A two-round qualification tournament was held across three venues, at the Snooker Centre in Sheffield, Romiley Forum, Stockport and Redwood Lodge, Bristol in March and April. In round one, Mario Morra was 4–9 behind Ian Black, but won five frames to equalise at 9–9. In the deciding frame, Morra made a 51 break, but Black replied with a 37 and won the frame and the match on the with just two balls remaining. Black compiled a 108 break against Paul Medati in the sixth fame of their second qualifying round, and won seven of the next eight frames to qualify for the main draw with a 10–4 win. Eddie Sinclair recorded a 112 break during a decisive 10–2 defeat of Colin Roscoe. In the second round, Sinclair played Eugene Hughes and led 5–4 after making six breaks over 40. He later won the match 10–8 after making breaks of 99 and 54 in the final two frames. Patsy Fagan failed to qualify for the main draw for the first time in his career, losing 8–10 to Mick Fisher. Les Dodd won a long match against Ian Williamson that concluded at 1:10 am with Dodd winning the deciding frame. Dodd had received a walkover in the first qualifying round after John Dunning did not appear for their match.