Month: February 2025

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 3

Monique Snooker

Only 16 players remain on course for the 2025 Welsh Open title as we enter day 4 of the “main” event. There are some notable absentees in the last 16 line-up and some unexpected names as well.

Here are the reports shared by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

BetVictor Welsh Open Day Three

Home favourite Mark Williams suffered a 4-2 reverse against Stephen Maguire in the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open, while Neil Robertson was also knocked out on an afternoon of surprise results in Llandudno.

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Defeat for Robertson, 4-3 against Tom Ford, blows open the race to win the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, as Kyren Wilson can now overtake him by reaching the quarter-finals, while Chris Wakelin, Pang Junxu and Luca Brecel are also in the hunt.

World number five Williams, the last Welsh winner of this title back in 1999, made three centuries in his opening match this week against Florian Nuessle, but couldn’t reproduce that form today. Six-time ranking event winner Maguire has slipped to 29th in the world but enjoyed one of his best wins in recent seasons to set up a last 16 meeting with Sanderson Lam. A break of 54 in the sixth frame, his highest of the match, helped the Glaswegian to the winning line and kept alive his hopes of qualifying for next month’s World Grand Prix as he must at least reach the semi-finals.

“The fifth frame was the big moment because Mark had come back to 2-2 and looked like going 3-2 up, but he missed a bad blue and I managed to clear up,” said Maguire, who won this event in 2013. “With the chances I had I could have won it 4-0 or 4-1. I am going to watch the match back tonight, which I don’t usually like doing but I am not cueing well so I need to see if I can fix it before tomorrow. It’s a good result for me today because I don’t get many wins like that these days.”

Robertson came from 3-0 down to 3-3, only for Ford to finish superbly with a break of 131 in the deciding frame to earn a tie with Jackson Page. “I came here with very low expectations because I have been feeling unwell,” said Ford, who won his first ranking title at the 9Club Shoot Out in December. “When Neil got back to 3-3 he was cueing well and I was feeling worse, but fortunately in the last frame I got a chance and made a good break.“

Page reached the last 16 of this event for the first time in his career with a 4-2 win over Ishpreet Singh Chadha. Welshman Page first played in the tournament as a 15-year-old in 2017 and won two matches to reach the last 32. 

“That run in 2017 was my first time on TV and those memories will live forever,” said Page today. “It’s a great feeling to reach the last 16 of my home tournament, especially as the crowds here are brilliant even in the morning sessions. I have had a good season so far and I hope to keep improving.” 

Yuan Sijun, a semi-finalist at the recent Machineseeker German Masters, kept his momentum going with a 4-3 win over Mark Allen. A tense 55-minute deciding frame came down to the colours and China’s Yuan enjoyed a huge slice of good fortune when, leading 66-54, he missed the final yellow to a baulk corner but it flew into a centre pocket. He added green and brown which proved enough.

John Higgins, who has won a record five Welsh Open titles, is yet to concede a frame in this event as he followed up a 4-0 first round victory over Graeme Dott with another whitewash against Robert Milkins. Breaks of 65, 83, 72 and 68 helped Higgins set up a match with Yuan Sijun or Mark Allen.

Wu Yize, runner-up at the BetVictor English Open and BetVictor Scottish Open, went down 4-2 against Sanderson Lam. That ends Wu’s chances of the BetVictor Bonus as he needed to reach the final.

Matthew Selt edged out Jamie Clarke 4-3, which could be enough to secure his place in the World Grand Prix. Welshmen Jamie Jones and Matthew Stevens reached the last 16, beating Robbie Williams 4-2 and David Gilbert 4-3 respectively. 

Evening session

BetVictor Welsh Open Day Three Evening

World Champion Kyren Wilson suffered a 4-3 defeat against Joe O’Connor in the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open, ending his hopes of winning the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus.

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On a day of surprise results in Llandudno, Wilson’s exit followed defeats for Mark Williams, Mark Allen and Neil Robertson. Victory tonight would have brought Wilson within one more win of over-taking Robertson at the top of the BetVictor Home Nations Series rankings, but now the bonus can only be won by Robertson, Luca Brecel and Pang Junxu .

Wilson has already won three ranking titles in 2024/25 but won’t add to his haul this week as Leicester’s O’Connor made a vital break of 58 in the deciding frame. He’s through to the last 16 of a knockout ranking event for the first time this season and will meet Matthew Stevens on Thursday.

