Let’s start with Ronnie … although the official Championship League Snooker site still shows Ronnie in Group 1 draw, the WST score system now has him replaced by Michael Holt. So, it’s 99,99% certain that he has withdrawn from the event, which, TBH, isn’t a big surprise.
During the 2023/24 season, the following qualifying events will be open to fans:
International Championship Qualifiers, September 18-23, Sheffield BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Qualifiers, October 17-20, Sheffield UK Championship Qualifiers, November 18-23, Leicester Morningside Arena BetVictor German Masters Qualifiers, December 18-22, Sheffield BetVictor Welsh Open Qualifiers and Six Red World Championship Qualifiers, January 22-28, Barnsley Cazoo World Championship Qualifiers, April 8-17, Sheffield
Nearer the time of each event, details will be announced on how to buy tickets or gain access.
As in previous seasons, our intention is to give fans access where this is possible. Qualifying rounds are a fantastic way to enjoy live snooker with outstanding value for money. The quality of snooker is extraordinary and the strength in depth on our tour has never been greater. And at all qualifying events you can see a wide range of players on a single day.
We hope to see you at our qualifying events this season.
The good news clearly is that the UK Championship qualifiers will be open to fans.
However, as things stand for now, qualifiers to be played before mid-September will apparently not be open to fans. That includes the 2023 British Open qualifiers, the 2023 European Masters qualifiers, the 2023 Wuhan Open qualifiers and the 2023 English Open qualifiers.
Mostafa Dorgham defeated Mohamed Khairy 5-2 in an all-Egyptian final to win the 2023 African Snooker Championship in Morocco and secure a two-year World Snooker Tour card.
Having been the runner-up in 2018, it is 27-year-old Dorgham’s maiden African title, and he is set to make his debut as a professional player during the upcoming 2023/24 WST season.
Organised by the African Billiards and Snooker Confederation and the host nation’s Moroccan Snooker and Billiards Sports Association, several continental championships were contested across 11 days at the Crucible Academy in Casablanca. A total of 140 players in the main event were split into round robin groups with the top two from each advancing to knockout phase.
Dorgham cruised through his group without dropping a frame before eliminating Rizk Rady and Ahmed Galal both 3-0 in the last 64 and 32 respectively. His path to glory became significantly tougher from there, though, needing to come back from 2-0 down to defeat Ahmed Samir 4-2 in the last 16 and surviving a deciding frame as he ousted Abdelrahman Shahin 4-3 in the quarter-finals.
On finals day in the last four, Dorgham registered a 94 break on his way to seeing off fellow countryman Mahmoud El Hareedy 4-2.
Emerging from the other side of the draw was former professional and two-time finalist Khairy, who also topped his group and subsequently recorded victories against former champion Amine Amiri (last 64) and Hatem Yassen (quarter-finals). In the other semi-final, Khairy eliminated Morocco’s Hamadi Zerkani 4-2 to book another final berth.
Khairy was on course for a remarkable hat-trick having already claimed two titles during his trip. The 41-year-old pipped Shahin (Egypt) 6-5 in the final to win the African 6-Red Snooker Championship and completed a double when he defeated Houssin Maazouz (Morocco) 4-1 in the African Seniors Snooker Championship.
For the fourth time in the past five editions, the final of the main championship featured two Egyptian cueists, with both of this year’s finalists coming from the capital city Cairo. Khairy made the better start by taking the opening frame although Dorgham strung together the next three for a 3-1 lead.
The deficit was halved when Khairy gained frame five, but Dorgham was not to be denied the biggest prize of his career to date as he won the following two frames for victory.
Dorgham is now set to join compatriot Mohamed Ibrahim – winner of this title in 2022 – on the sport’s top tier over the coming months.
Khairy scored the tournament’s highest break for an effort of 119.
In an all-Moroccan final, Bennani Hind defeated Yasmine Yathrib 3-0 in the final to win the African Women’s Snooker Championship.
Congratulations Mostafa Dorgham !
