Order of play is now up on snooker.org, mate

If Judd wins today, we'll know the top 16 seeds, with exception of 3 and 4 which could alternate between Judd and robbo.

Which would leave a last 16 of:

Selby v Yan
MJW v Hawk
Kyren v Ballrun
Robbo v License
Judd v Jack
Higgins v Luca
Zhao v Murphy
Ronnie v Allen

Looks a fairly balanced draw to me, hard to favour either section. Let's see if Luca goes and upsets the balance today!

As it stands, nothing has changed. If Luca wins sf, he can move up one place above Shon, win it out and he'd climb to No.7. Robbo would need to win it to move above Judd. Otherwise seeded draw will remain as above.

Obviously i only put that up as a guide, they still have to win their last 32 matches and gonna be a few casualties as always.

As regards selby, not sure how to read this. It's not as if his issues are a new thing and the fact he has confronted them head on this year could be a positive if anything. Not sure it puts me off yet.

I dunno, only a couple of years since folk were pretty much writing off his career totally so I'd be wary of similar comments now. That said, his form hasnt been great, he's been beaten by Yan 3 times already this season and Yan himself not been brilliant so i can definitely see the negatives. Be interested to hear his interviews over next couple of weeks, if he seems in a decent place, I'd definitely consider it at a double figure price.

Qualifiers get underway at 0930 this morning.  3 sessions of 4 BO11 matches, with a few potentially interesting ones across the day.

Jiankang v Astley looks like a coin toss; Zhao Jianbo has taken a few hefty defeats of late, the most concerning a 4-0 whitewashing by Simon Blackwell.  Judge is no world beater or anything close to it, but if Jianbo's off his game, he could go close;  I don't recall seeing Michael Collumb play before, but he shared the spoils with Jamie Jones & Chen Zifan before losing 3-0 to Shon in the only main tour event he's played this season (ranking CL).  Xu Si much the likeliest winner on the numbers alone, but Collumb might not be a complete no-hoper. 

Robbie McGuigan (aka step-son of Tubbs) was 5-2 up on Mitchell Mann and playing really well at this stage last year before completely losing the plot and the match.  I thought there was a chance he might kick on this season, but he didn't come close to progressing from Q-school, and he's not won a single frame in 10 played on the main tour this season.  There is a player in there somewhere;  Nutcharut Wongharuthai is the reigning women's champion who John has plenty of positive things to say about - she's the only woman to have made a documented 147.  I'm yet to see her play.  Purely on the numbers, Duane Jones should have too much for her, but he's not exactly having a great time of things;  Fraser Patrick has actually had an alright season, beating Shon, Croup, Butch & Hossein, among others.  Michael White's scoring is better than it has been since my records began, but a lack of confidence still seems to be holding him back.  Patrick maybe a tiny bit big;  Liam Davies is another player John has lots of positive things to say about.  He scored really well at the Welsh Open (3x 50+ breaks, inc a ton) in opening up a 3-0 lead over Boiko before letting the occasion get the better of him and losing 3-4.  Aaron Hill has claimed some decent scalps during his 2 years as a pro, but he's just not very consistent and hasn't scored well enough to be competitive.  Davies could go close, though whether he'll have the composure to get it done, if he does, remains to be seen.

Evening session thoughts later.

Be lucky.

Hello gj - it is a well balanced draw, and Robertson will be delighted to end in a quarter with Lisowski, Brecel and Higgins. It would be difficult to make a case for Higgins (against Robertson) given what happened last night. Obviously, the real banana skin that is Ding could be lurking, so some of these quarters could look very different when the draw is done.

I can't have Selby on the short-list given how he is mentally at the moment. To come out with that much personal information after The Masters, and confirm that he is now seeing a specialist to deal with those issues he has been bottling up for years suggests getting himself 'right' is his priority at the moment. As you say, his interviews in the next couple of weeks will be interesting, but while speaking publically about how he is feeling should help him in the long-term, it can't be a positive (for his game) in the short-term. He is 12.5 on bf as we speak, and that would have been unthinkable a few months ago, irrespective of his form or the draw.

Trump doesn't look the same player this year, and as a Kyren backer I'm not unhappy that he has landed in Trump's quarter. For all Wilson's limitations, his form is likely to improve at Sheffield. If he has learned from the past 2 visits to The Crucible, he looks as likely as anyone to emerge from a wide-open top half, although he certainly won't make it easy. Ordinarily, I'd put a line through O'Sullivan, but his quarter looks a good one for him, with 3 fluent players who like to attack. Robertson is now favourite, and he would be shorter still if his Crucible form was stronger. But, it isn't, and question marks remain against him when he is put under pressure when there are 2 tables in play.

