Month: August 2023

The 2023 European Masters Day 4 and other Snooker News

Monique Amateur, News, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker , , ,

The semi-finals today in Nuremberg will see Judd Trump face John Higgins and Mark Selby do battle with Barry Hawkins. Here is how yesterday on the baize unfolded as reported by WST.

In the firs session of the day Barry Hawkins got the better of Luca Brecel …

Hawk Downs Belgian Bullet

Barry Hawkins inflicted Luca Brecel’s first defeat as World Champion, coming through a deciding frame to win 5-4 in their last 16 clash at the BetVictor European Masters in Nuremberg.

Defeat for Brecel ends his ambitions of emerging from this event as world number one. The 28-year-old had to make the semi-finals to leapfrog Ronnie O’Sullivan, but ended up falling two hurdles short.

Hawkins is seeking a first ranking title in six years, having last lifted silverware at the World Grand Prix back in 2017. Next up he faces a quarter-final clash with Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham this evening, who edged out former European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson 5-4.

Leading 2-1, Hawkins composed a fine break of 70 to head into the mid-session interval with a commanding 3-1 advantage this afternoon. However, when play resumed, Brecel responded by taking the fifth and sixth frames to restore parity at 3-3. The Crucible king then made it three on the bounce to move just a frame from victory at 4-3.

Hawkins showed his class with a stunning 133 to force a decider, where both players spurned opportunities for victory. Eventually the Londoner got himself over the line and wrapped up a 5-4 win.

Defeat left Brecel disappointed to miss out on the world number one spot. However, that blow was softened after finding out the cue he won the World Championship had been found, after it was lost on a recent flight from Seattle to Frankfurt.

“Missing world number one and the chance to get a trophy was quite disappointing. I think it would have been quite gettable. It wasn’t to be,” said four-time ranking event winner Brecel.

“It was surprising that after ten days I have got my cue back. It is going to be delivered to my home. That is good news. With this cue it is no fun, it would have been a horrible season for me so I’m glad I’ve got the old one back.”

Mark Selby secured his place in the last eight with a 5-2 win over Ashley Hugill. The four-time World Champion composed breaks of 69, 84, 60,103 and 68 on his way to the win. He now plays China’s Lyu Haotian, who thrashed David Gilbert 5-1.

The second session saw Judd Tump and John Higgins progress to the SF stage

Trump Sets Up Higgins Showdown

Judd Trump saw off Ashley Carty 5-1 to make the semi-finals of the BetVictor European Masters in Nuremberg, where he will face a blockbuster clash with John Higgins tomorrow.

The Ace in the Pack is aiming to secure a first piece of ranking silverware in over a year if he can claim the title this weekend, with his last ranking win coming at the 2022 Turkish Masters.

Trump has enjoyed fantastic success against tomorrow’s opponent Higgins in recent times. He has won seven of their last eight meetings, dating back to his victory in the 2019 World Championship final. However, Higgins did get the better of their most recent encounter at the Hong Kong Masters last season.

Defeat for Carty draws the best week of his career so far to a close. The Rotherham cueman regained professional status last season by winning the Q Tour Playoffs. His run here in Nuremberg has seen him make the quarter-finals of a professional event for the first time in his career.

Breaks of 68 and 113 helped Trump secure victory this afternoon. He is eagerly looking forward to what is set to be a showpiece meeting with Higgins tomorrow.

“It is always an incredible occasion against him and always a game I cherish. We played each other a couple of weeks ago in China and it is something I always get up for. The games always seem to be pretty close. Whoever plays their best snooker normally comes out on top and it is always a great standard. Some of the best games I’ve ever been involved with have been against him and probably some of the best of all time. I think he enjoys me and I enjoy playing him,” said 34-year-old Trump.

“Something that I have learned from being a professional for so long is that you feel you have a lot of time and a lot of tournaments, but you really haven’t. If you lose your first couple of games then nine times out of ten it will dictate the whole season. Often it is the other way round and you have a good season if you get a good start. So much is down to the first couple of events and getting that confidence early on. It is nice to get off to a good start.”

Higgins secured his passage through thanks to a narrow 5-3 defeat of defending champion Kyren Wilson. The Wizard of Wishaw has now won all of the last four meetings between the pair.

Despite losing the opener, Scotland’s four-time World Champion Higgins composed breaks of 105, 74 and 52 as he took the next three frames to lead 3-1 at the mid-session.

When play resumed Wilson clawed his way back into contention to trail by one at 4-3, but Higgins closed out the tie in style with 118 to run out a 5-3 victor.

And the evening session saw Mark Selby and Berry Hawkins complete the SF field

Selby And Hawkins To Meet In Semis

Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins will have to put their friendship to one side when they meet in tomorrow’s BetVictor European Masters semi-finals, after the pair secured respective last eight victories in Nuremberg.

Selby booked his place in the semis with a 5-2 win over China’s Lyu Haotian. Today’s victory sees him reach the 60th ranking event semi-final of his career.

The four-time World Champion is gunning for a second European Masters crown. He took home the trophy back in 2020, when he edged out Martin Gould 9-8 in the final.

It was Lyu who took a hard fought 30-minute opening frame this evening, before Selby replied with a century run of 106 to restore parity at 1-1. The Leicester cueman then added a further two on the bounce to head into the mid-session interval 3-1 in front.

