Amateur

The 2025 German Masters – Day 6 and WSF News

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

The reigning World champion, Kyren Wilson, will face the vastly experienced Barry Hawkins today in the final in Berlin. Both beat a young Chinese opponent yesterday in a packed Tempodrom.

Here are the reports shared by WST:

WILSON MAKES SECOND BERLIN FINAL

World Champion Kyren Wilson is through to the Machineseeker German Masters final, after defeating Xiao Guodong 6-2 at the Tempodrom in Berlin.

The Englishman last made it to a title match in Germany’s premier snooker event back in 2019, when he defeated David Gilbert 9-7 in a thrilling final. Wilson will now face either Barry Hawkins or Yuan Sijun in tomorrow’s final with the Brandon Parker Trophy on the line. The trophy is named in memory of Wilson’s late former manager, who was instrumental in bringing this event to Germany and instigating several tournaments throughout Europe. 

It’s been an impressive first season as Crucible king for the Warrior, who has already picked up silverware. Wins over Judd Trump in the finals of the Xi’an Grand Prix and BetVictor Northern Ireland Open have already taken his title tally to two. He was runner-up to Shaun Murphy at the recent Johnstone’s Paint Masters. 

Xiao’s week ends in defeat, but it marks the continuation of a tremendous season. He picked up a maiden ranking title at last year’s Wuhan Open and has now appeared in five semi-finals during the campaign. 

Breaks of 88 and 100 helped Wilson charge into an early 3-0 lead this afternoon, before Xiao showed his class with 72 in the fourth to give himself hope at 3-1 heading into the mid-session. 

When play resumed there were no signs of a momentum shift, with Wilson taking two on the bounce to move to the verge of victory at 5-1. Xiao kept himself in the hunt by pulling one back, but a 32-minute seventh went the way of Wilson to send him into the final of a ranking event for the 17th time. He received a rapturous ovation in front of a sell out Tempodrom crowd as he exited the arena. 

Wilson said: “It feels amazing. The crowd were spectacular. The roar is so different to any other venue. I was desperate to make the one table set up this week and it is even better now I’m in the final. 

“Xiao has had a fantastic season, winning his first ranking title and making the Champion of Champions final. He is having a fantastic season and beat me on the way to his first title in Wuhan. It was nice to get the win back there. 

“I made it clear at the start of the week I was thinking of Brandon. You come here and people tell stories about Brandon. I put a post out at the start of the week saying that we are so grateful to him to have this event. It is great his name lives on with the trophy and I’ll be trying my absolute hardest to lift that tomorrow.“

HAWKINS SETS UP WILSON SHOWDOWN

Barry Hawkins summoned a six frame blitz to beat Yuan Sijun 6-2 and reach the final of the Machineseeker German Masters at the Tempodrom in Berlin. 

The Hawk is hunting the fifth ranking title of his career so far and will go toe to toe with World Champion Kyren Wilson in tomorrow’s showpiece showdown. The pair will do battle over the best of 19 frames, with a top prize of £100,000 and the Brandon Parker Trophy on the line. 

Hawkins and Wilson have a history of contesting finals on German soil. The 2019 Paul Hunter Classic title match in Furth saw Hawkins prevail, while Wilson came out on top at the same venue in 2022 to win the European Masters. A year later, Hawkins would return to Germany and pick up the European Masters crown with a win over Judd Trump in the final.

China’s Yuan bows out after the most significant tournament run of his career so far, having also made the semis of the Gibraltar Open back in 2019. Deciding frame wins over Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson this week helped him to make the final four and earn today’s appearance in front of a crowd of over 2,300 expectant German fans. 

Yuan got off to a flyer when play commenced this evening, breaks of 82 and 70 saw him move 2-0 ahead. From that moment Hawkins took charge. Breaks of 89 and 54 helped him to take frames three and four to draw level at 2-2. 

Tightly fought fifth and sixth frames both went to Hawkins, before back-to-back contributions of 83 allowed him to make it six on the bounce to secure a comprehensive victory. 

Hawkins said: “I think he faltered towards the end a little bit. He started strongly and then when I came back at him it put him on the back foot. I tried to stay positive and tried to stay calm. I didn’t want to make silly mistakes. To get over the line quite easily, I was delighted.

“It will be an amazing occasion for me against Kyren. Those occasions have been few and far between for me lately. I won the European Masters last season and I’ve had a couple of good results since then. Hopefully I can keep doing what I’ve been doing and enjoy it.

