Victory gives Selby a welcome boost going into the conclusion of the 2023/24 campaign, and also assures him of a place in the Champion of Champions later this year. The world number five lifted his first trophy since the WST Classic a year ago, and lands the BetVictor Championship League crown for the first time.
Having finished second in the group table earlier in the day, Selby saw off Stuart Bingham 3-0 in the semi-finals. O’Connor scored a fine 3-0 success against defending champion John Higgins, setting up a local derby in the final at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
O’Connor, seeking his first pro title, came from 55-0 down to snatch the opening frame on the colours. Selby hit back with breaks of 74 and 137 to lead 2-1, then got the better of a scrappy fourth frame to secure the silverware.
He said: “Over the two days, I scored when I got chances so overall I’m happy with my game. It was a tough group with great players in. Joe had done brilliantly to get here and he played some great stuff to reach the final today. It was nice to get the win, but if there was anyone who I was to lose to I would have been chuffed for Joe.”
Selby will join Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Allen, Gary Wilson and more in the Champion of Champions. More information on the event including ticket information and venue will be published in due course.
Congratulations Mark Selby!
It’s not been a great season so far for Mark and quite understandably so considering what is family is going through and Vikki’s illness. I’m happy for Mark and I sincerely hope that everything will be fine soon for the whole family. The surprise man of the event though has been Joe O’Connor and, IMO, it’s only a matter of time before he wins a professional tournament.
Valdislav Gradinari in the 2024 Under-16 EBSA Champion
The 2024 EBSA tournaments are currently underway in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Under-16 competition already concluded with Vladislav Gradinari beating Riley Powell in the final.
Congratulations Vladislav!
Here are some images shared by WPBSA on X (Twitter)
Bai Yulu has won the 2024 Under-21 Women Snooker World Championship
She defeated Narucha Phoemphul from Thailand by 3-0 to win the World Women’s Under-21 Snooker Championship for the first time!
Congratulations Bai Yulu!
WWS on X (Twitter) posted this:
The 20-year-old hit breaks of 57 and 35 to earn victory and claim the biggest Under-21 crown in women’s snooker. Bai spoke with national and international media during her post-match media conference, with the trophy presentation to take place on Sunday alongside the main event closing ceremony.
Tessa Davidson has won the 2024 Seniors Women World Championship
This was shared by WWS on X (Twitter)
Congratulations to England’s Tessa Davidson who has defeated Han Fang 3-1 to win the World Women’s Seniors Snooker Championship for the second time in three years in Dongguan Changping. The trophy presentation will take place as part of the main ceremony.
The event marked a milestone for the Q Tour as it held it’s first event in South America in Brazil’s second-largest city.
A total of 37 South American cueists embarked on the event, which is the first to count towards the new season of Q Tour Americas events. They were split into eight groups, with both finalists as well as former professional Itaro Santos storming through this phase with a clean sweep of victories.
Santos fell to defeat in the first knockout, losing 3-1 to Gabriel Callas Andrade, but back-to-back whitewash victories saw fellow former professional Figueiredo comfortably book his place in the semi-finals – where he defeated Fabio Anderson Luersen 4-1 to reach the title match.
There he would meet fellow Brazilian Moreira, who had come through a hard-fought quarter-final contest against Claudio Menechini in a deciding frame before securing a much more comfortable win in the semi-final by beating Andrade without dropping a frame.
The experience of the 46-year-old Figueiredo, who has featured on the World Snooker Tour on numerous occasions since 2010, showed in the final as he lost just a single frame in storming to a dominant 5-1 victory and securing the first Q Tour crown of the 2024/25 season as a result.
We held our Players Briefing at the CBSA Guangdong Academy ahead of the start of the 2024 World Women’s Snooker Championship.
The action gets underway in Dongguan Changping at 10am CST with KO matches from the Under-21/Seniors tournaments, alongside group stage matches from the main competition.
Live streaming from Table 1 is planned with confirmation of how you can watch to follow.
