Interesting news. The big problem is how the qualifiers are going to work because you're going to have 128 players in the same building (admittedly maybe only 16 at a time) + referees and other officials over the course of a week.
With the World Championship originally scheduled to start tomorrow but now delayed, I'm going to do a random version, just as I did with football.
It will work in a similar way with qualifying rounds then the tournament itself. I'll post the draw and results for the qualifying rounds tonight, then start with the tournament itself, continuing on a day-by-day basis on the same schedule used in the real thing.
So here is the Random World Championship. It will be seeded like the real thing but all the matches will be random, with a random number generator deciding the winner of each frame.
WST were planning on changing the format of the qualifying tournament but didn't totally confirm what the changes were so I'm using the same format as the last few years. Those who don't qualify automatically all start in the 1st qualifying round, with 3 rounds to determine the other 16 qualifiers.
Automatic qualifiers: 1. Judd Trump 2. Neil Robertson 3. Mark Williams 4. John Higgins 5. Mark Allen 6. Ronnie O'Sullivan 7. Mark Selby 8. Kyren Wilson 9. Shaun Murphy 10. Ding Junhui 11. David Gilbert 12. Jack Lisowski 13. Stuart Bingham 14. Stephen Maguire 15. Barry Hawkins 16. Yan Bingtao
The qualifying tournament consists of the players ranked 17-128 plus 16 wild cards, featuring a mix of high-ranked Challenge Tour players, players from the senior circuit and 4 players from the women's tour.
1st Qualifying Round: Joe Perry v Ng On Yee Lee Walker v Kishan Hirani Anthony Hamilton v Duane Jones Chris Wakelin v Kacper Filipiak Mark Davis v Zhang Jiankang Luo Honghao v Fan Zhenyi Martin O'Donnell v Lei Peifang Ken Doherty v Harvey Chandler Mei Xiwen v Reanne Evans Li Hang v Gerard Greene Zhang Anda v Dean Young Michael Holt v Andy Hicks Sunny Akani v Peter Lines Ricky Walden v Stephen Hendry Craig Steadman v Oliver Lines Jimmy Robertson v Andy Lee Graeme Dott v Dominic Dale Mike Dunn v Ashley Hugill Yuan Sijun v Igor Figueiredo Alan McManus v Riley Parsons Xiao Guodong v Thor Chuan Leong Jak Jones v Alexander Ursenbacher Luca Brecel v James Wattana Liam Highfield v Jamie Clarke Martin Gould v Louis Heathcote Ryan Day v Bai Langning Mark Joyce v Jimmy White Zhao Xintong v Emma Parker Lu Ning v David Lilley Stuart Carrington v Rod Lawler Sam Baird v Soheil Vahedi Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Mink Gary Wilson v Jackson Page John Astley v Xu Si Mark King v Billy Joe Castle Daniel Wells v Lukas Kleckers Lu Haotian v Rodion Judin Michael White v Simon Lichtenberg Hossein Vafaei v Fraser Patrick Sam Craigie v Amine Amiri Andrew Higginson v Christopher Keogan Ben Woollaston v Alex Borg Elliot Slessor v Eden Sharav Matt Selt v Iulian Bolko Tian Pengfei v Allan Taylor Kurt Maflin v David Grace Alfie Burden v Ian Burns Zhou Yuelong v Mitchell Mann Scott Donaldson v Steve Mifsud Jordan Brown v Hammad Miah Noppon Saengkham v Adam Stefanow Peter Ebdon v Chen Zifan Tom Ford v Jamie O'Neill Fergal O'Brien v Chang Bingyu Anthony McGill v Brandon Sargeant Robbie Williams v James Cahill Michael Georgiou v Barry Pinches Liang Wenbo v Michael Judge Joe O'Connor v Darren Morgan Matthew Stevens v Rory McLeod Marco Fu v Si Jiahui Robert Milkins v Andrew Pagett Nigel Bond v Ashley Carty Ali Carter v Chen Feilong
Random World Championship 1st Qualifying Round results:
Joe Perry 10-5 Ng On Yee Lee Walker 10-9 Kishan Hirani Anthony Hamilton 6-10 Duane Jones Chris Wakelin 10-7 Kacper Filipiak Mark Davis 7-10 Zhang Jiankang Luo Honghao 3-10 Fan Zhenyi Martin O'Donnell 8-10 Lei Peifang Ken Doherty 10-7 Harvey Chandler Mei Xiwen 5-10 Reanne Evans Li Hang 10-2 Gerard Greene Zhang Anda 10-6 Dean Young Michael Holt 6-10 Andy Hicks Sunny Akani 8-10 Peter Lines Ricky Walden 2-10 Stephen Hendry Craig Steadman 8-10 Oliver Lines Jimmy Robertson 10-7 Andy Lee Graeme Dott 6-10 Dominic Dale Mike Dunn 10-6 Ashley Hugill Yuan Sijun 10-8 Igor Figueiredo Alan McManus 10-9 Riley Parsons Xiao Guodong 10-9 Thor Chuan Leong Jak Jones 10-3 Alexander Ursenbacher Luca Brecel 10-6 James Wattana Liam Highfield 10-7 Jamie Clarke Martin Gould 3-10 Louis Heathcote Ryan Day 10-7 Bai Langning Mark Joyce 4-10 Jimmy White Zhao Xintong 10-2 Emma Parker Lu Ning 10-4 David Lilley Stuart Carrington 10-6 Rod Lawler Sam Baird 10-8 Soheil Vahedi Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-10 Mink Gary Wilson 10-4 Jackson Page John Astley 10-8 Xu Si Mark King 10-9 Billy Joe Castle Daniel Wells 4-10 Lukas Kleckers Lu Haotian 10-5 Rodion Judin Michael White 10-4 Simon Lichtenberg Hossein Vafaei 7-10 Fraser Patrick Sam Craigie 6-10 Amine Amiri Andrew Higginson 5-10 Christopher Keogan Ben Woollaston 9-10 Alex Borg Elliot Slessor 8-10 Eden Sharav Matt Selt 9-10 Iulian Boiko Tian Pengfei 6-10 Allan Taylor Kurt Maflin 7-10 David Grace Alfie Burden 10-5 Ian Burns Zhou Yuelong 10-4 Mitchell Mann Scott Donaldson 7-10 Steve Mifsud Jordan Brown 8-10 Hammad Miah Noppon Saengkham 6-10 Adam Stefanow Peter Ebdon 10-5 Chen Zifan Tom Ford 6-10 Jamie O'Neill Fergal O'Brien 8-10 Chang Bingyu Anthony McGill 10-5 Brandon Sargeant Robbie Williams 7-10 James Cahill Michael Georgiou 9-10 Barry Pinches Liang Wenbo 10-9 Michael Judge Joe O'Connor 10-6 Darren Morgan Matthew Stevens 5-10 Rory McLeod Marco Fu 6-10 Si Jiahui Robert Milkins 10-5 Andrew Pagett Nigel Bond 10-6 Ashley Carty Ali Carter 10-9 Chen Feilong
Random World Championship 2nd Qualifying Round results:
Joe Perry 3-10 Lee Walker Duane Jones 9-10 Chris Wakelin Zhang Jiankang 4-10 Fan Zhengyi Lei Peifan 9-10 Ken Doherty Reanne Evans 10-7 Li Hang Zhang Anda 10-7 Andy Hicks Peter Lines 10-7 Stephen Hendry Oliver Lines 10-8 Jimmy Robertson Dominic Dale 10-8 Mike Dunn Yuan Sijun 7-10 Alan McManus Xiao Guodong 6-10 Jak Jones Luca Brecel 9-10 Liam Highfield Louis Heathcote 10-5 Ryan Day Jimmy White 10-8 Zhao Xintong Lu Ning 9-10 Stuart Carrington Sam Baird 8-10 Mink Gary Wilson 7-10 John Astley Mark King 10-5 Lukas Kleckers Lu Haotian 8-10 Michael White Fraser Patrick 6-10 Amine Amiri Christopher Keogan 8-10 Alex Borg Eden Sharav 10-8 Iulian Boiko Allan Taylor 9-10 David Grace Alfie Burden 10-6 Zhou Yuelong Steve Mifsud 8-10 Hammad Miah Adam Stefanow 10-4 Peter Ebdon Jamie O'Neill 10-7 Chang Bingyu Anthony McGill 10-7 James Cahill Barry Pinches 6-10 Liang Wenbo Joe O'Connor 4-10 Rory McLeod Si Jiahui 3-10 Robert Milkins Nigel Bond 10-2 Ali Carter
Random World Championship 3rd Qualifying Round results:
Lee Walker 10-6 Chris Wakelin Fan Zhengyi 8-10 Ken Doherty Reanne Evans 8-10 Zhang Anda Peter Lines 10-4 Oliver Lines Dominic Dale 10-9 Alan McManus Jak Jones 9-10 Liam Highfield Louis Heathcote 9-10 Jimmy White Stuart Carrington 6-10 Mink John Astley 7-10 Mark King Michael White 6-10 Amine Amiri Alex Borg 10-6 Eden Sharav David Grace 10-4 Alfie Burden Hammad Miah 5-10 Adam Stefanow Jamie O'Neill 8-10 Anthony McGill Liang Wenbo 10-5 Rory McLeod Robert Milkins 4-10 Nigel Bond
(world rankings in brackets, a = amateur) * = debutant
Judd Trump (1) v David Grace (85) Yan Bingtao (16) v Lee Walker (80) Shaun Murphy (9) v Ken Doherty (64) Kyren Wilson (8) v Peter Lines (121) Mark Allen (5) v Amine Amiri* (125) Jack Lisowski (12) v Anthony McGill (39) Stuart Bingham (13) v Liang Wenbo (34) John Higgins (4) v Dominic Dale (86) Mark Williams (3) v Jimmy White (123) Stephen Maguire (14) v Zhang Anda (72) David Gilbert (11) v Adam Stefanow* (110) Ronnie O'Sullivan (6) v Mink* (a) Mark Selby (7) v Mark King (46) Ding Junhui (10) v Liam Highfield (60) Barry Hawkins (15) v Alex Borg* (126) Neil Robertson (2) v Nigel Bond (79)
SATURDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Morning: Judd Trump v David Grace Stephen Maguire v Zhang Anda
Afternoon: John Higgins v Dominic Dale Ding Junhui v Liam Highfield
Evening: Judd Trump v David Grace Barry Hawkins v Alex Borg