This was shared on WST website yesterday

WPBSA Q TOUR MIDDLE EAST TO EXPAND FOR 2024/25

The World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) has today announced an exciting expansion of the Q Tour Middle East series for the 2024/25 season.

The series will feature a trio of events in the region, with the first set to take place in Bahrain later this month before further events in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia later in the year.

Last season saw a global expansion of the Q Tour for the first time with the incorporation of events in the Middle East, Americas and Asia-Pacific regions alongside the European series which has been held since 2021/22.

The Middle East series had notable success in its inaugural season as both Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh and Mohamed Shehab, from the UAE, secured two-year World Snooker Tour cards at March’s Global Play-Off in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The full calendar for the 2024/25 Q Tour Middle East series can be found below. Further details on dates and venues will follow in due course.

Event 1: 21-23 May 2024 (Bahrain)

Event 2:19-21 July 2024 (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Event 3: October/November/ 2024 (Saudi Arabia)

The series will once again carry a ranking list with the top two players at the conclusion of the final event earning their places at the 2025 Q Tour Global Play-Off.

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: “We are delighted to announce an expansion of the Q Tour Middle East series to now feature events in three countries.

“Snooker is seeing tremendous growth in the region with World Snooker Tour events staged in Saudi Arabia, the achievements of ranking event winner Hossein Vafaei in recent years and the success of the Q Tour Middle East series further highlighting this growth.

“We are hugely excited to be returning as we underline our commitment to the region. We would like to thank our partners for their ongoing support.”

Saudi Arabia Billiard & Snooker Federation President, Dr. Nasser Saab Al-Shammari said: “We are pleased to see the continued expansion of snooker in the Middle East and we hope that the continued success of the WPBSA Q Tour Middle East series will provide the pathway for our players and officials and inspire the next generation of snooker stars from the region to develop and compete with the world’s top stars.

“We would like to thank WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson and his team for their ongoing support as we continue our goal of growing snooker in the Middle East.”

Mr Monther Albasri of the Bahrain Billiards, Snooker & Darts Federation said: “We are pleased to support the growth of the game alongside the WPBSA by hosting the first event of the 2024/25 Q Tour Middle East Series.”

Mr Khalid Alkhaili from UAEFED added: “We are delighted to see an expansion to the Q Tour Middle East series. With our partnership with the WPBSA and CueSports, we aim to serve the game as one of the UAE government & Dubai Sports Council’s strategic plans.”

CueSports CEO Dr. Ahmed Alhashmi said: “There is no more exciting way to help players in the region than working together with the WPBSA to develop the Q Tour Middle East series and future plans.”

Further information about the 2024/25 Q Tour will be published in due course.

Any extension of snooker outside the UK is a good thing … but I wish similar efforts would be made to promote snooker in mainland Europe. Of course, I’m not naïve… countries in mainland Europe are not awash with money to throw into such initiatives … nor do they feel a great need to get involved in sports-washing. That said, the middle East players did very well on the Q-tour. But those guys are not young kids which shows two things : that snooker is played at a high level in the region for a long time, and that for it to continue and develop action is needed.

Also … without wanting to trigger controversy – Israël is geographically part of that region and has some very good players too. I just hope that they will not be prevented to compete in those events if they so wish. In IBSF events in the region, Israeli players had visas refused … and that was well before the current conflict started.