WST has published three important news.

The Turkish Masters has been postponed to 2022

Turkish Masters Snooker Postponed

The new Turkish Masters world ranking event has been postponed until March 2022.

The tournament was due to take place from September 27 to October 3 in Antalya, but has now been put back to March. The qualifying rounds have also been postponed until 2022.

Turkey remains on the UK Government’s red list for travel, and the country is currently battling severe wildfires. Based on these factors, and in consultation with the Turkish Billiard Federation and Big Break Promotions, WST has taken the difficult decision to postpone the event.

The qualifying rounds of the BetVictor English Open and BetVictor Scottish Open tournaments will be brought forward to September, around the dates previously occupied by the Turkish event.

WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “It is a huge disappointment for ourselves and the Turkish Billiard Federation to have to postpone this event and I am sure the players will share that sentiment, as well as the fans in Turkey who had looked forward to seeing their heroes for the first time.

“We fully intend to be in Antalya in March. In the mean time our thoughts are with the Turkish people and those affected by wildfires in country.

“We are living through tough times, constantly facing the challenges of travel and commercial restrictions on a global scale. Our sport has coped much better than most over the past 18 months and we continue to strive to provide the best possible calendar of events for our players and fans. Despite postponing Turkey, we have a packed schedule for most of the season, while our worldwide linear and digital audiences continue to grow.”

Ersan Ercan, President of the Turkish Billiard Federation, added: “It is unfortunate that we have to postpone this event due to circumstances beyond our control. We look forward to welcoming WST, players and officials to the beautiful destination of Antalya in March.”

WST has agreed a four-year deal with the Turkish Billiard Federation and Big Break Promotions to stage the Turkish Masters every season until at least 2024/2025. Overall prize money will start at £500,000 and increase each year.

Antalya is renowned as one of Europe’s outstanding destinations, known for its culture, history and ideal location on the Mediterranean coast.

The revised WST calendar for the 2021/22 season will be announced shortly.

This is certainly the right decision given the circumstances. It’s no big surprise and WST had said that if this was to happen, there would be another ranking event in Barnsley instead, but they apparently changed their plans.

On Yee has withdrawn from the British Open

Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee has pulled out of next week’s British Open and has been replaced in the draw by the next available player on the Q School 2021 Order of Merit, Mark Lloyd.

Lloyd will face David Grace in the first round in Leicester.

Click here for the updated draw

Click here for the updated format

Note that the afternoon session on Saturday 21 August will start at 1pm and not 12noon as previously advised.

This is unfortunate and is certainly caused by travel restrictions put into place by the Hong Kong authorities. On Yee was really looking forward to play on the main tour and there is no way she would miss the action if it was possible for her to travel.

The 2021 Northern Ireland Open will start on the 9th of October with an extra session

Belfast Set For Extra Evening Of Action

Snooker fans in Belfast will be treated to an additional session of play at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open on Saturday October 9^th.

The event was set to run from October 10^th to 17^th at the Waterfront Hall, but a special extra session has been added, which will commence at 7pm on the 9^th.

Tickets for the tournament are on sale now and fans are being encouraged to act quickly to snap up the chance to be there for a bonus Saturday night at the snooker. Click here to buy now.

Broadcast details for this extra evening of action will be released in due course.

This year’s BetVictor Home Nations Series will see a change in format, with round one being staged at qualifying venues. However, the first round matches of the world’s top 16, plus up to a maximum of four additional games will be held over to the final venue.

I suppose that we might see something similar in (some of) the other Home Nations. The additional games will almost certainly feature local lads.

WPBSA has published the list of snooker professionals for this season:

Tour Players 2021/22

The final list of players who will compete on the World Snooker Tour during the 2021/22 season is now confirmed

Due to the non-staging of several international amateur competitions holding tour qualification status over the past 12 months, there will be 122 professional players on tour. Remaining places at events will be topped up via the Q School Order of Merit, or with local wild cards for certain events such as the Home Nations Series, as in previous years.

These amateur tournaments will be rescheduled over the coming months, with places available on the tour for the successful players in time for the 2022/23 season.

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: “It is unfortunate that we have not been able to stage major international amateur events such as the World Snooker Federation Open and Junior Open over the past year due to the global pandemic. In the past, these events have seen young players such as Iulian Boiko, Luo Honghao, Ashley Hugill, Jackson Page, Aaron Hill, Gao Yang and many others show their promise and earn places on the professional tour.

“We are fully committed to bringing these events back as soon as it is feasible, bringing talented young players from many countries around the globe together to compete, and giving them a gateway to professional status. Internationally, in a vast number of territories across the planet, our sport is in a strong position in terms of participation and emerging talent, despite the challenges we have faced.

