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Komende zaterdag is het weer zover, het WK Snooker in The Crucible te Sheffield.
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De loting voor de eerste ronde is als volgt.
quote:
Graeme Dott v Ian McCulloch
Anthony Hamilton v Marco Fu
Stephen Maguire v Joe Perry
Mark Williams v Joe Swail
John Higgins v Michael Holt
Barry Hawkins v Fergal O'Brien
Neil Robertson v Ryan Day
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Ding Junhui
Ken Doherty v Mark Allen
Matthew Stevens v Joe Delaney
Steve Davis v John Parrott
Shaun Murphy v Judd Trump
Peter Ebdon v Nigel Bond
Stephen Lee v Mark Selby
Ali Carter v Andy Hicks
Stephen Hendry v David Gilbert
Alom ophef over de loting dit jaar, voornamelijk van de kant van O'Sullivan. Die claimde namelijk dat de loting gefixed zou zijn, omdat hij na Fu en tweemaal Maguire nu Junhui tegenkomt in de eerste ronde.
quote:
World Snooker has denied suggestions by two-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan that the draw for this year's World Championship was fixed.
O'Sullivan will play rising star Ding Junhui in the first round in Sheffield.
"My first thought was 'that's a hard one'. My next was 'someone's fixed the draw'," O'Sullivan told Zoo magazine.
But a World Snooker spokesman said: "It was 100% genuine - the balls were drawn randomly by two BBC presenters and there was an independent auditor."
The draw for snooker's flagship tournament was carried out on the BBC's Breakfast programme last month.
O'Sullivan's match-up with Ding, a repeat of January's Masters final, was the stand-out tie of the draw.
Ding has soared up the world rankings in the last two seasons, and is rated among the favourites for the title in Sheffield on his Crucible debut.
O'Sullivan, who won at The Crucible in 2001 and 2004, has faced tricky opponents in his first-round matches in recent years.
He lost to Marco Fu in the opening round of the 2003 tournament, and had to beat Scotland's Stephen Maguire in 2004 and 2005.
Last year, the former world number one eased to a straightforward 10-4 win over Dave Harold.
"I've had Marco Fu, Stephen Maguire twice and now Ding in the first round," said O'Sullivan.
"It's definitely fixed. Whoever is doing that is trying to stitch me up."
The top 16 players in the world rankings qualify automatically for the tournament, and are kept apart in the opening round.
The action gets under way this Saturday, 21 April, with defending champion Graeme Dott taking on Ian McCulloch.
Titelverdediger is Graeme Dott, die vorig jaar in de langstdurende finale Ebdon met 18-14 versloeg, na een 15-7 voorsprong.
Links:http://www.worldsnooker.com/tournament_home-61.htmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/snooker/default.stmLivescoring: http://www.worldsnooker.com/tournament_live_scoring-61.htm#Uitzendschema BBC:http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/snooker/6129894.stmAlvast een voorproefje van 7 mei:
Yesssss!!!!!!