The 2023 International Championship starts tomorrow … I couldn’t find any image of an opening ceremony with players walking outside, greeted by fans, but I found some images shared by WST on weibo, showing some of the players at an “opening dinner” …
Regarding weibo, and to be fair to WST, they have an account on the platform, and that account does report regularly about how the Chinese young players do in the various events. I’m not sure who is the person behind this account but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is my friend Tai Chengzhe, who, before covid, was WST press Officer for China and is now back at the WST events. All the same, they seem to assume that the UK/European readers have little or no interest in those players. This isn’t true. Those of us who have the future of snooker at heart will want to follow the development of all young players, no matter their nationality.
The WPBSA and WST have confirmed the elite amateur players who will compete at the 2023 MrQ UK Championship having earned their places through recognised WPBSA pathways.
As in 2022, the first Triple Crown Series event of the season will feature a tiered format, which will see the top 16 seeded through to the final stages, to be held at the York Barbican from 25 November – 3 December 2023.
The remaining players will compete in the qualifying rounds in Leicester from 18-23 November, with 16 players set to progress to the last 32.
WPBSA Qualifiers
This season’s field will include up to 16* players to have earned their places through new pathway opportunities for elite performers through activities staged and coordinated by the WPBSA Group.
*This number is subject to the total number of professional entries received. Should all 129 current professionals enter, there will be 15 places awarded to the WPBSA.
Confirmed Players:
WPBSA Q Tour UK/Europe
Winners from the world’s premier secondary tour to the World Snooker Tour so far this season:
Liam Davies – WPBSA Q Tour – Event 1 winner
Michael Holt – WPBSA Q Tour – Event 2 winner
Umut Dikme – WPBSA Q Tour – Event 3 winner
WSF Championships 2023
Eligible semi-finalists from the world’s largest international amateur tournaments, champions/runner-ups having already earned two-year tour cards:
Should fewer than 129 professional players enter the event, Craig Steadman will be the first reserve player as the next highest ranked player on the Q Tour UK/Europe Rankings after Event 3.
Tournament information including the draw and format for the fourth event of 2023/24 WPBSA Q Tour UK/Europe is now available to view via WPBSA SnookerScores.
The event will take place at the Landywood Snooker Club, with a record 139 entries received. This means that 16 matches must be played on Thursday 9 November, with the remaining rounds to be played from 10-12 November.
Q Tour UK/Europe will be made up of seven tournaments and is part of the relaunched WPBSA Q Tour Global, which will for the first time incorporate regional events held around the world, each offering access to an extended Q Tour Global Playoff at the end of the season.
The 2023 IBSF World Championships start tomorrow in Doha
The events to be played during the World Championships 2023 are as per the following calendar:
Referees and players’ meetings for the Men’s Championships will be at the venue on Saturday, the 4th of November at 1800 hours followed by the Welcome ceremony at 1900 hours.
The Men’s Snooker Championship will start on the 5th of November, with the final to be played on the 10th of November.
The Men’s Team Snooker Championship will start on the 8th of November, with the final to be played on the 12th of November.
The Men’s 6-Red Snooker Championship will start on the 11th of November, with the final to be played on the 15th of November.
Referees and players’ meetings for the Masters, Women Snooker, and English Billiards will be at the venue on Wednesday, the 15th of November at 1800 hours.
The Masters, Women Snooker and English Billiards (Long-Up) will start on the 16th of November, with the final to be played on the 20th of November.
The Masters Team, Women 6-Red Snooker and English Billiards (150-Up) will start on the 21st of November, with the final to be played on the 24th of November.
…
Darryl Hill, who is in the draw, shared some pictures of the venue and it looks nice. Interestingly, they use Rasson tables.
You can expect a lot of matches to be streamed thanks to the legend that is Dariuz Goral
6 thoughts on “Snooker News and Pictures – 4 November 2023”
As in 2022, the first Triple Crown Series event of the season will feature a tiered format, which will see the top 16 seeded through to the final stages
I really don’t understand why that’s not an outrage. That’s five wins gifted to each of these 16 players (none complaining, of course), and a case of match-fixing so gross as to boggle the mind.
Have we ever seen Roger Federer enter the US Open at the quarter finals? Or, did we allow Usain Bolt to start his preliminary races 30 meters ahead of the pack because some media moguls wished to see him in the final – and cash in? I am pretty certain no one so much as entertained the thought, much less proposed something so preposterous in public.
