The 2026 Q-schools concluded this weekend and here are the outcomes:
DAVIES, O’KANE, O’SULLIVAN AND CHEUNG EARN CARDS AT Q SCHOOL
Liam Davies, Phil O’Kane, Sean O’Sullivan and Cheung Ka Wai all successfully negotiated the Q School gauntlet to earn two-year tour cards on the final day of event one in Leicester.
Welsh 19-year-old Davies bounced back from tour relegation last month with a 4-2 defeat of fellow ex-professional Dean Young, to secure his status for the next two years.
Davies is one of Welsh snooker’s brightest young prospects. This was underlined in 2022, when a victory against Aaron Hill, aged 15, made him the youngest ever match winner at the World Championship. That record stood until this year when it was eclipsed by Poland’s Michal Szubarczyk.
A 10-9 loss at the hands of Marco Fu in this year’s World Championship qualifiers temporarily ended Davies’ run as a professional. However, he quickly recovered ahead of Q School. He scored three 4-3 wins en route to today’s final round, where a break of 134 was the highlight in his 4-2 win over Young.
Davies said: “It feels unbelievable. Some of the games this week, the way I was playing, I thought snooker might not be for me! I managed to scrape through and I played pretty well in the last two games.
“I never want to come back here. I will be honest with you. I managed to come through so hopefully I can do a bit better over the next two seasons.”
At the 14th time of asking, English 33-year-old O’Kane finally cracked the Q School code and earned a maiden tour card, beating former professional Jamie O’Neill 4-1.
Having first tried his hand at Q School as a teenager back in 2011, it has been a long road to snooker’s top table for O’Kane. However, wins over Oliver Spooner, Zack Richardson, Daniel Womersley and Jeff Cundy earned him a crack at getting over the line today.
Breaks of 63 and 55 helped O’Kane to victory over O’Neill today and he was understandably emotional afterwards.
“I’m overwhelmed. I was clearing up at the end whilst holding back tears, sweating and shaking. I was an emotional wreck and it just means the world to me,” said O’Kane.
“I went to a pool tournament about eight weeks ago. I said to the owner of my club, after this you will see me in the club seven days a week and working hard. He messaged me this morning and said that everything had paid off. It is all affirmation.”
O’Sullivan secured his return after two years away from the tour with a 4-2 win against Joshua Thomond.
The 32-year-old looked to be over the line in the decisive frame, before being pegged back when Thomond got the snookers he needed. At the second time of asking O’Sullivan got over the line though and enjoyed a massive release of emotion as he walked out of the arena.
O’Sullivan said: “It was even more relief after needing to pot match ball twice. I am proud to be able to get back on the tour. It has been a tough couple of years so to get back and give it another go, I’m really proud of myself.”
Hong Kong’s Cheung booked his immediate return to the circuit with a 4-1 win against Welshman Jack Bradford.
Cheung won the biggest amateur title in the sport in 2024, beating Gao Yang 5-0 in the final of the WSF Championship. That earned him a professional berth, but he wasn’t able to maintain his place after two years. Breaks of 78, 57 and 54 this morning helped him to a momentous victory.
Cheung said: “I’m very happy to get through after dropping off last year. I didn’t have much expectations. The tour is very tough and when you are losing every time, your confidence goes down. I’m happy that I performed well today.”
Andrew Higginson, Mitchell Mann, Stuart Carrington and Gong Chenzhi successfully negotiated the final round of Q School Event Two to earn fresh two-year tour cards in Leicester.
Higginson earned a return to the circuit, after a season away, with a 4-1 win over fellow ex professional Mark Joyce.
The Cheshire cueman, who was runner-up to Neil Robertson at the 2007 Welsh Open, dropped off the tour following the conclusion of the 2005 World Championship.
In his 12-month hiatus, Higginson didn’t feature at all on the World Snooker Tour and competed on the Q Tour, where he finished the campaign ranked 19th. The 49-year-old fared better at Q School and beat the likes of Shaun Liu and Mark Davis en route to the final round. Breaks of 89 and 61 helped Higginson over the line to secure his tour card.
Higginson said: “It feels great and that was a very tough match with Mark, who I’ve never beat before. This is a nice time to get my first win against him.
“I’ve played the game for so long I just roll with the punches now. Q School is very difficult, but it is the easy part compared to staying on the tour. I need to make the two years count rather than be a yo-yo player and drop off again.”
Mann immediately responded to tour relegation by beating Allan Taylor 4-2 and preserving his professional status.
Mann’s 25/26 season was highlighted by a run to the quarter-finals of the British Open, but that wasn’t enough to sustain his tour card. Things didn’t look good when he lost out in the opening round of event one, but a dramatic reversal of fortunes in event two mean the Englishman will be on tour next year.
Breaks of 54, 52 and 50 helped Mann to victory today and ended Taylor’s hopes of an immediate tour return of his own.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous playing snooker. There is so much riding on it. I put everything into it and luckily for me I managed to get the result today,” said 34-year-old Mann.
“The people who really know me will know my work rate isn’t good enough. That is one thing I want to change. Another is to lose some weight and feel better in myself. Working harder is the main focus.”
Carrington defeated Israel’s Yaron Bodor 4-1 to regain his tour card following relegation last month.
The Grimsby cueist dropped off the tour at the conclusion of the 2025 World Championship, having regained his tour spot at Q School in 2023. His bid for Q School success this year was stunted when he was unable to take the baize in event one due to a neck injury. However, he managed to recover sufficiently for event two and ran the gauntlet to reach snooker’s top tier once more.
Carrington said: “There are so many emotions going through my body and my head. It is relief in the end. It is torture down here for everybody. You just want to get that win and I’ve done it.
“It has been a tough couple of years. I’ve been struggling with the yips and that is magnified in this pressure. With my back and neck I wasn’t sure I’d be able to play. It just happened when I was practising and up until four or five days ago I couldn’t even get down to the shot, never mind hit a ball properly. The pain is more or less gone now. I didn’t expect too much this week.”
Former WSF Junior Championship finalist Gong beat Frenchman Brian Ochoiski 4-2 to reclaim his place on tour.
Gong, who has previously reached the last 32 of the Wuhan Open, earned a place on the circuit two years ago after his performances on the CBSA Tour. However, he failed to establish himself in the top 64 and dropped off.
The 19-year-old never trailed during this morning’s match and a top score of 61 helped him to get over the line.
Congratulations to all Laureates!
Other than Phil O’Kane, all these players have been pros before. Clearly, former experience with “tour conditions” is an advantage when competing in the Q-schools.