10.9.08

QUICK ON THE DRAW

The draw for the final stages of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix will be made in Princes Square, Glasgow on September 26.

The qualifiers run from September 22-25 at Pontin's, Prestatyn. For the first time, players ranked 17-32 are required to pre-qualify, which means the likes of Ken Doherty, Mark Williams, Steve Davis, Matthew Stevens and Stephen Lee will be in action.

So too will John Parrott and Jimmy White, who starts in the first qualifying round against Michael Georgiou, the reigning IBSF world under 21 champion.

You can view the qualifying draw here.

The final stages draw will see two 'hats': one for the top 16 and one for the qualifiers. However, from the last 16 onwards players will be drawn at random.

The final stages run from October 11-19 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow and are live on the BBC and Eurosport.

Marco Fu is the defending champion after his 9-6 defeat of Ronnie O'Sullivan in last year's final.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, Mr. Hendon.
Could you explain what you meant by "From the last 16 onwards the players will be drawn at random"? Why is there a need for a draw after the Last 32, first round-proper? It seems a bit confusing to me.
Thank you.

Dave H said...

Hi

This should explain it all...

http://www.worldsnooker.com/royal_london_watches_grand_prix_news-4527.htm?tid=113

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Dave.
Didn't occur to me to look for this piece of info in the most available place.
Having a random draw in the Last 32 stage is a great idea, giving qualifiers perhaps more chances to advance, but after that it becomes a less than stellar concept, in my opinion. We could end up with cracking matches or with the first two favourites playing in the Last 16.
I think they should have limited the random draw to the Last 16.