“It’s a great win, to beat someone of Kyren’s calibre,” said O’Connor, a semi-finalist in this event in 2019. “I missed a couple of easy balls but overall it was a good performance. I enjoy playing on table one and trying to put on a show. I’ve still got time to finish the season well. Maybe there was a bit of extra pressure on Kyren tonight because he was chasing the bonus, but he’s World Champion so I doubt that affected him much.” 

 Brecel continued to show signs of a return to his best as he beat Noppon Saengkham 4-2. The 2023 Crucible king opened with a 147 attempt which ended on 105 when he missed the black off the 14th red. Brecel later stole the fifth frame from 71-0 down to go 3-2 ahead, then finished in style with a 108.

“My cue ball control was good,” said the Belgian, who meets Pang next. “I am having fun out there and making good breaks. Hopefully more of the same tomorrow.” 

Jack Lisowski had three centuries in his opening match on Tuesday and followed up with further runs of 112 and 105 tonight as he beat Chris Wakelin 4-1.

All the event results so far are available on snooker.org.

I can’t really comment on any of the matches. I did watch a lot of snooker yesterday but have no clear recollection of any of what I saw. As most of you will know, we are experiencing a swarm of earthquakes in Santorini where I live. Yesterday we had over 150 of them, most very mild and none very strong. So far there is no serious damage done to any building other than a few abandoned ones that were about to crumble even before the earthquakes started. But it is a concern, of course it is, because nobody can predict with any level of certainty what is coming next. I haven’t had a peaceful night of sleep since this all thing began and I start to feel it. I’m tired and my concentration is all over the place. So … any comments on the matches will be most welcome.

O’Connor’s victory is no shock. He has improved a lot over the last couple of years and I see him as top 16 material. Yuan Sijun is another vastly improved player. He has a solid temperament as well. Maguire has always been a quality player, and a big occasions player. How/why he hasn’t won more in his career is a mystery to me1 … sort of.

Both Mark Selby and John Higgins scored heavily yesterday. Going by the scores Higgins totally outplayed Rob Milkins, but then, I’m not sure how Rob was playing as he’s equally capable of producing a stunning performance or an absolute stinker.

  1. … sort of because I’ve seen Stephen at events often enough. He likes his drinks and he has a rather volatile temperament. ↩︎

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 2

Monique Snooker

Yesterday at the 2025 Welsh Open saw the conclusion of the “first round” at the venue and yet another withdrawal from Ronnie. 😥

Here are the reports shared by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

Shaun Murphy crashed out of the BetVictor Welsh Open with a 4-3 defeat against world number 75 Ma Hailong, a result which dents his hopes of an automatic spot at the Crucible in April. 

Results 

Murphy won the Johnstone’s Paint Masters last month, his greatest moment for a decade, but his record in ranking events over the past two seasons has been patchy and as it stands he is 19th in the Race to the Crucible with just four more counting events to come. If he’s not able to climb into the top 16 in that list by the end of April’s Sportsbet.io Tour Championship, he will face the qualifying rounds in Sheffield. 

From 2-0 down today, Murphy made breaks of 127, 100 and 82 to lead 3-2. But China’s 21-year-old Ma hit back with a break of 77 for 3-3, then built a 71-0 lead in the decider. Murphy kept fighting and got the two snookers he needed on the last red, but could only watch in despair as Ma fluked the red when attempting safety to clinch his best win on tour. He goes through to the last 32 to face Ryan Day.

Murphy said: “I thought when I got the two snookers that I might get an opportunity but it wasn’t to be. I have lost here and in Berlin in deciding frames without getting a chance. It was a really good match, Ma was excellent and I can only praise him. I had two centuries and an 80, I tried my best and I lost.“

Barry Hawkins, runner-up in two ranking events this season, also fell at the first hurdle, losing 4-1 to Sanderson Lam. “It’s a big scalp for me to beat a top 16 player,” said Lam. “I much prefer playing in venues like this with a big crowd, it brings the best out of me. My big ambition this season is to get to the Crucible, that’s my dream. I’m enjoying snooker, playing well and putting a lot into practice.”

