Wiltshire Sport
SNOOKER: Lee in the frame
9:00am Saturday 11th February 2012
STEPHEN Lee is hoping some more Welsh wizardry can help him secure a coveted automatic place at the World Championships next week.
The Trowbridge cueman needs to win his first round match at the Welsh Open in Newport to all but secure his place inside the world’s top 16 players for the Bedfred.com World Championships at the Crucible later this spring.
Lee, 37, will face either world number 28 Ryan Day or a qualifier on Tuesday at the Newport Centre knowing a sustained run in the tournament will eliminate any need for him to qualify for the biggest tournament in the sport.
The Wiltshire player, who returned to the game’s elite late last year, currently stands at 15 in the rankings and was buoyed by a good showing at last week’s German Masters.
He ousted world number two Mark Williams in the quarter finals before losing 6-4 to three-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last four.
Mark Davis (17) and Ricky Walden are those scrambling to join the top 16 before the cut-off point for the World Championships which is after the tournament in Wales.
Davis needs to win the event while Walden needs to reach the last four to leave the Trowbridge ace sweating but Lee (pictured) who won in Wales in 2006 having reached the final six years earlier hopes to end any doubts with his own performance.
“I played quite well in Germany, apart from the semi final against Ronnie, and it’s been a long time coming (to reach the latter stages of a top tournament),’’ he said.
“I feel quite fresh mentally at the moment and it would be good to get a seeding for the Worlds.
“When you are in the top 16 you are there to be shot at, but I want to stay in there for a few years now.’’