Neil Robertson, Jack Lisowski, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, Si Jiahui, Anthony McGill, Ryan Day and Hossein Vafaei are among the star names in the strongest ever field for the qualifying rounds of the Cazoo World Championship.
The draw and format is now available for the qualifying event, which runs from April 8th to 17th at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
All players seeded outside the top 16 compete in the qualifiers, including the likes of 2010 Crucible king Robertson and Lisowski who have both dropped out of the elite this season. They will both need to win two matches to make it to the Theatre of Dreams for the main event which runs from April 20th to May 6th.
Tickets for the qualifying rounds are on sale now, for just £12 per day – fantastic value for the chance to see a wide array of all-time greats and up-and-coming talents, competing in snooker’s biggest tournament. To book, click here.
Players starting in the opening round – including 16 invited amateurs – must win four matches to make it to the Crucible. First round ties include six-time world finalist Jimmy White taking on Martin Gould, and new women’s World Champion Bai Yulu up against Jenson Kendrick.
The final round, on April 16th and 17th, is known as Judgement Day, when places at the Crucible will be at stake.
Fans can watch from round one on discovery+ as well as streaming platforms worldwide. Then our Judgement Day production, presented by Rob Walker, Ken Doherty and David Hendon, will be streamed live and free on WST’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
The seeding structure is:
Round one pits players ranked 81-112 against those seeded 113-144
In round two, those 32 winners face players ranked 49-80.
In round three, those 32 winners face players ranked 17-48.
In round four, those 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.
All matches are best of 19 frames (9/10). Sessions times are 10am, 2,30pm and 7pm for the first three rounds, then 11am and 5pm for Judgement Day.
The draw for the first round at the Crucible will be made on the morning of Thursday April 18th, you can listen on BBC Radio Five Live and watch live on the BBC Sport website.