World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui will lock horns with 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty at the BetVictor European Masters later this month in Nuremberg, following the completion of the second-round draw.
The Darling of Dublin has been handed a tough assignment against the Chinese sensation, who reached the quarter-finals at last year’s tournament, after the pair advanced through July’s qualifying event in Leicester.
Elsewhere, there’s an all-Welsh clash as Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens go head-to-head. And 12-time Women’s World Champion Reanne Evans plays David Gilbert.
The top eight seeds, including Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, are yet to play their first-round matches, with their ties being held over until the opening day at the Kia Metropol Arena. …
Kyren Wilson won the title last season, beating Barry Hawkins 9-3 in the final, and his first-round match is against Scotland’s Dean Young, one of eight players to make it through this summer’s Q School.
Jason Ferguson has been working on more international events (Picture: Getty Images)
The World Snooker Tour calendar for this season is not complete yet, with more events set to be added, confirmed WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson.
After three pandemic-hit seasons, there has been an encouraging return to China for this campaign, with the Shanghai Masters, Wuhan Open and International Championship on the calendar after no events in the country since 2019.
This was welcome news for players who had felt earning opportunities were frustratingly low with the loss of the big-money Chinese events due to Covid.
Ferguson says there will be more good news to come too, with gaps in the calendar later in the season promised to be filled.
March is currently a quiet time of the season, with the Six Red World Championship running from 4-9 and the World Mixed Doubles from 30-31, but we can expect at least one event to fill that void.
‘We’ve so many opportunities on the go at the moment,’ Ferguson told Metro.co.uk. ‘There’s a lot going on in the Far East, the Middle East, Europe.
‘We’re probably going to run out of dates rather than events, the way things are going. It’s already getting to that point now, where we’re looking at longer term calendars and we’re becoming very tight for space for major events, which is great.
‘We’re not finished this season. There’s a few gaps in March which will be filled in so there’s still more to come. Lots going on. What we’re trying to do is put bigger events on. You can put events on just to fill gaps but we’re really trying to up the game.’
There is hope that there will be expansion in Europe as well as China, especially given the remarkable World Championship success of Belgian superstar Luca Brecel.
The thrilling triumph for the 28-year-old over Mark Selby in the Crucible final will hopefully create a surge of popularity in snooker in Belgium, ideally leading to a major event in the country.
Ferguson confirms that discussions are ongoing, as they are with numerous countries, but details on progress are light at this stage.
Luca Brecel’s World Championship win should usher in a wave of popularity in snooker in Belgium (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I’m excited about the international space for snooker, it’s growing a lot,’ he said. ‘It’s pleasing for me as someone who’s been out on the frontline, pushing it in every corner of the world, it’s great to see how it’s expanding.
‘Belgium is one of the territories we’re talking to and there’s ongoing discussions all over Europe.’
There is something of a gap in the WST calendar right now as European Masters qualifiers finished on 29 July and British Open qualifying begins on 14 August.
Snooker was ALWAYS popular in Belgium. Our Federation is quite big actually considering that Belgium is a small country. The likes of Ben Mertens and Julien Leclercq don’t develop overnight. Only this week there has been a national 6-reds Soot-out event … which was the perfect fun event for this time of the year!
Let’s hope that Jason’s promises translate in actual events, and preferably, not events hosted by countries where snooker is barely ever played but are after sports-washing.
World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui will lock horns with 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty at the BetVictor European Masters later this month in Nuremberg, following the completion of the second-round draw.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 