Wednesday sees the final day of qualification for the World Championship, with the remaining eight places up for grabs. James Cooper has two selections.
Snooker betting tips: World Championship qualifiers
2pts Jak Jones to beat Luca Brecel at 5/4 (General)
1pt Ben Mertens to beat Fan Zhengyi at 7/4 (General)
Luca Brecel against JAK JONES, two players that contested the blue riband event in 2023 and 2024, clash in what is the most eye-catching final qualifying round of fixtures at the Institute of Sport on Wednesday.
Judgement Day, as it is now known can change careers and offer a pathway for those out of the top 16 to play in front of a global audience and while that clearly isn’t the case with these two, it still feels like a really significant match given their respective career trajectories.
How much of Brecel’s slide down the snooker pyramid is self-inflicted is open to debate but he certainly isn’t the first competitor to reach the pinnacle of their sport and subsequently take their eye off the ball.
The surprising element I suppose has been how long Brecel’s game has deserted him but the green shoots of recovery were in evidence in the English Open and having just snuck into the 33-48 banding of the one-year list, Monday's win over the heavily touted Chang Bingyu is a very persuasive piece of form at this level.
Chang was the heavier scorer of the pair but Brecel showed plenty of craft to make telling contributions at the right time, edging a very important frame six when in danger of going 4-2 down.
The Brecel ceiling is as high as almost anyone in the sport, that should go without saying but at a best price of 8/11, I can’t help but feel that most of his back class has been factored into those odds.
The one-year list doesn’t paint a full picture but it’s worth noting that Jones has had a far more productive season, currently lying 19th.
The Welshman leads the head-to-head record 3-1 and is far more match sharp having played more than double the matches of Brecel this term.
Jones has rightly established himself as a multi-session specialist and with the possible exception of Ali Carter, is arguably the most likely to give their running in this pressure cooker environment.
As ever, there’s always a risk that you can run into a barrage of brilliance against Brecel but on balance, I make Jones the very marginal favourite in this, which makes the general 5/4 an appealing proposition.
Zak Surety has definitely brought has “A game” to the table in these qualifiers of late and he could be an interesting 2/1 shot against Zhang Anda, though in truth I am not really in a hurry to oppose the ultra-efficient Zhang.
At a similar price, BEN MERTENS is my idea of the most likely player to perform a shock in the octet of matches against the enigmatic Fan Zhengyi.
A very talented junior, Mertens has a score to settle in this event having suffered a gut-wrenching 10-9 defeat from 9-7 up against Si Jiahui in 2024.
Already exempt for next year, Mertens has found himself well down on the one-year list having made the last 16 just once in regulation events this season.
He’s certainly picked the right time to record back-to-back victories this week, though, albeit helped by the withdrawal of Jamie Clarke through illness (he was 5-0 down at the time).
A 10-9 victory over Yuan Sijun was undeniably an impressive display, the pair sharing six centuries with Mertens producing a wonderful 120 break in the penultimate frame, along with a low-value colours 60 break to clinch victory.
Fan stunned the snooker world when a 750/1 winner of the European Masters (staged at Milton Keynes) in 2022, beating Ronnie O’Sullivan no less, 10-9 in the final.
Such is the competitive nature on tour these days, any ranking event win has to be applauded but Fan hasn’t troubled the judge since, recording just one quarter-final appearance (aside from the Championship League and Shoot Out) in three subsequent seasons.
Fan’s place on the main tour was under threat coming into this and while wins over Lan Yuhao and Jimmy Robertson have allayed those fears, the level of form Fan has produced over a long period of time makes him a vulnerable favourite at a top price of 4/9.
I have this game closer to 4/6 v 6/4 and in the hope Mertens can keep his composure (he has looked nervy in pressure situations before) the 7/4 is worth snapping up.
Posted at 15:30 BST on 14/04/26
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