When play resumed a break of 64 helped 25-year-old Lyu claw back within a frame at 3-2. He then looked set to draw level when leading 65-8 in the sixth. A break of 51 saw 22-time ranking event winner Selby take the frame down to the black, where a safety battle ensued. Eventually Selby deposited the black to the green corner and moved one from the win. He then got over the line with a break of 74 in the seventh to clinch a semi-final berth.

“Barry is one of my best mates on the tour so it is great he is in the semi-finals as well. The positive out of the match is one of us will be in the final. We will both be trying to beat each other out there, but hopefully it is a good game and we both put on a good performance,” said 40-year-old Selby.

“Once you are out there you have a job to do. He will be thinking the same as well. We have been going out for food every day this week.  I’ll probably eat on my own tomorrow!

“I always say to win one tournament in a season, where the standard is now, you have to class that as a good season. If you can get it out of the way early doors then it would be great, you can relax for the rest of the season at that point.”

Hawkins earned his semi-final spot with a 5-2 defeat of Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham. The Londoner fired in breaks of 89, 52, 70 and 70 on his way to victory this evening in an impressive performance, having already beaten World Champion Luca Brecel 5-4 earlier in the day.

The Hawk is aiming to land silverware for the first time in six years this weekend. He last won a ranking title all the way back at the 2017 World Grand Prix. Since then he has been to four finals without getting over the line, including last year at the European Masters when he came up short against Kyren Wilson.

WST shared some images on Twitter (yeah I know it’s X now … how stupid!)

So then, as we arrive at the SF stage all players remaining on course are in the top 16, except for the Hawk and we all know that somehow his current ranking (19) is not a true reflection of his actual strength.

In other Snooker News …

The first Q-Tour event of the season started yesterday. You can follow the event here.

There are many former pros in the draw. It’s a shame those events are not streamed.

Someone who isn’t there despite being eligible is Bai Yulu … she has been sent to Russia to represent her country in a tournament featuring the BRIC nations (Russia, Brazil, India and China… a very democratic club is BRIC).

The event started with a group stage and has now reached the knock-out stage. Bai won all her group matches.

The following images were shared by Bai Yulu on weibbo:

It seems that no matter what there will be a Russian finalist… pure luck of the draw surely 😇.

Also this podcast is worth listening to … it explains how the enquiry ending in 10 Chinese players being banned started and unfolded. Reminds me… any news about Mark King?

Day 3 at the 2023 European Masters and 2023 British Open Round 2 Draw

Monique Professional snooker tournament

Here are the reports by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

Brecel Hunting Down Top Spot

World Champion Luca Brecel remains in contention to move to the summit of the world rankings, after a rousing fightback saw him beat Robbie Williams 5-4 at the BetVictor European Masters in Nuremberg.

Belgian Brecel must make the semi-finals to surpass Ronnie O’Sullivan this week, he can do that tomorrow if he comes through the two scheduled rounds. First up, Brecel faces three-time ranking event winner Barry Hawkins, who beat Zak Surety 5-1.

It had looked as if the Crucible king was set to exit the event this afternoon when breaks of 91, 53 and 67 moved world number 47 Williams into a surprise 3-0 lead. Brecel responded with four on the bounce to move one from victory at 4-3, before Williams took the game to what would prove to be a memorable decider.

With the pressure on, Brecel stepped up and fired home the 200th century break of his career, with a sublime total clearance of 134, to ensure his progression to the next round.

“It was a brilliant moment. At 3-0 down, I wasn’t in the game and he was playing really well. I think I had to take my chance in the frame before the interval. At 4-0 down there is probably no chance. I’m really proud of myself to keep fighting,” said 28-year-old Brecel.

“There have been World Champions that have struggled in the past, but I kind of like it. Always being on table one focusses me. Maybe on a different table at 3-0 down I would have given up easier. Now I am a World Champion, I have a responsibility to the crowd and snooker in general.

“I have a good chance now (to become world number one). I’m only two games away and there is a lot to play for. It is something new for me to play for so much. The World Championship and now the world number one spot. It’s exciting times.”

Elsewhere in the afternoon session, former European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson defeated three-time World Champion Mark Williams 5-4 and Mark Selby defeated Anthony Hamilton 5-1.

Evening session

Wizard Conquers The Magician In Nuremberg

John Higgins defeated old rival Shaun Murphy 5-2 to seal his place in the quarter-finals of the BetVictor European Masters in Nuremberg.

Remarkably the pair hadn’t crossed cues on the World Snooker Tour for seven years prior to today. Victory for Higgins enhances his head-to-head lead over Murphy to 11-5, which includes a World Championship final win back in 2009.

Despite defeat this evening, Murphy will be able to reflect on a strong start to the campaign, having already picked up silverware at the BetVictor Championship League. Higgins is appearing for the first time this season and will hope to begin with a title, after failing to go beyond the quarter-finals of a ranking event last term.

Next up for 31-time ranking event winner Higgins is a quarter-final showdown with defending champion Kyren Wilson, who whitewashed Welshman Duane Jones 5-0.

It was 2005 Crucible king Murphy who came flying out of the traps tonight, firing in 113 to take the opener. However, Higgins responded emphatically with a break of 126 to restore parity.

Further contributions of 66 and 120 from Higgins saw him move two ahead, before he took a tight fifth frame to lead 4-1. Murphy kept himself in the contest by taking the sixth, but a frame later four-time World Champion Higgins crossed the line and wrapped up a massive victory.

Higgins said: “It was a brilliant win for me. I was nervous before the game, playing against the form player. I think just watching him in the first frame, the way he was striking the cueball and walking about spurred me on. He hits the ball like a dream. I was taking the positives from watching him and trying to add it into my game.

