Igor Figueriedo Does the Double at 2025 Pan American Snooker Championships
Igor Figueiredo defeated Fabio Anderson Luerson 5-2 to win the 2025 Pan American Open Snooker Championship and earn a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card.
The continental success means the Brazilian will be nominated for a fourth spell among the professional ranks having first joined the Tour in 2010.
Figueiredo was the dominant force at the Aryan Snooker Club in Sacramento, California as he won both the Open and Seniors Championship titles to earn a two-year WST tour card and qualification for the 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship – a title he won at the iconic Crucible Theatre last year.
The 47-year-old began the event, which is organised by the Pan American Billiards & Snooker Association (PABSA), with a clean sweep of whitewash victories over fellow countryman Ricardo Bouwman Filho and American cueists Sam McGrath and Pravin Patel.
He dropped just two further frames en route to the semi-finals as he overcame Saif Ibrahim (3-0), Zia Sheik (4-1) and Jason Williams (4-1).
It was an impressive week for Brazilian snooker as the semi-final line-ups for both the Seniors and Open Championships featured all four players from the South American nation.
Three of these – Figueiredo, Luersen and Nelson Rodrigues Morreira – competed in the semi-finals of both events while they were joined by former WST professional Victor Sarkis in the Open competition.
It was Sarkis that faced Figueiredo in the last four but it was the senior man that was in dominant form as he completed yet another whitewash win to move within one victory of the title.
Luersen was his opponent in the title match after he completed a 4-2 defeat of Morreira as he looked to add to the Pan American Seniors Snooker Championship title that he had won 12 months ago.
Figueiredo proved to be too strong once again, however, as he rounded off an unforgettable week by completing a 5-2 victory to secure the title and a WST tour card.
Wether Igor will actually take his tour card remains to be seen though. He didn’t “finish” his last spell on tour and went back to Brazil before his tour card “expired”, explaining that this life abroad was too hard for him and his family. This is understandable. Brazil is too far away for making it possible for Brazilian players to return home just to spend a week-end or indeed any short period of time with their loved ones. The trip is costly and very tiring because the huge time difference. He might however decide to play in the World and Seniors World Championships, as these are “one-offs” in the season and, of course, very special.
I really do hope that he will be able to play in a few events though as he’s very entertaining and (almost) always smiling.
Luca Brecel registered his first win of the season by beating Liam Davies 4-0 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
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After skipping the first few ranking events of the campaign, Brecel made his return at the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers but conceded his tie with Sunny Akani when 2-0 behind. This time the 2023 World Champion stuck to the task and completed a whitewash over Davies with top breaks of 79 and 52. Brecel, who lies 41st in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, will head to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast next month for the televised stages.
Steven Hallworth, who enjoyed a career-high payday at the recent Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters by reaching the last 32, scored another impressive win with a 4-3 defeat of Matthew Stevens. From 3-2 down, Hallworth fired breaks of 136 and 64 in the last two frames.
Two-time ranking event winner Anthony McGill could be in danger of relegation later in the season so a 4-1 win over Alexander Ursenbacher, with a top run of 88, was a much-needed boost. Robert Milkins also needs positive results to keep his tour card and he saw off Patrick Whelan 4-2. Ben Woollaston closed with a 109 in a 4-0 win over Mateusz Baranowski.
Liam Pullen made a career-high break of 143 but still lost 4-2 to Long Zehuang.
It seems that yesterday the WST “redactor” stayed put until most of the games finished.
Among the results not mentioned here above is the 4-3 win by Ashley Hugill, who played in this as an amateur, over Ricky Walden. Ricky once was a top 16 player but recurring back injuries/pain destroyed his career. This saddens me. When on form Ricky is a beautiful player to watch and someone who loves his sport deeply. Also, he absolutely hates losing … you better leave him alone for a couple of hours after a defeat 🙄 😉.
The Hallworth v Stevens match was a good one to watch, and I’m pleased with the result too. Steven Hallworth does a great job for Eurosport/TNT and I believe that it helps him. He’s not relying solely on his results at the table to make a living, and, after a defeat, working in the studio probably helps him moving on and not dwelling on the lost match.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh edged out Julien Leclercq 4-3 to qualify for the final stages of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and will head to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast next month.
