As mentioned yesterday, World Snooker have today published the draw for the first UKPTC event of the 2012/13 season, which will be staged at the South West Snooker Academy between 18-22 July 2012…
- Click here to view the draw in scanned pdf format at World Snooker
With the amateur rounds set to get underway on the Wednesday, the first two days will see 50 matches played at the South West Snooker Academy before the professionals enter the fray on Friday.
As was the case with the majority of PTC events last season, the vast majority of professionals have decided to enter this event, with the exception of the following:
- Ronnie O’Sullivan
- John Higgins
- Neil Robertson
- Ding Junhui
- Mark Allen
- Matthew Stevens
- Stephen Hendry
- Joe Jogia
- Hossein Vafaei Ayouri
Looking at the list, the absence of world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is of course no surprise given his decision not to sign the current players contract for the new season, while Joe Jogia remains suspended pending his scheduled hearing on 25th July 2012 in connection with an ongoing betting investigation. Stephen Hendry’s non-entry is also to be expected following his retirement from the sport, while Matthew Stevens did of course withdraw from the recent Wuxi Classic due to an ongoing back complaint.
Of the others, John Higgins is of course yet to appear this season having elected not to enter either the Wuxi Classic or Australian Goldfields Open tournaments as he seems determined to enjoy a more traditional summer break, while Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui and Mark Allen have also decided to give this a miss. As for Hossein Vafaei Ayouri, while nothing official has been said, one can only assume that the dreaded ‘visa problems’ have struck again. Why is it that we never hear of visas problems in other sports?
Turning to the draw, the standout tie of the opening round has to be that between Jimmy White and Tony Drago, while Mike Dunn faces Sam Baird in a repeat of their thrilling match at the World Championship qualifiers 2011. Liam Highfield takes on Scott Donaldson in an interesting opening round match, while Liang Wenbo v Tian Pengfei promises to be an entertaining all-Chinese affair.
Elsewhere, it is good to see Joe Swail in the draw following his relegation from the main tour at the end of last season and hopefully without the pressure of ranking points and tour survival on his shoulders, he can regain some of his old form.
I will be at the event from Friday and you can be too from just £10.00. Click here to book your tickets at the South West Snooker Academy website.