Burden reached the first ranking event quarter-final of his career in the 2016 China Open courtesy of victories over Robbie Williams, Joe Perry, Rhys Clark and Rory McLeod, where he lost 5–1 to Stephen Maguire.
(meta data) TITLE: Maguire Snatches Crucible Seeding - WPBSA World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - World Governing Body # Maguire Snatches Crucible Seeding 1st April 2016 Stephen Maguire has ensured that he will be among the top 16 seeded players for the 2016 Betfred World Championship following his 5-1 defeat of Alfie Burden in the quarter-finals of the China Open today. The result means that former world number one Ding Junhui will now have to win three qualifying matches at Ponds Forge over the coming days if he is to be join the world's best at the Crucible Theatre for a tenth successive year. Prior to the start of the tournament, Ding's fate rested in his own hands following strong performances recently at the World Grand Prix and Players Championship events. A 5-1 defeat to Welshman Lee Walker on the opening day in Beijing however, opened the door for the chasing pack outside of the top 16 to overhaul him this week. One by one those players have dropped out of the tournament, but Maguire has made no mistake, defeating Gary Wilson, Jack Lisowski, Dominic Dale and today Alfie Burden to reach the semi-finals of the China Open. Earning a minimum of £21,000, the Scot will now climb from 19th to at least 16th depending on his progress this weekend. His win today means that we now know for certain the identities of the 16 seeded players at the Crucible, although their placement in the draw may yet change depending on results this week. ### As things currently stand, the draw for the Betfred World Championship would look as follows: Stuart Bingham (1) / Qualifier Stephen Maguire (16) / Qualifier Joe Perry (9) / Qualifier John Higgins (8) / Qualifier ———————————— Ronnie O'Sullivan (5) / Qualifier Martin Gould (12) / Qualifier Mark Williams (13) / Qualifier Neil Robertson (4) / Qualifier ———————————— Shaun Murphy (3) / Qualifier Marco Fu (14) / Qualifier Barry Hawkins (11) / Qualifier Judd Trump (6) / Qualifier ———————————— Mark Allen (7) / Qualifier Ricky Walden (10) / Qualifier Michael White (15) / Qualifier Mark Selby (2) / Qualifier In terms of potential changes, Judd Trump would rise to fifth by making the final in Beijing and so switch halves with Ronnie O'Sullivan in the draw. John Higgins too can climb as high as fifth with victory at the China Open, while Ricky Walden could move above Joe Perry to ninth by reaching the final. Finally, Stephen Maguire having taken a top 16 place at the last, could yet rise as high as 11th if he were to go on and claim the title this week. Full updates will of course follow here at WPBSA.com over the course of the weekend and you can view the latest projected seedings here: http://www.prosnookerblog.com/rankings/latest-projected-seedings-2/ Race to the Crucible rankings World Championship Prev post #### Tour Survival 2015/16 – World Championship Update Next post #### WPBSA Finalises World Championship Invitations ### WPBSA News Crucible Set for Seniors Semi-Finals 17th August 2019 Evans is Queen of the Crucible 17th August 2019 Wattana, Morgan Among Opening Day Winners in Sheffield 15th August 2019 Champion of Champions 2019 – Daqing Update 15th August 2019 World Seniors Snooker Announces Extended Partnership with ROKiT Phones.com 14th August 2019 ### Archive News Archive News Select Month August 2019 (14) July 2019 (19) June 2019 (22) May 2019 (15) April 2019 (19) March 2019 (27) February 2019 (22) January 2019 (15) December 2018 (13) November 2018 (13) October 2018 (21) September 2018 (12) August 2018 (14) July 2018 (15) June 2018 (11) May 2018 (14) April 2018 (13) March 2018 (28) February 2018 (19) January 2018 (15) December 2017 (11) November 2017 (20) October 2017 (23) September 2017 (24) August 2017 (23) July 2017 (22) June 2017 (14) May 2017 (11) April 2017 (25) March 2017 (22) February 2017 (15) January 2017 (18) December 2016 (16) November 2016 (18) October 2016 (25) September 2016 (20) August 2016 (15) July 2016 (14) June 2016 (13) May 2016 (11) April 2016 (13) March 2016 (23) February 2016 (17) January 2016 (13) December 2015 (15) November 2015 (11) October 2015 (9) September 2015 (10) August 2015 (7) July 2015 (7) June 2015 (7) May 2015 (7) April 2015 (13) March 2015 (13) February 2015 (8) January 2015 (8) December 2014 (6) November 2014 (2) August 2014 (1) December 2013 (1) October 2013 (1) May 2013 (1) November 2012 (1) October 2012 (2) August 2012 (1) November 2011 (1) October 2011 (1) September 2011 (1) June 2011 (1) ### Like the WPBSA on facebook Facebook page plugin loading... ### Latest WPBSA tweets Tweets by @WPBSAofficial This site uses cookies: Find out more.
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Alfie Burden
Career.
He saw off three players to reach the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open and then beat Michael Holt 5–2 to match his best ever performance in a ranking event. In the last 16 he lost 5–3 against Mark Davis. At the European Tour event, the Gdynia Open, Burden won four matches but was then defeated 4–3 by Sam Baird in the quarter-finals. He finished 34th on the Order of Merit, nine places outside of qualifying for the Finals. Burden got through to the second round of the China Open courtesy of Tony Drago's withdrawal and then lost 5–3 to Jimmy White. 
 Burden won just two matches in his first eight events of the 2014/2015 season but then won four matches to advance to the quarter-finals of the Xuzhou Open, where he lost 4–2 to Tom Ford. He beat David Grace 5–3 and Sam Baird 5–4 in qualifying for the German Masters. Burden defeated Michael Georgiou 5–3 in the first round, closing the match with a 112 break, but fell short of reaching the first ranking event quarter-final of his career as Ryan Day knocked him out 5–2. He ended the season 67th in the world rankings which would have relegated him from the tour, but his Asian Tour performances earned him a new two-year card.