WST has published the draw as well as the qualifiers format for the 2021 Scottish Open … to be played in Llandudno in Wales.
BetVictor Scottish Open Draw
The draw and format for the 2021 BetVictor Scottish Open is now available.
The qualifying round will run from September 24 to 29 at the Barnsley Metrodome, followed by the final stages at Venue Cymru in Llandudno from December 6 to 12.
The matches involving the top 16 seeds and the two wild card nominations will be held over to the final venue. Top stars including Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and John Higgins will be in Llandudno.
Selby, who beat O’Sullivan in the final last year, will be up against Sean Maddocks in the opening round.
O’Sullivan will face Dominic Dale while Murphy has been drawn against three-time Women’s World Champion Ng On Yee.
Scotland’s top player John Higgins will meet Alfie Burden while Trump will be up against Robert Milkins.
The two Scottish wild cards are:
Liam Graham, number two in the under-21 events from the 2019-20 rankings (number one was Dean Young who is now on the tour). He was also the top under-16 player from the 2019-20 rankings.
Amaan Iqbal, Scotland’s top ranked under-21 player from the senior rankings in 2019-20.
Let’s just say that the defending champion is likely to have an easy passages to the last 64 as his opponent has won just one match since turning pro last season and only yesterday managed to lose again, by 4-3, having lead 3-0. Ronnie, John Higgins, Mark Williams and Judd Trump all face a stronger challenge.
Those are the qualifiers matches that draw my attention:
Gary Wilson v Cao Yupeng
Alex Ursenbacher v Luca Brecel
Liang Wenbo v Elliot Slessor
Joe O’Connor v Jamie Jones
Note that, once again, Ronnie could face Elliot Slessor early in the event. He could also face Hendry in the last 32 if both make it that far.
Ding is in the draw as well and it’s a bit surprising that he isn’t mentioned in the above article, unless it’s because WST isn’t too confident that he will actually be there.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Breakthrough? Aaron Hill just lost to Andy Hicks and Cahill didn’t even qualify for the tour. Right now their claim to fame is that they beat Ronnie.
On another note it is indeed fascinating how Ronnie keeps running into Slessor in the draws. But then at least he knows what he will get. Altogether while I really want to see Ronnie play again, I’m totally not ready for it – if it makes sense. Nothing expected after last season’s horror, yet still not able to condition myself to enjoy the occasional good match without expecting a title…
Hey! Whilst it’s true that Sean Maddocks hasn’t yet found his feet, a match like this could be just what he needs to make a breakthrough, as Aaron Hill and James Cahill have shown.
Speaking as a former amateur myself, I think all of these players are wonderful, deserving of respect, and shouldn’t just be shunted off to qualifier cubicles.
I totally agree that they shouldn’t be shunted off to qualifiers cubicles. I have said it many times on this blog, there should be NO qualifiers at all in flat draw events. All matches should be played in as one event at the main venue, no matter where that is. I would be in favour to reintroducing more tiered events, but again, played entirely at the venue in one uninterrupted period of time, with broadcasting from the start. And whilst I agree that first round losers should get no ranking points, I strongly believe that they deserve something for their efforts, if only to cover basic expenses.
Having said all that, it annoys me when some of those young players are presented as “brilliant prospects” when they are clearly well below the level required to survive on the pro tour. I’m not convinced that keeping them deluded about where they really stand is helping them in any way. The first step in the process of solving a problem is always to recognise that there IS a problem and to understand what it is. Iulian Boiko is too young, not ready, and he should not be on tour as it might severely compromise his confidence, his mental health and his future in the game if he gets battered all the time. Being expat is adding to the difficulties he faces. The same goes for some/many of the Chinese kids, and there have been examples of destroyed talents and broken souls in the past years. But Maddocks is 19, playing in his home country, and his results so far are terrible. Either he has the potential but needs help to unleash it, or he’s simply not good enough and should consider his future at the end of the season unless he improves massively in the coming months. This is not a lack of respect, it’s being realistic.
It’s the ‘free pass’ comment that is going too far.
Sean Maddocks has actually performed very well in junior events recently, and I’m sure he is well aware of his results on the professional tour. But I don’t think anyone should be dismissed so harshly whilst still a teenager. Although things have changed massively since the 1970’s, Terry Griffiths made his first century break at the age of 24.
Yes he does well in junior events, but not well at all in pro events. That probably shows how big the difference has become between amateur and pro levels. When the game was opened some 30 years ago, a significant number of young amateurs were actually better than the top pros. That was of course because of the closed nature of the pro game that had protected the established pros for a long time by blocking those amateurs out. Now there is a huge gap between young amateurs and pros. It seems that all of a sudden Pro-ams are in fashion again. I hope it lasts and that this “circuit” is properly supported and lives=on because it’s probably the best way for the top amateurs to actually learn what will be expected of them if/when they turn pro.