I must confess that I didn’t see a ball of the matches played in Telford yesterday, as I was kept very busy with updating snooker.org with the scoring at the 2025 EBSA championships in Antalya. All I can do is share the reports by WST.

Afternoon session

Higgins Edges Wakelin In Thriller

John Higgins battled past Chris Wakelin in a nerve shredding final frame to win 6-5 and book his place in the quarter-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.

The Scot recently ended a four-year ranking title drought by winning the World Open in Yushan. That extended back to the 2021 Players Championship, after which Higgins was beaten in his subsequent five ranking final appearances.

Higgins briefly fell out of the world’s top 16 earlier this season and admitted to being at a low point in terms of his confidence. However, he now has a renewed sense of optimism with the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship and the World Championship on the horizon.

Defeat for Wakelin ends both his hopes of qualifying for the Tour Championship. As a result, he is also unable to force his way into the world’s top 16 and must now face the qualifying rounds for the World Championship.

It was Wakelin who seized the early initiative this afternoon. Breaks of 92 and 129 helped him to lead 3-1 at the first mid-session interval.

The next two frames were traded to leave the score at 4-2, but a break of 61 helped Higgins to pull back within one. A marathon eighth lasted an hour and seven minutes, before Higgins eventually claimed it to restore parity at 4-4.

The 32-time ranking event winner then made it three on the bounce to lead for the first time since the opening frame at 5-4. A tense tenth saw Wakelin spurn two frame ball opportunities on the brown, but he was eventually afforded a third and took it to force a decider.

The final frame saw Wakelin embark on a potential match winning clearance, before he missed a tricky final red to the top left. The ball remained over the pocket and Higgins cleared to the black to earn himself a quarter-final clash with China’s Xiao Guodong.

“I did think I would return to the table in the last frame. When things start to go for you, then you believe you will get another chance. I fancied something to happen because I’m on a good run,” said four-time World Champion Higgins.

“If I hadn’t won that event and I was struggling for confidence, Chris may well have cleared up there. It is a crazy game. You have to enjoy it when things are going for you. There are more downs in this game than there are ups.

“I was trying my hardest but Chris was playing really well. He is such a clever player. You can tell he has spent many years practising with Mark Selby. It was a great win for me.”

On the other table, Xiao overcame compatriot Wu Yize, in another deciding frame, to prevail 6-5 and book his last eight showdown with Higgins. 

This season has seen Xiao, 17 years on from first turning professional, finally capture a maiden ranking title at the Wuhan Open. He followed that up with a tremendous run to the final of the Champion of Champions, where he was beaten by Mark Williams. 

Xiao rallied from 3-1 down this afternoon, making a brilliant 73 to clinch the tie in the final frame. 

Xiao said: “The first thing to say is sorry to Wu Yize. We are good friends and he played so well. He put me under a lot of pressure. The fluke in the last frame changed the whole game. I got a chance and cleared up. This is snooker. 

“Winning the Wuhan Open gave me a lot of confidence. After that I relaxed and I haven’t been too nervous. I’ve just enjoyed playing good players and being in nice venues. Everything is going amazing and is perfect to me right now.“

Evening session

Warrior Derails The Potting Machine

World Champion Kyren Wilson enhanced his already dominant record against three-time Crucible king Mark Williams, beating him 6-3 to make the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship.

The Warrior now leads Williams 8-1 in their head-to-head record. His only loss came in a 6-5 defeat earlier this season at the Champion of Champions, an event which Williams went on to win.

Wilson has enjoyed a tremendous first campaign as World Champion, having already won titles at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters.

The nine-time ranking event winner says that winning the world title last season has acted as a massive boost of confidence rather than a burden. However, he will have one eye on breaking the Crucible Curse next month. No first time World Champion has ever defended their title at the Theatre of Dreams.

Williams, who turns 50 this week, will now turn his attention to the Players Series finale at the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship in Manchester. Despite having had a strong season himself, he has admitted that deteriorating eyesight is causing him to struggle with his game and says it is an issue he wants to address after the World Championship.

The opening two frames went Wilson’s way this evening with breaks of 58 and 62, but 26-time ranking event winner Williams responded strongly by taking consecutive frames to level up at 2-2.

The next two frames were traded to make it 3-3, before Wilson then made his move. Runs of 61, 79 and 71 gave him three on the bounce and saw him emerge with a 6-3 win.

