Betfred World Championship Qualifying Rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds of the 2022 Betfred World Championship is now available*, with the likes of Ding Junhui, Stephen Maguire, Jimmy White and many more top stars in action across the ten days at the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield.
Only 16 out of 128 players will make it through the qualifying rounds and go through to the main event at the Crucible, to compete for the famous trophy and a top prize of £500,000.
Marco Fu will be playing his first pro match since the 2020 Welsh Open
The qualifying rounds run from April 4 to 13 and it’s a fantastic chance to follow the drama as players battle for a spot at the Theatre of Dreams. Tickets are ON SALE NOW and cost just £10 per day, or you can buy a ticket for all ten days for just £70. For details CLICK HERE
Round one sees players ranked 81 to 112 drawn at random against those seeded 113 to 144. Notable matches include:
Jimmy White, looking to reach the Crucible for the first time since 2006, against Andrew Pagett
New Women’s World Champion Nutcharut Wongharuthai takes on Duane Jones
Marco Fu, returning to the tour after an absence of two years, is up against Ian Burns
In round two, those entering the fray include Michael Holt and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, both battling to save their tour cards, as well as 1997 Crucible king Ken Doherty.
And in round three the players seeded 17-48 join the action, including the likes of Ricky Walden, former UK Champions Ding and Maguire, 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott and recent ranking event winners Fan Zhengyi, Hossein Vafaei, Joe Perry and Robert Milkins.
Matches are best of 11 frames for the first three rounds and then best of 19 for round four. Session times will be 9.30am, 2.30pm and 7.30pm from April 4 to 11 and then 11am and 5pm for the final round on April 12-13.
The draw structure is:
Round one pits players ranked 81 to 112 against those seeded 113 to 144
In round two, those 32 winners will face players ranked 49-80.
In round three, those 32 winners will face players ranked 17-48.
In round four, those 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.
*The draw for the Betfred World Championship Qualifiers is based on the World Ranking list after the 2022 Cazoo Tour Championship. All 8 players who have qualified for the 2022 Cazoo Tour Championship are in the top 16 on the World Ranking List. This will remain the case UNLESS a player withdraws from the Cazoo Tour Championship and is replaced by a player currently outside of the top 16 on the World Ranking List. Ricky Walden is currently 1st reserve for the Cazoo Tour Championship and is ranked 17th on the provisional World Rankings after the Cazoo Tour Championship, which are used for the Betfred World Championship. If this happens, the random element of the Betfred World Championship draw will remain unchanged however the seeded players affected WILL be updated accordingly.