The 2024 Asia -Oceania Q-School event 2 concluded yesterday and here is the report by WST:

TAHIR AND GURBAXANI SECURE TOUR CARDS

Pakistan’s Haris Tahir and India’s Kreishh Gurbaxani prevailed on the final day of Asia/Oceania Q School to earn two year cards for the World Snooker Tour.

Tahir was up against China’s Lan Yuhao in his final match and he showed no signs of nerves early on, firing in a break of 67 to move 1-0 ahead. Lan dug deep and crafted a run of 69 on his way to moving 2-1 ahead. However, Tahir claimed the last three on the bounce to clinch a momentous 4-2 victory.

“I am totally speechless. This means so much to me, my mother and my brother back home. The pressure was so high, but I am glad I handled it well towards the end. I will prepare myself to go to the UK, work hard and do my best.”

Haris Tahir

Asia/Oceania Q School Event Two Winner

The second match saw Gurbaxani fall 2-0 behind to Pakistan’s Muhammad Naseem Akhtar. The third saw Akhtar require three snookers, but he got them to give himself a chance of moving to the verge of victory. However, Gurbaxani won a safety battle on the final brown to reduce his deficit to 2-1.

That proved to be pivotal, as from there he powered to a further three on the bounce to secure a 4-2 win and a place among the professional ranks.

I’m both happy and disappointed with the 2024 Q-Schools results. Disappointed because some of the players I really wanted to see back on tour didn’t make it. Happy because the laureates are young but not children. It is not true that if you are good enough you are old enough. Being a professional, especially if it means moving to the UK and live there as an expat – which is what most “non British/Irish” players HAVE to do because of the UK centric organisation of the sport – involves much more than skills at the snooker table.

Browsing through social media yesterday I stumbled upon a quote by Nigel Bond expressing his pleasure at seeing Kreishh Gurbaxani qualifying. The young Indian spent a lot of time in the UK over the last twelve months, working with Nigel, in order to give himself the best possible chance to succeed at becoming a professional. Nigel is one of the nicest person you could wish to meet, he totally loves his sport, is extremely knowledgeable and is the best mentor any young player could wish for…