The 2024 Women Snooker World Championship starts tomorrow, and Matt Huart has shared more images of the venue as rigging was in progress and of the nearly ready arena. I have to say that it looks fantastic.
In my previous post I erroneously wrote that the event was to be held at Bai Yulu’s club. This is what I had understood when it was first announced that the event would be held in Dongguan, China. Bai Yulu is indeed from Dongguan, but this is a bespoke venue at the Changping Gymnasium. Thank you, Matt Huart, for spotting the mistake and providing the correct information. Thank you as well for allowing me to share the photos.
This is a proper venue, not a club. Women events have been held in some fantastic clubs, but this is something else and I believe that it is an important step towards giving this tour a more “professional” image. The people in charge in recent years, and Mandy Fisher over decades, have always been “professional”, doing miracles with very little means. But image matters, and this is sending a powerful message that the women’s game is taken 100% seriously and deserves respect and proper exposure.
The event is the first to count towards the 2024/25 Q Tour Americas ranking list, with further events for the new season to be announced in due course.
A total of 37 cueists from Brazil will be competing in the event, including former World Snooker Tour professionals Igor Figueiredo and Itaro Santos.
The event is at the semi-finals stage and Igor Figueiredo is till to lose a frame…
Amongst the various events taking place next week is the 2024 Women Snooker World Championship and, this year, it will be held in China, in Bai Yulu’s club.
WORLD WOMEN’S SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 | TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The 2024 World Women’s Snooker Championship will begin next Monday (11 March) as the biggest tournament in women’s snooker heads to a new venue at the Changping Gymnasium, Dongguan, China.
To be held from 11-17 March, the prestigious tournament represents the jewel in the crown of the World Women’s Snooker (WWS) Tour and will once again be a World Snooker Tour qualifying event, with this year’s winner set to earn a two-year professional card from the start of the 2024/25 season.
The tournament will be held in China for the first time, with Thailand’s Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan set to defend the title that she so memorably won for the first time 12 months ago in Bangkok.
She is joined by a stellar line-up which includes her compatriot and 2022 world champion Mink Nutcharut, record 12-time world champion Reanne Evans of England and Hong Kong China’s Ng On Yee, winner of the event on three occasions to date.
Among the players hoping to claim the title for the first time will be the likes of current professional Rebecca Kenna, reigning Eden Masters champion Mary Talbot and three-time UK Championship winner Tessa Davidson. There will also be a strong threat from Asia with World Cup holders Amee Kamani and Anupama Ramachandran looking to go deep, as well as the talented Narantuya Bayarsaikhan, one of a record eight players from Mongolia set to compete in the event.
The main competition will see all 45 players divided into nine groups of five players, with the group winners to progress straight to the last 16 and a further 14 to face off in a preliminary knockout round. Two players have been seeded per group, in accordance with the latest world ranking list.
GROUP A
Reigning world champion Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan will begin her title defence in Group A and will once again be hoping for a strong run at a tournament at which she has always reached at least the quarter-final stage since her debut in 2017.
It has so far been a stop-start season as world champion for the Thai player who reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship last September, but has yet to add to her maiden ranking title that she won so dramatically a year ago.
Awaiting her will be Miina Tani of Japan, who makes her fourth consecutive World Championship appearance and will be hoping to match her last 16 run in 2022.
The two seeded players will be joined by a trio of Tour debutants in Wing Man Shiu of Hong Kong China, Han Fang of China and Mongolia’s Zolboo Unurbayar.
GROUP B
World number four Rebecca Kenna begins her seventh tilt at the title in Group B and will be looking to further improve upon her strong record in the event which has seen her reach no fewer than four semi-finals since 2016.
The English player has established herself as one of the most consistent players on the circuit over the past decade, but will have to be on her game from the start in Changping as part of an interesting group section.