World Champion Kyren Wilson narrowly avoided defeat against Marco Fu, winning 4-3 by making his 500th career century in the deciding frame. Fu came from 3-1 down to 3-3 with breaks of 79 and 139 and had first chance in the decider but potted just one red before missing the brown to a baulk corner. Wilson, winner of three ranking titles already this season, punished him with a 103, becoming the 14th player to reach the landmark of 500 tons. 

Matthew Selt thrashed Ricky Walden 4-0 with a top break of 102, a huge result in the race to qualify for the World Grand Prix as Selt is now up to 31st and, as it stands, would make it to Hong Kong. “That was one of the biggest matches I have played for a few years so it was great to be fully focussed all the way through. Getting into the World Grand Prix is the goal this week. I’ll be watching the other games now and hoping everyone else in the race loses! When I got here I had no chance of winning, I worked with my coach Chris Henry and I was hitting the wrong side of the white and the object ball, so I have to give credit to Chris for fixing what I was doing wrong.”

Day remains in the same race thanks to a 4-2 win over Ben Mertens, though he must reach the quarter-finals to have a chance. David Gilbert made a break of 100 in the decider to edge out Jordan Brown 4-3. Matthew Stevens earned a 4-2 success in a Welsh derby against Crucible runner-up Jak Jones.  

Wu Yize, runner-up at both the BetVictor English Open and BetVictor Scottish Open this season, needs to reach another final this week to have a chance of winning the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, and he came from 3-1 down to beat Scott Donaldson 4-3.

Evening session

Hossein Vafaei overcame a mystery injury to reach the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open with a 4-2 victory over Fan Zhengyi.

Results 

Iran’s Vafaei first noticed the injury in his neck before last week’s BetVictor Championship League and it has got steadily worse, spreading through his shoulder, left arm and into his hand. But he has battled through the pain and tonight’s victory could be crucial to his season as it keeps him on track to qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.

“I thought about pulling out but I have to play for the people who support me, even if I am struggling they want me to win,” said Vafaei, who made a top break of 73 tonight as he set up a meeting with Ali Carter. “I have been to the doctor but he just gave me pain-killers which didn’t really help. Tonight I was losing control of my bridge hand, it was just dropping down and my shoulder felt very heavy. Hopefully I can visit my doctor in Iran and they will be able to find out what’s wrong and get me ready for the rest of the season. 

“I’m proud and happy to win tonight. I haven’t had a good season, it’s hard to find a balance between snooker and the rest of your life. Sometimes you lose form and then you have to start again from zero. I just want to finish the season well.“

Luca Brecel remained in the hunt for a first individual title since his Crucible triumph 21 months ago as he beat Stuart Carrington 4-2. From 2-0 down, Brecel won four frames in a row with top runs of 96 and 99.

Chris Wakelin recovered a 3-1 deficit to beat Michael Holt 4-3, making a vital 54 in the decider. Wakelin now meets Jack Lisowski, who raced to a 4-0 win over Joshua Cooper in 52 minutes with breaks of 100, 106 and 111.  

Hossein’s injury “sounds” very much like “nerve damage” to me going by the symptoms he describes. This kind of injuries are very painful and take time to heal. More often than not, there isn’t much that can be done other than resting. Ricky Walden was whitewashed by Matthew Selt which came as no surprise given Ricky’s recent health issues1. I’m wishing Ricky the best and, if I were Matthew Selt, I wouldn’t boost too much about that win yesterday.

Ma Hailong got lucky in the end and Murphy’s facial expression was priceless when that fluke went in but overall Ma deserved the win. He was a huge “underdog” in that match but showed great resolve throughout and played some really good stuff as well. Credits to Shaun for giving his young opponent the praise he deserved.

Luca Brecel was at his entertaining best once he got going. The crowd was clearly enjoying that match. He’s a maverick, he can be massively infuriating at times, but when he does play like he did yesterday evening he’s probably the most entertaining player on tour from the casual viewer’s point of view.

One result that I didn’t expect is Jak Jones 4-2 defeat to Matthew Stevens. Jak made breaks of 137 and 123 in the two frames he won, Matthew highest break of the match was 67, he hasn’t done anything of note for ages … but he won that match. I didn’t see how he managed that feat so I can’t comment but I’m slightly nonplussed to put it mildly.

Kyren’s match versus Marco Fu was a very high quality affair. Kyren sealed it with a 103 break that was the 500th century of his career. Marco remains a quality player and would probably be ranked much higher if it wasn’t for the recurrent eyes issues he suffered in recent years.

