Professional snooker

The 2024 Ranking CLS – Day 16 and Ronnie’s “fashionable” practice + Neil Robertson withdrawal

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

Yesterday was the last day of stage 1 at the 2024 Ranking CLS and it produced something quite extraordinary in Group 15. I put it in bold green in the report hereafter. All credits to Gilbert, but you have to feel for the other three, especially Pagett who finished the day on three points, undefeated and will get very little to show for his efforts, no money, no ranking points, nothing. It’s cruel really.

Here is the report by WST:

DEFENDING CHAMPION MURPHY TOPS GROUP

Shaun Murphy got his season and the defence of his BetVictor Champonship League title off to the perfect start, winning all of his matches to top Group Three. 

The Magician lifted the title in the ranking edition of this event 12 months ago. He defeated three-time World Champion Mark Williams 3-0 in the final to secure what was the 12th ranking crown of his career. 

His season started today with a group featuring Steven Hallworth, Reanne Evans and Tian Pengfei. Murphy got his campaign up and running in style with a 3-0 win over Hallworth, crafting runs of 100, 93 and 61 during the rout. He then defeated Evans 3-1 and dispatched Tian 3-0 to progress to Stage Two, after a day which saw him win eight out of nine frames. 

David Gilbert produced a stunning last gasp century break to win Group 15 by the narrowest of all margins. 

The Tamworth cueman was pitted against Andrew Pagett, Xu Si and Duane Jones. Remarkably all of the matches ended in 2-2 draws. It was Gilbert who took on Xu in the last game of the day. They headed into the final frame with Xu leading 2-1 and in pole position to progress, even with a draw, having made a 131 high break. However, Gilbert fired in a sublime 136 to snatch top spot on the high break tiebreaker and clinch a place in the next stage. 

Meanwhile, Ronnie has been practising at Vic Snooker Academy in Sheffield

Screenshot

Don’t ask about his sense of fashion ! I love yellow as a colour but… 😂

Also shered on social media this … typical Neil Robertson mishap!

The 2024 Ranking CLS – Day 15 – and Wildcards’ Stuff

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament, Tour News , ,

I mainly watched Group 16 yesterday. Zhou Yuelong was very poor on the day, it has to be said. Mink, on the other hand, performed better than I expected. She managed two draws. OK, Zhou Yuelong was far from his best, but she got a draw against the eventual group winner, Fan Zhengyi, as well and she secured some precious points by finishing third in the group. She is clearly working hard and progressing. She is a petite, slender women. She lacks cue power but she has a very decent safety game as well as the right mindset and attitude. Is that enough to give her a chance on the main tour? The honest answer is that I’m not sure. What I’m very sure of though is that she deserves respect, a lot of it. She certainly doesn’t deserve the contempt that so often transpires through disparaging comments made by insecure machos in chats and posts. You know who you are.

Here is the report by WST:

CAPTAIN CRUISES THROUGH

Ali Carter got his season off to a strong start by topping Group Five at the BetVictor Championship League and earning his place in Stage Two. 

The Captain opened his day with a 2-2 draw against Joshua Thomond, where he lost the final frame to surrender victory. However, he recovered well with a 3-1 defeat of Indian tour rookie Kreish Gurbaxani. That set up a group decider against Xing Zihao, who won his opening two matches with Thomond and Gurbaxani. It was Carter who crafted breaks of 87 and 73 en route to a 3-1 victory and the next round. 

Former BetVictor European Masters champion Fan Zhengyi prevailed in Group 16. He opened with a 3-0 whitewash win over former World Seniors finalist Alfie Burden, before making breaks of 121 and 65 in a 2-2 draw with women’s world number one Mink Nutcharut. Fan faced Chinese compatriot Zhou Yuelong in a crucial final game, but crafted contributions of 113 and 57 in a group sealing 3-1 victory. 

As always you will find all the results on snooker.org

About Wildcards …

This was shared by WST three days ago:

DOHERTY AWARDED INVITATIONAL TOUR CARD

Former World Champion Ken Doherty has been awarded an Invitational Tour Card which will allow him to compete on the World Snooker Tour for the next two seasons.

