Whilst the qualifiers for the 2024 Welsh Open are under way, WPBSa has published some important information regarding the qualifying routes leading to tour cards for next season.
The World Snooker Federation (WSF) Championships take place at the Grand Blue Fafa Resort in Golem, Albania between 29 January and 11 February 2024.
The winners of both the WSF Junior Championship and WSF Championship will earn two-year tour cards for the World Snooker Tour from the start of the 2024/25 season.
Please find important information about the events below:
WSF JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
The tournament, won last year by Stan Moody, takes place between 29 January and 2 February.
The provisional format for both competitions is as follows:
All group matches will be the best of 5 frames.
The top two players in each group will progress to the knockout rounds
All knockout rounds up to and including the semi-finals will be the best of 7 frames.
The final will be the best of 9 frames.
VENUE
Both events will take place at Grand Blue Fafa Resort in Golem, Albania. The full address for the venue can be found below:
Grand Blue Fafa Resort Rruga Kompleksit 1000 Golem Albania
CONTACT
Should you have any questions or concerns then you can contact us directly via our website or social media platforms.
In total 211 players have entered the main event which is quite impressive. All the names you would expect to find there, and more, are in, including Tony Knowles 😮. Maybe less expected is Luo Hong Hao. I wonder if he will be able to make it this time.
There are some women in the main draw too, most notably On Yee and So Man Yan from Hong Kong. It probably helps that there is a Women Snooker event, the 2024 Albanian Women’s Open, happening at the same dates, at the same venue.
Qualification Criteria Set For Q Tour Global Play-Off
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is pleased to confirm how the field of 24 players for this season’s newly relaunched Global Q Tour Play-Off will be completed.
The prestigious event will be held alongside the EBSA European Championships in Bosnia & Herzegovina from 13-15 March 2024 and for the first time will see three places on the World Snooker Tour from the start of the 2024/25 season contested
It can now be confirmed that 18 players from the Q Tour UK/Europe Rankings will qualify for the playoff, an increase of two from the minimum of 16 previously announced at the start of the season.
They will be joined by two players from each of the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Americas series’ who will complete the 24-player line-up in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
With events still to be played across the globe, there is still plenty to play for. Here is a round-up of the current state of play:
Success in the three of the six Q Tour UK/Europe events already held this season means that Michael Holt has an unassailable lead at the top of the rankings and has already secured his World Snooker Tour card for the 2024/25 season.
There is still plenty to play for, however, with 18 places at the Global Play-Off available for those ranked 2nd to 19th.
Previous event winners Liam Davies, Umut Dikme and Antoni Kowalski are automatically guaranteed qualification, but for players further down the list, it will no doubt be a nervy weekend in Leeds as just 1,000 points separate the players ranked between 11th and 28th in the current ranking list.
Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh dominated the first two events of the Middle East series, winning back-to-back events in January with final victories over Habib Humood (4-0) and Mohamed Shehab (4-3) to secure his place at the Global Play-Off regardless of what happened in the third event.
A first round exit for Sarkhosh in event three meant there would be a new winner in Abu Dhabi and it was Shehab, who had led 3-0 at one stage in the final of event two before being defeated by the Iranian, who made amends by beating Yazan Alhaddad in the final and securing the second available spot in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Canadian Vito Puopolo currently sits in poll position in the Americas ranking list following a victory in the first event in Toronto.
Puopolo, who played at the Crucible Theatre in last year’s World Seniors Championship, beat Matt Fifield, Charlie Brown and Alan Whitfield to set up a final with fellow countryman Jason Williams.
He had dropped just a single frame en route to the final and Puopolo was once again dominant in the title match, storming into a 4-0 lead and ultimately overcoming Williams 5-1 to secure the event one crown.
Puopolo and Williams currently sit in the qualifying places for the Global Play-Off but with events still to come in the USA and Brazil, it remains all to play for.
It remains tight at the top of the Q Tour Asia-Pacific ranking list with the top two places being held by players who picked up maximum points in one of the two events held so far, and zero points in the other.
Event one took place in New Zealand in September and October and it was Rob Redgrove who defeated Adam Shaw in a final frame decider to secure the event one title and an early lead in the race to Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Former main tour professional Vinnie Calabrese was the champion of the second event, held in Sydney. Calabrese stormed through an impressive field of 111 players to lift the title – beating Steve Mifsud 6-3 in the final.