“Winning tomorrow would be up there with the best moments of my career. I’ve got such a tough game against Kyren though. He is playing some great stuff and even when he isn’t he is so hard to beat these days. I won’t be thinking any further ahead. I’ve still got a mountain to climb.“

Meanwhile, in Morroco, Gao Yang won the 2025 WSF championship and regained a tour card

Here is the report shared by WPBSA:

GLORY FOR GAO AT WSF CHAMPIONSHIP

Gao Yang beat Brian Cini 5-3 in the final of the 2025 WSF Championship to claim the biggest title of his career in Morocco and secure his return to the professional World Snooker Tour for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons.

Having previously reached the final of the Championship 12 months ago, Gao was able to go one step further in 2025 following a high-quality final to add victory in the Open Championship event to his prior success at the WSF Junior Championship in Malta five years earlier. He becomes the first player to have claimed both titles during their career and underlines his record as the most successful player ever at the World Snooker Federation Championships.

Gao’s reward will see him now rejoin the professional circuit for the first time since the end of his initial two-year spell in 2022, and further extends a run which has seen the tournament dominated by players from Asia, with five of its six stagings now won by players from the region. He follows in the footsteps of Luo Honghao (2018), Si Jiahui (2022), Ma Hailong (2023) and last year’s winner Ka Wai Cheung (2024) to lift the trophy.

The outstanding performer during the week, Gao hit a tournament-best five century breaks on his way to the title match for a second successive year, including the overall high break of 140 during his quarter-final victory against Stuart Watson.

The match would prove to be a more cagey affair on the resumption of play, with Cini notably claiming the sixth frame from behind on the colours to once again draw level at 3-3.

Ultimately, it would be Gao’s day, however, as he responded by winning the following two frames to seal victory and secure his return to the World Snooker Tour following a three-year-absence.

Gao said: “This tournament has many former professional players and so it is very hard to win. Now I have a chance to start again. I have moved to Victoria’s Snooker Academy in Sheffield and play more often against professional players like Si Jiahui, Zhang Anda and Zhao Xintong in practice which is very important. My target for the next two years is to get into the top 64.”

Held at the Radisson Blu Resort Saïdia Beach in Morocco, the sixth staging of snooker’s most prestigious amateur championships attracted approximately 250 entries from around the globe across three competitions, with around 600 matches completed across 15 days.

Victory for Gao completes a memorable fortnight in Morocco which had previously seen Ireland’s Leone Crowley and Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut claim the titles in the Junior and Women’s Championships respectively.

The World Snooker Federation would like to thank all of its partners who have supported the event, in particular Morocco Snooker and its president Mr Mourad Mahi, without whom the staging of the Championships would not have been possible.

Unfortunately, I can’t comment. I saw next to nothing of the action and it may well be the same today.

As some of you probably know already, I live in Santorini. The island itself is a “living” volcano, with the craters in the middle in the caldera. We have another volcano nearby, under water, north-east of the island, Koloumbo. Both volcanos are currently showing signs of “activity”. We had dozens of mild earthquakes over the last 48 hours. The last “seismic tremor”, about half an hour ago was on 4.8 Richter. Schools are temporary closed, gatherings in closed spaces are forbidden, access to the harbours and beaches is forbidden as well.

Snooker News – 24 January 2025

Monique Amateur, Snooker, Snooker exhibition , , ,

A lot happened yesterday, some good, some not so good…

2025 WSF Championships News

MINK COMEBACK SEALS MOROCCO TITLE

Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut hit back from 1-3 down to defeat world champion Bai Yulu 4-3 in a thrilling finale at the WSF Women’s Championship in Saïdia, Morocco.

Victory for the 25-year-old represents her second world ranking title win following her win at the Australian Women’s Open last October and continues a remarkable streak that has now see Mink lift the first title of the calendar year during each of the previous four years (2022-2025).

The title is her ninth world ranking event win overall, which sees her join an illustrious list of the top 10 most successful players of all-time on the World Women’s Snooker Tour, alongside Reanne Evans, Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, Karen Corr, Stacey Hillyard, Ng On Yee and Maria Catalano, equalling the tally of both Lynette Horburgh and Mandy Fisher.

For beaten finalist Bai, the 21-year-old can take the consolation of a new career-high world ranking position of number three, as she moves above England’s Reanne Evans for the first time. The Chinese star has now reached six finals from her eight tournaents contested to date, winning three.

