Amateur News

Zhao Xintong has been dominant on the Q-Tour since his return from his ban and last week-end he won a third Q-Tour event. That’s three consecutive wins! He’s now almost certain to be back on tour next season.

Here is the report by WPBSA

ZHAO WALTZES TO ANOTHER TITLE IN VIENNA

Zhao Xintong has defeated Ryan Thomerson 4-2 to become the first player to win three consecutive WPBSA Q Tour Europe events at the Austrian Snooker Academy, Vienna.

• View full results via WPBSA SnookerScores

The former UK Champion has extended his winning streak on snooker’s premier secondary amateur circuit to a record 24 matches, and stands on the brink of a return to the professional World Snooker Tour.

The 27-year-old now leads closest chaser Dylan Emery by 4,900 points with a maximum 6,000 to be won at the final two events of the season in Belgium and England. A run to the final at Event 6 will be enough to confirm his return to the top table regardless of other results.

Zhao was in top form throughout the event, firing in eight century breaks including a tournament high 142 during the final and he began the event with victories against Stephen Kershaw, Josh Mulholland and Luke Pinches to reach the final day.

Having come though a close match with fellow former professional Steven Hallworth, Zhao was then given a real scare as he fell 0-3 behind against England’s Matthew Glasby, before recovering to win 4-3 with a clearance of 51 in the final frame.

From there he quickly dispensed with former Q Tour event winner Sean O’Sullivan in the last four, to set up a title match with Ryan Thomerson.

The Australian player, who is looking to regain his professional place having spent two years on Tour from 2022-24, survived deciding-frame finishes in each of his first three matches against Alfie Davies, Halim Hussain and Mateusz Baranowski, before adding the scalps of Liam Highfield and Hayden Staniland to reach the final.

Having compiled five century breaks prior to the final, Zhao continued his scoring streak with breaks of 123 and 101 to take an early lead, before Thomerson won a close third frame to close to 1-2.

Zhao responded with a tournament high break of 142 in the fourth, with Thomerson responded with 85 to keep his hopes alive. Former world number six Zhao was not to be denied his Q Tour hat-trick, however and finished with 54 in the sixth frame to lift the trophy.

The victory capped a weekend of high-quality snooker with a Q Tour record 35 century breaks compiled during the event in Vienna.

The WPBSA Q Tour Europe continues with Event 6 which runs from 10-12 January at the Delta Moon in Mons, Belgium. Entry for the tournament remains open via WPBSA SnookerScores.

Professional Tour News

WST has published some more information about the imminent invitational event in Saudi Arabia.

TWO LOCAL STARS TO JOIN RIYADH SEASON SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP

Saudi Arabian snooker stars Ahmed Aseeri and Abdulraouf Saigh have won wild card places at next week’s Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, where they will line up against the world’s top ten players.
 
Aseeri and Saigh were the winners of a qualifying tournament held at the Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy in Riyadh last week. They have earned the chance to compete in the invitation tournament which runs from December 18th to 20th at the Global Theatre in Boulevard City.
 
Competing for the trophy are the best ten players on the planet, including defending champion O’Sullivan, world number one Judd Trump and World Champion Kyren Wilson, bringing another exciting event to the Riyadh Season roster of activity and giving local fans another opportunity to enjoy the sport of snooker which is growing fast in Saudi Arabia.
 
Ding Junhui will face Saigh and then Zhang Anda will meet Aseeri in the first round on the opening afternoon on Wednesday 18th. Then the same evening, the winners of those two matches will face seeds seven and eight, Luca Brecel and Shaun Murphy. 
 
All four quarter-finals will take place on Thursday 19th, starting with Mark Selby v Mark Allen, then Kyren Wilson will meet either Zhang, Brecel or a wild card. Judd Trump will be up against Mark Williams in a repeat of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters final, then defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will play either Ding, Murphy or a wild card. The semi-finals and final will take place on Friday 20th.
 
All matches are best of seven frames, until the final which is best of nine.
 
The tournament was staged for the first time in March 2024 following a historic agreement between His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), and the World Snooker Tour.
 
Once again the tournament will include a unique Gold Ball, which is worth 20 points and can only be potted at the end of a maximum 147, creating the possibility for a player to score a break of 167 which would be the highest in the history of snooker.
 
About Riyadh Season
Saudi Arabia’s capital embraces one of the world’s biggest entertainment events every year during winter.  Since the launch of the Riyadh Season in 2019, the festival has welcomed visitors from all over the world to experience thousands of concerts, sporting activities, and other unique cultural events.

This event will be significant. Not in ranking terms but regarding where Ronnie’s game stands. I’m certain that he will want to do well in this one. If he isn’t able to do that, it will be a really worrying sign.