Neil Robertson, Jack Lisowski, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Anthony McGill, Ryan Day and Hossein Vafaei are among the star names in the strongest ever field for the qualifying rounds of the Cazoo World Championship.
The draw and format is now available for the qualifying event, which runs from April 8th to 17th at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
All players seeded outside the top 16 compete in the qualifiers, including the likes of 2010 Crucible king Robertson and Lisowski who have both dropped out of the elite this season. They will both need to win two matches to make it to the Theatre of Dreams for the main event which runs from April 20th to May 6th.
Tickets for the qualifying rounds are on sale now, for just £12 per day – fantastic value for the chance to see a wide array of all-time greats and up-and-coming talents, competing in snooker’s biggest tournament.
Players starting in the opening round – including 16 invited amateurs – must win four matches to make it to the Crucible. First round ties include six-time world finalist Jimmy White taking on Martin Gould, and new women’s World Champion Bai Yulu up against Jenson Kendrick.
The final round, on April 16th and 17th, is known as Judgement Day, when places at the Crucible will be at stake.
Fans can watch from round one on discovery+ as well as streaming platforms worldwide. Then our Judgement Day production, presented by Rob Walker, Ken Doherty and David Hendon, will be streamed live and free on WST’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
The seeding structure is:
Round one pits players ranked 81-112 against those seeded 113-144 In round two, those 32 winners face players ranked 49-80. In round three, those 32 winners face players ranked 17-48. In round four, those 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.
All matches are best of 19 frames (9/10). Sessions times are 10am, 2,30pm and 7pm for the first three rounds, then 11am and 5pm for Judgement Day.
The draw for the first round at the Crucible will be made on the morning of Thursday April 18th, you can listen on BBC Radio Five Live and watch live on the BBC Sport website.
This is, in my opinion the best tournament of the season from a fan’s point of view and it’s quite affordable too. Unfortunately for me, life circumstances are such that I can’t attend this year and I’m not sure I will ever again be able to follow it live from the venue.
It’s also a format I like and one I would like to see used in other tournaments as well. The lowest ranked players face matches of progressive level of difficulty, allowing them to learn (and earn) and hopefully win a couple before being pitted against a top player.
For me “the match” of the first round is Bai Yulu v Jenson Kendrick. I believe that Bai has a real chance in this one and that’s nothing from me against Jenson. Another very interesting match will be Ashley Carty v Liam Graham. Liam is very highly rated and I wonder how Ashley, who played at the Crucible before, finds himself low enough in the rankings to need to play in the first round. Fergal O’Brien intends to retire at the end of the season but I would love to see him have agreat “last run”. He faces a tough match against Mustafa Dorgham and whoever wins that match will face Dotty !!! I will also follow the Bulcsú Révész v Sean O’Sullivan and Iulian Boiko v Alex Ursenbacher battles.
Looking at the possible second round matches, Marco Fu and Ken Doherty could face each other. Julien Leclercq could face Hammad Miah – a though draw that – and one win would probably be enough for Julien’s tour survival. Ben Mertens may well face Rod Lawler … tell me about a clash of styles!
8 thoughts on “The 2024 World Championship Qualifiers Draw is out”
This is indeed a wonderful tournament, but of course players will have very different motivations: for some qualifying for the Crucible is a possibility, even a must, others will fight for Tour survival, while for future professionals like Bulcsú or Bai Yulu, it is mostly a warm-up before becoming professional.
For me “the match” of the first round is Bai Yulu v Jenson Kendrick.
For me the #1 match is literally and proverbially Gould vs White.
I’m afraid Gould-White will probably be an awful match. I will stay well clear of it.
There are some very interesting young players on show on the first morning, such as Liam Davies, Ka Wai Cheung and Bai Yulu.
Yea, ofc. Surely Gould is not bothered about his tourcard and the “same old face” White is just boring.
Of course Gould will care about his tour card, and, of course Jimmy still dreams of the Crucible. That’s why this match may well be awful, because there is so much at stake for both. Everyone has their own priorities and interests. Lewis is more interested in the up and coming youngsters than in a battle between two veterans. You are more interested in the fate of two players who have brought a lot to the sport over their career. There is no wrong or right.
I too think that the Gould-White match will be exciting and potentially emotional. How good it will be quality-wise I can’t say, but I would not expect high quality for example from Ka Wai Cheung either, if the match he played against Bulcsú Révész is any indication. Of course, it can be a fantastic match, why not. Yes, everyone has their preferences. but like Monique says, there is no right/wrong or superior/inferior taste.
Yes just looking through the draw shows how tough it is to qualify! There are some really hard sections. The strength of snooker outside the top-16 these days is very daunting.
I will be there for the first 8 days, probably returning home to watch the Judgement Days online. I agree that it is the most rewarding event on the calendar – it’s everything they have worked for, and is make-or-break for many. For me that’s much more compelling than the event 2 weeks’ later involving the same old faces. But it is for connoiseurs, and perhaps not an event that the casual snooker fan would take any notice of. Their loss.
Yea, ofc. Just let’s get rid of the “same old faces” and all “casual snooker fans” at once and see where the sport is then.
Anyway, I do agree that the qualifiers are proper snooker matches.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
This is indeed a wonderful tournament, but of course players will have very different motivations: for some qualifying for the Crucible is a possibility, even a must, others will fight for Tour survival, while for future professionals like Bulcsú or Bai Yulu, it is mostly a warm-up before becoming professional.
For me the #1 match is literally and proverbially Gould vs White.
I’m afraid Gould-White will probably be an awful match. I will stay well clear of it.
There are some very interesting young players on show on the first morning, such as Liam Davies, Ka Wai Cheung and Bai Yulu.
Yea, ofc. Surely Gould is not bothered about his tourcard and the “same old face” White is just boring.
Of course Gould will care about his tour card, and, of course Jimmy still dreams of the Crucible. That’s why this match may well be awful, because there is so much at stake for both. Everyone has their own priorities and interests. Lewis is more interested in the up and coming youngsters than in a battle between two veterans. You are more interested in the fate of two players who have brought a lot to the sport over their career. There is no wrong or right.
I too think that the Gould-White match will be exciting and potentially emotional. How good it will be quality-wise I can’t say, but I would not expect high quality for example from Ka Wai Cheung either, if the match he played against Bulcsú Révész is any indication. Of course, it can be a fantastic match, why not. Yes, everyone has their preferences. but like Monique says, there is no right/wrong or superior/inferior taste.
Yes just looking through the draw shows how tough it is to qualify! There are some really hard sections. The strength of snooker outside the top-16 these days is very daunting.
I will be there for the first 8 days, probably returning home to watch the Judgement Days online. I agree that it is the most rewarding event on the calendar – it’s everything they have worked for, and is make-or-break for many. For me that’s much more compelling than the event 2 weeks’ later involving the same old faces. But it is for connoiseurs, and perhaps not an event that the casual snooker fan would take any notice of. Their loss.
Yea, ofc. Just let’s get rid of the “same old faces” and all “casual snooker fans” at once and see where the sport is then.
Anyway, I do agree that the qualifiers are proper snooker matches.