“The World Snooker Tour now has 122 exceptional players with a standard we have never seen before. And the leading Q School players who did not earn a card fully deserve the opportunity to compete in ranking events to top up the draws.”

The Top 64 (64)

These players finished inside the top 64 of the official world ranking list at the end of last season and so will retain their places on the circuit, with a one-yearcard.

End of season rankings:

1. Judd Trump
2. Mark Selby
3. Ronnie O’Sullivan
4. Neil Robertson
5. Shaun Murphy
6. Kyren Wilson
7. John Higgins
8. Ding Junhui
9. Stephen Maguire
10. Yan Bingtao
11. Mark Williams
12. Mark Allen
13. Barry Hawkins
14. Jack Lisowski
15. Stuart Bingham
16. Anthony McGill
17. Zhou Yuelong
18. Graeme Dott
19. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
20. Joe Perry
21. Kurt Maflin
22. Tom Ford
23. David Gilbert
24. Ali Carter
25. Martin Gould
26. Zhao Xintong
27. Liang Wenbo
28. Ryan Day
29. Xiao Guodong
30. Matt Selt
31. Michael Holt
32. Ricky Walden
33. Gary Wilson
34. Scott Donaldson
35. Lu Ning
36. Matthew Stevens
37. Robert Milkins
38. Li Hang
39. Luca Brecel
40. Jordan Brown
41. Hossein Vafaei
42. Mark Joyce
43. Liam Highfield
44. Noppon Saengkham
45. Alexander Ursenbacher
46. Ben Woollaston
47. Stuart Carrington
48. Martin O’Donnell
49. Mark Davis
50. Elliot Slessor
51. Sam Craigie
52. Mark King
53. Lyu Haotian
54. Anthony Hamilton
55. Jamie Jones
56. Andrew Higginson
57. Sunny Akani
58. Tian Pengfei
59. David Grace
60. Chris Wakelin
61. Dominic Dale
62. Joe O’Connor
63. Jimmy Robertson
64. Nigel Bond

The Two-Year Cards (27)

These players competed on the main tour in 2020/21 and will start the 2021/22 season on the second year of their two-year tour cards.

• Jak Jones
• Pang Junxu
• Jamie Clarke
• Robbie Williams
• Steven Hallworth
• Ashley Carty
• Simon Lichtenberg
• Oliver Lines
• Zhao Jianbo
• Ken Doherty
• Gao Yang
• Fergal O’Brien
• Rory McLeod
• Allan Taylor
• Aaron Hill
• Lukas Kleckers
• Ashley Hugill
• Peter Devlin
• Jamie Wilson
• Ben Hancorn
• Lee Walker
• Fan Zhengyi
• Zak Surety
• Stephen Hendry
• Farakh Ajaib
• Iulian Boiko
• Sean Maddocks

The Top Eight (One-Year Ranking list) (8)

The top eight players on the 2020/21 one-year ranking list, not already inside of the top 64 of the two-year ranking list or on the first year of a two-year card. They receive a fresh two-year tour card, starting on zero ranking points.

1. Chang Bingyu
2. Igor Figueiredo
3. Xu Si
4. Louis Heathcote
5. Chen Zifan
6. Jamie O’Neill
7. Andy Hicks
8. Gerard Greene

Q School (14)

A further 14 will be promoted from the Q School and again they will receive atwo-year tour card.

• Jackson Page (Q School Event One semi-finalist)
• Yuan Sijun (Q School Event One semi-finalist)
• Peter Lines (Q School Event One semi-finalist)
• Fraser Patrick (Q School Event One semi-finalist)
• Michael Judge (Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
• Alfie Burden (Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
• Barry Pinches (Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
• Craig Steadman (Q School Event Two semi-finalist)
• Duane Jones (Q School Event Three semi-finalist)
• Dean Young (Q School Event Three semi-finalist)
• Ian Burns (Q School Event Three semi-finalist)
• Lei Peifan (Q School Event Three semi-finalist)
• Hammad Miah (Q School OOM)
• Mitchell Mann (Q School OOM)

China Tour Qualifiers (4)

Four players have qualified via the CBSA China Tour. They earn a fresh two-year tour cards.

1. Wu Yize
2. Zhang Jiankang
3. Cao Yupeng
4. Zhang Anda

World Women’s Snooker Tour (2)

The top two players from the World Women’s Snooker Tour rankings will be awarded a two-year card.

• Reanne Evans (No.1 Ranked)
• Ng On Yee (No.2 Ranked)

Deferred Tour Card (1)

Andrew Pagett was due to join the tour for the 2020/21 season but this was deferred on medical grounds. He will begin a two-year card.

• Andrew Pagett

Invitational Tour Cards (2)

Two players have been awarded a new two-year Invitational Tour Card for the upcoming season.