The event was played at “The Crucible”, in Casablanca, Morroco. It’s a very nice club where I had the pleasure to take pictures at an exhibition featuring Ronnie and Jimmy. We were made to feel very welcome.
It’s not the first time I watch matches involving players from Africa, and, this year I could see a big improvement in the quality of the snooker on display. It’s still not at the level of the UK/European best amateurs but it’s improving steadily.
It’s the Africa Championship but most players were either from North Africa or South Africa (the country). Central (black) Africa was largely absent. There are many reasons for this of course: cultural, economical … and climatic as well probably.
I liked it that often, at the end of the match, players embraced … a bit like in tennis,
As often with streaming on facebook, there was a chat going with the streaming. I couldn’t watch everything of course – especially as my Internet failed for several hours yesterday evening – but I didn’t see nasty comments on those chats I followed, contrary to what is so often the case on other streams. People were supporting their favourites, but in good spirit.
Also, the women’s game in Africa is still far from the level required to be competitive even in WWS tournaments. But, contrary to what happens so often when WWS matches are streamed, those men who were following the matches in the chats were very supportive. I didn’t see disparaging comments at all. Nothing in the line of “women are inferior, will never make it, should stay away from the sport”. Quite the opposite, there was praise for good shots and encouraging comments. The girls were sporting the “normal” snooker attire. I didn’t see any with a scarf on their head, nor any comment suggesting they should wear one. And all this is quire remarkable considering that North Africa’s is predominantly influenced by Islam and traditions are still very strong.
Following Bai Yulu’s victory at the WWS 2023 British Open, Ng On Yee has been relegated from the main tour. According to the Hong Kong media, she is determined to try to regain her tour card via the Asia-Oceania Q-School.
Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee not giving up fight to win back World Snooker Tour place, will join Q-school events in Thailand
The Hongkonger has dropped out of the elite circuit after her poor showing at the Landywood British Open last weekendBut the women’s world No 3 will get two chances to grab one of the four WST cards on offer at the qualifying events in June
Mike Chan
Ng On-yee will try to win her World Snooker Tour place back next month. Photo: WTS
Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee is taking her fight to remain on the World Snooker Tour to Thailand next month, where she will compete in two qualifying tournaments.
The back-to-back Asia and Oceania Q School competitions will run for 12 days in Bangkok, and give a 128 players the opportunity to battle it out for one of four cards up for grabs.
Two finalists from each event will be awarded a spot on the game’s top tier for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
“I knew it would not be easy winning the British Open to get back on the tour,” Ng, the women’s world No 3, said. “Especially with all the new young talents like Bai Yulu.”
The 32-year-old said she would base herself in the UK “for as much practice as possible, and focusing on my game” ahead of the tournaments, which begin on June 1.
Ng, who reached the final of the UK Championship and Masters of the World Women’s Snooker Tour this season, lost 3-2 to eventual champion Bai in the quarter-finals of the Landywood British Open on Sunday.
That left Ng out of the WST picture for the next two seasons, after she failed to overtake 12-time world champion Reanne Evans in the rankings.
Evans, despite losing 4-3 in a nail-biting final, climbed back to world No 1 and received a new two-year card to the WST, alongside reigning world champion Baipat Siripaporn of Thailand.
Bai Yulu takes the crown at last weekend’s Landywood British Open. Photo: WTS
Alan Wong, a coach at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, believed the days for any women player being “as dominant as before” were over.
“The standard of the ladies game has risen by a lot in recent years,” he said. “In terms of skills level, I do not think there is much difference between the top few ladies.
“So, it mainly depends on who has a stronger mentality and performs more consistently on the day.”
Ng On-yee in action during the quarter-finals of the Landywood British Open. Photo: WTS
Wong said while he felt Ng’s confidence had dipped in recent months, she would bounce back.
“On-yee does lack a bit of confidence at the moment because of some not-so-good performance in the last few ladies’ tournaments,” Wong said. “But that was because she was trying too hard to protect her points to remain in the pro tour.
