2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship Qualifying Draw

[Mr Snooker]

The Draw for the 2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship has been made the link to the draw can be found here

http://snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=368.

The Qualifying stages will be played between Wednesday 8th April - Wednesday 15th April 2015 all Matches (best Of 19 Frames) with the First round draw for the final stages to be made at 10:00 AM on Thursday 16th April 2015 at http://snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=368. Also played will be the EBSA Qualifying Top 16 Tour Play-Offs draw is here

http://snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=412

Please feel free to post your comments and predictions on the draw

[trains]

'In a change to the usual format,the concluding session of all 16 final round matches will be played on the last day,Wednesday April 15. The winners on 'Judgement Day' will earn a coveted spot in the final stages,to run from April 18 to May 4 at the Crucible Theatre.

I'd take a seat to get an eye on all the matches on the 15th over a last session of a Crucible final regardless of the two in it,each to there own I suppose.

Round 1 matches of note for me are: Un-Nooh v Pinches,Gould v Duffy,Baird v Drago,McLeod v Pengfei,McManus v Wasley,Mehta v Jones,Carrington v Walker,Bond v Figueiredo,Morris v Walker,Cope v Davis,and Hamilton v Anda.

WS could have eluded to how they decided on the non tour invites making up the 144 but nay mind.

[jw147]

'In a change to the usual format,the concluding session of all 16 final round matches will be played on the last day,Wednesday April 15. The winners on 'Judgement Day' will earn a coveted spot in the final stages,to run from April 18 to May 4 at the Crucible Theatre.

I'd take a seat to get an eye on all the matches on the 15th over a last session of a Crucible final regardless of the two in it,each to there own I suppose.

Round 1 matches of note for me are: Un-Nooh v Pinches,Gould v Duffy,Baird v Drago,McLeod v Pengfei,McManus v Wasley,Mehta v Jones,Carrington v Walker,Bond v Figueiredo,Morris v Walker,Cope v Davis,and Hamilton v Anda.

WS could have eluded to how they decided on the non tour invites making up the 144 but nay mind.

The stand out match of round 1 is white v wattana, a repeat of a world semi final.
Maybe you didnt see it....
Lol

[trains]

The stand out match of round 1 is white v wattana, a repeat of a world semi final.
Maybe you didnt see it....
Lol

They've both had their day,Wattana isn't even battling to stay on tour,time to move on bud

[DeanH]

2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship Qualifying Draw

so Wattana has used the special invite from WS/Hearn
hope he does well, always enjoyed watching him.
Jimmy needs a long run in this comp to maintain tour place.

[DeanH]

2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship Qualifying Draw

just had a look on Live Scores to see which matches are scheduled for TV table and Ken v Reanne looks to be one of them, should be interesting to watch.

[jw147]

They've both had their day,Wattana isn't even battling to stay on tour,time to move on bud

Cant move on, im stuck in 1994!!

[JIMO96]

I've a funny feeling that this format, come the end of the qualifying, will be universally well received. I hope it's a blueprint for ALL future events. Exempt the elite, flat draw the rest. Nice and simple.

Disappointed that Parrott hasn't entered, and I was also secretly hoping Thorburn would accept too. Alas, no former champions have taken up the offer, a slight embarrassment for WS considering the fanfare surrounding the announcement of this last year.

Looking at the international invites, Kleckers is an overwhelmingly obvious choice, and Blanckaert is a good supporter of Euro tour events (as well as possibly high enough on the PTC OoM), and deserving of a place. Bit puzzled by the Latvian and Bulgarian entrants though. Did their national associations nominate them? I'd have thought Bratislav Krustev would be top choice from Bulgaria, and WS missed a trick perhaps by not inviting Latvia's top female Tatjana Vasilijeva. Plus, if Bulgaria, Germany and Latvia all get an invite, why not the other 'tour' countries? Joao Grilo of Portugal (qualified for the Portugese Open)? Mateusz Baranowski of Poland (likewise Polish Open...I'm guessing Kacper Filipiak, as an OoM eligible, declined his invite)? No Chinese invites?? Oh, and I'm guessing that by inviting a player from Singapore, that we can expect a tour event there next season perhaps?

Very surprised to see no Pagulayan or Calabrese in the draw. Was also hoping to see Shachar Ruberg, Sergiy Issaenko or Pankaj Advani involved, or even a top 'senior' like Darren Morgan? All in all, however, WS have to be commended for this initiative. At least no-one can complain at having to play a wild-card match in the tournament proper, as they're all in the qualifying, starting at the first round....the way it should be.