Following a week of snooker in Saïdia the final came down to a repeat of last season’s World Championship final, which had seen Bai claim a memorable triumph 6-5 on the final pink.

The reigning world champion player made the stronger start in their latest encounter as she hit breaks of 49, 41 and 32 on her way to a 2-0 lead, before the next two frames were shared as Bai moved to within one of claiming her second trophy of the season following victory at the UK Championship.

World number one Mink had other ideas, however, as she produced her highest break of the match with a run of 65 to reduce her arrears to one frame, before she added the next to force a seventh and deciding-frame.

Both players had opportunities but it was Mink who took an early lead with a run of 36, before a nerveless long pot on the brown, followed by blue and pink ultimately proved to be enough to avenge her defeat in Dongguan Changping last March.

Mink also hit the highest break of the event with her run of 80 during the round robin group stages, eclipsing the maximum attempt of Bai which ended on 73 during her quarter-final win against Narucha Phoemphul.

CHALLENGE CUP

The Challenge Cup tournament for players who did not reach the quarter-finals was won by Hind Bennani of Morocco, who defeated Yasmine Eythrib 2-0 to lift her first WWS Tour title.

Bennai, who has previously competed at the UK Championship and Belgian Open tournanents, did not drop a frame as she saw off Soukaina Alouane, former African Games winner Yousra Matine and finally Eythrib on Wednesday to lift the trophy.

World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to a historic first-ever world ranking tournament in Africa, including the World Snooker Federation, Morocco Snooker and the spectacular Radisson Blu venue

CROWLEY EARNS TOUR CARD WITH WSF JUNIOR TRIUMPH

Leone Crowley defeated Kaylan Patel 5-0 in the final of the 2025 WSF Junior Championship to earn the title and a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card.

Crowley, from Cork, came through an international field of 57 cueists from 22 countries to win the biggest title of his career to date.

The 18-year-old makes history as the first ever player from the Republic of Ireland to win the prestigious title and earns professional status for the first time in his career.

He made an impressive start to the tournament by topping his group with a clean sweep of victories and just two frames dropped en route to the knockout stages.

This fine form continued as Crowley, who regularly practises at Mark Allen’s snooker camp in Belfast, whitewashed Scotland’s Ayaan Iqbal before showing his battling qualities to overcome Poland’s Michal Szubarczyk in a deciding frame having trailed 3-2.

His place in the title match was secured by overcoming Amaan Iqbal 4-1 in a hard fought contest that last for almost four hours on Wednesday evening.

There he faced England’s Patel, who was aiming to become only the second Englishman after Stan Moody to lift the WSF Junior Championship crown.

Following a trio of group stage victories, Patel had defeated fellow countryman Adam Abbas (4-1) and O’Shay Scott (4-1) to reach the last eight.

He looked certain of a semi-final place when he stormed into a 3-0 lead over Riley Powell, but the Welshman rallied to win three frames in a row and force a decider. Patel, however, held his nerve in the final frame to compile a break of 50 before earning his final place with an impressive 4-0 defeat of the highly-rated Zhou Jinhao from China.

Unfortunately for Patel, he was unable to repeat this form in the title match and Crowley raced into a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval in relatively comfortable fashion despite not compiling a half-century break.

Crowley kept his cool after the break and took the fifth and decisive frame by a scoreline of 73-24 to complete the biggest victory of his life.

“I feel very good. I have been playing the game for the last ten years and I’ve put a lot of hard work into this so I am just happy to have made my Dad proud and myself too. My family back home were all watching it so I want to thank them for all the support” said Crowley.

“I 100% believed that this was possible – if you don’t believe then you’re not going to achieve your goals. I was feeling good coming into the game. It was scrappy but there was some good safety play and I felt confident when I was in front that I would get over the line eventually.”

Looking ahead to the next two years, Crowley said: “I want to gain experience and hopefully I can stay on the tour. I don’t want to say too much but hopefully, after those two years, I will stay on – that’s the goal. My hero is Judd Trump, so I would like to play him.”

The WSF Open Championship takes place on 24 January – 1 February and can be watched live on the WPBSA YouTube channel and WSF Facebook page.

Congratulations to the Winners!