Redgrove and Calabrese currently occupy the top two places in the ranking list, but with the third event still to be played later this week, nobody in this region is yet guaranteed qualification for the Global Play-Off.
12 thoughts on “2024/25 Main Tour Qualifying Routes – News”
There are many who have not entered the WSF event due to financial constraints.
A proper development pathway could be funded at each stage by means other than the players themselves (or in many cases, the parents of the players).
There are many who haven’t entered the WSF events due to financial constraints.
With a proper development pathway, each stage could be funded by other means, rather than the players (or in many cases, the parents of the players).
In the current state of things a secondary tour would only make the game even more UK centric. Already now the argument for having all quals in the UK is “it’s cheaper for the majority of players”. I can’t see WST developing a fair secondary tour – truly international – with that mindset. A rating system would allow every event to count no matter where or who set them u, provided they satisfy the standards of quality and fairness.
Not really. The current Q Tour has various tours but they should all be heading towards the play-off. No automatic places.
WST wouldn’t need to be involved with it. The WPBSA should fund the WSF to organise the qualification routes with all NGBs and regional associations involvement.
No Bai Yulu? 😦
She’s on the poster … so I suppose she is in somewhere
I hope 😸
I would like to see qualification for the main tour be based strictly on merit on a level playing field.
I don’t think it’s fair to give a tour card for the WSF juniors when there’s only 77 players under 19 involved.
The pool is too small to say that the winner will be one of the best 128 players in the world – which is what the main tour should consist of.
Q Tour is by far the best way of selecting players for the WST but it still favours those who can afford it.
There needs to be a better way of selecting players via a development pathway and remove the small categories that currently exist.
I realise there are many who say we need to showcase young talent in order to grow the professional game, but putting them on tour, in my opinion, is not the way.
Too many players are not interested in trying to get on the WST simply because it’s not financially viable.
I absolutely agree with you her Michael, and that’s where a globally accepted rating system would help enormously provided it’s applied fairly. There would actually be no need for any qualifying event. The top 128 in the rating become member of the main tour for a year. That simple. But of course a lot needs to be done at amateur and junior level to make sure the sport is fully inclusive and fair to all.
Although it would not solve the money issue, which (also according to Michael) is a hindrance to many.
I’ve still not managed to figure out the rating system yet!
I do still think the final stage, before before joining the WST, would have to be a secondary tour.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
There are many who have not entered the WSF event due to financial constraints.
A proper development pathway could be funded at each stage by means other than the players themselves (or in many cases, the parents of the players).
There are many who haven’t entered the WSF events due to financial constraints.
With a proper development pathway, each stage could be funded by other means, rather than the players (or in many cases, the parents of the players).
In the current state of things a secondary tour would only make the game even more UK centric. Already now the argument for having all quals in the UK is “it’s cheaper for the majority of players”. I can’t see WST developing a fair secondary tour – truly international – with that mindset. A rating system would allow every event to count no matter where or who set them u, provided they satisfy the standards of quality and fairness.
Not really. The current Q Tour has various tours but they should all be heading towards the play-off. No automatic places.
WST wouldn’t need to be involved with it. The WPBSA should fund the WSF to organise the qualification routes with all NGBs and regional associations involvement.
No Bai Yulu? 😦
She’s on the poster … so I suppose she is in somewhere
I hope 😸
I would like to see qualification for the main tour be based strictly on merit on a level playing field.
I don’t think it’s fair to give a tour card for the WSF juniors when there’s only 77 players under 19 involved.
The pool is too small to say that the winner will be one of the best 128 players in the world – which is what the main tour should consist of.
Q Tour is by far the best way of selecting players for the WST but it still favours those who can afford it.
There needs to be a better way of selecting players via a development pathway and remove the small categories that currently exist.
I realise there are many who say we need to showcase young talent in order to grow the professional game, but putting them on tour, in my opinion, is not the way.
Too many players are not interested in trying to get on the WST simply because it’s not financially viable.
I absolutely agree with you her Michael, and that’s where a globally accepted rating system would help enormously provided it’s applied fairly. There would actually be no need for any qualifying event. The top 128 in the rating become member of the main tour for a year. That simple. But of course a lot needs to be done at amateur and junior level to make sure the sport is fully inclusive and fair to all.
Although it would not solve the money issue, which (also according to Michael) is a hindrance to many.
I’ve still not managed to figure out the rating system yet!
I do still think the final stage, before before joining the WST, would have to be a secondary tour.
The two things are not incompatible.