She will be joined by Mongolia’s Narantuya Bayarsaikhan as the second seeded player, who notably stunned three-time world champion Ng On Yee at the last 16 stage of the event last year on her tournament debut and has since gone on to break into the world’s top 30 for the first time. Intriguingly the pair were also drawn together at the recent Belgian Women’s Open, at which Bayarsaikhan claimed a 2-0 win.
Also in the group will be Yee Ting Cheung of Hong Kong China, who reached the knockout rounds in both 2018 and 2019, as well as two Chinese debutants in the form of Li Bi Han and Xia Yu Ying.
GROUP C
Home favourite and 2023 runner-up Bai Yulu will begin her second quest to claim the World Women’s Snooker Championship title in Group C as she looks to earn a place on the professional tour for the first time.
The 20-year-old Dongguan resident made an immediate impact on her Tour debut a year ago as she crafted a stunning break of 127 – the highest ever recorded at the World Women’s Snooker Championship – in her opening match, before ultimately losing out in the title match.
A ranking event winner at last year’s British Open, Bai will begin her tournament in a group which features world number 12 Diana Schuler of Germany, who has twice reached the last 16 stage of the flagship event in 2016 and 2017.
The pair will be joined by the experienced Pui Ying Chu of Hong Kong China, who reached the last 16 stage on her debut in 2017. Compatriot Chan Wai Lam makes her first appearance on the Tour this week, as will Urantuul Tsolmon of Mongolia.
GROUP D
Record twelve-time world champion Reanne Evans returns to the competition looking to lift the Mandy Fisher Trophy for the first time since 2019 and will begin this year’s tournament in Group D.
Victory for the 38-year-old would see her become the oldest winner of the tournament in over 40 years, but for many the English player remains the woman to beat having established herself as the most successful player of all-time on the WWS Tour.
Her round robin group will see her take on So Man Yan of Hong Kong China, a two-time ranking event finalist most recently in 2017, who will be making her tenth appearance in the competition, reaching the quarter-finals on three occasions.
Also present will be Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul, who narrowly missed out on qualification for the knockout rounds a year ago, as well as debut pair Erdenetugs Dash of Mongolia and Deng Xin Shun of China.
GROUP E
Three-time winner Ng On Yee returns to the World Women’s Snooker Championship as one of the most in-form players having won two of her previous three ranking tournaments, while reaching a further two finals since last August.
Having recently defeated the likes of Reanne Evans, Rebecca Kenna and Mink Nutcharut to triumph in Albania last month, Ng will be hoping to improve upon a recent World Championship record which has seen her fail to return to the semi-final stage since her third title win – without the loss of a frame – in 2018.
India’s Natasha Chethan will be among those hoping to stop her in the round robin stage, with the talented 15-year-old set to make her second appearance in the tournament following her debut a year ago, and looking to continue her ascent up the world rankings which has taken her to 32nd position so far.
Completing the group are home player Lynn Shi, who has competed regularly on the circuit from 2021-2023 prior to relocating back to China, as well as Mongolia’s Byambasuren Sergelenbaatar who made her debut last year in Thailand and second Chinese player Bai Ya Ru.
GROUP F
World number one Mink Nutcharut will begin her bid for a second world title in Group F and will head to the tournament feeling confident following victories in the US and Belgium already so far this season.
The 24-year-old has established herself as the number one ranked player for much of the past 12 months, but with maximum points to be defended at this event following her success in 2022, could be overtaken this week by Ng On Yee should results go against her.
Among those in her opening group will be experienced Hong Kong China duo Jaique Ip Wan In– a semi-finalist back in 2015 – and Mei Mei Fong, who has twice reached the last 16 stage at the event.
The group is made up by debutants Liu Wei Yi Lu of China and Mongolia’s Jambaa Sosorbaram.
GROUP G
England’s Tessa Davidson prepares to make her 12th appearance in the Tour’s premier event, having twice reached the semi-finals back in 1991 and 1994.
The 54-year-old returned to the Tour following a 23-year absence in 2022 and has demonstrated that she has lost none of her ability, re-establishing herself as a consistent performer and reclaiming a place back inside of the world’s top 10.