I’m happy that Crowley won rather than Patel simply because I believe that 16 is far too young to be on Tour. It’s such a competitive and brutal environment and I don’t think that many 16 years old are psychologically and emotionally equipped to deal with the pressure it generates and the demands of professional sports.

2025 CLS Invitational – Judd Trump wins Group 6

TON-HAPPY TRUMP WINS GROUP

World number one Judd Trump made a trio of centuries as he beat Joe O’Connor 3-0 in the final of Group Six of BetVictor Championship League Snooker Invitational to secure a place in next month’s Winners’ Group.

Results / Tables and fixtures

Trump will join Hossein Vafaei, Si Jiahui, Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Matthew Selt and one more player in the Winner’s Group in February when the title and a place in the 2025 Champion of Champions will be at stake.

O’Connor finished top of the group phase with six wins out of six, then edged out Noppon Saengkham 3-2 in the semi-finals. Trump won four of his six group games before beating David Gilbert 3-1 in the semis. Breaks of 113, 103 and 101 saw Trump dominate the final.

Having made 16 centuries in two groups this week, Trump has moved his tally for 2024/25 to 65, raising his hopes of making 100 tons in the season. The first player to achieve that will earn a £100,000 bonus. Jak Jones, meanwhile, has made an incredible 32 centuries in this event, extending his record for the most tons made in a single tournament. And he’ll look to add to that tally in Group Seven. 

Jack Lisowski became the second player in as many days to miss the final black when he had the chance to make a 147. His break came in the opening frame of his group match against Jones, and Lisowski ran out of position from pink to black then failed to pot a near-impossible thin cut to a top corner. O’Connor had also missed the black on 140 on Wednesday.

Jones, O’Connor, Gilbert and Saengkham advance to Group Seven on Friday and Saturday, where they will join Xiao Guodong, Zhou Yuelong and Ricky Walden.

2025 German Masters – Withdrawals galore

O’SULLIVAN, DING, HE AND DALE WITHDRAW FROM MACHINESEEKER GERMAN MASTERS

Ronnie O’Sullivan has withdrawn from next week’s Machineseeker German Masters due to medical reasons. 

O’Sullivan was due to play Dylan Emery in his opening match. Emery will now receive a bye to the last 32. 

Ding Junhui has also pulled out of the event. He was due to face Ross Muir, who receives a bye to the last 32.

He Guoqiang has withdrawn for medical reasons. He was due to face Ali Carter, who receives a bye to the last 32.

Dominic Dale has pulled out. He was due to face Tom Ford, who receives a bye to the last 32.

The event runs from January 27th to February 2nd at the Tempodrom in Berlin.

It’s a real shame for the event, the only one remaining played in mainland Europe. I’ surprised by Dale withdrawal as WST had recently posted a piece where Dominic explained how he was looking forward to the event. No reason has been given for his withdrawal, nor for Ding’s withdrawal.

As always when Ronnie withdraws, some fans doubts his motives. But Ronnie has now withdrawn from the exhibition he was due to play in Finland with John Higgins…. and that’s a serious concern. Clearly something is not right and all I can wish is for him to get better soon and sort out whatever needs to be sorted in his life, if that is the underlying problem.

Another Q-Tour win and another 147 for Zhao Xintong

Monique Amateur

Having served his ban, Zhao Xintong is back playing – as an amateur – and clearly determined to regain his tour card. Having won the previous Q-Tour event and made a 147 in the process, he repeated the feat(s) yesterday.

Here is the report by WPBSA:

Zhao Xintong Completes Q Tour Double

Zhao Xintong has defeated Ryan Davies 4-1 to win back-to-back WPBSA Q Tour Europe titles at Club 200 in Manchester, England.

Following his recent triumph at the previous event in Sweden – during which he also made the first-ever 147 break at a Q Tour event – China’s Zhao repeated the feat by again making a sensational maximum break on his way to lifting his second consecutive Trophy on snooker’s premier amateur circuit.

The 27-year-old leaps to the top of the latest Q Tour Europe ranking list and moves into pole position to regain a place on the World Snooker Tour with three events still to be completed this season.

His path to victory was not straightforward as he survived deciding-frames in his opening two qualifying matches against William Lemons and Ant Parsons, before further wins against Arsenii Korolev, Lewis Ullah, Mark Joyce, Hamim Hussain, Oliver Sykes and Craig Steadman sealed his place in the title match.

He would await England’s Ryan Davies, who improved upon his previous best Q Tour result of two semi-finals to reach the final for the first time in his career.