“Now that all is settled and with the burden off her shoulders, I believe she will be able to play her normal game again in the coming events.”
Asia and Oceania Q School events are open only to players who are a resident in either of these regions, and players are not permitted to enter both the Asian and UK events.
Matches are decided by best-of-seven frames and there will be no seeding as players will be drawn randomly to play in the two individual knockout tournaments.
Players falling off the WST from the 2022-23 season, however, will be placed at random in the draw but seeded apart from one another in the opening rounds of the events so that they do not meet before the second round.
I’m glad that On Yee will give the Asia-Oceania Q-School a try. It shows that she wants to be on the main tour by right. It will not be easy though. But at least she’s trying.
Her coach says that her confidence is low. That’s hardly surprising: she won only three matches during her two seasons on the main tour, earning 8500 points, She still did better – significantly better – than Reanne Evans who will stay on tour as Women’s number 1. All the same, they are the two lowest ranked players amongst those in their second year on a tour card and that doesn’t reflect well on “women in snooker”.
Jason Ferguson insists that snooker not being a physical sport, there is no reason for women not being able to compete with men but you have to wonder. There is the obvious: cue power. Cue power is largely a matter of timing but are the person’s height and muscular strength irrelevant? I’m not sure. There are several examples on the tour of Asian players, short in stature, who definitely struggle when it comes to cue power. There is what every parent or teacher will know from observing young children: boys are gifted “on average” with better natural hand eye coordination than girls, and that’s essential in snooker. It’s likely to be the result of dozens of thousands of years of evolution where the men had to be food providers and the hunters. Nature doesn’t evolve as fast as society does nowadays. And of course, it’s a number game: significantly fewer girls than boys are attracted to the game and supported by their family/environment in trying themselves at it.
Jason’s Ferguson’s goal in inviting the best women to play in the main tour is to grow the profile of women in snooker. I’m not sure that it’s been working the way it’s gone over the last two seasons but equally, I’m not sure that the women’s tour is the answer. I really, honestly, do not know what’s best.
A bit of a side note but… I’m currently reading “Unbreakable” and there is one chapter where Ronnie discusses practice and cueing. One thing that surprised me is his affirmation that ” you cue from the hips”. That’s something I never heard before. I’m not sure what exactly he means by that, but one thing I knows for certain is that this is one body “area” where women are definitely built differently from men. Our hips are wider, our pelvis bones more “open” and our ligaments more lax under hormonal influence. That, and of course boobs coming in the way when cueing. Coaches in snooker tend to teach you what the “ideal stance” is – Stephen Hendry being often cited as a model to follow – but I wonder if there ever was any research into finding if this stance is ideal for women as well, given the anatomical differences. We do know that very tall players, like Ricky Walden for instance, had to adopt a different stance to be able to play efficiently. Maybe gender specific differences are worth some research too?
Marco Fu will compete on the World Snooker Tour for at least two more years, after being awarded with a fresh invitational tour card.
The three-time ranking event winner endured a difficult period from 2018 until 2022, when he was forced to take a break from the sport after laser eye surgery. The pandemic then meant he was unable to compete for almost two seasons.
Fu’s first full year back came last season, which was filled with highs and lows for the Hong Kong cueman. However, ultimately it ended with him dropping off the circuit. He has now been given a fresh slate over the next two seasons to continue competing as a professional and is excited for the challenge ahead.
“I am very grateful to be offered this opportunity by World Snooker Tour. I’ve spent 25 years on the circuit, but the last few have been really challenging. To be given this chance to continue and represent Hong Kong and China for another two years makes me extremely proud. I will be working as hard as ever to prove I am a player who can still perform and represent our sport at the highest level. I am very happy and excited,” said 45-year-old Fu.
“I had my eye surgery in 2018 and then Covid, which as an overseas player was really challenging. If I stayed in the UK I would have been away from my family for a year. It was a time everybody wants to forget. Now everything is back to normal and my future is in my hands. All I can do is just work as hard as possible. Hopefully I can do myself proud.”
