This is WST report on the fifth and last day of the 2023 European Masters Qualifiers

Bingham Qualifies For Nuremberg

Stuart Bingham secured his place in the final stages of the BetVictor European Masters after a 5-2 win over Jamie Clarke at qualifying in Leicester.

Essex cueman Bingham is a former finalist in the event, but he lost out to Judd Trump 9-7 in the 2017 title match. The 2015 World Champion produced a strong showing this afternoon to book his slot in Nuremberg for this year’s final stages. Bingham fired in breaks of 75, 52 and 68 on his way to victory over Welshman Clarke.

Adam Duffy staged a brilliant fightback to shock Marco Fu 5-4. Hong Kong’s Fu fired in breaks of 135 and 101 on his way to establishing a 4-2 lead, but Sheffield potter Duffy claimed the last three frames to qualify.

Iran’s Hossein Vafaei eased to a 5-1 win over Rod Lawler to seal his place in Nuremberg, while Joe O’Connor whitewashed Rebecca Kenna 5-0 to earn his spot.

Now this really angers me. Eighth matches were played yesterday, only four are reported on. Five young Chinese players were in action, there is not ONE word about them in this account of the day’s action. Now, WST … doesn’t the “W” in your name stand for “World”? Do you know that the UK isn’t the “navel” of the world? When will you finally live by your name, WORLD Snooker Tour?

Right (sort of) …

I put this on twitter already, but will put it here again: “Well played Adam Duffy, but so sad to see Marco Fu struggling so much. He played brilliant stuff early in the match, couldn’t pot a long ball towards the end. Didn’t even try for snookers. Eye fatigue?“. Marco is not just a brilliant player, he’s a very nice person as well, and a great ambassador for Hong Kong. What I saw yesterday really saddened me.

It’s absolutely baffling that there isn’t even a mention of Xu Si’s 5-2 win over Alex Ursenbacher. But, yeah, a Chinese playing a Swiss. Who cares? Nothing to see there.

Lyu Haotian beat Fan Zhengyi by 5-4 in an excellent and entertaining match. It’s a pity that they drew each other and that Fan will not be in Nuremberg. This was quality, positive, attacking but not reckless snooker. I like both players but I’m glad Lyu won. Yesterday, I saw glimpses of the player I met in 2012, the absolutely amazing kid I watched in Yixing: fearless, creative and supremely talented. It’s easy to forget that Lyu is only 25. He was far too young when arriving in the UK, alone, at a time when the “academies” didn’t exist. He went through terrible things. But hopefully the scars are healing. He has time on his side and a lot to offer.

I plan to watch the Xing Zihao v Peng Yisong match today.

The last “forgotten” match saw Dylan Emery beat Barry Pinches by 5-2. Pinches replaced Liam Highfield. Dylan is 22, he’s a young promising player. He played well in the 2023 ranking Championship League. He had the misfortune of being in the same Group as Willo who wiped the floor with everyone on that day. But Dylan won his other two matches, beat Ken Doherty and came second in Group 6. Dylan’s “reward” for his efforts yesterday is a clash with John Higgins at the main venue. At least he will not be “ignored” then, I suppose.

All detailed results are on snooker.org

And, yes, it’s a very international team of fans that keeps everyone up-to-date with the scores when UK-centric WST fails us all .

Apparently WST reports become shorter and less “complete” with every passing day. Here is yesterday’s instalment:

Williams Eases To Nuremberg Berth

Mark Williams thrashed Zhang Anda 5-0 to clinch his progression from BetVictor European Masters qualifying in Leicester.

The three-time World Champion’s only ranking semi-final appearance last season came in this event and today’s victory ensures he will be in Nuremberg for the final stages this time around.

Williams required just one hour and ten minutes to wrap up the win. He fired in breaks of 79, 104, 77, 69 to wrap up a comprehensive victory.

Barry Hawkins made the final stages despite conceding a 147 in his clash with Sean O’Sullivan. The Hawk ran out a 5-2 victor and crafted runs of 117, 90, 64 and 53 en route to the win.