  1. He was forced to withdraw from the 2025 German Masters due to illness and is due to undergo gallbladder surgery ↩︎

Ronnie has withdrawn fron the 2025 Welsh Open

Monique Snooker

It has just been announced by WST:

O’Sullivan Withdraws From BetVictor Welsh Open

Ronnie O’Sullivan has pulled out of the BetVictor Welsh Open.

O’Sullivan was due to face Jamie Clarke at 1pm on Tuesday afternoon. Clarke will now receive a bye to the last 32.

The tournament in Llandudno runs until Sunday February 16th.

This time no reason was given. And I can’t help wondering when Ronnie actually informed them. The text above was published today, so why write “on Tuesday afternoon” rather than “today afternoon”? And Murphy had been speaking to the press yesterday and had already expressed doubts about his participation.

Anyway … 😥

The 2025 Welsh Open – Day 1

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

The first day of the 2025 Welsh Open in Llandudno was an interesting one on many accounts but, before I come to that, here are the reports shared by WST:

Morning and afternoon sessions

BetVictor Welsh Open Day One

Gary Wilson described his own performance as “hideous” as his defence of the BetVictor Welsh Open title ended in the opening round with a 4-3 defeat against Ishpreet Singh Chadha.

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Wilson won his third ranking title in Llandudno last year, beating Martin O’Donnell in the final, but has lost form in recent months and admitted last week that he was seeking a solution in practice. Suffering from illness, the Tynesider was well below his best today and from 3-2 up he lost the last two frames against India’s top player Chadha. The result leaves Wilson in danger of failing to qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix. “I’m just sick,” he admitted. “If I’d had half my game I probably would have got through, but it was hideous.“

Chadha enjoyed a fine run to the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open earlier in the season, notably beating Mark Selby, and the world number 69 proved again that he enjoys the big occasion. A break of 76 gave him the opening frame, and despite falling 3-2 down, the 28-year-old dominated the last two to set up a last 32 meeting with Jackson Page.

“It felt amazing, to beat a three-time ranking event winner,” said Singh-Chadha. “I was on it from the start and Gary was a little but off, but it was a tough match. I was tough mentally even before I became a pro and I have worked on the technical side with my coach Yasin Merchant. As I am playing better I feel more confident. I am close to getting into the top 64 now which would be a great achievement in my first two seasons.“

Home favourite Mark Williams looked sharp in a 4-1 win over Florian Nuessle, compiling breaks of 101, 100 and 117. “I’ve been playing well all season,” said Williams, the last Welsh winner of this event back in 1999. “I’ve won a tournament and could have had one or two more. It’s more than I ever thought I’d be doing, approaching my 50th birthday. I’ve just got to enjoy it.“

Neil Robertson has extra motivation this week as he is front runner for the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, and he started strongly with a 4-2 win over Mark Davis. From 2-0 down, Robertson reeled off four frames in a row with top breaks of 67 and 77. That result means that just ten other players are still in the race to win the bonus.

Mark Selby enjoyed a 4-2 victory over Haydon Pinhey, while Welshman Jamie Jones beat Si Jiahui by the same scoreline.

Evening session

BetVictor Welsh Open Day One Evening

Mark Allen launched his bid to win the BetVictor Welsh Open for the first time as he battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to beat Stan Moody 4-3 in the last 64 in Llandudno. 

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Allen has been ever-present in this tournament since 2006 but surprisingly has just one semi-finalist appearance, in 2016. The 11-time ranking event winner will hope to improve that record this week and cleared the first hurdle with an excellent break in the deciding frame against teenager Moody. 

Winner of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in December and a semi-finalist at the recent Johnstone’s Paint Masters, Northern Ireland’s Allen is looking to continue his sequence of deep runs and will face Yuan Sijun in the last 32 on Wednesday at Venue Cymru.

Moody made a confident start with breaks of 59 and 95 to win the first two frames. The 18-year old had chances in frame three but couldn’t take them, and Allen snatched it on the colours, then made a delightful 138 total clearance for 2-2. A run of 64 helped Moody regain the lead, but he lost a scrappy 39-minute sixth. In the decider, Moody was first among the balls and made 29 before missing a red to a baulk corner. World number eight Allen seized his chance with a match-winning 67.

