World Snooker Championship draw: 5 Chinese players reach Crucible after Judgment Day – and 1 will face Ronnie O’Sullivan
- Pang Junxu, Si Jiahui, Wu Yize and Fan Zhengyi win through the qualifiers to join main draw, along with Ding Junhui, a direct entry as the 16th seed
- Thursday’s draw pits Pang against defending champion for a tournament missing Zhao Xintong and nine other Chinese players, who face match-fixing hearing
The race to reach the Crucible is over, with five of China’s players having earned places in the main draw for this month’s World Snooker Championship despite the absence of its leading lights Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao because of match-fixing charges.
A final round of preliminary matches on Tuesday and Wednesday – dubbed Judgment Day, even if there were two of them – decided who would progress to the tournament proper, which starts this Saturday in Sheffield.
China’s Pang Junxu, Si Jiahui, Wu Yize and Fan Zhengyi will be among them after overcoming their final opponents at the English Institute of Sport, across town from the Crucible Theatre, along with Chinese legend Ding Junhui, who made a direct entry to the main draw as the 16th seed.
For 23-year-old Pang, it will be a Crucible debut to remember after he beat compatriot Xu Si 10-5. Thursday’s draw handed him a first-round meeting with defending champion, seven-time winner and world No 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Pang reached his first ranking final at the recent WST Classic, where he was beaten by Mark Selby.
“Before the match, I told myself many times, ‘don’t think about winning, playing at the Crucible and all the stuff comes with it’, so I was able to focus throughout,” he told World Snooker Tour. “It is incredible and I’m over the moon, but to be honest both of my opponents offered me a lot of chances.”
