
Graeme Dott v Pang Junxu/Ajaib/Lloyd – 10:30am
Gary Wilson v J Clarke/Surety/Si – 10:30am
Alexander Ursenbacher v Carrington/Lei/Maddocks -10:30am
Hossein Vafaei v Lichtenberg/Wu/Bai – 10:30am
Round Four – 12-13 Apr
TBD. After three rounds of best-of-11, the 32 players that emerge face one more round over a best-of-19 to reach the Crucible.
MORE : What Ronnie O’Sullivan told Neil Robertson after losing epic Tour Championship semi-final
MORE : ‘I’m well up for that’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan answers Paddy Pimblett’s sparring challenge
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Snooker News Click Here
