Jamie Cope versus Andrew Pagett – 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Champion Preview
Jamie Cope and Andrew Pagett are set to meet in the first round of the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, which is going to be staged from 16 April to 3 May, at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England.
Both players have never met before in a professional competition, so the head-to-head record currently stands at 0-0.
As far as the Crucible history is concerned the world number fourteen Cope has appeared three times before; in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and this is going to be his fourth appearance. Meanwhile the world number seventy-seven Pagett has never participated before and this will be his first appearance. So it can be said that Cope will have an advantage of his experience of playing at the Crucible Theatre.
The 25-year-old Cope has had a mixed season. Though he started off with an remarkable performance at the PTC event, he began his full ranking event campaign in an excellent way. He produced an accomplishing performance to see off the likes of Steve Davis, Ding Junhui and Graeme Dott to reach the semi-final of the Shanghai Masters before losing out by a frame score of 6-1. Cope made an appearance in the last-16 of the World Open and Welsh Open tournaments. He suffered opening round defeats in the UK Championship, German Masters and China Open. However, he did make it to the final of the recent Hainan Classic before going down to John Higgins.
Meanwhile it has been a similar story for the 28-year-old Pagett. He was consistent in the PTC events due to which he secured his main tour status for the next season at an early stage. He was able to register himself in just one match during the UK Championship against Noppon Saengkham by a frame score of 9-2, before the tournament. However, his strong performance came during the qualifying rounds of the World Championship, as he outplayed the likes of Zhang Anda, Bjorn Haneveer, Nigel Bond and Andrew Higgins to book a shock appearance at the home of snooker for the first time.
Keeping the statistics in mind the Englishman, Jamie Cope, should be a favourite for the match, as there is a lot of difference in their rankings as well as experience. Cope has played in the Crucible Theatre three times before so he is no outsider whereas his opponent on the same note is a first-time debutant. So he might have a significant advantage. He also made some impressive performances before at the Crucible Theatre in the 2008 World Championship.
However, Pagett cannot be underestimated too, as his impressive performance during the qualifying rounds of the World Championship tells us that he is capable of turning the table. Moreover being an under-dog, he should not be having much pressure. Another plus point for Pagett can be Cope’s attacking play. Cope certainly has the ability to score heavy but on the same note he at times gifts away chances.
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