The eye issues that Fu has had to overcome have involved floaters impeding his vision. The surgery in 2018 didn’t have the desired effect and it is still something he has to deal with. However, Fu is hoping that he can find a way over the next two years to put that problem to one side.
“I think my eyes are alright. It is steady but not 100%. I don’t think I will ever recover fully. At the moments I just have to get used to playing with the floaters around my eyes. It is not a huge thing but it does affect me. I think I can practice more and get more comfortable.
“When I play the shot, the floaters are moving. Snooker is a sport when you need to concentrate 100%. If someone makes a noise, then you get up and gather yourself. For me, every time I am on the shot the floaters are moving. I can’t do anything about that. I need a new potting and aiming method to cater for that problem. It is difficult, but it is all I can do at the moment.”
The undoubted highlight of Fu’s 22/23 campaign saw him go all the way to the final of the Hong Kong Masters in front of his adoring home fans. It was the first time professional snooker had been in Asia since the beginning of the pandemic and it couldn’t have occurred on a grander stage.
A world record 9,000 fans crammed into the Hong Kong Coliseum for Fu’s 6-4 defeat to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final. However, Fu’s finest moment of the event came in the semis against John Higgins. He fired in an epic 147 break in the deciding frame to beat the Scot 6-5. It was a moment when the eye issues dissipated and Fu says that was down to getting in a zen like state, which comes about very rarely in the career of a snooker player.
“I was in the zone during that break. I fancied making a 147. It was an unbelievable feeling. It is hard to repeat that. It is out of your control when you get into that zone, but I managed it during that break. It was probably one of the most important moments in all my career. A 147 break in front of all those fans.
“All I could see was the white ball and the object ball in front of me. I couldn’t see the crowd, the referee or my opponent. I couldn’t hear anything. I was just playing. I was in a bubble. It was a great feeling and very calming. I have only had that feeling a couple of times in my career. I was lucky that I got it then.
“John is always a gentleman. He congratulated me and said good luck in the final. Thinking back it was a special moment. I have been there many times for concerts. It is a famous place for that. I never thought I would compete there. It is probably the loudest noise I’ve ever heard in the Coliseum. It was very special for me and everybody in Hong Kong.”
The remainder of the season didn’t go to plan for Fu, who ended the campaign with five consecutive first round defeats. He was beaten 10-5 by Martin O’Donnell in World Championship qualifying. However, Fu kept a keen eye on the progress of Chinese 20-year-old Si Jiahui who went on a stunning run to the semi-finals, before being pipped 17-15 by eventual World Champion Luca Brecel. Looking ahead Fu is determined to earn a return to the Crucible in the coming years.
Fu said: “I was supporting Si Jiahui throughout the whole tournament. He was an outsider from the beginning, but he played better and better. I was texting his manager Victoria the whole way through. I have his number, but didn’t want to contact him directly and disturb him. I told Victoria good luck each time. I couldn’t believe how well he played. I was very happy for him and disappointed for him in the semi-final. It would have been amazing if he became the first Chinese player to win the World Championship. I was really rooting for him.
“My target is very obvious. I would love to finish in the top 64 after two years and qualify for the Crucible again. I haven’t been there for a long time now. I will try my very best to achieve those things. I think with my eye problem and Covid, my standard has definitely dropped from five years ago. The love of the game is still there. I still look forward to practising every day. I love taking my cue into a snooker club. As long as I feel that I will keep on playing. Hopefully I will get back to the standard where I can compete as I did five years ago. That is the standard I want to achieve. I will do my very best.”
I’m very happy for Marco. He deserves this chance after everything he had to go through. As for the floaters, I’m afraid that is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life. I have the same problem for many years now. It’s usually caused by detachment at at rear of the eye. It is more frequent in persons who are severely myopic because of the elongated shape of the eye. Marco used to wear glasses but was playing with lenses. Glasses mess up with your perception of distances. The “stronger” the glasses, the bigger the issue. If you ever look through a myopic person’s glasses you will see that everything looks smaller than usual and the further you hold the glasses from your eyes, the smaller the objects look. Lenses don’t cause that issue because there is no distance between the lens and the eye, but they can be very uncomfortable, especially if the atmosphere is dry. The floaters never go. Over time your brain learns to “ignore” them but whenever you get tired, or suffer a migraine … they become very “present” again and it’s quite off-putting. Anyway… good luck Marco!