Ireland’s Doherty has been ever-present on the tour since 1990. He would have been relegated at the end of last season having finished 79th in the world rankings, but has accepted the Invitational Tour Card which gives him the chance to enter events during the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.

Doherty conquered the Crucible in 1997 and in all has won over 20 professional tournaments. 
 
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “In view of Ken’s tremendous record as a player and a fantastic ambassador for snooker, we had no hesitation in offering him a tour card. He is a great asset to our sport and also remains very competitive as a player and no doubt fans will continue to enjoy watching him in action over the next two seasons.”

Stephen Hendry was also offered an Invitational Tour Card but has decided not to accept. The seven-time World Champion had held the card since 2020, but now feels that he is unable to commit to the tour due to other priorities including the growth of his CueTips YouTube Channel and brand, broadcast commitments and ambassadorial role in China.

His various commitments aren’t the only reasons why Hendry decided to decline the offer. Indeed here is what he had to tell the Daily Record as reported by BBC:

“Let’s be honest, I wasn’t pulling up any trees, was I?

“I was a little bit surprised with how good the standard was, but I’ve just got so many other work commitments, I won’t be able to dedicate enough time to practising.

“I know the game inside out, I still know all the shots, but unfortunately the body is not performing like my brain wants it to.“

Stephen Hendry did the right thing. Respect. It’s always hard to cope with the situation when your body starts to fail you because of age. You have to accept it and adapt. It’s not easy at all. Ken took the offer and I saw some very negative comments about his decision on social media. “He should leave his spot to young players who are better than him”. Possibly … BUT … bear in mind that the likes of Ken and Jimmy still put bums on seats, quite a lot of bums too. They bring money to the game that way, money that, amongst other things, helps supporting to the rookies and young on tour financially. No matter how good they may be, these are players very few would pay to watch, quite simply because they don’t know them (yet).

The 2024 Ranking CLS – Day 13 and 2024/25 Q-Tour Global Good News

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Here is WST report on what happened yesterday at the 2024 Ranking CLS:

HIGGINS KNOCKED OUT IN FIRST STAGE

ohn Higgins’ 33rd season on the pro tour started with an early exit from the BetVictor Championship League as he finished third in Group Nine, behind Ma Hailong and Ben Mertens.

Four-time World Champion Higgins has been ever-present among the top 16 since 1995, and kept that sequence going by beating Mark Allen 13-12 in the last 16 at the Crucible in April. But his status among the elite remains under threat as 2024/25 gets underway.

The Scot opened strongly today in Leicester with a 3-0 win over tour rookie Artemijs Zizins, firing breaks of 95, 74 and 120. But Higgins then lost 3-0 to Mertens, who scored runs of 68, 86 and 82. Meanwhile, China’s Ma drew 2-2 with Mertens and beat Zizins 3-0, which meant he only needed a draw in the last match of the day against Higgins. A break of 111 gave Ma the opening frame, and he lost the second but then snatched the third on the final black to go 2-1 up and guarantee top spot in the group. Higgins made it 2-2 with a 62 clearance in frame four, but it was not enough.

Group Six was topped by Gary Wilson, who enjoyed his best ever season in 2023/24, winning two ranking titles. The world number 11 saw off Huang Jiahao 3-0 then beat Michael Holt 3-1 with a top break of 97. He still needed a draw in his last match against Joe Perry and fell 1-0 behind, but Wilson made an 83 for 1-1 then added frame three, before Perry clinched a 2-2 draw to secure second place.

Results / Fixtures

I saw nothing from group 6 yesterday but group 9 was certainly very interesting, featuring three young players, one from Latvia, one from China and one from Belgium. They all delivered. Ma Hailong played really well and stayed focused throughout. Ben Mertens played very well in his first two matches but then, rather surprisingly, lost by 3-0 to Artemijs Zizins, when he had a very good chance to top the group. During that match, Ben appeared tired and suffering from the heat. Artemijs Zizins himself showed some very good things: he pots well, his positional play is good but he needs to improve in the safety department and risk management.