“Every credit to Kyren. He just seems to be at the latter stages of every tournament now. He obviously believes he is one of the best players and he is one of the best players. He is the defending champion and has won most of his games pretty easily this week. I am going to have to produce that same form again to give him a game tomorrow.”

Judd Trump secured his place in the quarter-finals with a 5-0 win over Ben Woolaston. The Ace in the Pack survived a scare earlier in the day when he rallied from 4-0 down to beat Chris Wakelin 5-4.

It was more straightforward this evening, with breaks of 78, 106 and 76 contributing to the whitewash victory. His last eight opponent will be Rotherham’s Ashley Carty, who scored a superb 5-3 defeat of Ricky Walden this evening. It is the first quarter-final appearance of Carty’s career.

Needless to say , lot of the matches played yesterday not reported on. You will find all the results on snooker.org. Ben Mertens, one of the two the Belgians pros, was in action at the same time as Luca and his fortune was somehow an inverted mirror image of Luca’s fortune. Ben was 3-1 and 4-2 up on David Gilbert but eventually lost by 5-4. He will learn from this match, I’m sure. In the decider he made a couple of shot selections that cost him IMO.

2023 British Open Round 2 Draw

Cazoo British Open – Round Two Draw

Thursday 24 Aug 2023 07:03PM

The random draw for the last 64 of the Cazoo British Open has been made. The tournament runs from September 25th to October 1st in the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse.

…

If Ronnie O’Sullivan can come through his opening round clash with Jimmy Robertson he will face talented Chinese teenager Wu Yize , while top 16 stars Shaun Murphy and Jack Lisowski will collide if they beat Rebecca Kenna and Joe O’Connor respectively.

The second round draw is below:

Joe O’Connor or Jack Lisowski vs Shaun Murphy or Rebecca Kenna

Gary Wilson or Ahmed Elsayed vs Chris Wakelin

Ryan Day or Sean O’Sullivan vs Thor Chuan Leong

Lyu Haotian vs David Gilbert

John Higgins or Zehuang Long vs Robbie Williams

Stephen Maguire vs Peng Yisong or Mark Williams

Fan Zhengyi vs Ross Muir

He Guoqiang vs Muhammad Asif

Scott Donaldson vs Liam Graham

Judd Trump or Anton Kazakov vs Hammad Miah

Jamie Jones vs Julien Leclercq

Xu Si vs Ali Carter or Allan Taylor

Noppon Saengkham vs Fergal O’Brien

David Grace vs Sanderson Lam

Daniel Wells vs Ashley Carty

Tom Ford vs Ashley Hugill

Ken Doherty vs Matthew Stevens

Hailong Ma vs Mohamed Ibrahim

Tian Pengfei vs Mark Selby or Ben Woollaston

Jun Jiang or Robert Milkins vs Stan Moody or Barry Hawkins

Kyren Wilson or Martin O’Donnell vs Mark Allen or Anthony McGill

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Oliver Lines

Oliver Brown vs Hossein Vafaei

Ding Junhui or Luca Brecel vs Liu Hongyu

Anthony Hamilton vs Xiao Guodong

Andy Hicks vs Graeme Dott

Rod Lawler vs Dominic Dale

Si Jiahui vs Neil Robertson or Jamie Clarke

Yuan Sijun vs Ben Mertens

Matthew Selt vs Zak Surety

Ronnie O’Sullivan or Jimmy Robertson vs Wu Yize

Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Stuart Bingham

Click here for the full draw

Click here for the provisional format (the full second round format will be released in due course)

The draws for the third round onwards will be made in Cheltenham during the event.

Day 2 at the 2023 European Masters and Q-Tour News

Monique Amateur, Professional snooker tournament ,

The action continued on day2 in Nuremberg and those are the reports by WST:

Morning session

Un-Nooh Brilliance Ousts Allen

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh put on a break building masterclass and blitzed to a 5-0 win over world number three Mark Allen at the BetVictor European Masters in Nuremberg.

Victory for Un-Nooh enhances his already strong record against Northern Irishman Allen, with the Thai now leading their head-to-head standings 5-1. Next up he faces a third round clash with Englishman Ashley Carty.

Defeat for Allen ends his hopes of climbing to the world number one spot this week, which he could have achieved by winning the event. However, if World Champion Luca Brecel can make the semi-finals he will overtake current world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan.

When play got underway this morning, Un-Nooh wasted little time hunting down the finish line and needed just 58 minutes to complete the win. Un-Nooh fired in breaks of 85, 92, 128 and 81 as he won four out of the five frames to nil. He only conceded 17 points on his way to victory.

The final frame saw Un-Nooh get into prime position to mount a 147 attempt. However, he agonisingly left the 11th black over the pocket to end his run.

“Mark was a really dangerous player last season and he is number three in the world now. I just had to stay on my game, play attacking and think about winning frames in one visit. I wanted to keep him sitting in his chair and not let him on the table. He is so dangerous,” said 38-year-old Un-Nooh.

“I had a really good chance for a 147 in the last frame. I thought the black was in the pocket. I can’t imagine how it was still on the table. I was so regretful and disappointed about that last black.”

Essex cueman Zak Surety mounted an incredible fightback to beat Chinese rookie Jiang Jun 5-4, having trailed 4-0. Victory for world number 78 Surety continues his recent good form, he defeated Ryan Day to earn his place here in Nuremberg and recently scored a win against Michael White at British Open qualifying. Surety’s next opponent this week will either be James Cahill or Barry Hawkins.

