Yuelong Zhou vs Tom Ford Prediction: An entertaining opener

The 2023 Six-red World Championship will be held in Pathum Thani, Thailand, from March 6 to March 11, 2023. There will be a total of 32 players in the event. Four of them got to the final stages of the competition by doing well in earlier qualifying rounds. 

Yuelong Zhou has been runner-up at three ranking events: the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open. His first win as a professional came at attempt number one, as he defeated Alfie Burden 5–3 to qualify for the 2014 Wuxi Classic, where he lost 5–3 against Graeme Dott in the first round. Zhou qualified for the International Championship by prevailing over fellow countryman Liang Wenbo by a score of 6–2, and he then won his first ever match at a ranking tournament by eliminating Chris Melling by a score of 6–1, although he was ultimately eliminated by Ricky Walden by a score of 6–5. At the UK Championship, he competed in his first ranking event outside of China; however, he was defeated by Jimmy Robertson in the first round with a score of 6-1. At the lower-ranking Xuzhou Open, Zhou saw past Barry Pinches to reach the quarterfinals, where Thepchaiya Un-Nooh beat him 4–2.

In 2016, Tom Ford competed in the Paul Hunter Classic and made it all the way to the final, where he was defeated by Mark Selby 2–4. Moreover, he competed in the 2018 UK Championship and the 2019 English Open, both of which saw him get to the semi-final round. During the course of his career, Ford has amassed over 200 century breaks and five maximum breaks in competitive play. In 2001, he kicked off his professional career by competing on the Challenge Tour, which was the second-level professional tour available at the time. At the 2005 Malta Cup, he advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Ken Doherty. However, he was eliminated in the following round by Stephen Hendry. He won the maximum prize as well as the high break, although the event was not broadcast on television. In the last 32 of the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2007, he kept Ronnie O'Sullivan tied at 4–4, but then missed the final blue, which allowed O'Sullivan to win the frame and the tournament.

This match is going to be very close, with very little in the way of a margin of victory for either player. Zhou Yuelong is, according to popular belief, the superior player in this match, despite the fact that, like Tom Ford, he is not in particularly strong condition. On the other hand, his victory in his most recent match against Matthew Selt is likely to serve as inspiration for him.