Yorkshire teen Stan Moody secures World Championship qualification a day after coming out of hospital
The 19-year-old had been struggling with tonsillitis but that didn’t stop him securing a place on the world stage
Yorkshire-born teenager Stan Moody secured his place at the World Snooker Championship for the first time in his career, a day after discharging himself from hospital.
The 19-year-old prospect,who hails from Halifax, had been struggling with tonsillitis, but managed to beat China's Jiang Jun 10-9 on Tuesday.
It means Moody is set to become the first British teenager to make his Crucible debut since a 17-year-old Judd Trump in 2007.
Reflecting on a whirlwind 48 hours, Moody said, via BBC Sport: "I was in hospital yesterday. "They said 'we know you're going to say no, but we want you to stay in', but I said 'no, I have a match to play tomorrow', so it was never really in question.
"I've been given a load of antibiotics so I'm on the mend. I couldn't talk yesterday or eat or drink, so I've come a long way. They said if it gets worse, come back.
"I'm normally good under pressure but in that last frame I've never felt pressure so much in my life, I'm so happy."
The draw for the final stages of the 2026 Halo World Championship in Sheffield will be made at approximately 8.45am on Thursday April 16th, with the 16 seeds drawn at random against the 16 qualifiers.
Moody is eagerly awaiting his opponent as excitement continues to build ahead of his debut. However, he’s not the only new Yorkshireman for fans to watch out for after 20-year-old Liam Pullen from York also booked his place, beating Thailand's Noppon Saengkham 10-8.
Here’s a full rundown of all Tuesday’s Judgement Day results as 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham notably failed to qualify.
- Hossein Vafaei (Iran) 10-4 Gao Yang (China)
- Stuart Bingham (England) 7-10 Matthew Stevens (Wales)
- Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) 8-10 Liam Pullen (England)
- Jiang Jun (China) 9-10 Stan Moody (England)
- David Gilbert (England) 10-6 Aaron Hill (Republic of Ireland)
- Zhou Yuelong (China) 10-4 Michael Holt (England)
- Pang Junxu (China) 10-8 Jackson Page (Wales)
- Jamie Jones (Wales) 8-10 Antoni Kowalski (Poland)
The first round begins on Saturday 18 April, with the Sheffield Star providing comprehensive coverage of all the event’s main talking points.