As for the draw itself, looking forward to Anthony McGill v Hosein Vafaei Ayouri. Perhaps a recent top 32 graduate is one of the toughest draws the Iranian could have got, but McGill's suffered a few heartbreaking defeats lately, making this the most intriguing first round match for me. Bond-Figueiredo stands out too, as do a few involving players ranked very close together (Lyu-Pagett, Carrington-Walker, Georgiou-Davies). Marcus Campbell, desperate for points, must think Christmas has arrived early. See also: Peter Lines, Matthew Stevens.

Can't wait, this is the most exciting time of the season.

[DeanH]

2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship Qualifying Draw

Steve Davis is in as you say but with the invitation not the previous champions.
Calabrese is currently not allowed as he relinquished his ticket this season to do the Oceania qualifiers for the two year ticket that starts after this WSC
as you say there are some interesting matches to come

[robertmac]

Yes many players trying to qualify for the
limited number of places should make this very
interesting for sure.
I like the idea that the top players have already
qualified and dont have to go thru this round.
Its the way it should be in my opinion.
The prize money is huge which is great for the
winner however it seems unfair how it impacts
the rankings.
Hopefully Reanne can give Ken a tough match.

[magicman]

It seems the exemption of the top 16 is largely well received.

I like the idea that the top players have already
qualified and dont have to go thru this round.
Its the way it should be in my opinion.
The prize money is huge which is great for the
winner however it seems unfair how it impacts
the rankings.

Original Source: 2015 Betfred World Snooker Championship Qualifying Draw http://www.thesnookerforum.co.uk/boa...#ixzz3WcS9kwoy
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If the top 16 never have to qualify how fair is that on the other players? How are you supposed to displace a top 16 player if they are always gifted a last 32 spot in every event? I'm not picking on you, robertmac, other posters seem keen on this method too, but a flat 128 draw is far fairer imo. The cream will generally rise to the top anyway, and surely every player should have to win an equal amount of rounds to take the winners cheque? Despite being in the top 16, Michael White will have to win 8 rounds as opposed to ROS's 5, or the current World Champion Selby's 5. They're better than him anyway, and they have to beat fewer opponents. Can't be right, surely? Seed the tournaments for sure. No 1 plays no 128 etc, but imo Hearn has got it right, allowing for the comps in which he was forced to keep the old system.

[JIMO96]

It seems the exemption of the top 16 is largely well received.



If the top 16 never have to qualify how fair is that on the other players? How are you supposed to displace a top 16 player if they are always gifted a last 32 spot in every event? I'm not picking on you, robertmac, other posters seem keen on this method too, but a flat 128 draw is far fairer imo. The cream will generally rise to the top anyway, and surely every player should have to win an equal amount of rounds to take the winners cheque? Despite being in the top 16, Michael White will have to win 8 rounds as opposed to ROS's 5, or the current World Champion Selby's 5. They're better than him anyway, and they have to beat fewer opponents. Can't be right, surely? Seed the tournaments for sure. No 1 plays no 128 etc, but imo Hearn has got it right, allowing for the comps in which he was forced to keep the old system.

I can see the merits of your point from a 'fairness' angle, and this is the approach Barry Hearn has taken with almost ALL ranking events. However, sponsors and broadcasters have to be considered. Since the WC is only televised from the last 32 onwards, the BBC and Betfred would be pretty disillusioned if Ronnie, Selby, Ding or Robbo (or all 4) failed to make it to the Crucible under your system. And since there would be no guarantee that the best players and best known faces would emerge from a flat draw into the TV stages, you'd find that BBC and potential sponsors would suddenly become very difficult to negotiate with.

Remember, NOBODY wins any ranking points if they don't win a match. So if Selby, Robbo etc lose in the last 32, yes they'd collect their £12,000 cash, but not a penny of it would count towards their ranking. So although 'fair' to other players would be stretching it, it's a decent compromise, as the Michael White's, Dott's and Mavis's will all increase their haul of points if they lose in the last 32.

[Siz]

I don't see what 'fairness' has to do with it. This is a professional game. It's about money, which means sponsorship, which means TV viewers. And for maximum TV viewers, as JIM096 says, you need the familiar 'faces'.

I never saw what Hearn was trying to with flatter draws. The old system was much better IMO. Yes, it took longer for a new pro to rise through the ranks; but once he made it, the draw 'ladder' behind him gave him a bit of protection against temporary loss of form. That system helped to select those who were good enough, and then give them a reasonable chance of making a career out of it (albeit not a long one). A knock-on effect was that it was better at producing some continuity as far as who was appearing on TV sporting soap opera that the pro game represents. That gives a very important narrative thread for the casual TV snooker viewer.

[gavpowell]

So now we have the draw of which seed plays in which match on which day, but can someone tell me how I'm supposed to know who's on table one and who is on two? I've been going for years and always struggled to figure it out. I want to book tickets as they become available, but have no idea which table will have which match!

[jw147]

Call me biased or whatever, but i think its unfair that wattana, a player who has given up his tour card, will play jimmy, a player fighting for his tour life.