Mark Allen, winner of three tournaments during the 2022/23 season, has been named WST Player of the Year for the first time.
Having won the Northern Ireland Open, UK Championship and World Grand Prix, Allen was the only player to capture three trophies during the season. The 37-year-old from Antrim also reached the final of the British Open, the semi-finals of the World Championship and rose to a career high position of third in the world.
Allen also won the Snooker Journalists’ Player of the Year award, voted by media around the world who cover snooker, as well as the Fans’ Player of the Year award, voted by fans on the WST website, app and on social media platforms in China.
The Performance of the Year category was won by Luca Brecel, for his spectacular display in winning the World Championship for the first time, beating Mark Selby 18-15 in the final.
Selby took the Magic Moment of the Year award for his maximum break against Brecel as he became the first player ever to make a 147 during the world final.
Julien Leclercq
Belgium’s 20-year-old Julien Leclercq won Rookie of the Year, having reached the final of the Shoot Out and climbed to 80th in the world during his first season.
A new category was introduced this year – Breakthrough Player of the Year – for a young player who has made a leap forward in his career. This went to China’s Si Jiahui for his tremendous run to the semi-finals of the World Championship.
John Virgo has been inducted into the World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to the sport for more than 50 years – read more on that here.
WST Awards: 2022/23 winners WST Player of the Year – Mark Allen Fans’ Player of the Year – Mark Allen Snooker Journalists’ Player of the Year – Mark Allen Performance of the Year – Luca Brecel Rookie of the Year – Julien Leclercq Magic Moment of the Year – Mark Selby’s 147 Breakthrough Player of the Year – Si Jiahui Hall of Fame: John Virgo
Player of the Year – former winners 2011: John Higgins 2012: Ronnie O’Sullivan 2013: Mark Selby 2014: Ronnie O’Sullivan 2015: Stuart Bingham 2016: John Higgins 2017: Mark Selby 2018: Ronnie O’Sullivan 2019: Judd Trump 2020: Judd Trump 2021: Judd Trump 2022: Neil Robertson 2023: Mark Allen
Congratulations to All!
It’s hard to disagree with this season’s awards. I’m glad that they introduced a new category to recognise Si Jiahui outstanding achievements. It’s quite remarkable, and pleasing that two mainland European players received an award. Both are Belgian. There are only three Belgian players on tour, all young, and two earned special recognition this season.REALLY, it is time for WST to reflect on their UK centric tour structure and to do what’s needed to give players and fans outside UK, and in mainland Europe in particular, more and better opportunities, actually equal opportunities. They call themselves WORLD Snooker Tour … it’s time to live by their chosen name.
WST announce that for this season only, up to 68 players will qualify for the 2023/24 season based on the two-year world rankings after the 2023 Cazoo World Championship rather than the usual 64.
This step will see all players on the two-year world rankings up to Mark Davis (but no lower than him in the world rankings), set to finish the season in 68th position, qualify for a further year on the World Snooker Tour, retaining all of the points that they had accrued over the past two years.
The move will also result in some changes to the players re-qualifying as the top players on the one-year list with Xu Si and Mark Joyce now qualifying for a full tour card. The one-year list will now be made up of Daniel Wells, Jimmy White, Ian Burns and Hammad Miah, the four highest ranked players on the one-year list who haven’t qualified for the tour through other means, and these four players will receive two-year tour cards.
The decision to extend tour numbers up to 68 players was taken by WST due to highly unusual circumstances where some players who remain on tour at the end of the season are currently suspended pending the outcome of an independent tribunal.
WST is not involved in these cases, neither is it a party to the tribunal and has no influence upon it.
