Here is the draw for the first round of the Betfred.com World Championship
John Higgins v Barry Hawkins
Mark King v Steve Davis
Neil Robertson v Fergal O'Brien
Marco Fu v Martin Gould
Ali Carter v Jamie Cope
Joe Perry v Michael Holt
Ding Junhui v Stuart Pettman
Shaun Murphy v Gerard Greene
Stephen Maguire v Stephen Lee
Peter Ebdon v Graeme Dott
Mark Allen v Tom Ford
Ryan Day v Mark Davis
Mark Selby v Ken Doherty
Stephen Hendry v Zhang Anda
Mark Williams v Marcus Campbell
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Liang Wenbo
Why do they constantly refuse to make the draw available live to tv viewers and at a sensible hour? 7pm tonight on BBC1 The One Show - perfect! 1030am when we're all at work with no access to betting shops online - stupid and idiotic!
ReplyDeleteCouple of crackers there! I'll have some cash on the mighty mouse to put Hendry out.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the informations about the draw... I hate the draw, as usuall ;-)
ReplyDeleteRonnie O'Sullivan v Liang Wenbo Looks like a real hum dinger.
ReplyDeleteMark Selby v Ken Doherty & Stephen Hendry v Zhang Anda are 2 more great match ups.
All Good.
oh dear
ReplyDeleteSelby gats Doherty again
whereas Fu gets Gould
this isn't fair!
Perry/Holt is a cracker
ReplyDeleteinteresting draw - feasible for all the top 8 except Murphy to go out in the first round- a lot of good match ups - thanks for the 'almost live' info Dave.
ReplyDeleteDoes Barry not want to employ you as a snooker publicity officer? - you seem to provide a much better service than world snooker.
that's a nice draw this year.
ReplyDeleteHendry v Zhang and Ronnie v Wenbo is going to guarantee mass viewing in China
Dott v Ebdon - mmmm, hopefully quicker than their final!
Mark Allen v Tom Ford could be a belter.
Maguire v Lee - very interesting!!
cheers Dave - splendid work.
ReplyDeleteMr D
Quite a straight forward looking draw for the seeds. Can only see Jamie Cope and Michael Holt with reasonable chances of progressing from the players who've had to qualify. Liang Wenbo must be cursing his luck getting Ronnie in the first round again
ReplyDeleteFeel a bit sorry for Liang, he has got his work cut out for him, but he played brilliantly in qualifiers so who knows. Selby v Doherty is gonna be an intresting one, Doherty beat Selby earlier in the season so would be brilliant for it to happen again.
ReplyDeleteDavis v King is gonna be a cracker also.
Why do they constantly refuse to make the draw available live to tv viewers and at a sensible hour ?
ReplyDeleteBecause last time they tried that they made an almighty cock up of it, drawing Jimmy White to play in 2 matches !! Tey obviously dont have the confidence in themselves anymore to manage such a complicated and difficult task live on TV.
Many thanks to Dave H for posting the draw so swiftly. Still no sign of it on the world snooker website half an hour later. They really need to get their act together. Snooker's supposed to be trying to reinvent itself and yet the draw for it's premier tournament is hidden away, makes no sense whatsoever!
ReplyDeleteOnce again the strange practise of changing the rankings annually throws up a lopsided draw.
ReplyDeleteO Sullivan v Wenbo, and Cope v Carter is effectively pitching 4 top 16ers against each other.
Ebbo v Dott and Perry v Holt are all now outside the 16.
Why must ws make it so hard for new talent to break through and reward old war horses who hardly win a match all year and, by beating another out of form seed, receive huge points that will probably keep them in the top 16 for another year.
I'm going to have some cash on Maguire v Lee, just waiting to find out how they're going to play it.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the Irish back in the draw. Doherty and Murphy have great chances and I wouldn't rule out O'Brien as well.
ReplyDeleteIs Zhang the only Crucible "debutant" this year?
ReplyDeleteI can cope without the draw being on TV, Dave's efforts were great. However, I can't cope without the final round of qualifiers on the web at the very least. Ideally all the qualifiers on the web would be great. Hopefully we'll see some action on this front next season.
ReplyDeleteMurphy, Irish????
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with Ronnie and tough first round ties? He had Maguire a couple of times in recent years after he won the European Open and then the UK. He got Ding after their Masters final, and he got Fu in the year he won the Premier League I think. Wenbo is probably the draw of death this year, the one up and coming player all the seeds want to avoid. Ronnie accused the draw of being fixed when he got Ding and I'm starting to think there could be something to it.
ReplyDeleteEbdon and Dott - too good Crucible players and I wouldn't rule either one out of reaching another final. At least with a first round tie one of them has to go out so no danger of it being a potential final.
Doherty and Selby - a bad draw for both players. Selby's stalling tactics won't work on Ken, and Selby knows it. Doherty is coming back into form and could do some serious serious damage this year, but really needed an easier draw to ease back in at the Crucible. I hope Ken wins because Selby is such a boring player it would be better for the tournament if he had an early exit.
@Southerner
ReplyDeleteZhang and Tom Ford are the debutants
To Anon 11:21
ReplyDelete"Good to see the Irish back in the draw. Doherty and Murphy have great chances and I wouldn't rule out O'Brien as well"
Why include Irish named players in with actual Irish players...? Or am I missing something?? And you can include Green in your list.
Anon 11:21 ,I didn't know Murphy is Irish. What county is Harrow in?
ReplyDeleteC'mon The Dubs!
Tom Ford is debuting too.
ReplyDeleteTom Ford is making his debut as well.
ReplyDeletezhang hendry
ReplyDeleteoohhh
what a draw some great ties there CMON THE MIGHTY MOUSE!
ReplyDeleteIt should b a cracker. I can not wait.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom quarter is minging. And to think if Matthew Stevens had beaten Marcus Campbell he would have been there too. shame that
ReplyDeleteI think Davis will make the last 16 against Higgins before losing to Higgins.
ReplyDeleteBarry gets tough!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_6015732,00.html
is "mighty mouse" the official nickname for Zhang Anda? People use it a lot lately...
ReplyDelete@Betty: I'm with you on the "draw of death" thoughts regarding ROS vs Wenbo but I don't think the draw was forged... Even though ... hm. thinking of the first round opponent of Jonh Higgins... hm. ;-))
come on WENBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteharlow not harrow
ReplyDelete@ Trophy mad.
ReplyDeleteMighty Mouse was the nickname that Bill King (Mark's dad) gave him.
He's nicknamed all the Chinese/Thai etc lads that are down at the Grove.
i'd like to see ken win against selby. Selby's stalling tactics annoy the hell outta me!
ReplyDeleteJanie, Bill is a lovely geezer an all that. Got a way with words...just like his son
ReplyDelete@ Janie: Thanks!
ReplyDelete