The WPBSA has published a very interesting piece yesterday. It outlines what the 2024/25 Q-Tour season will be made of, and lists the 48 “invited” seeded amateurs.

WPBSA Q TOUR GLOBAL EXPANDED FOR 2024/25
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association Group of organisations (WPBSA) has today announced the continued expansion of WPBSA Q Tour Global, the series which provides an elite pathway for talented snooker players around the world to earn their place on the World Snooker Tour.

The announcement follows the biggest-ever Q Tour season to date which saw 551 players (individual players taken from all the Q Tour regional ranking lists) from 44 countries complete 1174 matches across four continents.

WPBSA Q Tour Global will continue to grow over the coming 12 months, with an increased number of regional series’ each set to provide players for the season-ending Global Playoff.

WPBSA Q TOUR EUROPE

Topped last season by former Shoot Out champion Michael Holt, Q Tour Europe will return with seven events for the 2024/25 season.

For the first time, the series will include four tournaments in mainland Europe, with the remaining three to be staged within the UK. The circuit will once again see players compete to finish the season as the top ranked player and earn a place on the World Snooker Tour.

The next 16-ranked players (to include each event champion) will be guaranteed to qualify for the season-end Q Tour Global Playoff.

Following player feedback, the match lengths from the last 64 stage onwards has been increased with each match to be played over the best of seven frames (including the final), with the last 16 moved to Sunday morning to accommodate this change.

As in previous seasons, 48 players (see below) will be seeded through to Saturday’s last 64, to be joined by 16 qualifiers.

THE DATES

The provisional dates for this season’s Q Tour Europe are:

  • Q Tour 1 – 16-18 August 2024 – Northern Snooker Centre, UK
  • Q Tour 2 – 13-15 September 2024 – Bulgarian Snooker Academy, BULGARIA 
  • Q Tour 3 – 4-6 October 2024 – Snookerhallen, SWEDEN
  • Q Tour 4 – 8-10 November 2024 – Club 200, UK
  • Q Tour 5 – 13-15 December 2024 – Vienna, AUSTRIA 
  • Q Tour 6 – 10-12 January 2025 – Zurich, SWITZERLAND 
  • Q Tour 7 – 7-9 February 2025 – Landywood Snooker Club, UK

All dates are provisional and subject to change.

All Q Tour Europe events in England will be held at official 147 Clubs recognised by the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards.

THE PLAYERS

As was the case last season, each weekend tournament will be made up of 64 players comprising the following:

The top 32 eligible players from the 2024 UK Q School Order of Merit eligible to compete.

Dylan Emery, Simon Blackwell, Iulian Boiko, Joshua Thomond, Paul Deaville, Daniel Womersley, Anton Kazakov, Joshua Cooper, Florian Nuessle, Mark Joyce, Lewis Ullah, Gerard Greene, Kayden Brierley, Umut Dikme, Sean O’Sullivan, Andres Petrov, Craig Steadman, Connor Benzey, Barry Pinches, Zachary Richardson, Josh Mulholland, James Cahill, Ryan Davies, Lee Daegyu, Alfie Davies, Hamim Hussain, Steven Hallworth, Jenson Kendrick, Alex Clenshaw, Andy Hicks, Rory McLeod, Harvey Chandler

The top 8 from the 2024 Asia-Oceania Q School Order of Merit

Lan Yuhao, Ali Gharahgozlou, Ehsan Heydari Nezhad, Kwok Wai Fung, Xiao Long Liang, Yang Gao, Amin Sanjaei, Muhammed Naseem

The eight highest ranked junior players on the 2024 UK Q School Order of Merit, not already qualified.

Vladislav Gradinari, Shaun Liu, Riley Powell, Steven Wardropper, Adam Abbas, Edward Jones, Oliver Sykes, Aidan Gallagher

EVENT ENTRY

The 48 qualified players will be contacted directly by email with entry instructions after 1 July.Each player will be required to pay a block entry fee of £525 by 12:00pm on 5 July and will be guaranteed a place in the last 64 of each Q Tour Europe tournament.

Following this date, subject to the number of players who have accepted and paid for their Q Tour Europe place, we will contact top up players as required until we have 48 confirmed players for each event. These players will have until 12:00pm 10 July to claim their place.