India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha secured his first knockout event win as a professional with a superb performance to beat Ryan Thomerson 5-2. He crafted breaks of 131, 95, 69 and 53 on his way to victory.

Shoot Out champion Chris Wakelin won five frames on the bounce to beat Malaysia’s Thor Chuan Leong 5-2, while Jordan Brown defeated Ma Heilong 5-2.

That’s five matches reported on out of 12 played… fortunately there is snooker.org with all the detailed results.

Yesterday, 10 out of 12 matches were won by the highest seeded player. One of the two “exceptions” was Ishpreet Singh Chadha who, I must say, surprised me agreeably. He played well, positively, at a good pace and he is very easy on the eye. The other “exception” was Anthony Hamilton beating Matt Selt by 5-4 in a match that finished close to midnight and where there was never more than one frame difference between the players.

Here is the end of Sean “the Storm” beautiful 147, from the last red. That fifteen black was the first difficult ball Sean had to pot. His break up to then had been a model of controlled break-building.

Interestingly, Sean had made a “quasi-maximum” in the World Championship qualifiers earlier this year.

In this 140 break, Sean potted all reds with blacks and all the colours, yet his break was 140. Before watching it, can you guess what happened?

It was quite an extraordinary day in Leicester yesterday, and the WST report doesn’t do it justice.

Evans Reaches Final Stages

Reanne Evans battled to a marathon 5-4 win over Jenson Kendrick to successfully negotiate BetVictor European Masters qualifying in Leicester and clinch her place in the final stages in Nuremberg.

It’s a first victory in a full length match for the 12-time Women’s World Champion, since regaining her professional status back in 2021. However, she was made to do it the hard way in a match which lasted over four hours.

The first two frames were shared, before Evans claimed the third and the fourth to head into the mid-session interval 3-1 ahead. Kendrick won the fifth, but it was Evans who then took a mammoth one hour and 13 minute frame to move one from victory at 4-2.

Kendrick kept his hopes alive, before the pair were pulled off with Evans leading 4-3 to allow the evening session games to begin. When they eventually returned it was Evans who got over the line to clinch her qualification.

James Cahill scored an emphatic 5-0 defeat of Thailand’s Women’s World Champion Baipat Siripaporn. Blackpool cueman Cahill made breaks of 59, 50 and 72 on his way to the whitewash victory and a place in Nuremberg.

Jack Lisowski made a 141 on his way to beating Sam Craigie 5-4, while Belgium’s Ben Mertens came from 4-3 down to beat Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson 5-4.

Alfie Burden, who recently regained his tour place through Q School, took the final two frames of his tie with Hayden Pinhey to emerge with a thrilling 5-4 victory.

First of all, this report once again shows how everything WST is terribly UK-centric: indeed there is nothing about Liu Hongyu’s excellent 5-1 win over Hammad Miah. Liu, only 19, looks like a very special player: last month he managed to reach stage 2 of the 2023 ranking CLS on his first day as a professional and yesterday he beat Miah, an experienced professional, very convincingly. If he was a British youngster it would probably the headline of the WST report, as it is, he’s not even mentioned.

Reanne showed great patience and resilience yesterday. She was the better player and the most positive of the two at the table. It eventually paid off and she got a lot of support and praise on social media. Hopefully this win will give Reanne the confidence she needs to win matches regularly, and show what she is truly capable of.

Ben Mertens’ win is briefly mentioned but not the fact that Ben was 4-3 down and needing a snooker at one point. It looked over. Gary Wilson is a top player, a ranking event winner. Ben is only 18. Showing such resilience, fighting spirit and self-belief at such a young age is remarkable.

Sanderson Lam also registered a good win (by 5-3) against the very solid Mark Joyce. Sanderson had four breaks over 50 in the process and enjoyed the match. It was a very good game.

