At 10am this morning the first event of the 2012 Q School got underway, with main tour places up for grabs for each of the four eventual semi-finalists. Click below for all of the links that you will need throughout the event, together with a quick look ahead to event one…
- To view the full draw for the event, please click here
- To view the latest results from Sheffield, please click here
- To view the full match schedule for Events 1-3, please click here
- To see how the fight for main tour places in 2012/13 is shaping up, please click here
While the results of professional snooker events are hard enough to predict, those of Q School are surely even harder as for many, while the names might be familiar from drawsheets, ultimately we have not yet seen them play.
Looking at the top quarter of the draw, those that jump out at me include Sam Harvey, Gary Wilson, Jamie Clarke and Sean O’Sullivan, while Snookerbacker Classic Champion Martin O’Donnell will also fancy his chances of earning a place on the main tour from this section. Otherwise, David Gray, Paul Davison, Stuart Carrington and Kuldesh Johal are former professionals, while it will be interesting to see how Greg Davis (son of Steve), gets underway in the competition.
Turning to the second section, the two names that really jump out at me are Li Hang and Sam Baird, both recent former professionals who have won matches at venues (albeit Li as a wildcard). Albino Assassin Allan Taylor, Reanne Evans and Nick Jennings are also names that strike me as being likely contenders to come through this quarter.
The third quarter is one that looks like it may be dominated by experienced campaigners such as Rod Lawler and Adrian Gunnell, not to mention 80’s star Tony Knowles who can also be found here! There are however a few younger faces here, Joel Walker who reached the fourth round of the second event of Q School last year, while Daniel Wells, Michael Wasley, Jason Devaney and Scotland’s Scott Donaldson are also players of some promise. Keep an eye out also for Ian Burns who last year won eight matches at Q School, without quite being able to make it through onto the main tour.
Finally, the outstanding names from the bottom quarter to me are Kyren Wilson and Chen Zhe, while Ben Harrison will also have high hopes of making it onto the circuit from this section. Also present is Adam Wicheard who was one of the successful 12 to make it through the Q School last season, while Chris Norbury and Lee Spick are among the other former professionals here.
Predicted Qualifiers: Gary Wilson, Sam Baird, Adrian Gunnell, Kyren Wilson
Good luck to all involved!