Open entry for all Friday qualifying tournaments will be opened to all players from no later than 12 July. We aim to accommodate all players who wish to enter; however, we do reserve the right to limit entries for each qualifier or to extend events to Thursdays subject to the number of tables available at the club and time available.

All entries are to be made via WPBSA SnookerScores.

Q TOUR GLOBAL

WPBSA Q Tour Global will continue to incorporate regional Q Tour Series’ staged around the world as part of the planned international expansion of Q Tour.

Following last season’s inaugural Middle East, Americas and Asia-Pacific Series, each of these series will be expanded for the 2024/25 season. They will be joined by the CBSA China Tour which becomes a recognised part of Q Tour for the first time.

As part of the WPBSA’s commitment to the international growth of our sport, the leading players from these Regional Q Tour events will qualify to compete at the Q Tour Global Playoff, alongside players from Q Tour Europe.

Players competing in Q Tour events outside of Europe, must be resident for a minimum six months to be eligible to play in these events.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The 48 players eligible to accept a seeded place on Q Tour Europe will be contacted from 1 July with instructions on how to accept their place.

Further information, including open entry details and full entry packs, will be published as soon as possible.

There are several interesting and encouraging aspects to this announcement.

  • For the first time the “European leg” features more events set to be played in mainland Europe than in the UK
  • The format has been changed to make the matches slightly longer. This is will favour the better players.
  • The inclusion of the CBSA Tour into the Global Q-Tour really surprised me, but in a good way.

Ronnie is scheduled to play today in the 2024 ranking CLS. I have no expectations. I doubt that he enjoys playing in front of nobody and having to wait hours between his matches. His goal, if he shows up, will be most probably to prepare the best he can for the next event that will really be important to him: the 2024 Shanghai Masters.

The 2024 Ranking CLS – Day 11

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

Both groups in action yesterday were won by the top seed. Here is the report by WST:

Si Jiahui notched three wins out of three as he topped Group 13 and booked his place in the second stage of the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester.

China’s Si was a Crucible semi-finalist in 2023 then reached his first ranking final last season at the German Masters and is looking to continue his rapid progress.  

He started his season with a 3-0 win over Peter Lines then saw off Zak Surety 3-0 with a top break of 82, before securing top spot with a 3-1 defeat of Jimmy Robertson.

Former World Champion Stuart Bingham also made it through the day unbeaten, scoring two wins and a draw to advance from Group 18. He let slip a 2-0 lead against Hamim Hussain, finishing 2-2, but then beat Aly Ahmed Elsayed 3-0 with a top break of 110 and Anthony Hamilton 3-1.

Results / Fixtures

Yesterday evening I managed to watch a bit of the action… yeah! Si Jiahui was far from faultless in beating Jimmy Robertson who looked quite “rusty” to say the least. Then I saw the last frame and a half between Bingham and the Sheriff … they both appeared to be in great spirit, laughing and joking. You would have thought they were playing in an exhibition rather than in a ranking event. Ballrun had … some run of the balls.

As for the news about the end of the Eurosport App … I’m obviously not the only one feeling mightily annoyed and angry.

The 2024 Ranking CLS – Day 6

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

Here is WST report on the action in Leicester yesterday:

Jamie Jones came through a hard-fought Group 30 at the BetVictor Championship League to book his place in the second stage.

Jones kept up the sequence of a Welshman topping a group each day, following victories earlier in the week for Ryan Day, Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens, Michael White and Jackson Page.

He opened with a 3-0 win over Chris Totten, top scoring with 124, then crucially came from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw with Ishpreet Singh Chadha. The group was in the balance ahead of his final match with Liu Hongyu, but by coming from 1-0 down to draw 2-2 with breaks of 99 and 68, Jones finished just ahead of Singh Chadha on frame difference.

Leicester’s Ben Woollaston took the spoils in Group 29. He trailed Stan Moody 2-0 in his opening match but hit back for a 2-2 draw, and that proved the turning point for Woollaston as he went on to beat Dylan Emery 3-0 and Dominic Dale 3-1.

