Jack Lisowski made amends for dropping out of the elite top 16 as he raced through the final qualifying round of the Cazoo World Championship, beating Matthew Stevens 10-3 to earn a place at the Crucible.
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After a disappointing season by his standards, reaching just one ranking semi-final, Lisowski still has the chance to finish the campaign on a high as he has handled the pressure of Crucible qualifying with typical panache, winning his two matches for the loss of just seven frames, making six centuries. Breaks of 137, 76, 80, 59, 73, 100 and 77 helped him turn a potentially tough tie against Stevens into a cakewalk.
Lisowski has been ever present at the Crucible since 2018 - reaching the quarter-finals in 2022 - and none of the 16 seeds will relish being pitted against the world number 17 when the draw is made on Thursday morning.
"This is the best I have played all season, I have practised really hard for it and it's a relief to get through," said Lisowski. "It's a 'no win' really because I was expected to get through and I could only lose. I have been to the Crucible for six years in a row and I want to do well this time.
"I feel sharper than I have done all season. I know Ding got to the final (in 2016) having come through the qualifiers. My plan was to turn a negative into a positive. I have two matches under my belt now. I nicked an important frame at the end of the first session today to go 6-3 instead of 5-4. When I got chances I was scoring and so was Matthew, it was a really good game."
Veteran Dominic Dale is back at the Crucible after a ten-year absence thanks to a 10-8 victory over He Guoqiang. At 52, Dale is the oldest qualifier since Steve Davis in 2010.
"I couldn't dream at my age that I could play well enough to get to the Crucible," admitted Dale, who has reached two ranking quarter-finals this season. "I am astonished. It has been so long since I played a match of that magnitude. My new girlfriend Anne has made a big difference to my life because her dad Jean, who lives in France, loves watching snooker on Eurosport. Before she met me, Anne wouldn't have known what a snooker ball was but now she knows all about it. Between them they have convinced me to practise harder and I have done that this season, and had more focus in matches."
Ricky Walden was never ahead of Mark Davis until he took a tense decider to win 10-9. "I'm not sure how I got through because I was second best all the way through but I stuck in there," said Walden, a semi-finalist in 2013. "When the pressure is on it's easy to roll over. But I kept rolling up my sleeves and trying. I am looking to get my game where I want it to me, the main thing for me is to go to the Crucible and play well."
Stephen Maguire is back at the Crucible having missed out last year, and is now set for his 20th appearance at the Theatre of Dreams as he was ever-present from 2004 to 2022. The Glaswegian top scored with 106, 104 and 100 as he pulled away from 5-5 to beat Yuan Sijun 10-6.
Stuart Bingham, Crucible king in 2015, has been ever-present since 2011 and kept that run going with a 10-8 victory over Louis Heathcote. Bingham hadn't won a knockout match in a ranking event in 2024 before heading to Sheffield, but came from 7-3 down to beat Stuart Carrington 10-9 then scored another gritty victory over Heathcote, firing runs of 60, 135 and 71 to take the last three frames.
Jak Jones reached the quarter-finals on his debut last year, and he booked his return with a 10-4 defeat of Zhou Yuelong, his top break 126. Lyu Haotian will join the Chinese contingent at the Crucible thanks to a 10-7 success against Jenson Kendrick. Breaks of 121 and 117 helped Lyu to book a fourth appearance. Robbie Williams made an excellent break of 78 in the decider to beat Chris Wakelin 10-9.