Mark Selby eased to a 5-1 win over Adam Duffy to secure his place in the last 32. The Jester from Leicester compiled breaks of 78, 51 and 75 on his way to the win and will now face either Anthony Hamilton or Louis Heathcote.

David Gilbert scored a 5-1 win over 12-time Women’s World Champion Reanne Evans, while Xiao Guodong registered a 5-3 win over 2015 Crucible king Stuart Bingham.

It was a truly marvellous display by Theppy indeed, and he’s not the only one left wondering how that black did not drop. Mark Allen had no complaints and even joked about it on social media. He explained that WST does send pictures to the players, featuring their best shots, so that the players can use them on their social media and yesterday the “best” WST could find for Mark was a picture of him entering the arena with his cue in hand… 😄. Mark also duly congratulated his victorious opponent.

Jiang Jun defeat from the brink of victory once again shows how the interval can change the course of a match. Jiang is a 17 years old rookie from China and I wonder how often in his young life as a snooker player he had to deal with the challenges that the MSI can bring. He was 4-0 up and certainly didn’t expect to be in that position. Did he get ahead of himself? Did he start seeing problems that weren’t there? Did he just lost his momentum? Only he will know … maybe. This is something he needs to discuss with his coach if he has one, or with more experienced players, maybe practice partners who are or were on tour for some time.

Now… the forgotten matches… Robbie Williams beat Pang Junxu by 5-1. Robbie is a solid player but Pang, after doing well in the 2023 ranking CLS, seems to have lost his ways a bit. Noppon Saengkham beat veteran Mark Davis by 52. Nothing surprising here and at least “Dark Mavis” won his first match, made it to the venue and met his biggest fan again.

Afternoon and evening sessions

Wilson Title Defence On Track

Defending BetVictor European Masters champion Kyren Wilson booked a third round berth with a 5-2 win over Alfie Burden on day two in Nuremberg.

Wilson claimed victory just a few miles down the road in Furth 12 months ago, when he thrashed Barry Hawkins 9-3 in the final. Germany is a happy hunting ground for the Warrior, who has won three of his five ranking titles to date in the country.

There were breaks of 65, 68 and 107 for Wilson on his way to this afternoon’s victory. Next up the Kettering cueman faces an intriguing test against China’s Si Jiahui, who made the semi-finals of the World Championship back in May.

“The people in Germany are so warm and welcoming. They absolutely love their snooker so wherever you go, you are appreciated and feel a good buzz about the place. That is going to bring out the best in you,” said 31-year-old Wilson.

“It would be fantastic to defend a title for the first time. It is a new challenge and one I’ve not managed to complete yet. There are lots of things I’d love to tick off in my career and that is obviously one of them. There is a long way to go, but you just have to battle through the conditions and give it your all.”

World Champion Luca Brecel battled hard to beat Indian rookie Ishpreet Singh Chadha 5-3 in an entertaining encounter.

It was Singh who showed his ability in the opener with a break of 51 on his way to moving 1-0 up. From there the Belgian Bullet surged ahead, contributions of 72, 85 and 101 helped him to four on the bounce and a 4-1 lead. Singh clawed his way back into contention with runs of 102 and 72 to reduce his arrears to 4-3, but a break of 74 by Brecel saw him over the line.

Brecel is now through to the third round and requires three more wins to make it to the semi-finals, which would see him become world number one for the first time. He faces Robbie Williams in the next round.

Recent BetVictor Championship League winner Shaun Murphy continued his strong form with a 5-2 win over Daniel Wells. The Magician crafted breaks of 104, 54, 85 and 65 during the win.

Next up Murphy faces Ross Muir, with the winner progressing to meet four-time World Champion John Higgins in the last 16. Higgins scored a 5-2 win over Zhou Yuelong this evening.

Judd Trump and Mark Williams sealed their progressions in contrasting fashion. Trump eased to a 5-0 win over Jordan Brown, while Williams edged through 5-3 against Welsh compatriot Matthew Stevens.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mGwbv5YJCDE%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26enablejsapi%3D1%26origin%3Dhttps%3A

Ishpreet Singh Chadha really gave an excellent account of himself; he’s one rookie to watch this season. Jordan Brown didn’t really challenge Judd Trump.

And, of course, there were many more matches played during those two sessions. The “Sheriff of Pottingham”, Anthony Hamilton, shot down Louis Heathcote beating him by 5-1. Ben Mertens got the better of Sanderson Lam by 5-3. Ashley Hugill outlasted Ali Carter, beating him by 5-4 and finishing with a century (110). It was Ali who made the highest break of the match, a 130. Jimmy Robertson beat Scott Donaldson by 5-0. The first three frames were close though. Andy Hicks beat Peng Ysong by 5-2, Duane Jones beat Allan Taylor by 5-3 and Barry Hawkins beat James Cahill by 5-3. It was 3-1 to Cahill at the MSI in that last match, then Barry found form, won four on the spin, scoring three breaks over 70 in the process.

The psychedelic scoring system was at it again … scores going backwards, digits changing ever odd second and other bizarre and disturbing “features”. Did the developers and WST even test this thing before effectively putting it into production in an actual event ??? I’ll say it again: this is utterly unprofessional.

