Big guns of snooker handed tough draws at 2012 World Snooker Championship – Snooker Feature
Fixtures of the opening round of 2012 World Snooker Championship have been finalised after the finish of the qualifying session at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. The qualifiers ended successfully at the academy featuring 16 players who will be meeting
the world’s top 16 potters in the initial televised stage of the mega event at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
However, by the looks of it, the draw seemed quite tough as the top guns of snooker that includes John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty have been give tough draws. That is because the challengers they will be facing in their opening
matches are in tremendous form and can trouble them any time during the match.
The final draws of the 2012 World Snooker Championship are given below:
John Higgins vs Liang Wenbo
Stuart Bingham vs Stephen Hendry
Graeme Dott vs Joe Perry
Stephen Maguire vs Luca Brecel
Shaun Murphy vs Jamie Jones
Stephen Lee vs Andrew Higginson
Ali Carter vs Mark Davis
Judd Trump vs Dominic Dale
Mark Williams vs Liu Chuang
Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Peter Ebdon
Martin Gould vs David Gilbert
Neil Robertson vs Ken Doherty
Ding Junhui vs Ryan Day
Mark Allen vs Cao Yupeng
Matthew Stevens vs Marco Fu
Mark Selby vs Barry Hawkins
The defending Champion, Scotland’s John Higgins will be meeting with the Chinese potter Liang Wenbo in his first match. Wenbo has been a consistent performer in the current seasons and has made many major upsets against top dogs of snooker. He is currently
the World Number 38 and has performed quite impressively at the baize in major ranking snooker events throughout the year.
On the other hand, John Higgins’ performance in the current season, especially after winning the 2011 World Snooker Championship, has not been according to the standards as the Champ crashed out of many major events in the initial stages which not only affected
his rankings but also his form. Even he does not feel fully prepared for the Championship.
Meanwhile, the former three-time World Snooker Champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan will be meeting another former Champion, compatriot Peter Ebdon in the opener. Ebdon was outstanding against the Scotsman Stephen Maguire in the final encounter of the 2012 China
Open snooker event and was able to defeat him and clinch the title.
The Rocket has been impressive at the baize from the start of the season. Despite the fact that he tumbled down in the middle of the season because of the glandular fever and he had to quit a couple of snooker events but still when he came back, he played
well to regain his spark. The match up will be a battle because both cuemen are in good shape.
The former seven-time World Snooker Championship winner, Scotland’s Stephen Hendry crashed out of the Top 16 and had to play the qualifying session this year. However, he made it into the initial stages of the event and will face the 2011 Australian Goldfields
Open winner, England’s Stuart Bingham. He performed well in the running season and can create problems for the veteran potter who is aiming to get back into the top 16.
Another former Champion, Ireland’s Ken Doherty successfully surged into the Last 32 of the contest and will play against the 2012 Masters winner Neil Robertson. The Aussie has the spark to trouble his opponent and has performed brilliantly in the Masters
event. Doherty has fewer chances to win against him.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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