The 10 days long qualifiers for the 2025 World Snooker Championship came to an end yesterday. It proved to be a great event in itself – it always is – and this time the fans came in huge numbers for the latter stages of qualifying which is fantastic. It’s fantastic for the players involved, of course, but it’s also fantastic news for the sport and its future. Why? Because it shows that there is a shift in the “fans mentality”. Since I started following snooker closely, 15 years ago, until very recently, most fans appeared to be “focussed” on a very small group of top players, and barely knew the lower ranked players, nor were they interested in them. The huge attendance at the EIS this year shows that things are changing and it’s for the best.
Wu Yize will be one of a record ten Chinese players at the Crucible after beating Matthew Stevens 10-9 in a dramatic finish in the final qualifying round of the Halo World Championship.
The previous record of six Chinese players in the televised stages has been smashed as top 16 seeds Ding Junhui, Zhang Anda, Xiao Guodong, and Si Jiahui will be joined by six more who have come through the qualifying rounds: Zhao Xintong, Zhou Yuelong, Fan Zhengyi, Pang Junxu, Lei Peifan and Wu.
Two-time runner-up Stevens came from 9-7 down to 9-9 to set up a tense 35-minute decider. Wu missed the final green when he led 45-40, but he got another chance after a loose safety from Stevens and this time potted a tremendous green and added brown, blue and pink for victory.
“I am very happy. I thought I was going to lose, he gave me too much pressure and I made mistakes in the last frame. I didn’t think he would give me one more chance,” said 21-year-old Wu, runner-up in two ranking events this season.
In an even closer finish, Matthew Selt beat Jimmy Robertson 10-9 on the final black to book a fifth trip to the Theatre of Dreams. From 8-3 down, Selt fought back to 9-9 with a top break of 112. The decider lasted 49 minutes and Robertson missed match-ball pink to a top corner before Selt slotted in pink and black. However the Essex cueman admitted his victory was tarnished by the fact that his friend Robertson had pulled him aside earlier in the match as he found Selt’s antics off-putting.
“I have to apologise to Jimmy. After one of the frames I won he said I was distracting him and putting him off. So this win has no good feeling whatsoever,” said former Indian Open champion Selt. “Jimmy is one of my closest friends so for him to feel so strongly, I feel dreadful about it. I am gutted for him that he didn’t win so I want to say sorry to him. Everyone knows I commentate to myself during matches. He felt strongly enough to say something so I would have definitely been in the wrong.”
Two-time Crucible finalist Ali Carter overcame a neck injury to beat He Guoqiang 10-5. The Captain is through to the Crucible for the 21st time and will become one of only 12 players to make more than 20 appearances.
“I don’t now where it has come from but I have had a terrible neck ache with excruciating pain,” said Carter. “In my first match against Ian Burns if I had gone 6-3 down at the end of the first session I was going to withdraw. I managed to clear up to go 5-4 and then played some decent stuff in the second session, but I was in agony. It is still not right now but I’m battling through. I will have to see a physiotherapist over the next couple of days. A lot of players have neck trouble and I have been playing this game for 39 years. I am a competitive animal and I hate losing at anything. I don’t suppose many of the seeds will want to draw me.”
Maximum man Jackson Page, who banked a £147,000 bonus for making two 147s in his previous match, will not be at the Crucible as he lost 10-7 to Joe O’Connor. On his debut last year, O’Connor knocked out Mark Selby before losing to Kyren Wilson. “It’s great to be back there, I really enjoyed it last year,” said O’Connor, who was runner-up to John Higgins at the World Open last month. “I didn’t feel much pressure today because I don’t get too attached to the outcome of matches, I think I was born like that and it’s an advantage.”
Hossein Vafaei scored five centuries in a superb 10-4 win over Wang Yuchen. Breaks of 113 and 123 helped Iran’s top player Vafaei take a 7-4 lead and he finished with three consecutive tons, 104, 135 and 111, to earn a fourth consecutive Crucible appearance.
“The atmosphere today was unbelievable, it felt like the Crucible,” said Vafaei. “I had to perform for the fans and my best game came out. I started the season really badly so at least I can finish it in a better way and hopefully continue playing like that. I love playing in the big events.“
BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifanedged out Gao Yang 10-9 to earn his first trip to the Crucible, and will be one of three debutants alongside Zak Surety and Daniel Wells. Lei won his first ranking title in December in Edinburgh and will finish the season at the perfect location. Amateur Gao led 7-5 before Lei made breaks of 102 and 123 in taking an 8-7 lead. Gao took the next two frames and had chances for victory, but Lei took frame 18 on the final pink and the decider with a run of 66.