I, for one, find it utterly contemptible. Oh, and don’t mention care for the lower-ranked players as the reason for this. Pairing players at random from the start would give at least some the chance to progress – as opposed to paring the lowest- with the highest-ranked players, as is so often the case. Fairness? Sportsmanship? Bah, humbug.
Well, I’m afraid that we will have to agree to disagree again Grump. I am a big fan of the tired system and here is why. It is true that the lower ranked players have to play more matches, but they start against players who are about the same level as themselves and that’s better for the development of young players in particular. It’s a much more “progressive” system. Today Judd Trump played a 12 years old kid who got absolutely clobbered. Do you think he will learn anything positive from this? Do you think it will grow in confidence after that experience? I doubt it. Also, from the 144 players involved, only 32 will earn nothing, whilst in the “regular” events, 64 players out of 128 are in that situation. It is true that the top 16 are seeded at the venue but does that make things easier for them? I’m not sure because they will come there cold, against players who have already won at least one match and secured a substantial amount of money/ranking points. That lifts some pressure from those players, whilst it adds pressure for the top seeds. You often hear that no young player has really break through since Judd Trump. Well, Judd Trump was actually the last player to come through the old tiered system. Mark Williams has often spoken about his opinion that it’s a better system for the young players development and I totally agree with him. I’m not one to think that the best way to teach someone how to swin is to drop them in the middle of a choppy sea.
Yep. I’ve read all of the above before, and I hold none of it passes the sniff test. If you want to learn about the alleged disadvantage of being seeded at the main venue, ask any of those thus privileged whether or not they would rather start in round one. Insofar as they are honest, not one will opt for that. Moreover, he who arrives at a tournament “cold”, unprepared, is not a professional but a punk.
Also, the assertion that, in a tiered system, just 32 go home without a dime isn’t true, is it? Any and all 2nd, 3rd… round entrants losing their first match also go home without a dime.
If you want the young ones to play more matches, more power to you! Organize some Under-25 tournaments, and have a round-robin format. You patently don’t fix matches to achieve that aim.
Particularly egregious do I find the notion that the atrocity that is the unpaid slave-work done by first-round losers has to be alleviated by giving the most well-heeled a five-victory gift – which to the best of my knowledge does not happen in any other sports, and for good reason. The way to change that is to pay folks for their work, as fairness demands, not to pamper the most pampered brats some more.
Really, it is in significant part the tiered system at the UK and World Championships with their huge paydays that keeps the old up in the ranks. If they had to go through eight rounds, they mostly wouldn’t reach a quarter final. It’s very likely the reason why O’Sullivan hasn’t won a ranking tournament since his last world title. A tiered system works to benefit the well-heeled, by privileging them. I don’t see any reasonable grounds even for the most feeble objection. Sorry, Monique, I fear you’ve settled on the wrong side of the fence on this issue.
All losers, other than round one get money only it’s not counting towards their ranking. The “fatigue” thing has been bandied around a lot but the only time Ding reached the final at the Crucible was the year he had to qualify. Also, most sports use a tiered structure. In tennis all grand slams have qualifiers – three rounds of it it – and is a tiered system. In most sports, there are “divisions”, the teams play mainly against other teams of similar strength before being promoted or demoted. IF snooker had a proper secondary tour, I would agree with you. IF snooker adopted a ELO type rating system, things would be different too, but the fact is that only one young player has really made it since the current stupid money list system was put into place, Luca Brecel who plays a lot on the very old school Belgian circuit, and that proves it doesn’t work. ALL current top players came through the tiered system. The Chinese youngsters may change that but then CBSA has strong structures and development schemes in place.
It’s pleasing to see so many young players selected to play in the UK Championship. I will hopefully be available to go to Leicester and see some of them.
I am sure many UK viewers don’t have much interest in non-UK players, but that’s mainly because they don’t really know much about them. That is precisely why WST need to promote them as much as possible. If in 10 years’ time the top ranks are full of players from China and Belgium, it’s very important that these players are supported by the fans, and that interest has to be developed now. Part of my motivation for supporting Chinese players is that it could provide a massive boost in the 2030’s – something like a Ryder Cup in snooker – which is the only way I can see to replace what we will lose with many current stars nearing the end of their careers.
Not that I’m reading anything into it, but the players at the dinner look very bored…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
I really don’t understand why that’s not an outrage. That’s five wins gifted to each of these 16 players (none complaining, of course), and a case of match-fixing so gross as to boggle the mind.
