Draws announced for 2011 Australian Goldfields Open: 2011-12 Snooker Season
Snooker governing body, World Snooker, has announced draws for the upcoming 2011 Australian Goldfields Open on Monday, June 20. The tournament is the first major ranking event of 2011-12 Snooker Season commencing from July 18 to 24 at Bendigo Stadium after the qualifiers starting from June 27 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield.
In the Last-32 draws, the World Snooker Champion John Higgins has been seeded first followed by world number one, Mark Williams, on second seed. There will be some exciting Last-16 potential matches including John Higgins vs Stephen Hendry, Mark Selby vs Judd Trump and Neil Robertson vs Ronnie O’Sullivan.
The players are excited about the game’s return to Australian soil and they believe that the event will add more to the popularity and viewership of the game in the world. The event has commenced for the first time since 1989, when Mike Hallett defeated Dene O’Kane 9-8 in the final.
Young Judd trump will be hoping to come good in the event, and looking to better his Players Tour Championship (PTC) Event 1 performance, where he lost to Q School qualifier, David Gilbert, 1-4.
While speaking to the reporters, Trump said, "It's the first event we've had in Australia so it will be new to everyone. No one will know what to expect but it's great for snooker to become more of a global game. It's up to us now to help make snooker more popular there and I'm looking forward to showing the fans what I can do."
On the other hand, Mark Selby is also ready for the event and hopes to do better at the Australian baize. He spoke to the reporters, "I've never been to Australia before and I'm not sure how much of it I'll get to see, as I'll be there to work and hopefully do well in the tournament. I'm just pleased that we are moving the game into new territories."
Two lowest seeded qualifying matches will be played, Lucky Vatnani vs Kurt Maflin and Daniel Wells vs Li Yan, prior to the first round of main qualifiers at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. The European Snooker Championship runner-up Vincent Muldoon could not make it to the qualifiers even after grabbing the tour card.
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