“Gao played really well and put me under a lot of pressure,” said 21-year-old Lei. “In the second session I made some adjustments to my game and that’s what won me the match. I kept telling myself to stay calm. Reaching the Crucible is just as exciting as winning the Scottish Open.“
Fan Zhengyi beat Michael Holt 10-4 with a top break of 135 while Pang Junxu saw off Jamie Jones 10-6 with a top run of 94.
So, here is the complete list of our qualifiers: Chris Wakelin, Zak Surety, Zhao Xintong, Zhou Yuelong, Ryan Day, Ben Woollaston, David Gilbert, Daniel Wells, Fan Zhengyi, Hossein Vafaei, Ali Carter, Pang Junxu, Joe O’Connor, Lei Peifan, Wu Yize and Matthew Selt.
I must admit that I would happily do without Selt. He may apologise all he wants, it isn’t the first time he’s involved in this kind of controversy and he’s no kid. He should know, and I’m certain he does know, that this kind of behaviour puts his opponents off. This is gamesmanship, this is cheating and he should at the very least have been warned for it. That’s how I see it and I would tell it in his face if I had the opportunity. To be honest, I can’t stand the guy. I met him on tour countless times. He’s got an opinion on everything and is prone to criticising fellow players. A good hard look at himself in the mirror is on order …
And now … we wait for the draw, and we can only hope that Ronnie turns up. Several players have expressed opinions about his absence/presence. John Higgins has been bluntly honest, he’d rather do without him in the draw. Mark Selby has said that he can relate to Ronnie’s feelings, as he suffers from depression himself. Mark said that he’d love to have Ronnie at the Crucible but only if he’s feeling well enough and that his health should come first. He added that depression never goes away, that the best you can do is “manage” it.
4 thoughts on “The 2025 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers – Day 10”
As always, it was a compelling day – the climax of a titanic effort by 128 players to make it through what is a very tough challenge. The three deciders were extremely tense and could have gone either way. I thought Wu Yize was very lucky – he really played a poor match against an opponent he should beat comfortably. The best match was probably between the two youngsters Lei Peifan and Gao Yang, who were both magnificent and were very positive throughout. The best performance was probaby by Hossein Vafaei, who scored 5 centuries in a 10-4 win.
I was extremely happy they used Tai Chengzhe for interview in Chinese. In previous years, despite Rob Walker’s claims, they have ignored players, probaby because they don’t think viewers are interested enough to justify the expense. Instead of being congratulated, they get to pack up their cue and wait for a taxi by the back door. Hopefully things have now changed for good.
It’s all the more bizarre that they didn’t use Tai before because he comes every year for the championship, including the qualifiers because how many Chinese players are involved. At least it was that way when I was on the tour regularly. Since then of course covid changed a lot of things and Tai got married …
Well of course that depends on many factors, such as Tai’s status (is he working for rival media, does he need to be paid, etc.). Now of course we roll on to the Crucible leg and the BBC don’t have a good record on this sort of thing. Another question is whether Rob Walker will have taken this opportunity to learn how to pronounce Lei Peifan’s name.
When I was on tour regularly, Tai was the WST “media officer” for all things related to the Chinese players. He was posting on Weibo in Chinese on their behalf. He was interviewing the Chinese players on their behalf too, especially at events in China but not only. Also, he and Victoria Shi were working as interpreters when UK media had questions for Chinese players.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
As always, it was a compelling day – the climax of a titanic effort by 128 players to make it through what is a very tough challenge. The three deciders were extremely tense and could have gone either way. I thought Wu Yize was very lucky – he really played a poor match against an opponent he should beat comfortably. The best match was probably between the two youngsters Lei Peifan and Gao Yang, who were both magnificent and were very positive throughout. The best performance was probaby by Hossein Vafaei, who scored 5 centuries in a 10-4 win.
I was extremely happy they used Tai Chengzhe for interview in Chinese. In previous years, despite Rob Walker’s claims, they have ignored players, probaby because they don’t think viewers are interested enough to justify the expense. Instead of being congratulated, they get to pack up their cue and wait for a taxi by the back door. Hopefully things have now changed for good.
It’s all the more bizarre that they didn’t use Tai before because he comes every year for the championship, including the qualifiers because how many Chinese players are involved. At least it was that way when I was on the tour regularly. Since then of course covid changed a lot of things and Tai got married …
Well of course that depends on many factors, such as Tai’s status (is he working for rival media, does he need to be paid, etc.). Now of course we roll on to the Crucible leg and the BBC don’t have a good record on this sort of thing. Another question is whether Rob Walker will have taken this opportunity to learn how to pronounce Lei Peifan’s name.
When I was on tour regularly, Tai was the WST “media officer” for all things related to the Chinese players. He was posting on Weibo in Chinese on their behalf. He was interviewing the Chinese players on their behalf too, especially at events in China but not only. Also, he and Victoria Shi were working as interpreters when UK media had questions for Chinese players.