The decision to extend numbers was taken by WST so that no player might suffer missing out on a Tour Card irrespective of any outcome in those disciplinary proceedings and to maximise playing opportunities on the World Snooker Tour. This extension will apply to this season only.
This decision may not be to everyone’s liking but, personally, I prefer this to the addition of some random wildcard players, or arbitrary picking four amateurs amongst those who were not already eligible via the agreed routes.
It also means that should some of the currently suspended players be found not guilty or receive a very short ban, the tour might count more than 128 players. I don’t want to enter into speculations but from what transpired today on social media, that scenario looks quite unlikely.
David Gilbert has been awarded a place in the 2023 Cazoo Masters and will face Mark Williams in the opening round at Alexandra Palace in London on Tuesday January 10th at 7pm.
Gilbert directly replaces Yan Bingtao, who was suspended by WPBSA on December 12th. Yan’s 14-day window to appeal the suspension has now passed. Gilbert was 17th in the world rankings at the cut-off point for the Cazoo Masters so he is the next player in line.
Tamworth’s Gilbert reached the semi-finals on each of his previous appearances at the Masters, in 2020 and 2021.
Tournament information including the draw and format for the sixth and final event of the WPBSA Q Tour is now available to view via WPBSA SnookerScores.
The event will take place at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds and will run from 6-8 January 2023.
Q Tour is one of the premier pathways to the World Snooker Tour with two professional places to be won across the season. Sean O’Sullivan and Julien Leclercq both earned main tour cards via the Q Tour last season.
This season’s first five events were won by Ross Muir, Martin O’Donnell, Farakh Ajaib, Billy Castle and Daniel Wells.
Unsurprisingly all the winners so far are British, all are male and all are former pros.
In fact all players in the top 16 Q-Tour rankings are British, only four have never been pros and only one of those is teenagers. The highest ranked “non-UK” players are Florian Nuessle (Austria), Gao Yang (China) and Brian Ochoiski (France) and they are 19th, 20th, and 21st in the Q-Tour rankings.
And, the final piece of news I’ m sharing in this post is a sad one and was shared by WST on Christmas’ Eve : Frank Adamson passed away.
Frank Adamson Passes Away
Frank Adamson, a renowned coach who worked with players including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Lee and Jack Lisowski, has passed away at the age of 93.
Adamson, from Bristol, was well known in snooker circles as one of the sport’s best coaches. He helped countless young players to improve their technique.
O’Sullivan said: “Frank was a great student of the game, and knew his stuff. If it wasn’t for Frank, I don’t think I would have won one world title. So Frank helping me out enabled me to win seven. We worked so hard for a year. It was amazing. It was probably the best and the hardest time of my snooker career. I knew I had to sort my game out, and I knew he was the person to do it. So big love and respect to Frank, and his wife Loretta. Amazing family. Amazing couple. Love him to pieces. I loved his cheese and ham sandwiches. Just a great guy. Sorely missed.”
Daniel Wells, who was coached by Adamson, said: “Frank was an incredible coach and he had the ability to work with players of all standards, from beginners to World Champions. He dedicated most of his life to snooker and helped so many players. He was also a lovely guy and he will be missed by everyone who knew him.”
Coach Nic Barrow added: “Frank was instrumental in helping me understand the game as a player. He later spent many years helping me find my own coaching style and methods. He always viewed himself as a student of the game first and foremost which is why I trusted him so deeply. I told him on more than one occasion, that if I had to have another Dad, I would want Frank to be my Dad.”
WST and WPBSA send our condolences to all of Frank’s family and friends.
There were plenty more heartfelt tributes on social media, including by Paul Mount who in the days set-up the wonderful South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester and was manager to many great players, as well as from Andrew Norman who worked closely with Paul.
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Allen also won the Snooker Journalists’ Player of the Year award, voted by media around the world who cover snooker, as well as the Fans’ Player of the Year award, voted by fans on the WST website, app and on social media platforms in China.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 