Having reached the last 16 during each of the past two years, Davidson will be hoping to go further still and will be joined by Yee Ki Ho of Hong Kong China in an interesting group draw, with Ki also having progressed to the last 16 stage in 2023.
India’s Mohitha R T. is set to make her second appearance in the competition having made her bow in Thailand last year, while China’s Yang Meng and Otgonbayar Jigden of Mongolia will play in the event for the first time.
GROUP H
Former world under-21 champion Emma Parker is set to head up the penultimate group as she makes just her fourth appearance in the competition since her Tour debut back in 2015.
The 24-year-old reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 2022 and will therefore be targeting a strong performance to successfully defend those ranking points and climb back up the rankings having dropped to ninth position in recent months.
Set to challenge her in Group H will be India’s Amee Kamani, who notably reached her first world ranking event final last October at the Australian Women’s Open and will be hoping to reach the knockout rounds for the first time at her third attempt.
Elsewhere in the group, Hong Kong China’s Katrina Wan makes her return to the competition for the first time since she reached back-to-back quarter-finals in 2016 and 2017, with Chinese duo Liu Zi Ling and He Dan Ni set to make their debuts.
GROUP I
Reigning Eden Masters champion Mary Talbot leads the final round robin group as she looks to continue a memorable season which has seen her achieve a career-high world ranking of number six in recent months.
The 43-year-old previously reached the quarter-finals stage of the World Championship in 1997 and more recently has earned consecutive last 16 places since her Tour return in September 2021.
She faces a tricky group, however, which will see her joined by 21-year-old rising star Anupama Ramachandran of India, who recently defeated Talbot 3-1 at the last 16 stage of the Albanian Women’s Open only last month.
Also present will be Yuk Fan Lau of Hong Kong China, who made her WWS debut at the Australian Women’s Open earlier this season, reaching the quarter-finals, as well as Altangerel Bolortuya of Mongolia and China’s Mo Tian Tian.
SIDE-TOURNAMENTS
Alongside the main competition, there will also be side-tournaments staged for the Under-21 and Seniors players during the week, with the majority of matches planned to be completed on Monday 11 March (subject to change).
A new champion is guaranteed in the Under-21 competition with last year’s winner Anupama Ramachandran having since turned overage, while previous two Seniors winners Mary Talbot and Tessa Davidson are on course to meet in this year’s over-40s final should each progress.
The action gets underway on Monday from 10:00am CST with the latest match results and standings available via WPBSA SnookerScores.
Matt is already in Dongguan and shared these pictures yesterday evening
This is the kind of welcome players get in China, women players who are despised by so many in the UK. They are made to feel not only welcome but valued. No wonder players love to go there.
It will be an interesting championship. I can’t remember when – if ever – the Women World Championship featured 10 groups. The Asian players, for once, will not be the ones impacted by jet lag and I’m expecting some surprises. I don’t want to say upsets because I believe that the level of the Asian women is better in general than the level of the european ones, jusy because more of them actually play the game.
We have a few days without major snooker action before an extremely busy next week. But, of course, there is news…
One of the events taking place next week is the 2024 Q-Tour Global Playoffs. The draw is out:
Q Tour Global Play-Off | Draw & Preview
The draw has been made for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) Q Tour Global Play-Off, where 24 players will compete for three two-year World Snooker Tour cards.
The prestigious event will be held alongside the EBSA European Championships in Bosnia & Herzegovina from 13-15 March 2024.
The 2023/24 WPBSA Q Tour season saw the tour go global for the first time by incorporating series’ in the Middle East, Americas and Asia-Pacific region alongside the UK/Europe series which has been held since 2021/22. Cueists from across the globe have been competing all year to earn a coveted spot in the Global Play-Off.
View the full qualification criteria. (Please note that due to the Asia-Pacific qualifiers being unable to attend the event for personal reasons, these places have been awarded to the next highest-ranked from the UK/Europe series).
