And so it begins again. While four players were able to qualify for the main tour this morning from Event One, The rest will be back in action from tomorrow as Event Two gets underway in Sheffield. Click below for my preview…
- To view the draw for Q School Event Two please click here.
- To view all of the results from Q School Event One please click here.
Section One
As will continue to be the case as the Q School progresses, there are a number of round one walkovers in this section due to the fact that some players have either qualified for the main tour from event one or have been handed nominated for the main tour via other means.
Those missing from this section are Sam Baird, David Grace, Robin Hull and Luca Brecel, which is good news for David Gray, Gareth Allen, Li Hang and Alex Taubman who will all benefit from a free pass to the second round.
As was the case during the previous event, one of the names from this section to watch out for will be David Gray who made it through to the third round previously before coming unstuck against Preston’s Ian Burns. Though his early walkover will make his job slightly easier however, four match wins will still be needed if he is to regain a place on the tour from this event.
Jamie O’Neill
Other former professionals Li Hang, Stephen Craigie Lee Page, Justin Astley, Alex Borg and Jamie O’Neill are also worth keeping an eye on, particularly Jamie having won three matches during the previous event only to lose out to eventual qualifier David Grace. Li and Craigie incidentally could meet in the second round in what would be an eye-catching clash between two youngsters.
Of the less well known names to the wider public, Nick Jennings was able to make it through to the third round of event one and lead Kyren Wilson 2-0 there before finding himself on the wrong end of a comeback.
Also a shout out for blog favourite Michael Wasley who begins his campaign against Malta veteran Alex Borg.
Section Two
The second quarter of the draw sees just two walkovers as tour veteran Mike Hallett and China’s Mei Xiwen will benefit from the absences of India’s Lucky Vatnani and On Q’s Andrew Norman.
Having performed well to reach the third round of the first event however, Mike will have to play just as well if he is to overcome either Michael Wild or Robert Valiant when he does get underway, both having won one match during the previous event.
David Morris
If Mike can roll back the years and make it forward to round four he could come through to a tie with either Jak Jones or Chen Zhe, both talented cueists who made a mark during the previous event. Chen in particular came ever so close to qualification, losing out in a decider to Andrew Norman this morning following a series of wins against strong amateur players such as Ian Burns, Stuart Carrington, Michael Wasley and Ben Harrison.
In the second half of this quarter the names that jump out include Mei Xiwen and Zhang Anda, the latter also having lost out in the final round of the first Q School event this morning.
Hoping for better this time around will be Adam Duffy and David Morris, two talented players who made an early exit from the first event.
Section Three
Arguably the most competitive section of the draw on paper is the third, despite the absence of Adam Wicheard who qualified via event one this morning.
Of the six former professionals involved, Scot Fraser Patrick came the closest to qualifying from the previous event and now begins here with a stern test against another in the form of Simon Bedford. Although he lost in the first round of event one, Simon in paper should be one of the favourites to do well here, though Fraser has had the more match practice during the course of the last week. Could it prove too tall an order to recover from this morning’s disappointment though?
James McBain
Other names to look out for here are Stuart Carrington and Rileys Futurestar Joel Walker who both won matches during event one, while Twitter favourite Ben Harrison will also be looking for better as he begins his second campaign against Shehzad Iqbal.
Having won three matches to make it through to round four of the last event, ladies number one Reanne Evans is also back for another crack at it while James McBain takes on the impressive Ian Burns in one of the ties of the opening round.
Lee Walker and Allan Taylor both impressed to make it through to the fourth round last week while Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon remains a dangerous player despite his early exit from event one to Jak Jones.
Section Four
The bottom section of the draw begins with a bang with an opening round clash between Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and David Gilbert who was within a frame of the main tour during his match with Robin Hull before seeing the Finn take the last three frames to win. Again, could this prove too difficult a set-back to recover from mentally overnight or will the match practice count in his favour?
China’s Tian Pengfei was one of the fancied men to come through the Q School before it began and he will start his event two campaign against David McLellan.
Others to look out for here include Kurt Maflin who having been unfortunate to come up against Craig Steadman so early in the first event, this time meets Alex Davies who took the scalp of David Morris last week. Stephen Rowlings, Michael Leslie and Ian Glover could also surprise.