“Stan started really well to go 2-0 up,” said 38-year-old Allen. “I hung in there and played some decent stuff to get back into it. I had to rely on him making a few mistakes towards the end. I’m relieved to get through. I didn’t expect him to miss the red in the last frame, I made a good break from there and I’m pleased to close it out that way. I haven’t practised as hard as I usually do for this event but I have a day off tomorrow to try to be ready for Wednesday.”

John Higgins was outstanding in a 4-0 win over Graeme Dott, firing breaks of 113, 60 and 107. Elliot Slessor was also on the right side of a 4-0 scoreline, beating Liam Davies with a top run of 105.

Robert Milkins, who won this title two years ago but has since failed to go beyond the quarter-finals of any event, enjoyed a much-needed 4-1 win over Wang Yuchen. 

Ishpreet Sing Chadha is a player I like to watch. I had watched him play as an amateur on the stream during the qualifiers in Thailand and had immediately warmed to him. He’s a very good player who appears to be blessed with a great temperament and seems to enjoy his snooker. He plays a very positive game, without being reckless at all. He may have been helped by his opponent’s illness but he deserved this win 100%. That’s said, it’s never nice to see a player struggling with ill health and I wish Gary Wilson a speedy and complete recovery.

I may have appeared to dislike Stan Moody in the past, but this isn’t the case and never was. What I dislike is the fact when WST puts a strong focus on a young player – more often than not on an English kid – before they have actually proven anything. This sport isn’t easy, it’s very taxing mentally and emotionally and those young players shouldn’t have to cope with the additional weight of big expectations put on their young shoulders. Yesterday, I really appreciated what young Stan showed against Allen.

The last match I watched was Milkins v Wang Yuchen. It was a much closer match than the scores suggest. Robert Milkins, when on form, is scary. He makes the game look ridiculously easy. Yesterday was such a day. But, even if the score do suggest otherwise, Wang made him work for his win. Wang’s safety was excellent, and Milkins’ safety game is badly underrated. In long stretches this match was very tactical. Wang made the only 50+ break of the match, a truly beautiful 118 in frame 3. It was also a match played in great spirit, both players showing appreciation for their opponent’s good shots.

At the time of writing Ronnie is still in the draw unless WST is hiding things from us… 😉 I’m not expecting anything, Janie Clarke is no numpty, but I believe that he will want to play and play well in Hong Kong where he’s now a resident. A bit of competitive snooker played ahead of the 2025 Grand Prix might be part of the plan.

Amateur Snooker News – 10 February 2025

Monique Amateur, Live, Snooker ,

The 2025 Welsh Open has started this morning but, before we turn our attention to the last of the “Home Nations” events, let’s take stock of what happened last week-end on the amateur scene, as reported by WPBSA.

Highfield Wins Maiden Q Tour Crown

Liam Highfield defeated Dylan Emery 4-3 to win the seventh and final WPBSA Q Tour Europe event of the season at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, England.

The victory marks Highfield’s first title on the Q Tour and guarantees his place at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Turkey next month where three World Snooker Tour (WST) two-year tour cards will be on offer.

The 34-year-old Englishman, who is aiming for a quick return to the professional circuit after his 14-year unbroken spell came to an end last year, joined the three-day event on the Saturday as one of the 48 seeded cueists at the Landywood Snooker Club.

His campaign began with a tough test against fellow former professional Craig Steadman, who had already reached a Q Tour Europe event final in Sweden earlier in the season. The two players went blow for blow in a high-quality contest but a quartet of half-centuries, including a top break of 92, was enough for Highfield to secure the victory in a decider.

A 4-1 win over fellow countryman Ryan Davies earned Highfield his place in the final day for the fourth time this season and he began the Sunday in style with a whitewash of Josh Thomond to reach the quarter-finals.

Back-to-back 4-2 victories over Kuldesh Johal and Alex Clenshaw, the latter from 2-1 behind, saw Highfield book his place in a Q Tour Europe final for the first time.

Welshman Dylan Emery was his opponent in the title match after he proved to be one of the standout performers across the weekend.

Emery, who won the second Q Tour Europe event of the campaign, compiled the tournament high break of 140 against Anton Kazakov on Saturday evening and followed this up by overcoming former World Snooker Federation champion Ashley Hugill to earn a place in the last eight.