“It is very satisfying to have that record against Mark. In some ways it makes your life easy, because you know to beat Mark all departments have to be good. He is such an experienced match player that you need to try and craft chances and put him in trouble. I’m very proud I’ve managed to do that over the years,” said 33-year-old Wilson.

“My natural style is finally coming out. This is how I used to play as a junior. I used to be very quick. To take that into the main arena, there is a lot of pressure out there, that is the biggest thing I can take away from becoming World Champion. It has given me that confidence to do it. I believe in the modern era you need that style of play to be successful.

“It has been a really tough draw. Mark Allen, then Mark Williams and now Neil Robertson or Mark Selby. They are two of the form players this season. It is going to be a tough game. Whoever I play I am going to have to play well.”

As I wrote above, I can’t really comment on those matches.

Now … regarding the 2025 EBSA Championship…

Yesterday was the last day of the group stage. All the results so far are available on snooker.org.

In the past the draw was often dominated by British/Irish players. Not this time. I haven’t actually counted the various nationalities, but my estimation is that about 75% of the remaining players are coming from “the rest of Europe”, and if one looks at players who have never been pros before, the proportion is even higher. That’s great and I want to hope that WST will take notice and make a real effort to really earn the “W” in WST. No more than one quarter of all events should be held in the UK. That said I’m not optimistic and here is why…

1. Usually on “all inclusive” trips ↩︎
2. Well maybe I’m exaggerating… they usually learn “raki” pretty soon after arrival ↩︎

Here is the report shared by WST about day 2 at the 2025 Players Championship in Telford:

Magician Closing In On Crucible Berth

Shaun Murphy moved to the verge of Crucible qualification with a crucial 6-4 win over Barry Hawkins at the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.

The Magician was Players Champion and Tour Champion two years ago, but a disappointing 23/24 campaign saw him miss out on qualification for both events.

As a result, Johnstone’s Paint Masters champion Murphy had a mountain to climb in order to retain his place in the top 16. He has enjoyed an impressive campaign, and if Chris Wakelin loses to John Higgins tomorrow, then Murphy will be guaranteed a place in the final stages of the World Championship.

Hawkins has been runner-up at both the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship and the BetVictor German Masters this season and despite today’s loss he will be in Manchester for the series finale at the Tour Championship.

Murphy got off to a flying start this evening, breaks of 68, 58 and 70 helped him to assume a 3-0 advantage. Hawkins then fired in 80 in the fourth to remain in the running at 3-1 down.

The first frame after the interval went the way of Hawkins courtesy of a 108 break, but Murphy took the sixth to move 4-2 ahead.

Hawkins showed his steel by taking two on the bounce to level, before Murphy blitzed to the line with breaks of 71 and 123 to come through with a 6-4 win. He now faces a mouth watering quarter-final with Judd Trump.

“Making sure I was in the 16 seeds for the Crucible has been on my mind for months. I’ve been aware of this problem. I knew I had a lot of ground to make up. That was why I wanted to get into this series of events so much. They are so lucrative to be in that if you miss this then it is a real handicap,” said 2005 World Champion Murphy.

“Nobody wants the embarrassment of being the Masters Champion but having to qualify for the World Championship. I think I have just about avoided it. Now I have that monkey off my back, I hope I can push hard to try and win this week and at the Tour Championship.

“It was a tough game today. Only the top 16 performers are in this event. Every single match could be your last. Barry and I have had so many good battles over the years. We are good friends and it is difficult playing one of your mates. I thought we put on a good show tonight and provided good value for money.”

World number one Trump earned his passage to the quarter-finals with a 6-2 defeat of Lei Peifan.

Trump has enjoyed yet another tremendous campaign. He’s already racked up silverware at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the UK Championship, as well as the invitational Shanghai Masters.

The Englishman made breaks of 80, 114, 74 and 139 this evening and is now looking forward to locking horns with Murphy in the last eight

Trump said: “It is always enjoyable against Shaun. He goes for his shots and you know you have to score well. I think he has become a bit more ruthless in the last season, since starting working with Peter Ebdon. It will be a tough game to play and I will need to play well to beat him.”

I watched very little of the Players Championship action, mainly because I spent a lot of time yesterday marking the EBSA Championship scores for snooker.org. I just watched a bit of the Judd Trump v Lei Peifan match and it wasn’t very interesting mainly because Lei wasn’t playing well at all. I’m not suggesting that, had Lei played better, he would have won because Judd has is very strong at the moment, just that there was no real contest and actually, if anything, Judd didn’t play that well either because he didn’t need to.