Results / Fixtures

I’m happy to see Ben Woollaston slowly regaining form after years of struggles with health issues. Stan Moody came second in that group, undefeated. At 17 he’s showing a lot of maturity. Dylan Emery, on the other hand, was nowhere near the level needed at professional level.

In the other group very little separated Jamie Jones from Ishpreet Singh Chadha, or even from Chris Totten who came third. None of those three won more than one match, not because of lack of quality but because nearly every frame was hard fought. Liu Hongyu was disappointing but, of course, it’s only the start of the season and, maybe, he was only just back from China.

There is no play today. Happy Fathers Day to all fathers out there!

The 2024 Ranking CLS – Day 5

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Yesterday was a rather disappointing day for me as a Belgian. Indeed Julien Leclercq was in action and, after a decent start in the first session of the day, he really struggled in the second session and finished last of his group. I was even more disappointing because Julien had been interviewed by WST ahead of his return to action and appeared to be in an excellent frame of mind.

JULIEN LECLERCQ Q&A

On the cusp of his third season as a pro, Belgium’s 21-year-old Julien Leclercq reflects on what he has learned from his first two years on the tour, and looks ahead to the coming campaign.

Julien, how much are you looking forward to the new season?
I’m very excited, I haven’t played a match since the World Championship qualifiers in April so I want to get started again. I only had a few days rest and then I was practising again.

How do you reflect on your results and performances last season?
I got nervous towards the end because my tour card wasn’t safe. Going into the world qualifiers I had to win my first match against Haydon Pinhey otherwise I would have been going to Q School. I didn’t play well but I won 10-3 so that took a lot of pressure off. Next time I don’t want to be in that position again. My goal for the first part of the new season is to get well up into the top 64 so I am not risking dropping off the tour at the end of the season.    

Still, to keep your tour card after your first two seasons is a good achievement. What have you learned?
Yes I am happy just to keep my card. I have learned so much. Mainly about life on tour in terms of travelling to events. It is not easy, living in Belgium and going to the UK or other countries for every tournament. Things like arranging travel by train and booking the right hotels close to the venues, that takes time to learn everything, and I do it all myself, or sometimes my girlfriend Chloe helps me. I know a lot more about that now, so next season I won’t need four hours of searching online just to find the right hotel! That will take away some stress. In terms of my game, I have had to get better at safety. When I turned pro, my safety wasn’t great. But on the tour, if you can’t play safety you will be killed. The other thing I have tried to learn is to accept defeat. It’s hard when you lose. But there is no point getting angry or frustrated. Staying positive on the mental side is so important.

What was your best moment last season?
Winning that first qualifying match in the world qualifiers because after that I knew I would probably stay on tour. My uncle Joel came to watch – he has been to a few tournaments, he absolutely loves snooker and it is great to have him in the crowd. 

…and the worst?
In the qualifying round for the International Championship, I was 5-5 with Si Jiahui and in the last frame I was 56-0 ahead but he cleared up with 68. That was painful because I want to qualify for more events in China. I played there three times as an amateur but I am yet to play in a pro tournament there.

Ben Mertens joined the tour at the same time as you, how much has that helped both of you over the first two years?
He is my best friend and we have been playing snooker together since we were nine years old. He only lives 20 minutes away so we practise together a lot. There has never been any jealousy, we are always happy for each other’s success. We are going through some of the same experiences on tour so it really helps to have someone to speak to. And when we have time off we play video games like Call of Duty, but I always win, he’s a very bad gamer!

Have you thought about moving to the UK?
When I first turned pro I considered it, but then I decided to stay in Belgium. I have Chloe there – she is studying psychology at university – as well as my friends and family, it’s more important to me to be close to them. People might think I would learn more by practising with other players in the UK, but I learn most by playing matches. And I often watch my matches again on video and try to work on the mistakes I made.

During your first season you reached the final of the Shoot Out, did that give you a taste for the big occasion?
Yes – every player on tour wants to be in the big finals. Also I want to do well to help inspire more young players from Belgium. 

What’s the best venue you have played at?
The Tempodrom in Berlin. You are so close to the crowd, it’s an amazing atmosphere.