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Thailand’s Un-Nooh is enjoying a strong start to the season, notably reaching the last 16 of the Wuhan Open, and a narrow victory over Leclercq puts him into the last 64 of another ranking event. A break of 85 helped give Un-Nooh a 3-1 lead, then Belgium’s Leclercq fought back to 3-3 and led 59-0 in the decider. But Un-Nooh made a vital break of 71 to lead by 12 points and later potted the pink for victory.
Stan Moody top scored with 80 in a 4-0 win over Reanne Evans while Dylan Emery’s top break of 89 helped him to beat Xu Si 4-3.
China’s 17-year-old Lan Yuhao beat Michael Holt 4-2 with runs of 115, 53, 80 and 50. Scott Donaldson top scored with 127 in a 4-2 defeat of Antoni Kowalski.
The qualifiers conclude on Sunday then the main event runs from October 19-26.
For once the main theme of the report is not a match involving at least one British/Irish player… it’s about a match between a Thai and a Belgian. Hallelujah! It was a good match to watch. Of course I wanted Julien to go through but I like them both and I’m not too disappointed. Julien fought really well and Theppy’s near clearance1 to win was a very good one, it wasn’t straightforward.
Another interesting result is Haris Tahir 4-3 win over Lyu Haotian. It was another hard fought, close match and Haris prevailed over a far more “tour experienced” player. Remarkably, Haris has now qualified for the coming 2025 British Open and 2025 Northern Ireland Open, and still has the 2025 English Open and 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix coming. His first match in the latter is “held-over”, he is due to face Kyren Wilson, obviously a difficult opponent. In Brentwood though he will play young Michal Szubarczyk, a very promising prospect but still very young and inexperienced.
Big question marks today … Luca Brecel is due to play Liam Davies later afternoon today. Will he play? If he does, what about the cue or cues? Will he finish the match? Young Liam needs to be ready for anything and everything 🙄
Coalisland’s Fergal Quinn edged out Antrim’s Robbie McGuigan 4-3 in the first qualifying round of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open, needing one more win to earn a place in the final stages in Belfast.
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Quinn, playing his debut season on the pro tour, will meet Zak Surety on Sunday with the winner to go through to the Waterfront Hall next month. McGuigan came from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, but Quinn took frame six with runs of 47 and 53 then got the better of a low-scoring decider.
Jimmy White reached the last 32 of this event last year but he misses out this time, losing 4-2 to China’s Huang Jiahao whose top break was 97.
Fight-back of the day came from Poland’s Mateusz Baranowski who recovered a 3-0 deficit to beat Wang Yuchen 4-3, making a 62 in the decider. Liam Pullen, who beat John Higgins in the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers earlier in the week, built on his momentum with a 4-0 defeat of Ben Mertens, firing breaks of 89, 96 and 100.
As usual as well – alas – the report is far from exhaustive and focuses mainly on the UK and Irish players results. Also, not a single match of the evening session is reported on. And, alas again, I can’t add too much to it.
I watched two matches, the Baranowski v Wang one and the Pullen v Mertens one. Both ended with defeat for player I supported1. Liam Pullen played extremely well, no complaints. The Baranowski v Wang match was a typical “qualifiers match”. It was hard fought, not very fluent at all, with only one breaks over 50, one each, a 63 by Wang.
China’s Yao Pengcheng continue to show promise in his debut pro season as he beat Ken Doherty 4-1 in the first qualifying round of the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
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Earlier this week, 28-year-old Yao beat Zak Surety 5-1 to qualify for the Xi’an Grand Prix, and he notched another notable scalp with a comfortable win over former Crucible king Doherty. He will meet Oliver Lines on Saturday with the winner to go through to the final stages in Belfast next month.
Marco Fu opened with breaks of 104 and 114 and went on to beat Amir Sarkhosh 4-2. Liam Graham top scored with 96 in a 4-0 defeat of Chris Totten while Farakh Ajaib potted brown, blue and pink in the deciding frame to edge out Oliver Brown 4-3.
Julien Leclercq top scored with 99 in a 4-2 defeat of Florian Nuessle, while Ian Burns made a 130 during a 4-0 win over Haydon Pinhey.