Looking a little further down the list, there are a few 'possibles' but I'd prefer to wait for the draw before considering them properly. So, for now, the 18/1 Wilson will suffice (although I have also taken 16/1 earlier this season).

For all that, it will probably end up being a Selby v Higgins final!

Yes, that defeat for Yan Bingtao to Zhao in the German Masters was a real shocker. Although it was a freak result, and we probably can't read too much into it, it did show a ruthless side to Zhao that we may have wondered whether he possessed. I do like Bingtao, and he will be a big challenger for years here, but for the here and now - the question is whether he can be a challenger this year. The top quarter has 4 proper match-players in it, and even if Selby was A1, this would look a difficult section to call - and it could look even tougher if a couple of the better qualifiers land in it. Williams doesn't look too far away, and if a couple of tight matches had gone his way this season at The Masters and Tour Championship he would be much shorter than the current 34 on here. Also, The Hawk has shown some signs of improved form this year with finals in The Masters and Players Championship, although he has gone quiet again of late. You could argue that this quarter is the least likely to provide the winner, but some really hard-fought matches look on the cards, and Bingtao certainly has a chance of coming through it. OK, that's a bit non-commital but I think I need the remaining 5-6 days to make a decision, when hopefully we'll have heard from Selby - although that will probably confuse me even more!

Can see some definite turn ups and not necessarily the obvious ones,Nooh against Higgins has a chance on the way he played oin qualifiers if he plays like that then anyones,although big if..Got a feeling that Mark Williams might have a stinker against Michael White,not in Williams class but the welsh clash,wouldn't be surprised of this was close either..Never saw Stevens matches must be playing well otherwise Lisowzki would look a cert..the books seenm very confident Dings gonna turn up,when was the last time he played well..

It was the worst possible draw for Wilson, and it is clearly a very difficult 1st round draw. His outright price barely moved, which was surprising, although I did think he was over-priced at 16/1 pre-draw. There are encouraging signs for Ding, but his interview after he beat Lilley suggested it was still very much a work-in-progress. Maybe, the one consolation, for Wilson, is that they don't start until Wednesday, so any momentum Ding may have brought in from the qualifiers is negated slightly. A cracker of a match in prospect though.

I'm not Robertson's biggest fan at The Crucible, far from it, but I'm not sure how he is evens to win his quarter. I had him 4/5 to 8/11, even allowing for the fact that Higgins would be a huge threat if he can put that recent defeat out of his mind (easier said than done if they do meet). Un Nooh has had 3 incredibly tough 1st round matches at The Crucible previously, including against Higgins, and although he has had a poor season, and is highly erratic, he'd have been one the big boys wanted to avoid. He looked very good against Selt in the final qualifier, although whether he is capable of re-producing that level at The Crucible is another story.

I was surprised to see Zhao Xintong quite so short against Clarke. The longer format clearly suits Clarke (as it does Jamie Jones) and they start on Day 1, which could add to the pressure on Zhao, although the focus will be more on Selby and O'Sullivan. And, speaking of Day 1 - let's hope Maguire doesn't forget his chalk! Surprisingly, these 2 have never met at The Crucible, so let's hope some of the old tensions re-surface at some point. Ahh, The Crucible - don't you just love it.

If Ding wins that match i would class that as a shock,he's basically looked on downgrade and finished for the last 2 years bar one tournament,if he actually won that match i'd be tempted tp back him outright would be a huge confidence booster.

Think if Selby is going to come out and not even bothered about snooker,it'll just be a repeat of the Hawkins match and those frame score prices of 10-4 5 and 6 could easily happen.

Must admit, the quotes don't read well, and Jamie Jones isn't a complete mug.

Morning all - It's that time of the year. Let's hope for a great Championship!

Good luck all.

I do wonder how Selby would be priced on the match market had none of these issues arisen, does seem quite low as it stands.

Couldn't go 2 minutes this morning without parrott making me want to put my foot through the screen. But, hark, JV's melliflous tones have me all aglow again. Swings and roundabouts!

As does Jamie Jones.

98 break start for Zhao, 1-0

WOW! What a miss from the Jester....................

Agree on that gobe, partly down to a lack of respect for JJ here. Not doing himself justice yet tbf.

Mid-sesh, 3-1 Zhao

Jamie J punishes a Selby let-off.  Maybe the chances will keep coming.....?