Finally, what’s the best thing about being a snooker player?
The chance to travel the world and share some of those experiences with my family. And to play snooker on live TV – that’s what I always dreamed about. I can’t complain about anything. 

Anyway … here is the report by WST:

In the tightest group yet at this week’s BetVictor Championship League, Jackson Page scored a superb late win over Robert Milkins to book his place in the second stage.

The first four matches in Group 10 were all drawn 2-2, leaving it in the balance heading into the concluding ties. Andrew Higginson scored a 3-1 win over Iulian Boiko and he looked favourite, particularly with a high break of 121 earlier in the day. But Page then came from 1-0 down to beat Milkins 3-1, and his break of 127 in the second frame edged him ahead of Higginson and secured his progress.

Success for the 22-year-old means that a Welsh player has topped a group every day this week, as Page follows Ryan Day, Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens and Michael White into the next phase.

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh topped Group 32 in another close finish, edging out Daniel Wells. Thailand’s Un-Nooh opened with a 3-1 win over Mark Joyce, then made breaks of 106 and 104 in a 3-0 defeat of Julien Leclercq. 

Wells drew 2-2 with Leclercq and beat Joyce 3-1, so could have won the group with victory in his final match against Un-Nooh, and he started well with a break of 91 to take the opening frame. But Un-Nooh hit back to take the next two, and eventually progressed with a 2-2 draw. 

Results / Fixtures

Group 10 really delivered. There was no dead match and the group winner was literally decided by the second and last frames of last match on the day. Jackson needed to win, from 1-0 down, AND to make ea break of 122 or more. He managed both! Andrew Higginson must have felt sick.

The 2024 Ranking CLS – Day 4

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

I didn’t see much of the action yesterday as life came in the way of snooker but, from what I could watch group 22 was probably the most interesting group in the tournament so far. All four players in that group are under 30 years old. All are extremely capable. Harvey Chandler, who replaced Craig Steadman, has been a pro for two years in 2018/19/20. He’s a very talented player, but not a very consistent one… to say the least. When playing well, he’s brilliant to watch. Harvey often travels to North Africa to play and promote the game. It was a very strange group, a very close group. Three players finished the day undefeated. Only Oliver lines lost … twice. This means that four of the six matches ended up in draws. The decisive factor was the 130 break that Joe O’Connor made during his first match, early in the afternoon, in only the second frame he played on the day, and the first he won.

Here is the report by WST:

Joe O’Connor made a crucial clearance in the last frame of the day to draw 2-2 with Aaron Hill and finish top of Group 22 at the BetVictor Championship League.

Leicester’s O’Connor goes through to the second group stage which starts on June 28th. In his first match of the day he made a break of 130 during a 2-2 draw with Harvey Chandler, and O’Connor followed up with a 3-1 victory over Oliver Lines. Meanwhile, Hill had identical results, which meant that the last match of the group would be decisive.

Ireland’s Hill led 2-1 and the contest was in the balance in the fourth frame until O’Connor, having trailed 38-32, made a vital break of 40. That left the pair tied on points, so the group was decided on the highest break, and O’Connor’s 130 eclipsed Hill’s best effort of 74. 

Michael White topped Group 23 to become the fourth Welshman this week to qualify for phase two, following success for Ryan Day, Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens. 

White made breaks of 83, 74 and 98 to beat Dean Young 3-0, then fired 122 and 94 in a 3-0 defeat of Ryan Davies. Stephen Maguire may have started the group favourite, but his hopes were dented by a 3-0 reverse against Davies, and a 2-2 draw in his last match against White wasn’t enough.

Results / Fixtures

Group 23 was dominated by Michael White who scored heavily. All the positions in the table were already set before the last match began, which is very unusual in this format. The last match in that group was a completely “dead” affair. A big factor leading to this unfortunate situation was Stephen Maguire’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of 22 years old amateur Ryan Davies in the first match he played in the afternoon. Mags scored just 25 points in that match. Seriously, what happened there? … and this is a genuine question as I didn’t see the match. Ryan is a very good amateur, a very heavy scorer on his day, but still ???