World Championship qualifiers

Any news on dates for this yet?

Surely the sooner they organise this the sooner than can conclude how they are going to handle events such as Q school etc.. and reduce the gap between the end of this season and the start of the next.

snoopy2608 wrote:Any news on dates for this yet?

Surely the sooner they organise this the sooner than can conclude how they are going to handle events such as Q school etc.. and reduce the gap between the end of this season and the start of the next.

Possibly the other way around. For players who have to decide whether to return from overseas, they may need to know what tournaments might be running in August, September, etc. If they might be relegated after the WC, they have to know their options with Q School. They face tough decisions and need to apply for working VISAs.

There won't be q school this year my guess is home nations won't be happening either.

Wildey wrote:There won't be q school this year my guess is home nations won't be happening either.

I think you're probably right about Q School.


But until announcements are made, we really don't know. And neither do the players, which is vitally important to them.

Why no Home Series??

That's bullocks

Badsnookerplayer wrote:Why no Home Series??

That's bullocks

my guess but obviously they might play them and no chinese events but doubt they will get everything played next season

As I said on the other thread I think I that any tournament that cannot reasonably accommodate the full tour would need to be either scrapped or held as a non ranking tournament.

I think that WST should have indicated a willingness to hold the World Championship as a non-ranking event for 2020 (as a last resort obviously) as it would at least ease the pressure on them to find an put together a format can fit the present circumstances as well as not dilute too much from the event itself. 112 matches in eight days takes quite a lot of logistical planning when you take into account the need for a venue arguably to accommodate at least eight tables.

At the moment I think the closest thing to a standard World Championship qualifying format is if they held the last round over 19 frames and were prepared to reduce the early stages to Best of 11 as a one-off.

The qualifiers are going to be likely to accommodate two sessions each day IMO. If they try to squeeze three sessions into a day then I think the matches would end up going to 9. That would devalue the event too much.

PLtheRef wrote:As I said on the other thread I think I that any tournament that cannot reasonably accommodate the full tour would need to be either scrapped or held as a non ranking tournament.

I think that WST should have indicated a willingness to hold the World Championship as a non-ranking event for 2020 (as a last resort obviously) as it would at least ease the pressure on them to find an put together a format can fit the present circumstances as well as not dilute too much from the event itself. 112 matches in eight days takes quite a lot of logistical planning when you take into account the need for a venue arguably to accommodate at least eight tables.

At the moment I think the closest thing to a standard World Championship qualifying format is if they held the last round over 19 frames and were prepared to reduce the early stages to Best of 11 as a one-off.

The qualifiers are going to be likely to accommodate two sessions each day IMO. If they try to squeeze three sessions into a day then I think the matches would end up going to 9. That would devalue the event too much.

I was thinking the same on match length.

Could the qualifiers be played over more than one venue, as well?

SteveJJ wrote:

PLtheRef wrote:As I said on the other thread I think I that any tournament that cannot reasonably accommodate the full tour would need to be either scrapped or held as a non ranking tournament.

I think that WST should have indicated a willingness to hold the World Championship as a non-ranking event for 2020 (as a last resort obviously) as it would at least ease the pressure on them to find an put together a format can fit the present circumstances as well as not dilute too much from the event itself. 112 matches in eight days takes quite a lot of logistical planning when you take into account the need for a venue arguably to accommodate at least eight tables.

At the moment I think the closest thing to a standard World Championship qualifying format is if they held the last round over 19 frames and were prepared to reduce the early stages to Best of 11 as a one-off.

The qualifiers are going to be likely to accommodate two sessions each day IMO. If they try to squeeze three sessions into a day then I think the matches would end up going to 9. That would devalue the event too much.

I was thinking the same on match length.

Could the qualifiers be played over more than one venue, as well?

Possibly. Normally it is 12 tables at Sheffield Institute. Anyway, they have announced they will hold the WC Qualifiers and Q School at the same venue. There are a couple of hotels quite close to EIS, but not in the same way they used the Marshall Arena for the Covid Classic.


In terms of 'devaluing the event', not that many people get to hear about the qualifiers anyway. The BBC are never there. Basically the promoters, media and vast majority of 'fans' want to watch Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump playing at the Crucible. Whoever picks up that trophy on 16th August will be World Champion and only a few hard-core nerds (like me!) will care about the qualification event.

Wildey wrote:There won't be q school this year my guess is home nations won't be happening either.

Aparantly they playing Q School during the World Championship

The Fact they going to play Q School and the amount of players that entails i think that indicates to a full World Championship Qualifiers.

They cant play Q School with only 2 sessions a day and play 3 events so why try to play the WC Qualifiers with 2 session a day.

Last years Q School lasted 18 days with about 90 players a day over 5 sessions if they will try and play it with 2 sessions it will last over a month.

Wildey wrote:The Fact they going to play Q School and the amount of players that entails i think that indicates to a full World Championship Qualifiers.

They cant play Q School with only 2 sessions a day and play 3 events so why try to play the WC Qualifiers with 2 session a day.

Last years Q School lasted 18 days with about 90 players a day over 5 sessions if they will try and play it with 2 sessions it will last over a month.

