The Betfred.com World Snooker Championship qualifiers are already into the 6th round of qualifying. The most interesting match of this round could quite possibly be former World Champion, Ken Doherty, against Jimmy White.

At the time of writing the best-of-19 frame match is currently 6-3 in Doherty’s favour with the second session later on today. White confirmed his place on the main tour for next season yesterday with a massively important win over Mark Boyle. White has been on record recently stating that in his mind he still feels that he can win the World title. It is a tough ask as should he get past Doherty the Whirlwind will meet Joe Swail in the final qualifying phase.

Tony Drago, The Tornado from Malta, has proved to be a man in form so far this season with numerous qualifying wins under his belt. All of this after gaining re-entry to the main tour last year.

With his recent performances in qualifying for the Welsh Open and China Open Tony Drago has almost certainly kept his place on the main tour for the 2010-2011 season. He currently sits in 56th position before the additional points from the World Championships have been awarded. He now plays Ian McCulloch.

Another interesting story is that of James Wattana, the former top 16 professional, again returning to the tour this season, finds himself in the 6th round of qualifying where he will play Marcus Campbell. Snooker still has a lot of popularity in Thailand with an excellent national ranking circuit, and should Wattana manage to qualify for the Crucible in April this popularity will no doubt rise again.

The closest man to be into the final qualifying round is currently Adrian Gunnell who has powered into an 8-1 lead over Joe Delaney in the first session. It means that he will only require two of the remaining frames to set up an interesting tie with Steve Davis.

Current 6th Round Scores:

Adrian Gunnell 8-1 Joe Delaney, Alan McManus 3-5 Paul Davies, Dominic Dale 3-3 Rod Lawler, Martin Gould 5-4 Bjorn Haneveer, Ken Doherty 6-3 Jimmy White, Anthony Hamilton 6-3 Tom Ford.

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