There he faced 14-year-old Shaun Liu, who had provided one of the stories of the event by picking up consecutive victories over former professionals Steven Hallworth and Harvey Chandler.

The Hong Kong China cueist came close to adding another scalp against Emery as he led 3-2 in the best-of-seven frame contest. Emery was able to hold his nerve, however, and take the last two frames before once again showing his battling qualities in the semi-finals to defeat Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko in a decider having trailed 3-1.

It had been a day full of drama and a high standard of snooker at the Landywood Snooker Club and the title match proved to be no different.

In a match that featured a half-century break in every frame, Highfield stormed into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 93 and 69 and then moved one away from victory at 3-1 with a further contribution of 59.

Emery wasn’t going down without a fight, however, and visits of 83 and 87 forced a final frame to decide the victor.

All you want in a decider is a chance and when Highfield’s arrived he took full advantage by hitting a 91 clearance to secure the first Q Tour title of his career.

The 2024/25 WPBSA Q Tour season comes a close next month as the Global Play-Offs are staged in Antalya, Turkey on 11-13 March. Full details will be announced in due course.

Evans Regains Belgian Crown

Reanne Evans has defeated Mink Nutcharut 4-3 following a dramatic final to regain the Belgian Women’s Open title for the first time since 2019 at the Trickshot in Bruges, Belgium.

Success for Evans represents her second ranking event title of the season following her win at the Women’s Masters last November and is her first outside of the UK in almost six years since the 2019 World Women’s Snooker Championship in Thailand.

Victory in Bruges will also see the 12-time world champion regain third place in the updated world rankings, having been overtaken by Bai Yulu following the recent WSF Women’s Championship in Morocco.

Beaten finalist Mink Nutcharut will remain in top spot following her fourth consecutive final appearance on the WWS Tour – all having come down to a deciding frame – which sees her further extend her lead to second placed Ng On Yee with two events remaining this season.

For Evans the run to the final would not be straightforward as having seen off debutant Diana Khodjaeva in the last 16, she would then defeat home favourite Wendy Jans 3-1 in the quarter-finals, before surviving her first decider against 2020 Belgian Open champion Ng On Yee in the semi-finals.

Mink Nutcharut meanwhile enjoyed relatively smooth passage to the title match as she whitewashed Jaique Ip Wan In, Kamila Khodjaeva and most impressively Anupama Ramachandran, during which she hit back-to-back century breaks of 115 and 107 during the final two frames, becoming the first player to do so in seven years.

It was Nutcharut who would get off to the stronger start during what would prove to be a tension-filled final as she stole the opener with a break of 40, before adding a close-fought second to double her advantage.

The frames would continue to be hard-fought and it was Evans who hit back to level at 2-2, before the next two were shared meaning that for the fourth straight final on the WWS Tour, a final frame decider would be required to settle the title.

Evans would gain the early advantage in the crucial seventh frame, before Nutcharut found herself with a chance to potentially steal and take her third consecutive crown in Bruges. A miss on the final red into the green pocket would ultimately prove costly, however, as Evans made a telling contribution to ultimately clinch the title.

The engrossing final would pull down the curtain on what was a memorable event which saw a number of stories throughout the three days. Notably, talented Belgian duo Diana and Kamila Khodjaeva both impressed in reaching the knockout rounds at their debut event, while 13-year-old Ellise Scott took world number five Rebecca Kenna to a deciding-frame at the last 16 stage. For Kenna, she would find herself on the wrong end of a decider in the next round as she dramatically lost to Anupama Ramachandran on a respotted black.

There was also history made as an incredible break of 138 – the fifth-highest ever on the WWS Tour – by Ng On Yee saw her become only the fourth player ever to reach ten career century breaks, before Mink Nutcharut equalled the feat the following day, with her brace of century breaks during the semi-finals.

Side-Tournaments

There was a second-career Under-21 title for Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul in the junior competition as the 19-year-old defeated Laura Killington, Sophie Nix and first-time finalist Chan Wai Lam of Hong Kong China to add to her previous crown at the Women’s Masters last November.

It would prove to be a fruitful weekend for the youngster who also claimed victory in the Challenge Cup event for players who did not reach the quarter-finals following her 2-0 success against England’s Ellise Scott in the final.