I’m very pleased for Julien who really needed a good result as he appeared to struggle recently, but I would have preferred if it came against someone other than Florian. Another young player from mainland Europe also registered a win: Antoni Kowalski beat Zak Sheldon, an amateur from Northern Ireland. I had never heard of Zak before, I know next to nothing about him1 and, to be honest, he didn’t impress me at all. That said, he’s probably not used to professional conditions and the environment was hardly inspiring.
Intrigued by Lewis’ comment, I watched the match between Sunny Akani and Xu Yi Chen. It was good fun and I’m happy for Sunny who won it. Xu can pot for sure but, yeah, he’s peculiar.
Robertson To Defend English Title In Strong Brentwood Field
Neil Robertson will defend his BetVictor English Open title in the world ranking event which runs from September 11-21 at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, with the draw and format now available.
The field is packed with snooker’s star names including world number one Judd Trump, World Champion Zhao Xintong, Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby, Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong, Mark Allen, local Essex players Ali Carter and Stuart Bingham, and many more.
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The first two rounds run from Thursday September 11th to Sunday September 14th, then the top 32 seeds enter the action from Monday September 15th. The showpiece final will be on Sunday September 21st.
Australia’s Robertson lifted the Steve Davis Trophy last year after beating Wu Yize 9-7 in a dramatic final and he’ll start the defence of his title against either Sunny Akani, Oliver Brown on David Lilley. Matches involving the all-time greats in round three include:
Monday September 15
1pm Kyren Wilson v opponent
Not before 2pm Mark Selby v opponent
7pm Mark Williams v opponent
Not before 8pm Shaun Murphy v opponent
Tuesday September 16
1pm Judd Trump v opponent
Not before 2pm Mark Allen v opponent
7pm Neil Robertson v opponent
Not before 8pm Zhao Xintong v opponent
This is the first of the 2025/26 BetVictor Home Nations Series, with a bonus of £150,000 up for grabs for the players who performs best across the four events in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Robertson banked that bonus last season, with Trump, John Higgins and Robert Milkins winning it in previous years.
No Ronnie in the draw, which didn’t surprise me. He never liked these “packed” events played in Leisure centres and the Final in Saudi Arabia somehow has already “secured” his season even if he has a lot of points to defend.
Yesterday was the last day of the qualifying rounds for the 2025 Xi’a Grand Prix … played in Leicester. You all know what I think of that situation… 🙄
World number 124 Jiang Jun scored a surprise 5-0 victory over Hossein Vafaei in the qualifying round for the Xi’an Grand Prix.
China’s 20-year-old Jiang took five frames in a row with a top break of 72 and he goes through to the final stages in Xi’an next month. Former Shoot Out champion Vafaei has struggled with a neck injury this year and has dropped from a career-high of 15th down to 25th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.
Marco Fu, the fastest player on the tour so far this season with an average shot time of just 13.7 seconds, raced to a 5-1 win over Sanderson Lam with top runs of 106, 99 and 71.
Stephen Maguire top scored with 85 in a 5-2 defeat of Bai Yulu, while Barry Hawkins made 121 and 134 in a 5-0 victory over Hatem Yassen. Hong Kong’s Wang Yuchen came from 3-0 down to beat Pang Junxu 5-3.
Well … if Hossein suffers from a lasting neck injury, he deserves credit for showing up, for trying his best and playing the match to a finish. That he lost is no surprise because all players who qualify for the main tour can play at a very high standard.
The most remarkable result registered yesterday, in my opinion, was Wang Yuchen’s win over Pang Junxu and it’s one that really pleases me. As you already know, I met him at an APTC in Yixing in 2012 when he was only 15. At the time he was trying to “juggle” between his dream to become a snooker player and his father’s wish to see him get a university degree. Eventually he managed both which is quite an achievement. He’s a very clever young man. There seems to be some confusion regarding Wang’s “snooker nationality”: it’s been swapping between “China” and “Hong Kong”. He probably has both. His father is from Hong Kong, that’s what he told me back then. But to play in that elite group of youngsters at the time, in mainland China, I suppose he had to be Chinese as well.
Snooker continues in Leicester today with the 2025 NI Open Qualifiers.