2023 European Masters Qualifiers – Day 2

Here is the report shared by WST about yesterday in Leicester

Pang Powers Past Mink

Chinese 23-year-old Pang Junxu swept past former Women’s World Champion Mink Nutcharut 5-1 to make it through BetVictor European Masters qualifying in Leicester.

Pang has risen to prominence in recent times, since earning the Rookie of the Year award back in 2021. The world number 34 enjoyed landmark moments towards the end of last season. He reached his maiden ranking final at the WST Classic, where he lost out to Mark Selby. Pang then qualified for the final stages of the World Championship for the first time, he put up a strong fight against defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan but lost 10-7.

He carried that form over to the recent BetVictor Championship League, when he topped his first group before dropping out in stage two and looked to be in good touch today. Breaks of 64, 83, 71,92 and 55 helped Pang to a comfortable victory over Thailand’s Mink this morning, which earns him a place in Nuremberg next month.

World number 25 Zhou Yuelong scored a comfortable 5-1 over recent Q School graduate Stuart Carrington. China’s Zhou signed off in impressive fashion with three consecutive century runs of 116, 107 and 105 to round off the win.

Welshman Daniel Wells defeated Estonia’s Andres Petrov 5-2 to secure his place in the final stages, while tour rookie Jiang Jun scored an impressive 5-1 win over Andrew Pagett.

Former Shanghai Masters Dominic Dale scored a 5-2 win over Anthony McGill to make the final stages. Dale top scored with a run of 120 during the win.

The very one-sided score doesn’t tell the whole story as Mink showed some very good things yesterday. Pang is a top player, probably even better than his current ranking tells and Mink wasn’t completely outplayed. Her safety was quite good. But, no matter what Jason Ferguson says about snooker not being a physical game, some physical characteristics do matter. Mink is petite. She needs to use the rest much more frequently than most because she doesn’t reach and she lacks cue-power.

As usual that report covers only a fraction of yesterday’s action. All the results are on snooker.org. Also worth mentioning are: Andrew Higginson back on tour and looking good in beating Cao Yupeng, Ben Woollaston beating Robert Milkins and Iulian Boiko giving Matthew Stevens a good game. Also, Si Jiahui beat Julien Leclercq, who looked very frustrated with his own performance towards the end of the match.

2023 British Open Qualifiers draw

Here is the announcement by WST

Brecel Draws Ding In Cazoo British Open

World Champion Luca Brecel will be up against China’s top player Ding Junhui in the first round of the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham in September.

The world ranking event features a random draw for every round, and Crucible king Brecel has been handed a tough opening test against three-time UK Champion Ding.

All of the top 16 seeds will be in action on the opening day of the tournament, Monday September 25th, at the Centaur Arena, Cheltenham Racecourse. Tickets are ON SALE NOW for what will be an outstanding day of snooker at a historic tournament. For just £25 fans can buy an all-day ticket to see a wide range of matches featuring the best 16 players on the planet. …

Ryan Day won the title last season, beating Mark Allen in the final, and he has been drawn against Sean O’Sullivan. Other first round ties to be played on September 25th include:

World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan v Jimmy Robertson

Judd Trump v Anton Kazakov

Mark Selby v Ben Woollaston

Shaun Murphy v Rebecca Kenna

Neil Robertson v Jamie Clarke

Mark Allen v Anthony McGill

John Higgins v Long Zehuang

Mark Williams v Peng Yisong

Ali Carter v Allan Taylor

Jack Lisowski v Joe O’Connor

Kyren Wilson v Martin O’Donnell

Gary Wilson v Ahmed Elsayed

Robert Milkins v Jiang Jun

All players seeded outside the top 16 will compete in a qualifying round from August 14 to 19, needing to win one match to make it through to the final stages in Cheltenham.

The tournament, which was first staged in 1985, will run from September 25th to October 1st, with extensive live coverage from ITV.

For the full draw click here

For the provisional qualifying format click here

Why am I under the impression that Judd always has a rather easy draw?