The Seniors competition held on Friday meanwhile saw current number one Tessa Davidson maintain her stranglehold at the top of the rankings with a 2-0 win against first-time finalist Anja Vandenbussche.

As always, World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to what is always a popular event in Bruges, in particular Olivier Vandenbohede and his team at the Trickshot.

The 2024/25 season continues with the Landywood British Women’s Open from 28-30 March 2025 in Bruges. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.

Note that I cited the last sentence as it was written at the time I copied the text, but the Landiwood British Open is due to be played in Walsall, England, according to WPBSA Snooker scores … not in Bruges as written in the piece above.

Congratulations Liam Highfield and Reanne Evans!

The 2025 Welsh Open Qualifiers

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

Who will be in Llandudno next week has been decided over the last three days and all the results are on snooker.org.

Hereafter are the reports shared by WST:

Day 1 – 4 February 2025

Evans Stuns Leclercq In Welsh Qualifiers

Reanne Evans enjoyed an impressive 4-1 victory over Julien Leclercq in the first qualifying round of the BetVictor Welsh Open, her second win on the pro tour this season.

…

Evans, the 12-time World Women’s Champion, will meet Joe O’Connor on Wednesday afternoon with the winner to go through to Llandudno next week. She took the opening frame against former Shoot Out finalist Leclercq on the final black, then dominated the next two with a top break of 40 to lead 3-0. Leclercq pulled one back before Evans settled the result in frame five. Her last win on the pro tour came in December when she beat Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 in the Machineseeker German Masters qualifiers.

Tour rookie Liam Davies, age 18, took a step towards qualifying for his home tournament as he beat Antoni Kowalski 4-1 with breaks of 93, 134 and 51. Liam Pullen edged out Kreishh Gurbaxani 4-3 with a top break of 102. The deciding frame came down to the final black, and Pullen potted it to set up a tie with Robbie Williams. It was a good day to be called Liam, as Shoot Out finalist Liam Graham beat Iulian Boiko 4-3.  

Dylan Emery won a Welsh derby against Duane Jones 4-2, while Ishpreet Singh Chadha top scored with 109 in a 4-0 whitewash of Baipat Siripaporn. Oliver Lines made a 136 in a 4-0 win over Ahmed Elsayed, while Stan Moody eased to a 4-0 success against Chris Totten. 

Day 2 – 5 February 2025

Amateur Emery Knocks Out Lei

BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan failed to make it to the final stages of the BetVictor Welsh Open, losing 4-3 in the qualifiers to amateur Dylan Emery.

China’s 21-year-old Lei won his first ranking title in December in Edinburgh, but misses out on the chance to chase more silverware in Llandudno. He’s also out of the race to win the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus, as he had climbed to third place behind Neil Robertson and Kyren Wilson but cannot now add to his tally. 

Welshman Emery, age 23 from Caerphilly, is not on the pro tour but finished top of the 2024 Q School rankings so has earned a place in many ranking events. He compiled a superb break of 82 in the deciding frame to beat Lei and set up a match with Noppon Saengkham in Llandudno next week.

India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha enjoyed a superb 4-0 win over Ashley Carty, firing runs of 87, 83, 83 and 104, and his reward is a match with defending champion Gary Wilson on Monday.

Dominic Dale, playing his last season on the pro tour, beat Mitchell Mann 4-3, while Jimmy Robertson came from 3-0 down to beat Allan Taylor 4-3 with a top break of 109.

Reanne Evans couldn’t follow up her first round win over Julien Leclercq as she lost 4-0 to Joe O’Connor, while Andrew Higginson came from 3-2 down to edge out He Guoqiang 4-3.

In round one, Austria’s Florian Nuessle made the highest break so far, 143, as he beat Jiang Jun 4-3 t set up a tie with Liu Hongyu. 

Day 3 – 6 February 2025

Brave Walden Earns Llandudno Spot

Ricky Walden beat Artemijs Zizins 4-2 to reach the final stages of the BetVictor Welsh Open, despite ongoing health problems which caused him to spend five days in hospital in Berlin last week.

Three-time ranking event winner Walden is due to have surgery to remove his gallbladder in the coming weeks, but during the recent Machineseeker German Masters, the same issue flared up and caused inflammation of his pancreas. In extreme pain, he withdrew from the tournament before his last 16 match and was rushed to hospital in Berlin, where he remained for five days. The pain is now under control, though Walden was clearly in discomfort today during his battle with Latvia’s Zizins.