Q-Tour News

The first event of the WPBSA 2023/24 Q-Tour will start tomorrow

WPBSA Q Tour Starts Friday

The first event of the 2023/24 WPBSA Q Tour Global gets underway this Friday (August 25) and runs until Sunday at the North East Snooker Centre.

For all information on the event including the match schedule CLICK HERE

Following two successful seasons based within the UK and mainland Europe, this season’s WPBSA Q Tour Global will for the first time incorporate regional events held around the world, each offering access to an extended Q Tour Playoff at the end of the season.

WPBSA Q TOUR UK/EUROPE

As in previous seasons, the rebranded WPBSA Q Tour UK/Europe will retain its previous format, with an expanded calendar of seven events to be held across the season.

To include four tournaments within the UK and a further three in mainland Europe, the circuit will once again see players compete to finish the season as the top ranked player and earn a place on the World Snooker Tour.

The next 16-ranked players (to include each event champion) will be guaranteed to qualify for the season-end Q Tour Global Playoff.

Each Q Tour UK/Europe event will carry an increased prize fund of over £14,000 and will be open to players from around the world. As in previous seasons, 48 players (see below) will be seeded through to Saturday’s last 64, to be joined by 16 qualifiers.

THE DATES

The provisional dates for this season’s Q Tour UK/Europe are:

  • Q Tour 1 – 25-27 August 2023 – North East Snooker Centre, UK
  • Q Tour 2 – 15-17 September 2023 – Snookerhallen, SWEDEN
  • Q Tour 3 – 20-22 October 2023 – Heilbronn, GERMANY
  • Q Tour 4 – 10-12 November 2023 Landywood Snooker Club, UK
  • Q Tour 5 – 15-17 December 2023 – Castle Snooker, Brighton, UK
  • Q Tour 6 – 5-7 January 2024 – Sofia, BULGARIA
  • Q Tour 7 – 16-18 February 2024 – Northern Snooker Centre, UK

All dates are provisional and subject to change.

All Q Tour UK/Europe events in England will be held at official 147 Clubs recognised by the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards.

Iulian Boiko plays a shot.

THE PLAYERS

As was the case last season, each weekend tournament will be made up of 64 players comprising the following:

The top 32 eligible players from the 2023 UK Q School Order of Merit eligible to compete.

Iulian Boiko, Haydon Pinhey, Sydney Wilson, Duane Jones, Alfie Davies, Barry Pinches, Rory McLeod, Steven Hallworth, Simon Bedford, Florian Nuessle, Alex Taubman, Jamie O’Neill, Peter Lines, Ryan Davies, Fergal Quinn, Joshua Thomond, Josh Mulholland, Sean McAllister, Daniel Holoyda, Robin Hull, Craig Steadman, Chris Totten, Michael Holt, Zachary Richardson, Umut Dikme, Ben Fortey, Lewis Ullah, Daniel Womersley, Harvey Chandler, Jamie Curtis-Barrett, Martyn Taylor, James Lee

The top 8 from the 2023 Asia-Oceania Q School Order of Merit

Ka Wai Cheung, Lei Peifan, Yu Kiu Chang, Gong Chenzhi, Jefrey Roda, Dhruv, Jatan Patel, Asutosh Padhy, Khalid Ali Alkamali

The eight highest ranked junior players on the 2023 UK Q School Order of Merit, not already qualified.

Bai Yulu, Antoni Kowalski, Liam Davies, Jamie Wilson, Bulcsu Revesz, Oliver Sykes, Vladislav Gradinari, Paul Deaville

Q TOUR GLOBAL

For the first time, the WPBSA Q Tour Global will incorporate regional Q Tour Series’ staged around the world as part of the planned international expansion of Q Tour.

The WPBSA welcomes expressions of interest to stage Q Tour tournaments from recognised organisations and national federations which share our vision for high-quality amateur events.

As part of the WPBSA’s commitment to the international growth of our sport, the leading players from these Regional Q Tour events will qualify to compete at the Q Tour Global Playoff, alongside players from Q Tour UK/Europe.

Players competing in Q Tour events outside of UK/Europe, must be resident for a minimum six months to be eligible to play in these events.

Q TOUR PLAYOFF

The WPBSA Q Tour Global Playoff will be relaunched for the 2023/24 season with three places on the World Snooker Tour to be won for the first time.

As in previous seasons, the Playoff will include the winners of Q Tour UK/Europe events, followed the highest ranked remaining players up to 16 players. They will be joined by a further eight players from regional Q Tour events held around the world. Should these places not be taken, they will be filled by additional players from the Q Tour UK/Europe Rankings.

In recognition of the increased status of the Playoff, the event will be held over three days and will be made up of three sections of eight players, meaning qualifiers into this season’s prestigious grand final will only need to win three matches at the Playoff to earn a place on the World Snooker Tour. Quarter-finals will be played over the best of nine frames, semi-finals the best of 11 frames and the finals over the best of 19 frames.

The Playoff will also carry a prize fund of almost £20,000 for the first time, with each tour card winner set to take home £2,000.  Each qualifier will be guaranteed to earn at least £500, with prize money increasing to £750, £1,000 and the £2,000 top prize.

“THE ULTIMATE TEST”

Jason Ferguson, WPBSA Chairman said: “Our WPBSA Q Tour has quickly become a key cornerstone in the amateur snooker calendar, offering direct access to the World Snooker Tour and regular competition at high-quality venues.