The 24 players have been split into three sections of eight and the player coming through each section successfully will earn their place on the World Snooker Tour from the 2024/25 season.
Play-Off 1
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Liam Davies (Wales) vs. Peter Devlin (England)
Hamim Hussain (England) vs. Rory McLeod (Jamaica)
Duane Jones (Wales) vs. Vito Puopolo (Canada)
Florian Nuessle (Austria) vs. Craig Steadman (England)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
L Davies/Devlin vs. Hussain/McLeod
Jones/Puopolo vs. Nuessle/Steadman
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
Liam Davies, the top ranked player in the play-off from the UK/Europe series, is the top seed in the first section as he kicks off his event his with a difficult encounter against former professional Peter Devlin, who secured his place in the play-off as a benefactor of withdrawals from the Asia-Pacific series.
Veteran former professionals Rory McLeod and Craig Steadman are among the other big names to feature in a high-quality section.
McLeod, who famously defeated Judd Trump at the Crucible Theatre in 2017, faces 22-year-old Hamim Hussain the first round while Steadman meets Austrian national champion Florian Nuessle in the opening best-of-nine frame contest.
The line up is completed by Welsh former professional Duane Jones, who begins his campaign against Americas event one winner Vito Puopolo, who has previously competed in the 2023 World Seniors Championship at the Crucible Theatre.
Play-Off 2
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Peter Lines (England) vs. Tyler Rees (Wales)
Chris Totten (Scotland) vs. Iulian Boiko (Ukraine)
Barry Pinches (England) vs. Steven Hallworth (England)
Amir Sarkhosh (Iran) vs. Harvey Chandler (England)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Lines/Rees vs. Totten/Boiko
Pinches/Hallworth vs. Sarkhosh/Chandler
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
The second section of the draw sees six former professionals aiming to regain their main tour status in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
There are two first round meetings between cueists who have previous plied their trade on the main tour, with Scotland’s Chris Totten and Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko facing off while the veteran Barry Pinches kicks off his campaign against the recent English Amateur champion Steven Hallworth
Elsewhere, the recent UK/Europe event seven winner Peter Lines takes on 25-year old Welshman Tyler Rees and double Middle East event champion Amir Sarkhosh faces Harvey Chandler as the Iranian looks to secure professional status for the first time in his career.
Play-Off 3
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Umut Dikme (Germany) vs. Ryan Davies (England)
Mohamed Shehab (United Arab Emirates) vs. Daniel Womersley (England)
Alfie Davies (Wales) vs. Yu Kiu Chang (Hong Kong China)
Hasanain Khalid Alsultani (USA) vs. Antoni Kowalski (Poland)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Dikme/R Davies vs. Shehab/Womersley
A Davies/Yu vs. Alsultani/Kowalski
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
Four Q Tour event winners from across the globe battle it out in the third section of the play-off draw.
There is a meeting of champions in the opening round as Americas event two winner Hasanain Khalid Alsultani and UK/Europe event four winner Antoni Kowalski meet in a best-of-nine frame contest.
Mohamed Shehab, winner of the third event in the Middle East, will face recent WSF Championship semi-finalist Daniel Womersley in an intriguing opening round tie while Alfie Davies, the son of former professional Anthony Davies, kicks off his event against Hong Kong China’s Yu Kiu Chang as he aims to follow in his father’s footsteps and earn professional status.
Another fascinating opening round contest sees German Umut Dikme, the UK/Europe event three winner, face English Under-21 champion Ryan Davies.
WPBSA Qualifiers Announced for 2024 Cazoo World Championship
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and World Snooker Tour are pleased to confirm the qualification criteria for the 16 amateur players who have secured their places at the 2024 Cazoo World Snooker Championship in Sheffield in April.
The qualifying rounds will take place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield from 8-17 April to determine who will join the world’s elite top 16 ranked players at the Crucible Theatre.