The return of the International Championship

WST has announced the return of another event in China: the International Championship

Tianjin City To Host 2023 International Championship

WST is delighted to announce that Tianjin City will host the return of the International Championship, when the prestigious ranking event takes place later this year.

The tournament has undergone a four-year hiatus from the World Snooker Tour, caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the stunning surrounds of Tianjin City will see snooker’s top stars once again compete for the International Championship title from November 5th to 12th.

The International Championship was first staged in 2012 and held all the way through to 2019. Judd Trump won the inaugural and most recent editions, with Ding Junhui, Ricky Walden, John Higgins, Mark Selby and Mark Allen all also former champions.

It will be the third tournament of the season to be held in China, with the Shanghai Masters taking place in September and the Wuhan Open being staged in October.

WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “We are delighted to see this massive tournament back on the calendar and it is very exciting to be taking an event to the beautiful city of Tianjin.

“It is hugely significant for the sport to be returning to China and the International Championship has always been one of the most significant fixtures in the World Snooker Tour season. I know fans in Tianjin will be treated to some world class snooker. I’d like to thank the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association and CCTVSE for their partnership in staging this tournament.”

According to WST Calendar the qualifiers for this will be held in Sheffield in September, just after the 2023 Shanghai Masters.

Although this is good news, nothing changes about the UK centric nature of the alleged “WORLD” tour and the bias it maintains in favour of UK players.

Here is the report on day 1 at the 2023 European Masters Quals as shared by WST

Higgins Thumps Gould To Book Germany Spot

John Higgins made a superb start to his 2023/24 season as he fired a century and three more breaks over 70 in a 5-1 thrashing of Martin Gould to reach the final stages of the BetVictor European Masters.

Higgins elected not to enter the season-opening BetVictor Championship League, but following a three-month break from competitive action the Scot was quickly into a groove and needed just 81 minutes to stroll through the qualifying round in Leicester.

The four-time Crucible king will head to Nuremberg for the televised stages of the world ranking event which will run from August 22 to 27. ..

Runs of 97 and 80 gave Higgins the first two frames. Gould pulled one back with a 138, but failed to pot a ball in the last three frames as Higgins fired breaks of 129, 78 and 48.

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh eased to a 5-0 whitewash over Asjad Iqbal, top scoring with 75, 59 and 80. Ireland’s Aaron Hill edged out Jimmy White 5-4, despite veteran White fighting back from 4-1 down to 4-4.

Jamie Jones enjoyed a tremendous fight-back from 4-1 down to beat Yuan Sijun 5-4. Jones took the last four frames with top breaks of 98, 118 and 135.

Zak Surety scored the highest break of his career, 135, and also made a 105 during a 5-3 defeat of Cazoo British Open champion Ryan Day.

Family life has been my priority over the last two weeks and I didn’t see much of the action yesterday but here are some thoughts about what I did see, and the results. You will find all detailed results on snooker.org.

It’s really strange to see John Higgins in qualifiers and it’s bad news for whoever draws him there, as Martin Gould found out yesterday.

It’s really hard not to like Jimmy White despite the countless heartbreaks he has inflicted to his fans over the teears. Even in qualifiers, he always presents himself impeccably dressed. He puts his heart in every shot. He fights with all he had. There was all of that yesterday again. His fightback from 4-1 to 4-4 are the three frames I saw in the whole afternoon. I know that Aaron Hill is part of the future of the sport we love, and Jimmy, at 61, is the past… I was still sad when I found out the final result.

Zak Surety is a mystery to me. I have seen him play countless times, in PTCs, on the Q-tour … at times he looks unplayable, more often he looks ordinary. Apparently yesterday was an “unplayable” day…

In the evening I watched a bit of the Slessor vs Moody match, two frames actually. The kid ha a LOT to learn, which is to be expected of course. To his credit though he showed strong resilience. Shaun Murphy sees a young self in Stan Moody. I don’t. He’s a very “busy” player but actually not fast at all. His mannerisms remind me more of Matthew Stevens or Ricky Walden than Shaun Murphy.