“We are therefore now delighted to be able to launch the WPBSA Q Tour Global, which for the first time enables players around the world to be able to compete and potentially earn their place on the professional circuit. It is particularly important to add that this new global model will serve players all over the world with life changing opportunities. It is also important to state that our vision includes working with federations and partners around the world who share our vision of a truly open global sport.

“I am hugely excited by the potential of Q Tour and in particular now the Global Playoff, with long frame formats, I can only speak on this as a former snooker player, when I say this is the ultimate test for players aiming to take the next step with a full-time career on the World Snooker Tour.

“We will soon be writing to our many partners and friends around the world, inviting them to join us in this truly global plan.”

Three thoughts about this …

The part “Q-Tour Global” is very interesting. I want to be optimistic and hope that this can develop in a true global secondary tour, making the Q-School obsolete. I know that the Q-School is probably a big cash-cow for WST but it’s not the right way to select future pros. It has produced very little new faces and has mainly be a re-qualifying route for older former pros. That’s not the way forward for our sport. Older former pros deserve a proper, funded Seniors Tour, featuring events throughout the season. I know that Jason Francis is doing everything in his power to get that running in a sustainable way… but he needs to be better supported by WPBSA/WST.

And both the Q-Tour and the Seniors Tour need to be “visible” to fans, which means streamed in high quality or televised. You can’t grow nor can you generate profit if nobody can see you.

Finally … why on earth – to put it in a polite way – isn’t WST using the system WPBSA, WSF, WWS, WDBS and the Seniors tour all use ??? It has everything that’s needed and very importantly … IT ACTUALLY WORKS.

Day 1 at the 2023 European Masters

Monique Professional snooker tournament

The action at the tables …

Here are the two reports shared by WST after the first day of action in Nuremberg

Morning and afternoon sessions

Selby Scores Whitewash Win

Mark Selby enjoyed a perfect start to his season with a 5-0 win over Thai tour rookie Manasawin Phetmalaikul at the BetVictor European Masters in Nuremberg.

This morning’s win was Selby’s first appearance on the World Snooker Tour since losing an epic Crucible final to Luca Brecel 18-15 back in May. He now progresses to the second round, where a clash with Sheffield’s Adam Duffy awaits.

It was Phetmalaikul who made a promising start this morning, firing in a break of 51 to take control of the opener. However, four-time World Champion Selby responded with 75 to clinch the frame and move 1-0 ahead. A contribution of 63 gave Selby the second, before he made it 3-0 by taking a marathon 59-minute third. The Leicester cueman then crafted two breaks of 60 to ease over the line with a 5-0 win.

Over the summer Selby was awarded with an MBE and admits it is an accolade he could scarcely have believed he would receive when he was growing up.

“Coming from a council estate background, not really having much and wearing trousers that didn’t fit me. If you had told me back then that when I got to 40 years old I would be picking up an MBE, I’d probably have laughed at you. I am really proud of my achievements to be given that,” said 22-time ranking event winner Selby.

“It was a shock in the first place to be given one. To go to Windsor Castle with Vikki, Sophia and Vikki’s mum was an amazing experience. Going inside, seeing the place and meeting Princess Anne was nice. She is a lovely lady and said some nice words. She follows the snooker and said commiserations for the world final.”

Last season’s Crucible semi-finalist Si Jiahui held of 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty to win 5-3 and secure his progression.

China’s Si had looked set for a dream maiden world final earlier this year, when he led Luca Brecel 14-5 in the last four. However, Brecel mounted the biggest comeback in Crucible history to emerge a 17-15 winner and land a heartbreaking blow on his opponent. Si will be hoping to bounce back from that defeat with a big run early on this season.

Next up Si faces a potential showdown with defending champion Kyren Wilson, who beat Scotland’s Dean Young 5-1 in their heldover tie this morning. Wilson top scored with 61 and now plays Alfie Burden in the second round.

John Higgins eased through to the last 32 with a 5-1 win over Dylan Emery. The Scot had a chance for a 147 in the final frame, but broke down after missing a black on 73.

First of all, congratulations to Mark Selby on his MBE. This is a well deserved recognition for all his hard work, perseverance and courage over more than 20 years. The estate council kid who was abandoned by his mother and lost his father at 16 has gone a long way and he should be proud indeed.

Then, of course, as usual, a lot of matches are not reported on.

Zhou Yuelong beat Andrew Higginson by 5-1, with a break of 124 in frame three. Duane Jones won by 5-2 against Dominic Dale. Lyu Haotian had a very good hard-fought win against Elliott Slessor; Lyu lead 2-0, trailed 2-3 and 3-4, only to win the last two frames for victory.

Evening session

Crucible King Brecel Makes Winning Start

Luca Brecel won his first competitive match as World Champion, beating Jackson Page 5-3 at the BetVictor European Masters in Nuremberg, despite having recently lost his cue.

The Belgian sensationally landed his first ever Crucible crown back in May by winning a classic final with Mark Selby 18-15. Although he first competed at the Theatre of Dreams in 2012, this year’s opening round victory over Ricky Walden was remarkably his first at the hallowed venue.

World number two Brecel can reach the summit of the rankings this week if he makes the final, following current world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal this morning. However, he is having to overcome cue issues, after the one he used to win the World Championship was lost whilst flying from Seattle to Frankfurt in the summer.

Using a different cue, Brecel faced a tricky test this afternoon against Welshman Page in his first match as World Champion. Breaks of 54 and 66 helped the 28-year-old to take the first two frames this afternoon, but Page replied with two on the bounce himself to restore parity at 2-2.

