Here are a selection of quotes from the players following the final qualifying matches for Shanghai yesterday as reported on SkySports.
Jimmy White:
“I played very well, I had to if I wanted to beat Ken,”
“I was very solid today and it’s great to have qualified for the first two events.
“I’ve got used to the conditions at Pontin’s now, which is important as the guys who play here all the time have an edge.
“I’m looking forward to China because snooker is very popular there, although to be honest I’m enjoying the game so much at the moment it doesn’t matter where I play.”
Ken Doherty:
“It’s a bad result, it was a baptism of fire for me,”
“Jimmy got off to a flyer and I was always playing catch-up. It’s hard coming here, you have to get your hands dirty and get on with it, but fair play to Jimmy because he deserved to win.”
Steve Davis:
“Any win is a good win,”
“I wasn’t expecting too much and Gerard was probably favourite having played a match here yesterday. But he didn’t play great today.
“It’s funny to be here and see people like Jimmy, Ken, Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens. I looked at the monitor where all the matches are listed and thought ‘wow, there’s some fantastic games on today’.”
Anthony Hamilton:
“I played solid, but a 5-1 scoreline was a hit flattering,”
“It could have easily been 2-2 at the interval, but I stuck in there and didn’t give him many chances. It really wasn’t as comfortable as 5-1 suggests, but you’ve got to win those scrappy frames. Once I’d won them I started to play a lot better.”
And Dave Harold told The Sentinel:
“It was a little bit of a shock to the system going back to Pontin’s, especially having reached the final in Belfast,”
“In Belfast I played in front of a big crowd, but there was no one in the crowd here.
“But I’m so used to playing here that I knew what I had to do. I played solidly, it was another good win for me.”
“I was feeling the pressure. Everyone expects you to win because of what I achieved in Belfast,” added Harold.
“But I played well from the word go. I twitched a little bit to get over the winning line, but there were no scares.”
“It’s tremendous to have qualified for Shanghai for the second season in a row. I’m looking forward to playing Ding.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. To qualify for the first two ranking events has been great – and of course getting to the final in Belfast.”