Just a day after the qualifying draw for the Wuxi Classic was published by World Snooker, today has seen that for the Australian Goldfields Open qualifiers revealed and unsurprisingly it is a draw that is somewhat distorted by a number of non-entries higher up the rankings…
- Click here to view the draw at PSB
While the last 32 draw has not yet been revealed, it is evident by the fact that 25th ranked Marcus Campbell is the highest ranked player in qualifying that there have been at least seven non-entries, in addition to that of the now-retired Stephen Hendry, who continues to hold 21st place in the rankings.
As a result, Michael Holt, Fergal O’Brien, Ken Doherty, Robert Milkins, Liang Wenbo, Rory McLeod, Jamie Burnett and for the first time, Jack Lisowski, will be seeded in the final qualifying round.
Likewise, Mike Dunn, Anthony McGill, Steve Davis, Alan McManus, Peter Lines, Michael White, Jimmy Robertson and Liu Chuang have been seeded through to the last 64, as has Liu Chuang who benefits from the suspension of 47th ranked Joe Jogia.
Those through to the last 64 are the eight players who qualified for the tour last season via the PTC Order of Merit, in addition to 65th ranked Tony Drago.
As is the case with the Wuxi Classic, as the tournament is short on entries, the field has been topped up to 96 players by the top players from the Q School, who include Allan Taylor, Adrian Gunnell, Michael Wild, Fraser Patrick, Duane Jones and Justin Astley, while three places are still to be confirmed. Curiously, Aditya Mehta’s opponent is down on the official draw as ‘Americas/Q School’ so presumably there is a chance that the spot may be taken by Floyd Ziegler, however we will have to wait and see.
Whilst writing, World Snooker have today confirmed that the four amateur players invited to the Wuxi Classic are Fraser Patrick, Duane Jones, Adrian Gunnell and Michael Wild.