Brecel hit the front again after taking the fifth, where he embarked on a 147 attempt before breaking down on 80. A run of 89 from Page saw him claw back level again, but it was Brecel who stormed to the line by taking the next two frames to emerge a 5-3 victor. He faces Indian rookie Ishpreet Singh Chadha in round two.

Brecel said: “When the draw came out I was panicking a bit. Jackson Page is not the one you want as a starter, he is really tough and a big talent. I had to play really well and I didn’t expect to play this well. I’m really happy with the win.

“I don’t think this cue is ever going to be the same. Normally the cue doesn’t matter to me but this one felt so good that it is going to take some time to get used to. I guess this is also a good cue and it is never going to be exactly the same, but I think I can get really close to my World Championship level.”

Chinese 19-year-old Wu Yize staged a shock win over 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson, emerging a 5-3 victor after a thrilling encounter.

The result sees Wu enact revenge for a 10-3 loss at the hands of Robertson at last season’s World Championship. The first four frames this evening were shared, before breaks of 81 and 47 saw Wu surge to a 4-2 lead.

Robertson responded with a sublime break of 110 to stay alive. However, Wu emphatically got himself over the line with a break of 93 in the eighth to come through 5-3.

Last season’s Player of the Year Mark Allen kept his chances of moving to world number one for the first time alive with a 5-0 whitewash win over Anton Kazakov. The Pistol top scored with 81 and must win the event to top the world rankings. He faces an intriguing clash with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh next.

Judd Trump hit the ground running with a 5-0 win over Egyptian Mohamed Ibrahim, which set up a second round clash with Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown. The Ace in the Pack composed breaks of 71, 74, 117 and 60 on his way to the win.

Ricky Walden put on a fine performance to beat Jamie Jones 5-3. The Chester cueman compiled runs of 123, 125 and 138 during the victory.

Again a lot of “forgotten” matches …

Chris Wakelin played very well and whitewashed Aaron Hill … and he looked genuinely happy at the table as well. Winning the Shoot-Out seems to have “freed” him. Tom Ford beat Oliver Brown by 5-2 from 0-2 down. He scored three breaks over 50 in the process. Ben Woollaston beat Xu Si by 5-1 in a match that was much closer than the scores suggest. Ross Muir beat Joe Perry by 5-3 in a very hard fought and close match: the first frame set the tone, it ended in a re-spotted black after the scores were tied at 70-70. That match was pulled off at 4-3 as the next session had to start. It resumed later.

There are two extremely surprising omissions in the above report: Hossein Vafaei was beaten 5-0 by Allan Taylor – a very surprising score – and Michael White beat Jack Lisowski by 5-4 despite the fact that Jack scored breaks of 73, 74, 76 and 107 in the four frames he won. Jack still doesn’t seem to be able to win the close ones. I’m not sure what he learned from Ebdon TBH.

Shaun Murphy beat Steven Hallworth – who replaces Dott – by 5-2. Nothing remarkable there except the fact that it’s not reported on as the Smurph usually gets all the headlines… Ashley Carty beat Joe O’Connor by 5-4 in high quality match that featured eight breaks over 50, including two centuries. Ashley won the last three frames and finished with a 129.

I expected surprises and there were two big ones indeed: the defeats for Neil Robertson and Hossein Vafaei. Wu Yize is through to round three: he was due to play Liu Hongyu who had to withdraw because of visa issues.

Scoring system shambles …

The scoring system once again failed miserably 😡

For most of the day the whole snooker.org team chased scores all over the internet, on all available scores sites and streams, including the Chinese ones and even by getting in contact with fans at the venue. Even worse, in extended periods of time, there wasn’t even a “score line” shown in the streams for the matches in progress. This is utterly unprofessional from WST, and it was an exhausting exercise for the snooker.org team as well.

This morning yesterday scores are in the WST scoring system, so they surely worked on that overnight. Let’s hope it works better today …

On the program today …

Some very interesting clashes today indeed. These are my picks:

  • Theppy v Mark Allen
  • Xiao Guodong v Stuart Bingham
  • Ben Mertens v Sanderson Lam
  • Mark Williams v Matthew Stevens

Ronnie has withdrawn from the 2023 European Masters

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Here is the announcement by WST

Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from the BetVictor European Masters in Germany for medical reasons.

O’Sullivan was due to play Andy Hicks in the first round of the world ranking event in Nuremberg on Tuesday at 8pm. Hicks will now receive a bye to the last 64.

WST published this only after Dave Hendon said it in commentary, which is weird. Also the original post by WST suggested that they were still looking for a replacement. They can’t just pick someone at random, and most players high in the Q-School order of merit would have to travel from the UK. The fact that they didn’t immediately announce that Andy Hicks was getting a bye makes me wonder if they already knew early this morning or maybe even before that.

On the eve of the 2023 European Masters … a potpourri of news

Monique Snooker

ooker season starts tomorrow. I know this isn’t true as we already had a ranking event in July, and several qualifying events that are just as important for the players as the “main” stages played at the arena. I know but I still feel that way and I’m that I’m not the only one. I expect a few surprises as the top boys come into this pretty cold after a long break… but we shall see.

Several top players have not played a professional match yet this season. It’s notably the case for our reigning World Champion Luca Brecel. Luca has been traveling around a lot, he’s gone to Hong Kong (check this link for pictures), he’s gone to Seattle doing exhibition stuff at the OxBilliards as was mentioned a few times during the 2023 Women Snooker US Open, he’s gone from there to Germany where his cue got lost … and there was more too but I’m not sure what and where.