Joining all professionals ranked outside the top 16, following the 2024 Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship, and top-ups from the 2023 Q School Order of Merit will be 16 leading amateur players who have earned their place at the event courtesy of their achievements at recognised international events across the season.
These include our recent champions at the World Snooker Federation Championship in Albania, the winner of the upcoming World Women’s Snooker Championship to be staged in China next week, and the WPBSA Q Tour Global, expanded for this season.
Jason Ferguson, WPBSA Chairman said: “We are excited to be able to announce another formidable line-up of WPBSA qualifiers who will join the field for this year’s professional World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.”
“Last year we saw fantastic wins for our qualifiers including Liam Davies, Stan Moody, Iulian Boiko and many more, and I have no doubt that this year’s players will also make their mark on our most recognisable tournament.”
“Amateur snooker continues to go from strength to strength as our recognised WPBSA Group pathways around the world continue to mature and deliver elite talent to the World Snooker Tour. Only last month we witnessed fantastic performances from Hong Kong China’s Ka Wai Cheung and Hungary’s Bulcsú Révész at the WSF Championship in Albania to earn their Tour places for the first time, while Michael Holt has also secured his return after two years away after winning the UK/Europe WPBSA Q Tour.”
“The WPBSA’s vision, is to inspire and reward. Through the development of global pathways, snooker is now a sport where an athlete can go from amateur status to world champion and global sports star in a matter of months. The opportunities are there, the only criteria are achievement.”
“I would like to wish our 16 players every success in Sheffield as they stand just four wins away from a place at the iconic Crucible Theatre in April!”
Oliver Sykes – 2024 WSF Junior Championship Semi-Finalist
Hamza Ilyas – 2024 WSF Junior Championship Semi-Finalist
TBC – 2024 EBSA Under-18 European Championship Winner
TBC – 2024 EBSA Under-21 European Championship Winner
TBC – Q Tour UK/Europe Ranking List (subject to Playoff Result)
All players selected will appear subject to acceptance of their place and any travel restrictions in place. Any replacement players for these 16 places will be selected from a reserve list to include performances at World Snooker Federation, Q Tour and recognised regional events.
Any current professional players who do not enter the tournament will be replaced from the 2023 Q School Order of Merit.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has ‘arm twisted’ to play Tour Championship as he sets out Crucible preparation
Phil Haigh
Ronnie O’Sullivan says his sponsors have twisted his arm to play in the Tour Championship next month, meaning he has two more tournaments to play before the World Championship gets underway in April.
The Rocket won the first ever World Masters of Snooker in Riyadh on Wednesday night, beating Luca Brecel 5-2 in the final and claiming the huge £250,000 first prize.
It was the fifth title of an incredible season for the 48-year-old who will be going into the World Championship this season as the favourite to lift the trophy for a record eighth time.
The world number one is not slowing down, though, heading to Yushan, China next week for the World Open, starting on 18 March then is back in the UK for the Tour Championship, getting underway on 1 April in Manchester.
O’Sullivan suggested he would have happily skipped the Tour Championship, though, but his sponsors convinced him to play the 12-man event in Manchester.
‘I’m going to keep playing, keep enjoying it,’ O’Sullivan told WST in Riyadh. ‘I go to China next week which I’m looking forward to.
‘It’s a tournament that I’m geared up to do well in, with this and China, then obviously the one in Manchester because my sponsors have twisted my arm to say, look we want you to do well in it, it would mean a lot to us.
Ronnie O’Sullivan beat John Higgins, Judd Trump and Luca Brecel in Riyadh (Picture: Zhai Zheng @zhaizhengqd)
‘So for the next four tournaments [including the Saudi event] I’m really going to give it 100 per cent because sponsors and all the backing that they’ve put in for these events.’