In many ways the EBSA Championship interests me more that the Players Championship. There are some very, very good young players involved, and many of them from mainland Europe. A lot of matches are streamed on Youtube as well and many are really interesting to watch. There are 16 tables in operation and six of them are streamed.

Maybe the most extraordinary match yesterday was this one:

This was a match played in the “men competition” between two very young teenagers, and refereed by another teenager. All of them from mainland Europe. Michal won both the under-16 and under-18 events. He’s only 14 and a massive talent. Mikayel is even younger, only 13 years old. He’s not at Michal’s level (yet) but he’s very, very good as well. The match went to a decider, as you can see. What you can’t see is that decider itself ended on a re-spotted black. Closer than that … doesn’t exist unless the result can be a draw.

The 2025 Players Championship started yesterday, with just two matches played in the evening.

There were wins for Kyren Wilson and Mark Williams. Here is the report shared by WST:

Crucible King Wilson Ends Allen’s Reign

World Champion Kyren Wilson ended Mark Allen’s defence of his Sportsbet.io Players Championship title with a 6-3 victory in Telford.

The Warrior is flourishing in his first year as Crucible King, having already picked up silverware at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters.

Allen won this event last year after a marathon defeat of Zhang Anda in the final, but he falls at the first hurdle this time out. That means he cannot force his way into the top 12 of the Johnstone’s Paint One Year list and will miss out on qualification for the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship as a result. The Northern Irishman’s next appearance will come at the season ending World Championship.

A 28-minute opening frame this evening eventually ended with Wilson firing in a break of 87 to take a 1-0 lead. Allen responded with a fine 125 to take the second, before contributions of 72 and 61 gave Wilson a 3-1 lead at the mid-session.

The Pistol powered his way back into contention when play resumed. After winning the fifth, he then claimed the sixth on the black to draw level at 3-3.

Wilson replied with runs of 66 and 74 to move one from the win. Allen had an opportunity to come from behind in the ninth, but went in off attempting to double the final pink. Wilson got himself over the line to seal a quarter-final clash with Mark Williams.

“I’ve thrived from being World Champion and I’ve enjoyed all of this season. It has just given me so much confidence and it hasn’t been a burden on me,” said 33-year-old Wilson.

“When you carry that confidence, you can transfer it onto the table and you can almost transfer it into your opponent’s minds. I feel like I’ve done that a lot this season. If you cower away in events against these top players then they will eat you alive. I’m pleased with how I managed to handle it.

“I feel like I’m getting a free hit at tournaments now as I’ve won the biggest of them all. Nothing will ever compare to that, but when you get a hunger for winning you want to do it more.”

Welsh three-time World Champion Williams emerged a 6-2 winner against 15-time ranking event winner Ding Junhui.

The result avenged a gut wrenching 6-5 loss against Ding at the Johnstone’s Paint Masters earlier this season.

Neither player found their best form this evening, with Williams only registering a top score of 64 in the victory. Despite having won this season’s Champion of Champions, Williams, who turns 50 this week, admitted that this season has been a struggle due to his eyesight deteriorating.

“It was tough. Not great. Ding struggled as well, but I’m over the moon with the win,” said 26-time ranking event winner Williams.

“My eyes have gone. In the last six months they have deteriorated rapidly. Every single shot is blurry to me now, whether it is a straight black off the spot or an easy blue. I’m guessing.

“I’ll have to look into it after the World Championship and see if I can get something done. How I won that game I don’t know. The lights magnify it a lot more. I can’t see anything.”

I apparently chose the wrong match to watch… I like Ding and I like Willo and I chose to watch their match. It was pretty horrible. There is no other word. I gave up at the MSI and went to bed¹… Both of them were missing all sorts. Someone on social media wrote that it was good to see that the pockets were so tight. Maybe they were, I’m not sure, but the way the players missed had little to do with the pockets “generosity” or lack of it. They just weren’t on target. Ding’s body language and facial expression was negative from the early stages in the match. For what reason? I don’t know. Williams’ eyes are more than just a concern. He’s turning 50 this week. If the deterioration is age related, which is likely the case, there is nothing that will give him back the accuracy of his youth. Alas. Time waits for no one. Knowing Willo, he’s not going to sit in a corner and cry though. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns to pool and/or heyball in a near future…. and to golf, of course.

Kyren Wilson has every right to be proud how he is carrying himself as a World Champion. Many “first time” World Champions struggle with their “status” and the expectations/demands that come with it. Kyren thrives. Can he break the “Crucible Curse”? It’s a very hard thing to do … 😉 which, of course, is why it hasn’t been done (yet). But Kyren is very grounded and he will certainly try his best. And, you know what? I think he has a chance.