The report shared by WST on what happened on day one at the 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers is rather short and far from exhaustive. Indeed, 21 matches were played on the day, but only five get as much as a mention …
Selby Secures Xi’an Spot
Mark Selby booked a place in the final stages of the Xi’an Grand Prix with an emphatic 5-0 win over Gong Chenzhi in the qualifying round on Monday.
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The qualifiers for this £850,000 ranking event run until Wednesday in Leicester, with winners going through to the televised phase in China next month.
Four-time Crucible king Selby rattled in breaks of 103, 63, 111 and 52 in a comfortable victory.
Louis Heathcote scored an impressive 5-3 win over BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan, closing out the match with a 135. Wu Yize also made a 135 but was pushed all the way by Florian Nuessle, eventually winning 5-4.
Tour rookie Yao Pengcheng top scored with 137 in a 5-1 defeat of Zak Surety, while Jak Jones enjoyed a 5-0 win over Haydon Pinhey with runs of 91, 74, 98, 68 and 53.
Why those matches in particular? Don’t ask me. It seems that no match finishing past 6pm local time was reported on… maybe the man in charge of reporting had called it a day.
The top 16 players involved all won their match although not always with ease. Mark Allen was pushed all the way by Mitchell Mann, who, to be fair, is never an easy opponent.
Young Michal Szubarczyk, still only 14, won the last match of the day, past midnight, beating Martin O’Donnell in a deciding frame. Michal lead 4-1, only to be pegged back to 4-4. He didn’t crumbled. He won the decider with a break of 52. This kid is special.
Stan Moody recovered 4-2 deficit to beat Amir Sarkhosh 5-4 in the qualifying round for the Xi’an Grand Prix in Leicester.
Moody enjoyed his best ranking event run at last week’s Wuhan Open, reaching the quarter-finals, then almost lost momentum today but narrowly avoided a surprise defeat against world number 76 Sarkhosh. Teenager Moody took the last three frames with a top break of 70 and he will be on the plane to Xi’an for the final stages of this £850,000 ranking event next month.
Luca Brecel’s return to competitive action didn’t go to plan as he conceded his match against Sunny Akani midway through the third frame. Brecel had not previously played since the Halo World Championship in April, and released a statement last month to explain that he had been suffering from health problems .
The 2023 World Champion was playing with a new cue tonight and appeared to struggle to get used to it, and having lost the first two frames he offered the handshake to Akani when 40-1 down in the third.
Farakh Ajaib continued his fine start to the season as he beat Zhang Anda 5-4, coming from 54-0 down in the decider to take it on the final black. China’s tour rookie Xu Yichen came from 4-1 down to beat Jack Lisowski 5-4, winning the last four frames with runs of 78, 66, 53 and 66.
Shaun Murphy strolled to a 5-0 success against Liam Highfield with a top break of 117 while Zhou Yuelong made the third 147 of his career during a 5-2 defeat of Julien Leclercq.
Matthew Selt came from 4-2 down to beat Antoni Kowalski 5-4 while Saudi Masters semi-finalist Elliot Slessor enjoyed a 5-1 success against Liam Graham.
I watched the Brecel match … supporting Sunny Akani. What happened in that match didn’t surprise me and is an example of why, despite being Belgian, I’m not a fan of Luca. Yes, Luca is autistic … to an extend. He has autistic traits, certainly but he is still functional enough to live in society, to be in a relationship, to travel on his own, etc…
I honestly believe that the problem is elsewhere, that the problem is that he was raised as an only child, that he was overprotected and outrageously spoiled. That’s what I have seen anyway when I was at events, and Luca, still a young teenager, was there too with his family. I’m sure that his parents meant well, that they wanted, surely still want, the best for him. They want him to be happy. But even if your child has autistic traits, as Luca has, if they are functional enough to live in society, you have to educate them to behave correctly towards others and respect social rules, because, ultimately, that child will become an adult, will grow older and outlive you and they will have to live in that society when yourself will no more be around to guide and protect them. It’s not easy but it’s necessary.
Jack Lisowski managed to lose by 5-4 to Xu Yichen a 38 years old rookie whose only victory before this one came against Oliver Brown1 last June. I didn’t see the match but that result is baffling although … we all know how inconsistent Jack can be, and reckless at times as well.