The former English Under-21 champion saw off Daan Leyssen, Florian Nuessle, James Cahill, Sean O’Sullivan and Event 2 winner Dylan Emery to set up a meeting with Zhao.

Having starred throughout the final day with four century breaks including a magical 147 in the last frame of his quarter-final win against Oliver Sykes, Zhao won two of the opening three in the final to move halfway to the title.

A top score of 65 in frame four would take the former UK Championship winner to the brink of victory, before Davies responded with a match-high 66 to keep his hopes alive at 2-3.

Davies threatened to force a deciding-frame as he began the frame with a run of 35, but it was Zhao who made 56 of his own, before Davies failed to escape from a snooker on the final red and left a free ball from which Zhao would make no mistake, appropriately sealing the title after one hour and 47 minutes.

Congratulations Zhao Xintong

Amateur Snooker News – 8 October 2024

Monique Amateur, News, Snooker , ,

Last week-end was a busy one for amateur snooker….

Zhao Xintong has won the 2024/25 Q-Tour Event 3

Here is the report by WPBSA

Zhao Xintong Wins Q Tour Title in Sweden

Zhao Xintong defeated Craig Steadman 4-3 to win the third event of the WPBSA Q Tour Europe series in Stockholm, Sweden.

Zhao was the dominant player throughout the weekend at the Snookerhallen in the Swedish capital as he won eight matches and compiled eight century breaks, including the historic maximum, en route to the title.

The victory secures the 27-year-old Chinese cueist a spot at the 2024/25 Q Tour Global play-offs next year, where three World Snooker Tour (WST) two-year tour cards will be on offer.

As a non-seeded player, Zhao began the event on the Friday and he completed routine 3-0 wins against Belgium’s Daan Leyssen and Poland’s Michal Kotiuk to book his place in Saturday’s last 64 stage.

There he faced 14-year-old Shaun Liu from Hong Kong China, who gave the former UK champion a stern test early on in the contest – levelling the game at 1-1 with a half-century before taking frame three down to the final black.

Zhao was able to pot the decisive black to restore his lead before moving one away from victory in the best-of-seven frame contest at 3-1.

Frame five saw a moment of history on the Q Tour as the man from China compiled a magical maximum break, the first ever to be achieved on the Q Tour, before receiving rapturous applause from the watching audience at the Snookerhallen venue.

The powerful scoring continued from Zhao in the last 32, as he scored breaks of 111, 128 and 80 to defeat Luke Pinches confirm his place in the final day of a Q Tour event for the first time.

The 27-year-old began the final day in style with another century, this time a 118, as he overcame former professional Peter Lines 4-1 in their first competitive meeting since the last 16 of the 2021 UK Championship.

Whitewash victories over France’s Nicolas Mortreux and Poland’s Mateusz Baranowski followed to set up a final meeting with Craig Steadman, who defeated Alfie Davies, Peter Devlin and Steven Hallworth on the final day to reach the title match.

It was Steadman who had defeated Zhao 4-3 in the last 64 stage of the previous Q Tour Europe event in Sofia, Bulgaria last month and he once again provided the Chinese cueist with his toughest test of the tournament.

Trailing 2-0 after Zhao opened the match with a break of 112, Steadman hit back to restore party at 2-2 in a race to four.

A stunning break of 136, Zhao’s eighth century break of the event, moved him one frame away from the title but Steadman once again hit back with a 93 to force a final frame decider.

Ultimately, however, it was deservedly Zhao’s weekend as he wrapped up the victory with a break of 82.

Following his victory, Zhao said: “Coming to Sweden, I just wanted to get used to this feeling of playing in tournaments again. I wasn’t aiming to be the champion but I just wanted to get back to playing competitively again.

“I haven’t changed my practice schedule, I still practice as usual and play against professionals. I think my scoring in the last few days is within my capability and I know I can score well.”

Looking ahead, Zhao said: “I will select which events I want to play in on the Q Tour but right now it is all about getting that tournament feeling and I am pleased to be getting that feeling back.”

Zhao Xintong only returned to competitive snooker very recently. The first WPBSA event he played in after his ban ended was the 2024 Q-Tour Event 2. In that event, he had played three matches, losing to Craig Steadman in the last 64. Craig of course is a very experienced former professional and Zhao, certainly, wasn’t match sharp. Obviously he has been working hard since and this is the result.