1. To be fair to the players, it wasn’t just their performance: having had a rather heavy dental surgery earlier that day, I was exhausted and in pain. That didn’t help. ↩︎

Iulian Boiko has regained his professional status by beating Oliver Sykes in the final of the 2025 EBSA under-21 Championship.

Congratulations Iulian Boiko!

Here is the report shared by WST:

Boiko Regains Tour Card

Ukrainian 19-year-old Iulian Boiko has secured a return to the World Snooker Tour, after defeating Oliver Sykes 5-4 to become EBSA European Under 21 Champion. 

Boiko, who first turned professional at the age of 14, dropped of the circuit in 2022. Since then he has reached the cusp of a return through Q School, but agonisingly lost in the final round on two occasions. 

Today’s encounter came down to the wire, but it was Boiko who held his nerve in a final frame decider to deny Sykes his maiden tour card. Boiko earns a minimum of two years in the professional ranks. 

Boiko said: “It was a crazy game. It is never easy to get on the tour. I felt calm and controlled at the beginning of the game. Oliver is a great player and he found his game. He was dominant in the frames he won. I don’t know where I got the energy from, but I’m glad I did and I’ll enjoy being on tour again.

“It is a different game on the tour. You have to be outstanding to stay in the top 64 after two years. Not many can do that. I’ll be working hard. I can’t celebrate for a long time as I know how difficult it is.”

It wasn’t a high quality match, both players were tense, both wanted it really badly. It had already been a huge effort to reach that final. Both young men gave it everything and there could be only one winner.

I’m glad that Iulian emerged the winner, and that’s absolutely nothing against Oliver. But Iulian had so many heartaches over the last years. I’m sure the disappointments at the table were hard to take, but certainly far from as hard and harrowing as the constant anguish about the situation in his country and about the family and friends who are caught in this terrible war. I’m sure they were on his mind when he lifted the trophy.

So once again, congratulations Iulian and good luck!

And I will admit to what I shouted when that last ball was potted … it was just …

Enfin!

Enfin!

Congratulations to Liam Highfield, Steven Hallworth and Florian Nüßle !

Here is the WPBSA report on the conclusion of the Playoffs, as shared by WST

Nuessle, Hallworth and Highfield Secure World Snooker Tour Cards

Florian Nuessle, Steven Hallworth and Liam Highfield have each earned two-year World Snooker Tour tour cards after successfully coming through the WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Antalya, Türkiy

Nuessle makes history for Austria by becoming the first player from the nation to become a professional snooker player after defeating Estonia’s Andres Petrov 10-3 in the play-off final.

Meanwhile, Hallworth and Highfield secured emotional returns to the World Snooker Tour after an absence of three and one years respectively.

The event was held alongside the EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Türkiye from 11-13 March 2025. Read below to find out how each section unfolded.

NUESSLE MAKES HISTORY FOR AUSTRIA

Austria’s Florian Nuessle defeated Estonia’s Andres Petrov 10-3 to make history by becoming the first ever World Snooker Tour professional from his country.

The popular 23-year-old cueist finally secured professional status for the first time in his career after a number of near-misses in recent years.

It proved to be a comfortable final round victory for the Austrian as he took a 6-3 lead into the concluding session before confidently winning all four frames of the afternoon to run out a 10-3 victor.

The early stages of the contest were closely fought with the two players sharing the first four frames. A run of four consecutive frames, featuring breaks of 54, 86 and 80 then saw Nuessle pull away and open up a four frame advantage.

The Austrian, who had earlier eliminated Josh Thomond and Ehsan Heydari Nezhad to reach the play-off final, quickly moved one away from victory and showed impressive composure to fire in a break of 108 when it mattered the most.

Following the landmark moment in his career, a visibly emotional Nuessle reflected: “I feel happy and relieved. I am happy for my family because they have supported me all the way and it wouldn’t be possible without them, but the biggest part was proving it to myself because I am my harshest critic.”

“I think I held myself together well and did the right things at the right moments which hasn’t always been the case in the past. (The near-misses) were definitely on my mind – I’ve heard all the stories of players not being able to get over the line and you don’t want that kind of feeling to be carried around with you for too long because it gets heavier and heavier.”

“I hope this will help to elevate Austrian snooker. I have had many experiences on the tour already and I think I can go on and, not only stay on tour, but do some damage and hopefully win titles.”

