And so today is the last day of the 2021 Q-School already.
I have to admit that the last couple of days have been painful from my fan point of view as none of the ones I really wanted to do well are still in the draw.
Scotland’s Muir played on the pro tour from 2013 to 2019 and will earn a return if he can win three more matches on Sunday and Monday.
His break of 140 against Quinn tops the century charts, and he also fired runs of 53, 63 and 64 in a superb display. He now meets Simon Bedford, who made a 103 in a 4-3 defeat of Ross Bulman.
Two-time ranking event winner Michael White came from 3-2 down to edge out Ben Fortey 4-3. He now faces Barry Pinches, who came from 3-1 down to beat Ryan Davies 4-3 in a marathon match which lasted five hours.
Michael Georgiou compiled runs of 93, 62, 66, 85 and 68 in a 4-3 defeat of Samuel Lee-Stevens. Alfie Burden’s top break was 77 at he saw off Mark Ganderton 4-0.
Belgium’s promising Julien Leclercq top scored with 80 in a 4-1 win over Niel Vincent, while James Cahill made a 105 in a 4-1 win over Dave Finbow.
Veteran Rod Lawler beat Chen Feilong 4-2 with a top run of 82, while World Seniors champion David Lilley suffered a 4-1 defeat against Jenson Kendrick.
Robbie McGuigan, Liam Pullen, Michael Collumb, Mark Lloyd and Daniel Womersley could all earn a place on the World Snooker Tour for the first time when they play in the business end of Q School event two on Monday.
Just 16 players remain in the second of three events in Sheffield. The last 16 will be played from 10am on Monday, followed by the quarter-finals from 1pm. Those four winners will receive a place on the pro circuit for the next two seasons.
Robbie McGuigan
Promising Northern Irishman McGuigan, who turns 17 next month, edged out Ross Vallance 4-3 in the last 32 with a top break of 88. He now faces Michael Judge, who beat Soheil Vahedi 4-3.
York’s 15-year-old Pullen, playing in Q School for the first time, beat James Cahill 4-3 with a superb break of 72 in the decider. He will now play Scotland’s 32-year-old Collumb, a 4-2 winner over Dylan Emery.
Womersley, age 29 from Leeds, whitewashed Rod Lawler 4-0 and will now face veteran Barry Pinches, who scored a 4-1 victory over two-time ranking event winner Michael White.
Lloyd, age 21 from Portsmouth, beat Julien Leclercq 4-2 and now meets Hammad Miah, who beat Paul Davison by the same scoreline.
China’s Lei Peifan top scored with 109 in a 4-1 defeat of Michael Georgiou. His next opponent is Alfie Burden who came from 3-2 down to beat Joshua Thomond 4-3, making breaks of 113 and 88 in the last two frames.
Sanderson Lam edged out Harvey Chandler 4-3, setting up a tie with in-form Ross Muir, who fired runs of 135 and 111 in a 4-0 win over Simon Bedford.
Craig Steadman beat Luo Honghao 4-2 and now faces Duane Jones, who top scored with 86 in a 4-1 win over Jenson Kendrick.
John Astley saw off Leo Fernandez 4-2 with a top break of 96, setting up a tie with Kuldesh Johal, who came from 2-0 down to beat Liam Graham 4-2.
It’s not all bad of course: Lei Peifan, Robbie McGuigan, Mark Lloyd and Liam Pullen are all young players and I hope that they will qualify. Liam Pullen is not one of the hyped youngsters and he has been impressive so far. Ross Muir has lost his professional status after suffering health issues, he’s only 25, and I hope that he can get back on the tour.
However, Niel Vincent, Julien Leclercq, Brian Ochoiski, Soheil Vahedi and Luo Honghao are all out of the competition, as is Michael White. Soheil is not badly placed in the order of merit. Even if he doesn’t requalify, he will likely get opportunities to play via the top-up system. That said, I’m not sure what his situation would be regarding visas and work permit. If he has to go back to Iran, it would be heartbreaking. Luo is incredibly talented and only 20 years old. The main toour needs the likes of him. As for Michael White, who recently opened up about his drinking problem, I fear that a “failure” to requalify might drive him back to alcohol. That would be terrible.
“Juju”, Julien Leclercq, has done well in this Q-School so far and it’s a valuable learning experience for him. What annoys me big time is that he got 18 points in the order of merit so far, having won four matches, yet, he’s behind Ben Mertens who also has 18 points without winning a match purely because Ben is seeded in the secound round in all events and on “count back” did better that Julien in event 1, winning three frames in round 2, whilst Julien lost by 4-0 in that round. By the same mechanism, Julien is also behind Brian Ochoiski, who won only one match, whilst Julien himself finds himself behind the winless Ben! Something is clearly not right here! Surely, winning matches should have “precedence” over winning frames?
