The qualifying stages for the rescheduled 2020 World Snooker Championship will see 16 qualifiers for the Crucible Theatre. Here’s the preview of the prestigious snooker tournament.
The 2020 World Snooker Championship will be held from 31 July to 16 August. This is three months later than the organizers originally planned. However, the preliminary stages are set to kick-off, and the 2020 World Snooker Championship qualifiers draw has been made for the action in Sheffield.
The preliminary stages of the competition will see a host of great and upcoming players jostle for a place in the main event. There are Former world champions, winners of the Masters, UK champions, and even a 14-year-old from Ukraine, all aiming to qualify for the main stages of the World Snooker Championship from 21 July to 28 July in Sheffield.
The top 16 players, according to the world snooker rankings have already been guaranteed a spot at the tournament, while 128 other players must head to the English Institute of Sport and fight it out to join the top 16 in the main event.
Several cueists from the Main Tour have decided against travelling to England to play. It was reported that about 17 professional players pulled out of the event due to health and safety concerns surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, they have been replaced in the draw by amateur players from across the world.
The qualifying format for this year is much different. This year’s preliminary stages will see the lowest-ranked players play in the first round and will need to win four matches to make it to the Crucible. Players seeded from 1 to 32 in the qualifiers just need to win only two games to qualify.
This tiered structure simply means that bottom-ranked cueists will take on a selection of invited amateurs in the opening round.
The other professionals will gradually be involved based on their rankings, and those from world numbers 17 to 48 playing in the penultimate round and needing two victories to make it.
Players to watch include Ken Doherty, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Joe Perry, and Graeme Dott.
Written by: Collins Nwokolo