HALLWORTH SECURES RETURN

England’s Steven Hallworth defeated fellow countryman Mark Joyce 10-5 to earn a two-year World Snooker Tour card in Antalya, Türkiye.

Hallworth started the strongest in the battle of the two former professionals by racing into a 2-0 lead and ending the first session with a 113 break to open up a 6-3 advantage.

The 29-year-old, who will return to the professional ranks after a three-year absence, took the first two frames of the afternoon session but Joyce hit back to take the next two and reduce the deficit to 8-5 at the mid-session interval.

Two close frames followed but Hallworth was able to hold his nerve and come from behind in both to complete an emotional 10-5 victory.

Hallworth was close to tears after the match and said: “It’s just pure relief. The amateur circuit is tough and there have been moments over the past couple of years where I didn’t believe that I would ever get back on but I showed my class today which was pleasing.”

“I ‘ve got a lot going on off the table and I am in a really good place in my life – my wife and I have actually just got back from our honeymoon last week. I would never be one to come into a tournament without practicing all the hours under the sun so I was a little bit anxious coming here but I have felt really relaxed and focused and I fancied the job” he added.

Hallworth has taken to snooker commentary in recent months but explained: “It will certainly have to go on the back burner now because I want to be a snooker player. I have enjoyed doing it because it has kept me involved with the professional game. I’ve never watched so much snooker in my life and I’m watching the best players in the world all the time so I’m picking up little bits – you’re never too old to learn.”

Looking ahead to the next two years, he said: “Hopefully on the tour I can find some consistency and get on a few runs. I set myself some goals this season and I’ve just achieved my main goal. We’ll see what happens. I’m not going to spout off all these mad dreams – we’ve all got dreams and I’m happy to keep them with me.”

HIGHFIELD BOUNCES BACK

England’s Liam Highfield overcame Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko 10-3 to secure a return to the World Snooker Tour after a one-year absence.

The 34-year-old ended a 14-year unbroken spell among the professional ranks at the end of last season, but showed impressive form across the week to drop just six frames in three matches and earn his return.

Highfield showed his scoring prowess in the previous days semi-final, firing in six breaks over 70 to defeat Harvey Chandler 6-2, and he followed this up with an impressive display against Boiko in the play-off final.

Five half-century breaks saw the Englishman storm into a 7-2 lead at the conclusion of the opening session and, from there, there was only one winner as he took three of the next four frames to get over the line.

Post-match, Highfield said: “I am over the moon to bounce back within a year. It looks really comfortable but, when you’re out there, it doesn’t feel that way.”

“I think I am back where I belong. I broke my wrist which was a big setback at the beginning of last season but I had got into some bad habits and maybe wasn’t working as hard as I should have. Sometimes in the past I’ve been guilty of throwing a few matches away and not thinking great but I think I’m through that now” he said.

Highfield added: “I’m a bit older and a bit wiser and this is the second part of my career now. I’ve done a lot of learning over the previous 14 years and hopefully I’ll move on to bigger and better things. I’ve got a good few years left in the game so I would like to win a title one day.”

The WPBSA would like to thank the European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA) and Turkish Billiards Federation (TBF) for their support with running the 2025 WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs.

Florian will be a great addition to the Tour. He has a nice personality, represents a new mainland Europe country and is well liked by fans who follow the amateur circuit. I’m really happy for him!

Steven Hallworth is also well liked, and is highly appreciated as a commentator. Messaging privately a friend, who is also a member of the snooker.org team, he said that his job as a commentator has kept him constantly in touch with the pro game and that has helped him in his endeavour to return to the pro circuit.

I hope neither Steven, nor my friend on snooker.org, mind me mentioning this. I decided to do it because I think it’s interesting from a psychological point of view that Steven feels that just staying involved in the pro game, if only in commentary, has boosted his chances of a return to the main tour. In the past, especially during the summer, there were a lot of pro-am events going on. Not so many in recent years. and their disappearance has probably widened the “gap” between pros and amateurs. It would be good if they returned. It’s worth noting that some people have tried very hard over the years to keep the pro-am circuit alive. I’m thinking about David Grace for instance, and Paul Mount during the “Pink Ribbon” years.

And, of course, the fuller calendar and the lack of flexibility by WST when it comes to players participation in “non sanctioned” events are big factors. Personally I can’t see what harm to the main tour would come from allowing pros who haven’t qualified for an event to participate in a pro-am, while the WST event is under way elsewhere.