Ka Wai Cheung from Hong Kong won the 2024 WSF Championship yesterday evening in Golem, Albania. This victory earns him a professional tour card for two seasons: 2024/25 and 2025/26. He was impressive throughout the competition. Here is the report by WPBSA:
Ka Wai Cheung Wins WSF Championship
Ka Wai Cheung has defeated Gao Yang 5-0 in the final of the 2024 WSF Championship to secure the title and his status as a main tour professional for the first time at the Grand Blue Fafa Resort in Albania.
Cheung’s victory continues Asia’s dominance in snooker’s most prestigious amateur competition, which has been won by players from the continent in four of its five editions, with the 24-year-old following in the footsteps of Luo Honghao (2018), Si Jiahui (2022) and Ma Hailong (2023).
The result means Cheung will compete on the main tour in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons for the first time in his career and also denied 2020 WSF Junior champion Gao the feat of becoming the first player to win both the Junior and Open events.
The man from Hong Kong China was in dominant form all week, dropping just four frames in ten matches, and also fired in the tournament high break of 138 en route to a 4-0 semi-final victory over former Ukrainian professional Iulian Boiko, runner-up at the event in 2020.
After topping his group with four straight victories, Cheung overcame Oskar Charlesworth, Luke Pinches, Harvey Chandler, Oliver Sykes and Boiko to set up a final meeting with Gao.
The former professional from China had battled his way to the final by winning three final frame deciders, including a dramatic 4-3 semi-final victory over England’s Daniel Womersley earlier in the day.
The nerves were clearly apparent from both cueists in the early exchanges, but it was Cheung who managed to get over the line in a scrappy opener before doubling his advantage courtesy of breaks of 52 and 39 in the second frame of the evening.
Gao desperately needed to find something quickly after also losing a scrappy third frame and he looked to have found some form when he got in first in frame four and scored a break of 53.
However, Cheung showed determination to fight back and get a snooker on the colours when only able to tie before eventually winning it on the final black to head into the mid-session interval just one frame away from the title.
A break of 60 from Cheung upon their return was enough to complete the whitewash victory and secure both the title and a two-year World Snooker Tour card.
“It is every player’s dream to join the World Snooker Tour,” said Cheung. “I just feel very happy and surprised with my performance, especially in the semi-finals with back-to-back centuries. I played my own game and tried to play like it was practice, which is not easy, but my performance gave me a lot of confidence for the final.
“In the final, the fourth frame was big as I already thought it was 3-1 at the mid-session interval but I tried to play the shot I thought was right and the result came.”
“This is the biggest achievement in my snooker life, I think. I have always wished to be a professional player, so I am really happy to make this happen. It is also a significant result for our sport and I hope that the Hong Kong government will consider to keep Billiard Sports in the Hong Kong Sport Institute instead of asking us to leave in 2025.
“I’ve been a part of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) for around 7-8 years as a full-time athlete and even when I was younger, I was a part-time junior athlete. Every tournament, every competition I get support from the HKSI and HKSBCC.
“I have always had a lot of support and encouragement from people in Hong Kong to play more and to chase my goal to earn a [World Snooker] Tour ticket. I am grateful to the HKSI because we get a lot of support to go to all the places to get experience and to play competitions and practice with high standard players. I hope this can remain unchanged in the future so that I can have an easier way to do well in the World Snooker Tour.
Cheung has played snooker since he was 10 years old after he watched the sport on TV and counts former ranking event winner Marco Fu as one of his key inspirations in the sport:
“Marco Fu is always like an idol for me,” continued Cheung. “Because he is always flying around, I do not have much time to see and practice with him, so when I practice in the Elite Training Centre, I have thoughts like I want to be like him and stay on the World Snooker Tour. When I see him play at big tournaments like the Hong Kong Masters that is a big encouragement for me.”
The World Snooker Federation would like to thank all of its partners who have supported the event, including the Albanian Snooker Federation and of all the players, officials and supporters who contributed to a fortnight to remember in Albania.
Congratulations Ka Wai Cheung!
and some images taken during the final and shared by Matt Huart on social media …
Ronnie O'Sullivan 