The UK/Europe Q-School Event 1 and concluded this afternoon and the Asia-Oceania Q-School Event 1 will conclude tomorrow. After nearly a week of hard-fought competition, four players gained, or re-gained, a two years professional Tour card, and four others are one match away from joining them. The links will bring you to the detailed results on snooker.org.

Artemijs Zizins (17 years old, turning 18 on June, 6) – Latvia), Allan Taylor (39 years old – England), Haydon Pinhey (27 years old – England) and Wang Yuchen (26 years old – Hong Kong) qualified via the UK/Europe event. Gao Yang (19 years old – China), Lim Kok Leong (29 years old – Malaysia), Sunny Akani (28 years old – Thailand) and Ali Gharahgozlou (? – Iran) came through the Asia Oceania Q-School so far and will play the “telling” match tomorrow.

It’s an interesting group of laureates. From the eight only Allan Taylor was on tour last season. Haydon Pinhey, Lim Kok Leong and Ali Gharahgozlou have never been professionals before. As compared to previous editions, it’s a rather “young” group. as well. I couldn’t find Ali’s age, but from the other seven only Allan Taylor is over 30. Personally, I find this outcome quite satisfying: seven different nationalities and a majority of young players, but not children.

Personally, I am particularly happy to see Sunny Akani (hopefully) and Wang Yuchen getting back on tour.

Of course there were disappointments and heartbreaks. Iulian Boiko didn’t make it … he was beaten by Artemijs Zizins in round 3. I hope that, with Ken Doherty at his side he will be able to overcome the disappointment and stay positive. He’s had a lot to cope with over the last two years, on and off the table and he is still very young.

I would have loved to see Luo Hong Hao, the “virtuoso”, back on tour. He lost to Gao Yang in round 4. He’s only 24 and an interesting personality. He’s an artist and comes across as a free spirit. I like that.

Florian Nüßle was beaten in a decider in round 5 … He’s had his share of good runs ending in disappointment this season: he lost, in a decider in the SF of the 2024 European Championship, to Robbie Mc Guigan the eventual winner. He lost in the SF of the Q-Tour Global Play-off, to Duane Jones, the eventual winner. It’s just not quite happening for him.

I was disappointed that, other than On Yee, there was no woman in the draw. I have quite ambivalent feelings about the Women’s Tour being a qualifying route for the main tour. It does promote the women in snooker and has given them visibility but the level isn’t high enough. The women playing in that tour are not exposed to the kind of level required from professionals. As a result, those who qualified through that route didn’t perform well on the main tour … and that, in turn, gave ammunitions to those who see women as “inferior” and claim that none of them will ever succeed at professional snooker. Social media are full of such guys … alas.

We start it all again with “events 2” in a couple of days.

Meanwhile quite a number of top pros have been involved in exhibitions since the World Championship. I don’t remember we ever had so many going on at this time of the year. Maybe the changes in the players contract give the top players a bit more freedom than in the past.

About “exhibitions” and the so called “breakaway tour” there was an interesting interview with Kyren Wilson, our new World Champion. It is reported in the Finnish press: (automatic translation – highlights by me)

The snooker world champion’s gesture to a Finnish woman melted the hearts of the Helsinki audience – “The audience was amazing”

Kyren Wilson, who won the world championship at the beginning of May, organized a show at the invitational tournament in Helsinki’s Kulttuuritalo.

The biggest invitational tournament in Finnish snooker history started on Saturday in Helsinki’s Kulttuuritalo.

The 1,400-seat arena was packed to the brim when the Englishman Kyren Wilson, who was recently crowned as the snooker world champion, met the Welshman Ryan Day, who advanced to the 2nd round of the World Championship .

Seeing the snooker stars was a rare experience for many in the stands, which became a memorable one for one lucky person. Such a moment was seen in the stoppage of the match between Wilson and Day, when Wilson had decided the 4–3 victory.

When there were only a few balls left on the table, Wilson asked the Finnish woman sitting in the front row to stand next to the table and a moment later asked her to pocket the last black ball (video as the main image of the article).

Although the woman did not succeed in bagging, the audience rewarded Wilson’s gesture and the woman’s attempt with thunderous applause.

The audience was amazing, Wilson praised.

A new start from Finland

The 32-year-old Wilson won his first career world title at the Crucible Theater in Sheffield, England on May 6.

After that, Wilson had never played competitive snooker before the Helsinki tournament. The lack of play was visible at the beginning of the match on Saturday, but after three sets, Wilson bagged hitting streaks of 131, 118 and 85 points. Day’s best breaks were 95 and 77.

Wilson described the previous weeks as crazy.

The World Cup drug doesn’t seem to end, but something new comes every day. I was asked to present the World Cup trophy at the stadium of my favorite team, Chelsea, and I received an incredible reception at my home club and in the local pub.

– A party was also organized for me at a local theme park, where 1200 people arrived. This has been one rollercoaster – in a great way, Wilson said.

Amidst the responsibilities brought by the World Cup victory, snooker took a back seat for a while. Mestari said that he focused his energy on his family, which includes his wife and two children.

It has been a pleasure to take my children to school and to soccer tournaments. Do normal things sometimes.

Hot question about the future

Before and during the World Snooker tournament, there was a heated discussion in the sports circles about the current state of the professional tour.

According to rumors heard by Yle Urheilu from several sources, several top players in the sport have received an offer to play on a closed tour covering twenty players, whose prize pool for one season would be one hundred million euros.

For comparison: in the season that ended, the professional tour of 128 players managed by the umbrella organization World Snooker had less than 20 million euros in distribution.

I received an offer, but things have changed dramatically in a short time. As world champion, I want to be a good ambassador for snooker. I enjoy being announced on stage as world champion. I’m looking forward to the games on the familiar world tour next season as well, Wilson said.

Wilson dodged a direct question if he believes a closed tour ( Breakaway tour ) will happen.

I really don’t know the answer to this question. My life changed completely a couple of weeks ago. As crazy as it sounds, since then snooker has been the last thing on my mind before arriving in Helsinki.

A wish for Bottas

As for Finland and special wishes, Wilson had a direct answer ready: I want to have a beer with Valtteri Bottas .