The above is nothing against Brian, nor Ben; I would love to see them both on the main tour. It’s just that it doesn’t feel right the way it is.
It’s Soheil Vahedi I really feel for. I know it has nothing to do with high-minded thoughts about the game’s future (yes, he is good and good for the game and for making it more international, but this is not the reason lol): I simply do have a lot of sympathy for those whose stay, visa, job permit etc might depend on qualifying and that he has his family over just makes the situation of not qualifying worse.
(On another note the less I have to see of James Cahill the better and that is also not necessarily a snookerwise well-informed opinion either.) 🙂
Re the latter, it’s an opinion I share. Not because he’s beaten Ronnie, but because he’s got a lot of talent but only seems to be be up for it when facing high profile opponents. He’s been around for some years and has not done his talent justice.
Yeah, I have little patience for those who are only “giant killers” and otherwise come up with a truly unremarkable performance.
I’d go further. It’s a nightmare line-up. The young players really are too young. Much as I like to see them do well, they would struggle to win a match if they did qualify. Most likely they entered this Q School with lower expectations and haven’t put themselves under pressure. Today will probably be very different. It’s looking likely that we will get Pinches, Steadman, Judge and Burden. With respect to those individuals is this really a good thing for snooker??
However, I do think Ross Muir is playing very well and deserves it. Duane Jones would also be acceptable – he is capable, just not quite often enough.
But yesterday we saw some very worthy players crack under the pressure: Michael White, James Cahill, Luo Honghao, Soheil Vahedi, and some younger British players who are capable of improvement. All of them would be great to have on tour, but they’re gone. I might be the world’s leading expert in development systems and tournament structures, but if they can’t win the matches, their careers don’t progress.
Very depressing.
and you forgot to mention Kuldesh Johal …
You were 100% right and that shows that the young aspiring players are not good enough. They are not ready for the pro level. Of course there are reasons for this. The amateur game is nowhere near what it was in the 90th and most pro-ams have now disappeared. The system is way too brutal as well. The other day Mark Williams was calling for a return of a tiered structure. I think he’s right. The current state of affairs is not good for the future of snooker, and I don’t expect Eddie Hearn to give snooker any sort of priority. It’s pretty worryimg.
Robbie McGuigan
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
It’s Soheil Vahedi I really feel for. I know it has nothing to do with high-minded thoughts about the game’s future (yes, he is good and good for the game and for making it more international, but this is not the reason lol): I simply do have a lot of sympathy for those whose stay, visa, job permit etc might depend on qualifying and that he has his family over just makes the situation of not qualifying worse.
(On another note the less I have to see of James Cahill the better and that is also not necessarily a snookerwise well-informed opinion either.) 🙂
Re the latter, it’s an opinion I share. Not because he’s beaten Ronnie, but because he’s got a lot of talent but only seems to be be up for it when facing high profile opponents. He’s been around for some years and has not done his talent justice.
Yeah, I have little patience for those who are only “giant killers” and otherwise come up with a truly unremarkable performance.
I’d go further. It’s a nightmare line-up. The young players really are too young. Much as I like to see them do well, they would struggle to win a match if they did qualify. Most likely they entered this Q School with lower expectations and haven’t put themselves under pressure. Today will probably be very different. It’s looking likely that we will get Pinches, Steadman, Judge and Burden. With respect to those individuals is this really a good thing for snooker??
However, I do think Ross Muir is playing very well and deserves it. Duane Jones would also be acceptable – he is capable, just not quite often enough.
But yesterday we saw some very worthy players crack under the pressure: Michael White, James Cahill, Luo Honghao, Soheil Vahedi, and some younger British players who are capable of improvement. All of them would be great to have on tour, but they’re gone. I might be the world’s leading expert in development systems and tournament structures, but if they can’t win the matches, their careers don’t progress.
Very depressing.
and you forgot to mention Kuldesh Johal …
You were 100% right and that shows that the young aspiring players are not good enough. They are not ready for the pro level. Of course there are reasons for this. The amateur game is nowhere near what it was in the 90th and most pro-ams have now disappeared. The system is way too brutal as well. The other day Mark Williams was calling for a return of a tiered structure. I think he’s right. The current state of affairs is not good for the future of snooker, and I don’t expect Eddie Hearn to give snooker any sort of priority. It’s pretty worryimg.