Ronnie is on his way to Kunshan for the third leg of his exhibitions tour in China. This will be two nights of exhibition matches with Jack Lisowski, Marco Fu and Zhang Anda. Hopefully, Ronnie will be fully fit and well again, and able to play to his full potential. This should be good!

Upon arrival Ronnie was reunited with Ding’s dad … a friendship that started in 2007, after Ronnie helped a very young and distraught Ding who was abused by idiots in the crowd.

But, here, in Europe, things get underway in earnest tomorrow with the start of the first 2024 UK/Europe Q-School in Sheffield. It will be played behind closed doors. This is a crying shame. Ok, there will be one table streamed but that’s just one table…

Meanwhile WPBSA has announced further expansion of the Asia-Pacific Q-Tour

WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific Expansion Announced for 2024/25

The World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) has announced that its Q Tour Asia-Pacific series will expand to five events for the upcoming season.

The 2024/25 campaign will see the second staging of the Asia-Pacific series with two additional events held across Australia and New Zealand after former professional Vinnie Calabrese topped last season’s ranking list with two titles.

The announcement continues the expansion of the 2024/25 WPBSA Q Tour Global season, which also sees the Q Tour Middle East series incorporate events in Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The full list of Asia-Pacific series events is:

• 28-30 June: West Coast International
• 2-4 August: Fred Osbourne Classic
• 26-29 September: New Zealand Open
• 10-13 October: Bob Hawke AC Australian Open
• 24-27 January (TBC): Queensland Open

Once again, the top ranked player in the Asia-Pacific series ranking list will be offered places at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs, where three World Snooker Tour (WST) two-year tour cards will be on offer.

Alex Render, Australian Billiards & Snooker Council President said: “I am thrilled to announce our full support for the upcoming Q Tour season.

“By selecting five prestigious Open Snooker events, we are paving the way for aspiring players to embark on a remarkable journey. This initiative not only showcases the immense talent within our region but also provides a clear pathway for individuals to compete on the global stage.”

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: “All major sports must recognise the challenges to the distance and travel in providing opportunities for all. This network of Global Q Tours is creating more vital opportunities for many who dream of competing on the World Snooker Tour.”

“Our thanks must go to President Alex Render and his team for demonstrating an incredible commitment to aspiring players and officials across the Asia Pacific Region.”

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

I have underlined parts of Jason Ferguson quotes. He’s 100% right BUT making the qualifying process truly global isn’t enough – and doesn’t make sense – unless the main tour itself becomes truly global, which it isn’t currently as we know. The main Tour has to grow out of its UK centric organisation to become a truly inclusive and fair Tour. I won’t repeat what needs to be changed for that to happen… I have written about it about a zillion times. in the past years.