Q School 2011: Event Three Preview

With two events now played to a conclusion at the 2011 Q School there are just four remaining places up for grabs on the main tour for those involved as the third and final event gets underway tomorrow. Click below for my look at the draw…

  • To view the draw please click here.

The Top Quarter

Set to head this section of the draw was an eye-catching match between Norway’s Kurt Maflin and China’s Li Yan but following today’s success during Event Two for Li it will be Kurt who is handed a bye through to round two. He will be pleased too because having entered the Q School as one of the favourites to progress, Kurt has in fact lost his previous two matches to Craig Steadman and Alex Davies respectively, both 4-3.

Will it be third time lucky? If he can recapture the form that he displayed during the closing stages of last season then he is more than capable but faces another potentially tricky tie early on as Chris Norbury could make it through with victory against Lee Stephens tomorrow.

Other obvious threats who are close to him in the draw include Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Sean O’Sullivan and Michael Leslie but in his half of this quarter there are few who have comparable experience to Kurt at this level.

In the other half of this section however there are for me two names that stand out and they are Joel Walker and Gary Wilson, both of whom have raised eyebrows during the previous two Q School events. Gary in particular has performed well, reaching round three of the first event before falling to eventual qualifier David Morris in the penultimate round of event two.

Mitchell Mann is another with a good junior career behind him and although he has lost in previous events to Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon and Ian Burns, he could be one to watch. Perhaps now with a number of the bigger names having qualified for the tour during the first couple of events there will now be further opportunities for players like Mitchell to come through?

The Second Quarter

While there are two or three names in the top section who jump out as favourites, the second section looks to be wide open as a number of players who have performed well during the past couple of weeks have found their way here.

Three such players are young Chinese trio Chen Zhe, Zhang Anda and Li Hang, particularly Chen and Zhang who both narrowly missed out on promotion from the first Q School event when they lost in the final round while Li also lost 4-3 to David Gray during the latter stages of Event Two.

Such is the depth of this section however that it would be no surprise to see Zhang lose in the first round as he has drawn On Q player and former professional Jamie O’Neill first up.

Others to watch include Ian Burns, Stuart Carrington and Ian Glover, particularly Burns who has impressed in both events so far without having been able to go all the way. Burns has a tough match early on however as he has drawn Antony Parsons who is another more than capable amateur in the field.

Event One quarter-finalist Fraser Patrick can also be found here while Vinnie Calabrese and Lee Page meet again in a re-match of their tight Event Two clash which saw Vinnie recover from behind to take victory.

The Third Quarter

This section sees a large number of early byes due to the non-involvement of the likes of Luca Brecel, James Wattana and David Grace.

Nevertheless there remain names to watch, not least Thai youngster Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon and Lee Walker who could meet early at the top of this section. Lee came close to qualifying from the tour during each of the first two events and will be hoping that it will be third time lucky for him this time around.

Elsewhere Craig Steadman begins his latest bid for the tour against veteran Mike Hallett and could meet Michael Wild in round two, although he will do well to recover from the disappointment of missing the final pink when attempting to clear for a place on the tour against David Morris earlier today. Can Phil O’Kane take advantage if there is to be a dip?

Adam Duffy was another man to fall to Morris in Event Two and could be a dangerman here but could face another former professional Stephen Rowlings early on in his section.

Finally David Gray is also present in this third of the draw and following defeat today to Li Yan will hope that he can bounce back quickly to qualify for the tour from this event. Probably the biggest name in the field to the public at large, he is currently the force that he once was but cannot be written off.

The Bottom Quarter

Onto the final section of the draw and again there is no shortage of quality as Event One and Event Two finalist David Gilbert looks to put previous disappointments behind him and make it back to the main tour. Having played almost every day through the past couple of weeks could fatigue play a part here? Perhaps, but thanks to Simon Bedford’s victory today he does at least have a first round bye which will make his life a little easier.

That said there are some very handy players close to him in the draw, most notably Lee Spick who has impressed at times during the past fortnight while potential second round opponent Robbie Williams is also a good prospect.

At the other end of the section meanwhile are another pair of former professionals, Scotland’s James McBain and Welsh youngster Jak Jones, not to mention Kyren Wilson who has impressed me this week with his resilience although perhaps the fact that he has so often fallen behind in his matches suggests that he is something of a slow starter, not ideal for best of 7 matches.

Elsewhere ladies number one Reanne Evans is also present while Albino Assassin Allan Taylor is back for another crack at it following a strong showing in Event One.