Still, breaks of 81, 66 and 124 helped 42-year-old Walden to victory, and he goes through to Llandudno, just an hour away from his home in Chester. He will face Matthew Selt in the last 64.

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh suffered a 4-2 defeat against Ben Mertens, a huge blow to his hopes of qualifying for the World Grand Prix. The Thai is in 32nd place in the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year Rankings, with only the top 32 at the end of next week’s tournament to earn a place in Hong Kong.

Last year’s runner-up Martin O’Donnell will not be in Llandudno this time as he lost 4-0 to Wang Yuchen, whose top break was 112. Yuan Sijun, a semi-finalist in Germany, continued his fine form as he beat Amir Sarkhosh 4-0 with a top run of 115.  Jimmy White narrowly missed out as he lost 4-3 to Scott Donaldson. 

Welshman Jamie Clarke secured his place with a 4-2 defeat of Louis Heathcote, as did Stan Moody who edged out Anthony Hamilton 4-3. Moody made a 134 in frame five, and later a vital 52 in the decider. That result is a blow to Hamilton’s chances of avoiding relegation at the end of the season, having been ever present on the tour since 1991.

Hong Kong’s Marco Fu top scored with 87 in a 4-0 defeat of David Grace while Austrian amateur Florian Nuessle edged out Liu Hongyu 4-3. Welshman Matthew Stevens enjoyed a 4-1 success against Hammad Miah. 

So, we finally get to learn what happened to Ricky Walden in Berlin. Ouch! Gallbladder problems can be extremely painful and all credit to Ricky for competing this week.

There are far too many matches for me to even try to comment on everything so just a few observations about the results:

  • As much as I’m pleased with Reanne winning her first match, I can’t help but wonder, and worry about Julien Leclercq current lack of form. Having retained his tour card after his first two years as a pro, he’s done very little so far this season. Ben Mertens, on the other hand, is doing well.
  • Iulian Boiko once again lost narrowly, having led by 3-2. His confidence must be shattered. Maybe he needs to put his cue down for a bit, and get help for the mental/emotional side of things. Given the situation in his country, none of us knows what he may be going through. He may be facing challenges that are way more important than a game of snooker.
  • I’m not sure what’s going on, if players are getting that much better or if the conditions are more “favorable” recently but I can’t remember seeing so many 147 in any previous season.

Anyway… here is the most recent one as shared by WST on their YouTube channel

Mark Selby is the 2025 Invitational CLS Champion

Monique Snooker

Mark Selby defended his Invitational Championship League title by beating Xiao Guodong in the final of the event yesterday evening.

Congratulations Mark Selby!

Here is the report shared by WST:

Selby Retains League Title And Makes 147

Mark Selby delivered a masterclass to win the BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational for a second consecutive year, beating Kyren Wilson 3-0 in the final in his home city of Leicester.

Selby also made a 147, the sixth maximum of his career, during the last day of the event as he hit top form to win his second title of the season and first since the Unibet British Open in September. 

During the group phase on Wednesday, Selby beat Wilson 3-1 and Si Jiahui 3-2 then saw off Xiao Guodong 3-2, making the 147 in the third frame. It’s the 212th maximum in snooker history and Selby becomes one of only eight players to make six or more 147s.

Judd Trump finished top of the group table, making seven centuries to bring his tally for the season to 74. But the world number one was soundly beaten 3-0 in the semi-finals by World Champion Wilson, who made breaks of 120 and 113. In the other semi, Selby fired runs of 129, 135 and 65 to beat Hossein Vafaei 3-1.

The final lasted just 52 minutes and Wilson scored only 12 points, as Selby romped to victory with top breaks of 99 and 100. 

“This event is difficult to win, I’d have been happy to win it once but twice is even better!” said Selby, who walks away with over £25,000, along with a coveted spot at this November’s Sportsbet.io Champion of Champions. “I played a lot better today compared to yesterday. I scored well when I got my chances and it’s nice to beat somebody like Kyren. He’s the man of the moment and you get confidence from it.“

And Mark Selby 147:

I can’t really comment on the event as I saw next to nothing of it, but it’s not an easy one to win indeed, never mind to defend. You have to be very consistent over a lot of very short matches. Basically there is no room for errors nor for a temporary dip of form.