Please note that the fact I don’t comment on Liam Highfield’s achievement doesn’t mean I don’t like him or anything negative. I just don’t know him that well.

Let’s start with the “Ronnie thoughts” … Yesterday I shared the news that Ronnie was going to head to Saudi Arabia for some work with Nigel Bond at his academy and to “prepare for the Worldsnooker Tour“. Note that he didn’t write “prepare for the World Championship”, which is the only event remaining available to him this season, instead he wrote “preparing for the Worldsnooker Tour” instead. This may be an indication that he does seriously consider not playing at the Crucible. Time will tell…

Now … onto the snooker news …

The EBSA Championships in Antalya

The Under-16 event concluded yesterday. It was won by Michał Szubarczyk who beat Krzysztof Czapnik by 4-2 in the final. Both youngsters are from Poland and both are 14 years old.

Congratulations Michal – Gratulacje Michał !

It’s worth noting that only two British boys reached the QFs, and both went out to whitewashes. It’s really time to dispel the myth that the UK-centric nature of the whole WST organisation is justified because the UK is where the majority of players are and they have the best juniors too. Yes, the WST tour remains dominated by British player but it’s because the whole organisation of the tour favours them, rather than because they are the best.

The Global Q-Tour Playoffs – Day 1

That event is played in Antalya, at the same venue as the EBSA Championships

Here is the report shared by WST on day 1 at that important event

Twelve Remain After Opening Day of Q Tour Global Play-Offs

The opening day of the 2025 WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs has reached its conclusion and just 12 players now remain in contention for the three World Snooker Tour (WST) tour cards on offer.

Cueists from seven countries and three continents are among those left standing in the competition and by the end of tomorrow the three final round matches will be known.

The event is being held alongside the EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Türkiye from 11-13 March 2025.

PLAY-OFF 1

Q Tour Europe top seed Dylan Emery was among those to secure his passage into the Global Play-Off semi-finals on the opening morning of the event in Antalya, Türkiye.

The 23-year-old Welshman, who won the second event of the campaign in Bulgaria, comfortably overcame Iran’s Ali Gharahgozlou 5-2 with a pair of half-century breaks along the way.

In the most dramatic contest of the top section, England’s Ryan Davies came from 4-3 behind against fellow countryman and former professional Kuldesh Johal to earn victory in the decider.

Davies had led 2-0 but, despite compiling a break of 97 in the sixth frame to restore parity, it was Johal who moved one away from the winning line at 4-3 ahead.

The 22-year-old held his nerve, however, to take frame eight on the black before taking the decider on the last pink having earlier trailed by 37 points.

Davies is joined in the last four of the first play-off by fellow Englishmen Steven Hallworth and Mark Joyce.

Joyce showed some fine form in his opening encounter with Connor Benzey and hit breaks of 82, 76 and 51 en route to a 5-2 victory. Meanwhile, Hallworth was forced to work hard against former World Snooker Federation (WSF) champion Luo Honghao from China but ultimately held his nerve to take the concluding two frames and earn a 5-3 win.

PLAY-OFF 2

Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese earned an impressive 5-1 victory over former ranking event semi-finalist Craig Steadman to keep the flag flying for the WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific series.

Calabrese, who won four of the five Q Tour events in the region, impressed with a top break of 62 to reach the last four and extend Steadman’s wait for a return to the professional ranks.

A trio of fellow former professionals from Europe join Calabrese in the semi-finals of the second play-off.

Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko, who compiled the third maximum break in Q Tour history in Belgium earlier this season, defeated England’s Alex Clenshaw 5-2 to reach the last four.

The English duo of Harvey Chandler and Liam Highfield dropped just a single frame between then as Chandler whitewashed Brazil’s Dhimones Moraes with a top break of 79 while Highfield swept aside Bahrain’s Habib Humood by a 5-1 scoreline.

PLAY-OFF 3

Four players from four different nations earned their place in the semi-finals of the third Q Tour Global Play-Off.

There were upsets in the closing session of the opening day as former professionals Ryan Thomerson and Sean O’Sullivan succumbed to defeats against Iran’s Ehsan Heydari Nezhad and England’s Oliver Sykes each by a 5-1 scoreline.

A late night finish between Estonia’s Andres Petrov, who won the first Q Tour Europe title of the season, and Canada’s Vito Puopolo eventually saw the Estonian secure a 5-2 victory.

The semi-finals are played today and you can follow the event via WPBSA SnookerScores and watch some selected matches live on the WPBSA Facebook page and YouTube channel.