World Championship Qualifiers Rounds - 1 & 2

Steve Davis falls off the tour after 36 years after he was
beaten by Craig Steadman. Image: Monique Limbos

The main story breaking from the opening two rounds of the World Championship qualifiers was that six time world champion Steve Davis dropped off the tour as he was beaten 10-8 by Craig Steadman in the second qualifying round. Manchester-based Steadman was 9-5 up with a top run of 122 although Davis did pull out a mini-fight back to close to 9-8 after the final interval. However, Steadman took the green, brown and then an extremely tricky blue to the yellow pocket to end Davis’ 36-year spell as a professional.

Other players to be relegated from the tour this week included Tian Pengfei, who was beaten 10-6 by Finland’s Robin Hull in the second round, and the experienced James Wattana, who was beaten 10-9 by Alex Borg. The Maltese is through to the third qualifying round after recording an impressive 10-4 win over Marcus Campbell in the second round.

Zhang Anda, Paul Davison, Lian Highfield, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon, Chen Zhe, Adam Duffy, Martin O’Donnell, Jamie O’Neill, Daniel Wells, Michael Leslie and Sean O’Sullivan will all also have to come through Q-School if they want to remain in the tour next season.

Luca Brecel, who became the youngest player to reach the Crucible in 2012, also made it through to the third qualifying round, thanks to a 10-8 win over Lee Page and then a 10-7 win over Yu Delu.
World number 90 Kyren Wilson is also through to the third round after convincing wins over Chris Norbury and German Masters semi-finalist Rod Lawler.

Jimmy White was beaten by Ian Burns in the second round 10-4 but he’s assured of a tour place for at least another year.

Brazilian Igor Figueiredo, who has not played in any other tournaments this season, has also impressed and is through to the third round following victories over Adam Duffy and Players Championship finalist Gerard Greene.

Other players to have come through the two qualifying round are Michael Wasley, Robbie Williams, Stuart Carrigton, Joe Swail and Li Yan.

For a full list of results, click HERE.