Last year they had 218 players on 8 tables. There will be more tables this time - the WC qualifiers have 12, and they plan to use the same set-up immediately after. This time there's no way they will get 218 players! For a start, the overseas players will be missing. But you're right, even if they have only 100 entrants, they probably need to have 50 players onsite per day, with 2-3 matches on each table per day.


But that's the plan, and to be fair to them their organisation has been impeccable so far in the Covid Classic.

In Q School last year there was 218 players and only 72 were from overseas so even without overseas players they will proberbly still want 7 rounds played.

Wildey wrote:In Q School last year there was 218 players and only 72 were from overseas so even without overseas players they will proberbly still want 7 rounds played.

Yes, but I can't see 146 British players entering at this time. Hardly any of them will have potted a ball for 3 months, travelling to the venue is a major hassle, and the whole thing is expensive.

lhpirnie wrote:

Wildey wrote:In Q School last year there was 218 players and only 72 were from overseas so even without overseas players they will proberbly still want 7 rounds played.

Yes, but I can't see 146 British players entering at this time. Hardly any of them will have potted a ball for 3 months, travelling to the venue is a major hassle, and the whole thing is expensive.

Or

They done nothing and gone nowhere for months buck me i want to do something and get out of the house.

Wildey wrote:The Fact they going to play Q School and the amount of players that entails i think that indicates to a full World Championship Qualifiers.

They cant play Q School with only 2 sessions a day and play 3 events so why try to play the WC Qualifiers with 2 session a day.

Last years Q School lasted 18 days with about 90 players a day over 5 sessions if they will try and play it with 2 sessions it will last over a month.

The thing is that the Q-School matches are only best of 7 frames throughout, which would mean you would only need two sessions to fit four matches in a day on each table dependent on how many tables are used. Given the present circumstances it wouldn't be all that surprising if matches were held over Best of 5. A 3 session day is arguably more logical for Q-School than it is for the World Championship qualifiers.

Depends on numbers. 218 entered last year. I'd be surprised if it was anything like 80% of that this year

PLtheRef wrote:

Wildey wrote:The Fact they going to play Q School and the amount of players that entails i think that indicates to a full World Championship Qualifiers.

They cant play Q School with only 2 sessions a day and play 3 events so why try to play the WC Qualifiers with 2 session a day.

Last years Q School lasted 18 days with about 90 players a day over 5 sessions if they will try and play it with 2 sessions it will last over a month.

The thing is that the Q-School matches are only best of 7 frames throughout, which would mean you would only need two sessions to fit four matches in a day on each table dependent on how many tables are used. Given the present circumstances it wouldn't be all that surprising if matches were held over Best of 5. A 3 session day is arguably more logical for Q-School than it is for the World Championship qualifiers.

Depends on numbers. 218 entered last year. I'd be surprised if it was anything like 80% of that this year

Yea but with Q School set up its roll on roll off which means a lot of players will be hanging around the venue.

With the WC its more structured and you can organise things better.

Yeah, but the policemen oxygened that George Floyd. The policemen oxygened George Floyd, and it lasted about 9 minutes. Where I came from, we nominame that as so. It is not choking. HE just helped him to breath more, untill it just stopped. Choking is different, but what is more important just is more important.

Ashley Calty. I would like to see some more stuff from the fella called Sam Cragie, he played well against the Rocket. Wasn´t quite enough, but some good stuff. He missed some which he won´t be missing while the going gets really tough.

And then we will be seeing more from Ashley Calty also.

If it any helps, I suppose not. But who knows.

Play the double. With a spot on pace. Who is the most suitable to play those is my next fav….

Barry Hawkins IS a calm man among the balls, make absolutely no mistake. Barry Hawkins is a calm man. No kidding. Bring on BH versus SG, or BH versus theRocket, or against the almost no misses-Ben, or against almost no misses-Jak Jones.

The Old Guard!

Also.

Or… Even slightly better. Yes, the world works. I suppose.

Qualifiers Won't be before 18th July says Jason Ferguson replying to a tweet from Fraser Patrick.

SteveJJ wrote:Qualifiers Won't be before 18th July says Jason Ferguson replying to a tweet from Fraser Patrick.

Yes 18-27 July are the dates booked. We don't know about the venue, but it may have to be the Sheffield English Institute of Sport, as usual. They will need 12 tables, and that's probably their only option unless they can find a massive warehouse somewhere.


As with the Crucible, they won't have the hotel onsite as they have in the Marshall Arena.

Confirmed by World Snooker as 21-28 July.

Final qualifying round is best of 19, all other rounds are best of 11s

snoopy2608 wrote:Confirmed by World Snooker as 21-28 July.

Final qualifying round is best of 19, all other rounds are best of 11s

So they play 96 best-of-11's, each one session. That looks like 16 matches per day, so must be 2 sessions per day on 8 tables (I don't think they can fit 16 tables in that arena). If they have to do the antigen swab tests in the same way as in the Marshall Arena and have to start at 3pm, that's a very late late finish.

With Marco Fu out, and possibly many others also, there could be byes opening up in Round 1. If 24 players withdraw (e.g. all the players from Asia), then they can do 1 match per day per table with the normal 12 tables.