Have we ever seen Roger Federer enter the US Open at the quarter finals? Or, did we allow Usain Bolt to start his preliminary races 30 meters ahead of the pack because some media moguls wished to see him in the final – and cash in? I am pretty certain no one so much as entertained the thought, much less proposed something so preposterous in public.
I, for one, find it utterly contemptible. Oh, and don’t mention care for the lower-ranked players as the reason for this. Pairing players at random from the start would give at least some the chance to progress – as opposed to paring the lowest- with the highest-ranked players, as is so often the case. Fairness? Sportsmanship? Bah, humbug.
Well, I’m afraid that we will have to agree to disagree again Grump. I am a big fan of the tired system and here is why. It is true that the lower ranked players have to play more matches, but they start against players who are about the same level as themselves and that’s better for the development of young players in particular. It’s a much more “progressive” system. Today Judd Trump played a 12 years old kid who got absolutely clobbered. Do you think he will learn anything positive from this? Do you think it will grow in confidence after that experience? I doubt it. Also, from the 144 players involved, only 32 will earn nothing, whilst in the “regular” events, 64 players out of 128 are in that situation. It is true that the top 16 are seeded at the venue but does that make things easier for them? I’m not sure because they will come there cold, against players who have already won at least one match and secured a substantial amount of money/ranking points. That lifts some pressure from those players, whilst it adds pressure for the top seeds. You often hear that no young player has really break through since Judd Trump. Well, Judd Trump was actually the last player to come through the old tiered system. Mark Williams has often spoken about his opinion that it’s a better system for the young players development and I totally agree with him. I’m not one to think that the best way to teach someone how to swin is to drop them in the middle of a choppy sea.
Yep. I’ve read all of the above before, and I hold none of it passes the sniff test. If you want to learn about the alleged disadvantage of being seeded at the main venue, ask any of those thus privileged whether or not they would rather start in round one. Insofar as they are honest, not one will opt for that. Moreover, he who arrives at a tournament “cold”, unprepared, is not a professional but a punk.
Also, the assertion that, in a tiered system, just 32 go home without a dime isn’t true, is it? Any and all 2nd, 3rd… round entrants losing their first match also go home without a dime.
If you want the young ones to play more matches, more power to you! Organize some Under-25 tournaments, and have a round-robin format. You patently don’t fix matches to achieve that aim.
Particularly egregious do I find the notion that the atrocity that is the unpaid slave-work done by first-round losers has to be alleviated by giving the most well-heeled a five-victory gift – which to the best of my knowledge does not happen in any other sports, and for good reason. The way to change that is to pay folks for their work, as fairness demands, not to pamper the most pampered brats some more.
Really, it is in significant part the tiered system at the UK and World Championships with their huge paydays that keeps the old up in the ranks. If they had to go through eight rounds, they mostly wouldn’t reach a quarter final. It’s very likely the reason why O’Sullivan hasn’t won a ranking tournament since his last world title. A tiered system works to benefit the well-heeled, by privileging them. I don’t see any reasonable grounds even for the most feeble objection. Sorry, Monique, I fear you’ve settled on the wrong side of the fence on this issue.
All losers, other than round one get money only it’s not counting towards their ranking. The “fatigue” thing has been bandied around a lot but the only time Ding reached the final at the Crucible was the year he had to qualify. Also, most sports use a tiered structure. In tennis all grand slams have qualifiers – three rounds of it it – and is a tiered system. In most sports, there are “divisions”, the teams play mainly against other teams of similar strength before being promoted or demoted. IF snooker had a proper secondary tour, I would agree with you. IF snooker adopted a ELO type rating system, things would be different too, but the fact is that only one young player has really made it since the current stupid money list system was put into place, Luca Brecel who plays a lot on the very old school Belgian circuit, and that proves it doesn’t work. ALL current top players came through the tiered system. The Chinese youngsters may change that but then CBSA has strong structures and development schemes in place.
It’s pleasing to see so many young players selected to play in the UK Championship. I will hopefully be available to go to Leicester and see some of them.
I am sure many UK viewers don’t have much interest in non-UK players, but that’s mainly because they don’t really know much about them. That is precisely why WST need to promote them as much as possible. If in 10 years’ time the top ranks are full of players from China and Belgium, it’s very important that these players are supported by the fans, and that interest has to be developed now. Part of my motivation for supporting Chinese players is that it could provide a massive boost in the 2030’s – something like a Ryder Cup in snooker – which is the only way I can see to replace what we will lose with many current stars nearing the end of their careers.
Not that I’m reading anything into it, but the players at the dinner look very bored…