• Marco Fu
• Jimmy White

This is the link to the current Q-School Order of Merit

The part I put in bold in bold in the above quotes means that Sanderson Lam, Michael Georgiou, Si Jiahui, Soheil Vahedi, Michael White and David Lilley will have the opportunity to play in most events, maybe even all of them. They are handed what is effectively the equivalent of a one year tour card, without the pressure to defend their ranking. For some of them – and I’m thinking Si Jiahui, Soheil Vahedi and Michael White – this might be even better than a return to full pro status. They will have opportunities to play, and earn, with less pressure and should come into the next Q-School with the best possible preparation. They may even not need the Q-School if they do really well during the season.

WST have been speaking to Sandy Lam and to Michael Georgiou. They have also interviewed three Chinese pros ahead of the season: Zhou Yuelong, Zhao Xintong and Tian Pengfei.

All interviews are interesting and well worth the read. Michael, Zhou, Zhao and Tian all speak about some of the additional problems and difficulties oversea’s players have to face. The UK centric structure of the snooker pro tour puts them at a diadvantage at the best of times; the covid-19 crisis, the lockdown and the travel restrictions have magnified the issues big time.

WST has published this today:

Cazoo And Matchroom Expand Partnership Deal

Cazoo, the UK’s leading online car retailer, which makes ordering a car as simple and seamless as buying any other product online today, announces that it has expanded its partnership with Matchroom to become the principal sponsor of snooker’s Masters, UK Championship and Champion of Champions.

Cazoo has extended its deal with the World Snooker Tour (WST) and added the Masters, the UK Championship and the Champion of Champions to its current portfolio of snooker properties where it is currently the main sponsor of the Players Championship, Tour Championship and World Grand Prix.

The Champion of Champions, promoted by Matchroom Multi Sport, brings together 16 tournament Champions from the past year. The UK Championship is snooker’s longest running ranking event other than the World Championship, and is part of the sport’s Triple Crown series, as is the Masters in London which boasts an elite field of the world’s top 16 players.

Each of these prestigious snooker tournaments, broadcast to a global television audience of up to 500 million fans, will see Cazoo branding on the main set, players’ waistcoats and interview and media conference backdrops.

Cazoo has also become the principal sponsor of the Grand Slam of Darts, World Cup of Darts and European Championship. Under a new multi-year deal with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), the trio of high-profile darts events will see prominent Cazoo branding on the stage, players’ shirts, in the playing arena and on interview backdrops with extensive live TV coverage through Sky Sports and global broadcasters.

The Cazoo World Cup of Darts will take place from September 9-12 in Jena, Germany, where 32 nations will compete in two-player teams. The Cazoo European Championship, live on ITV4, and Sky Sports-televised Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts will follow as two of the highlights of the Autumn’s darting calendar.

Cazoo will also become the headline sponsor at this year’s FishOMania event, to be staged on Saturday July 24.

These latest tournaments add to Cazoo’s growing portfolio of sports sponsorships which now includes football (Everton, Aston Villa & the EFL), cricket (The Hundred), rugby (Welsh Rugby Union & 2021 Rugby League World Cup), golf (European Tour) and horseracing (Epsom Derby & St Leger).

Cazoo is pioneering the shift to online car buying and, since launching in 2019, has sold over 25,000 cars to consumers across the UK who have embraced the selection, transparency and convenience of buying quality used cars entirely online. Cazoo is planning to launch in France & Germany by the end of 2021.

Alex Chesterman OBE, Founder & CEO of Cazoo said, “We are excited to be expanding our partnership with Matchroom to launch the Cazoo World Cup of Darts, Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts and Cazoo European Championship with the Professional Darts Corporation later this year and to be extending our deal with the World Snooker Tour to launch three additional Cazoo snooker tournaments. This wider partnership with Matchroom will help to further grow our audience as we build Cazoo into a household brand and continue to deliver the best car buying experience to darts and snooker fans across the UK and Europe.”

Barry Hearn OBE, President of Matchroom said: “It’s fantastic to have a brand like Cazoo involved with us in both snooker and darts and we have thoroughly enjoyed working with Alex and his team, who have proven to be creative and innovative partners. We are now partnering with Cazoo on nine of the most prestigious tournaments and eagerly-awaited events on the snooker and darts calendars as well as for FishOMania. We look forward to introducing the Cazoo brand to our loyal fanbase and to a long and productive relationship.”

I believe that this is a really important announcement. This is Matchroom clearly taking action to reduce its dependence on the gambling and gaming industry for their events’ sponsoring. I have been saying it for a long time: relying on just one particular type of sponsors is never healthy, no matter how much they are ready to pay. The “tobacco ban” hit snooker very hard because the gouverning did nothing to find alternatives despite knowing that it was coming. A “gambling ban” is coming too, even if many don’t want to believe it the signs are there, and Matchroom is being proactive.