On April 10, the 2024 World Snooker Tour's most important World Championship qualifying tournament continued to compete in the first round, and in 144 into 112 rounds, 32 players successfully won and continued to move forward. On the Chinese side, four players are out, including two Hong Kong players Zhang Jiawei and Li Junwei, as well as Chinese mainland amateur Gong Chenzhi and new women's world champion Bai Yulu. In addition, in the first round, there were 4 women's snooker celebrities, and all of them lost out of the tournament without exception, and Queen Evans was swept 10-0.
The World Snooker Championship is the final battle of each season, and as the most important ranking tournament of the year, it attracts the world's top snooker masters to participate. Since the World Championships still follow the traditional 32-player main draw format, all players except for the top 16 seeds in the world will need to participate in at least two qualifying rounds to have a chance to qualify for the main event. This year, a total of 128 players participated in the qualifying tournament and challenged for 16 spots in the main competition.
Compared with previous years, there are a lot more faces of women's players in this year's Snooker World Championship Qualifying Tournament, in addition to England's snooker queen Evans and Rebecca Kenna, there are two Thai world champions Wangharuthai and Sripatong, and this year's new women's snooker World Championship, Chinese star Bai Yulu. In the women's snooker field, these five players are all top-level celebrities, but competing with men's players, the difference in strength makes the outside world more optimistic about their World Championship qualifying prospects before the game.
With Bai Yulu winning this year's Women's Snooker World Championship, she not only has a professional qualification for the next two seasons, but also has the opportunity to participate in this year's World Championship qualifying tournament. Her opponent was England's Kendrick, who is ranked only 103rd in the world, and the two faced off in a fierce match, with Bai Yulu eventually losing 7-10. And Thailand's Wangharuthai faced England's Duffy and lost 5-10. Kenna and Sripatpong both lost 1-10, losing to Borden and Fu Jiajun respectively. Evans was the worst of the bunch, having been "shaved off" by Oliver Brown and losing 10-0! She also became one of two clean sheets in the first round.
Among the other Chinese players, Gao Yang defeated India's Chada 10-6, Jiang Jun defeated Iran's Emir 10-6, Ma Hailong beat Brazil's Sarkis 10-1, Long Zehuang beat Sidney Wilson 10-1, Xing Zihao beat Holt 10-6, and Peng Yisong beat Thailand's Pemaleek 10-5. Gong Chenzhi lost 7-10 to veteran Rod Lola, Li Junwei lost to Padgett 9-10, and Zhang Jiawei lost to Ross Muir 9-10.