Martin O’ Donnel has qualified for the “Winners Week” by winning week 7 at the 900. Here is how it unfolded:
Day 1 – Halloween Monday
Aaron Busuttil, from Malta, beat Michael Holt in the final
This was a very hard group to predict with the majority of competitors being former pros, still competing on the main tour recently. I wonder how many would have picked Aaron Busuttil to win it.
Jason Francis, whose background is in the theatre business, made sure that the atmosphere on Halloween day would be suitably scary!
Day 2 – Tuesday
Stephen Bateman was the winner on day 2, beating Ross Muir in the final.
Day 3 – Wednesday
Martin O’Donnel beat Ross Muir to win week 7.
Week 8 will be the last before the grand-final week. This is the line-up
Here are some more images shared by Jason. Ali Carter was back in the studio, and Michael Holt was in the commentary box on Tuesday.
World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Judd Trump, John Higgins, Kyren Wilson, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen, Mark Williams and defending champion Neil Robertson are among the star names who will compete on the opening day of the BetVictor English Open on Monday December 12th in Brentwood.
The tournament will be held at the Brentwood Centre in Essex for the first time, giving fans in the area the chance to see many of snooker’s all-time greats competing for a world ranking title.
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Key matches on Monday December 12th include:
Mark Selby v Noppon Saengkham at 10am Neil Robertson v Andrew Pagett at 1pm John Higgins v Gerard Greene at 1pm Judd Trump v Jackson Page during the afternoon session Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ben Mertens at 7pm Stuart Bingham v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at 7pm. Kyren Wilson v Reanne Evans during the evening session Mark Williams v Matthew Stevens during the evening session
In all there will be over 80 players at the venue, all competing for the Steve Davis Trophy.
A spokesman for WST said: “This is a sensational chance for anyone who loves live sport to see the greatest cue kings on the planet, especially on the opening day when all of them will be competing. We are delighted to be heading to the Brentwood Centre for the first time because Essex has always been a hot-bed for snooker and the county has produced many outstanding players, including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter who are all in the field. We look forward to seeing crowds pack out the venue and creating a fabulous atmosphere.”
The United States joins the professional World Snooker Tour!
filed Sunday, October 30, 2022. 1:38pm PT/USA
An American player has qualified to compete as a professional on the World Snooker Tour, as New York City’s Ahmed Aly Elsayed has won the Open Event of the 2022 Pan American Snooker Championships at The Corner Bank in Toronto, Canada.
The six-times former United States National Snooker Champion scored a 5-1 win over home player Amar Sadeg in the final, to earn that coveted two-year World Snooker Tour player status which will start from the 2023-24 season commencing from June of next year.
Aly will not be the first American player to play in professional World Snooker Tour events, as in the 1980s both Steve Mizerak and Jim Rempe, who were at the time huge stars in the world of pool, competed in several tournaments including qualifying for the World Championship.
However Aly was the first American competitor to play snooker at the sport’s spiritual home, the Crucible in Sheffield, England, when he competed in this year’s World Seniors Snooker Championship back in May.
After the disappointment of losing in the final of the Seniors Event of these Pan American Snooker Championship and failing in the defense of his title, Aly came back in the Open Event even stronger and in the final put on one of his finest ever performances in an international snooker event.
Sadeg, who was defeated 4-2 by the United States’ Renat Denkha in last year’s round of 16, had made comfortable progress through this year’s knockout rounds and so a close final encounter was expected.
Though Aly was fiercely determined not to let this opportunity slip through his hands, and he came out with all guns blazing as he fired in breaks of 51, 39 and 71 to take a rapid 2-0 advantage.
In the next two frames Aly constructed breaks of 44 and 58 respectively, though in both frames Sadeg missed pot attempts at the final pink ball that could have squared the match but instead he trailed 4-0.
The Canadian now had a very rocky mountain ahead of him to climb, but he did manage to pinch frame five on the final black ball.
Even though he had played very well, if Sadeg had taken his chances Aly could have found himself 3-2 behind now but instead held a commanding 4-1 lead. In what turned out to be the sixth and last frame, Aly also had fortune on his side as after potting the final red ball he fluked the yellow and after it was replaced on its spot, he was in perfect position to pot it again as match ball.
Aly has always been a player who is never shy to show his emotions, and he punched the air and shouted out his delight to claim the frame and match and achieve his snooker life’s dream to play on the World Snooker Tour.
Alan Morris, the Executive Director of the United States Snooker Association, said: “This is an amazing result for snooker in the United States, and I am absolutely thrilled for Ahmed! He has worked so hard for this and I hope he enjoys and relishes every moment.
“Now we have seen what can be achieved by snooker players in the United States, I hope this inspires more people to play this great sport and aim to emulate exactly what Ahmed has done.”
Ronnie O'Sullivan 