Anyway, Luca starts his season as World Champion tomorrow against Jackson Page. Of course his return to action triggers some media interest.

Luca’s Interviews

Stephen Hendry has made the trip to Belgium, to play a frame and have a chat with Luca on the very table where Luca started playing as a kid.

It’s a very nice interview, giving a good insight into Luca’s personality … and Hendry won the frame!

Luca has also been interviewed by Polly James and this was shared by WST:

n an in-depth interview with Luca Brecel, the Crucible king discusses a wide range of subjects, looking back on his Sheffield triumph as well as giving insights into his lifestyle, his love of music, nature, his relationships with other players and much more. He also takes Polly James for a spin in his new Ferrari 488. Watch the interview in three parts here:

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

I haven’t listened to it yet. I may do it in the coming days in ten minutes chunks. Those who know me know that I’m partially deaf and listening to any podcast or interview, without being able to read lips is extremely difficult for me especially if the interview is quite long. One thing that transpired though is the the cue hasn’t reappeared and it’s a serious concern for Luca.

Graeme Dott and Liu Hongyu have withdrawn from the event, as shared by WST

Liu And Dott Withdraw

Liu Hongyu has pulled out of the BetVictor European Masters in Germany due to visa issues, while Graeme Dott has also withdrawn for personal reasons.

China’s Liu won his qualifying match in the UK for the world ranking event to reach the last 64, but has now withdrawn as he is not able to travel to Germany.

The winner of Tuesday’s first round match between Neil Robertson and Wu Yize will receive a bye to the last 32.

Dott was due to face Shaun Murphy in a first round match on Tuesday, and he has been replaced in the draw by the highest available player from the Q School Ranking List, Steven Hallworth.

Meanwhile things have been happening on the amateur scene…

The 900 Season 2 Qualifiers … how things stand

The 900 Season 2 qualifiers continued and they are streamed on YouTube SportyStuffTV channel .

The fact that those qualifiers are streamed and that there is live commentary as well in the latter stages has attracted a lot of interest from amateurs and it’s been a few very busy week-ends. Like him or not, Jason Francis is creative, dynamic and gets things done. I like him BTW.

So here are the outcomes of the recent instalments :

Mark Show qualified for week 3

Hamim Hussain qualified for week 4

Having played in all 4 previous qualifiers, Neal Jones topped the order of merit. He will play in week 1

Simon Bubb qualified for week 5

Neil Craycraft qualified for week 6

Women snooker … returning players

There is no doubt that the presence of women on the main tour has revived the interest for women in snooker and inspired players from the past to take their cue out again. In Seattle we saw a former Women Snooker Championship finalist, Maryann McConnor in action again.

Today World Women Snooker on Twitter announced that Hannah Ward, Hannah Jones by her maiden name, will return to competition at the UK Women Snooker Championship next month.

Hannah competed regularly on the circuit from 2006-2015, notably claiming the World Under-21 title on no fewer than six occasions. This was Hannah in those days (probably around 2009/10)

Photo by me …

She’s a women now, a mother of two young children and successful in her job … I doubt that she has ambitions to get on the main tour at this stage but it’s nice to have her back!

Good luck Hannah! And good luck Mark Jones, the father who plays a bit himself, is horribly stressed when Hannah plays but can’t keep his eyes away from her matches 😉

2023 British Open Qualifiers Day 6

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Here is WST report on the final day at the 2023 British Open

Maguire Cruises To White-Wash

Stephen Maguire proved too good for Jimmy White in the qualifying round for the Cazoo British Open, winning 4-0 to book his place in the final stages in Cheltenham.

All results

Veteran White, age 61, enjoyed a 6-4 success when these two met in UK Championship qualifying last season. But this time Scotland’s Maguire was in ruthless mode, firing breaks of 135 and 60 in a comfortable victory.

Shoot Out finalist Julien Leclercq impressed in a 4-2 win over Dean Young, making breaks of 122, 53 and 77. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh raced to a 4-0 defeat of Reanne Evans in just 49 minutes.

Stuart Bingham top scored with 68 in a 4-0 win over John Astley while Matthew Selt saw off Liam Highfield by the same scoreline. Former European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi trailed Mark Davis three times but eventually won 4-3 thanks to runs of 73 and 50 in the last two frames.

The final stages run from September 25 to October 1 in Cheltenham, for all details   including ticket information click here.

Again some results are missing and they aren’t from “late” matches either. Xiao Guodong beat Marco Fu by 4-2 in a match I found hard to watch. Marco struggles so much that it makes me feel sorry for him and very uneasy as a spectator. Maybe Xiao felt uneasy as well because he wasn’t at his best either. The other “forgotten” match saw Jamie Jones beat rookie Mostafa Dorgham from Egypt by 4-0. I didn’t watch that match, but at least two of the frames were very close.

There is more snooker going today with “The 900 streamed on SportyStuff TV YouTube channel. I’ll report on that tomorrow.

I’m very happy about Julien Leclercq victory of course but I didn’t see the match. I will watch it later today.

If you wonder what I was up to that made me miss that match here goes.

I knew I could watch the match later but that the live musical event would not be repeated…

Post Scriptum – I have now watched the match and it was an agreeable one between two young players who both attack and play positive snooker. I quite like Dean Young. He’s not one of the “fancied” boys, he’s not “bigging” himself, but after getting relegated he immediately re-qualified via the Q-School which is a rarity for a player so young.