Not everybody is happy to see Zhao back, but I am. Everybody makes mistakes and we have to remember that Zhao was not found guilty of match fixing. What he was found guilty of was to not report the match fixing schemes he was aware of and to bet on snooker. Now regarding the first of those two breaches of his contract, we have to consider two things. The first is that the younger players really felt threatened by Liang Wenbo and Li Hang. They were genuinely scared of them. Also, as Lewis has mentioned many times in the past, all those young players know each other since childhood. Because of the “one child per family” rule in operation in China back then, they are all “only children”, they have no siblings. Their childhood friends therefore are the closest they have to a brother or a sister. The “snooker kids” he grew up with are effectively his brothers. Therefore having to “grass on them” was a big no-no.

I’ m wishing Zhao the best and I hope to see him back on the main tour next season … that’s where he belongs. The tour needs players like him, who offer the fans an attractive brand of snooker and play with a smile on their face.

Congratulations Zhao and good luck for the future

Mink has won the 2024 Women Snooker Australian Open

Here is the report by WWS

Mighty Mink Wins in Sydney!

World number one Mink Nutcharut has defeated Ng On Yee 4-3 following a thrilling final match to win the 2024 Australian Women’s Snooker Open for a second time at Mounties, Sydney.

Five years on from claiming her first ever title on the World Women’s Snooker (WWS) Tour, Mink repeated her success against friend and rival Ng with a dramatic black ball success to lift her first crown since the Belgian Open back in January.

Her eighth success overall, the victory sees the Thai star join Ng as a multiple Australian Open champion and consolidate her position at the top of the world rankings.

It was to prove a hard fought final day as having secured her place in the semi-finals with wins against Dianne Spring and Jessica Woods following the group stages, Mink was to face a stern test from Mongolia’s Narantuya Bayarsaikhan in the last four.

The world number 19 – who was competing in a ranking semi-final for the first time having defeated Yee Ting Cheung 3-2 in the quarter-finals – would lead Mink throughout their contest and was one ball away from securing a maiden final in the sixth frame.

Mink, however, was able to win a black-ball battle to force a last frame decider, during which she produced her best snooker of the match to ultimately prevail and reach her first final of the season.

There she would face world number two Ng On Yee, who had made serene progress to the final without the loss of a single frame and had notably top scored with a stunning break of 133 during the round robin group stages against Australia’s Christine Firth.

The title match would prove to be another match full of drama as the first four frames were shared, Mink scoring breaks of 50 and 43, with Ng compiling runs of 52 and 57 during the second frame.

From that point on the final would become a tense affair as both players saw the winning line, Mink first moving to within one of victory by winning a 50 minute long fifth frame, before Ng returned the favour in frame six to force a final frame decider.

Both players would ultimately have their chances, Ng unfortunate to pot a red from the blue during a composed first scoring visit, before the contest eventually came down to the final black to decide the champion. While both players would have opportunities, it was Mink who would sink the winning ball to seal her second victory in Australia and lift the Clive Edwards Memorial Cup.

The dramatic final was a fitting end to a week to remember in Sydney which saw a record 27 entries contest the main title at Mounties. As well as victory for top ranked Mink, the event also saw notable runs for Narantuya Bayarsaikhan and Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul, who both reached their maiden ranking event semi-finals, with several further players also breaking new ground at the tournament.

The Challenge Cup tournament for players who did not reach the quarter-finals saw Australia’s Kathy Blunden claim victory with a 2-0 success against China’s Shuangyu Jia.

World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to another hugely successful event. This includes our partners at the Australian Billiards and Snooker Council, led by President Alex Render, Tournament Director Frank Dewens and Head of Referees Gary Knight, as well as our host Mounties and event sponsor The Snooker Shop.

The 2024/25 season continues with the Women’s Snooker Masters from 22-24 November 2024 at Frames Sports Bar, Couldson, England. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.

Congratulations Mink!

Amateur Snooker – Bai Yulu is the 2024 Women Snooker UK Champion

Monique Amateur, Snooker ,

There may not have been any professional snooker played yesterday but it still was a very busy day on the baize.

Indeed we had the last day of the 2024 Women Snooker UK Championship AND the 2024 Seniors Snooker 900 in Hull. I’ll post about the latter later today on my “Seniors blog”.

But here is the WPBSA report on the 2024 Women Snooker UK Championship

Bai Claims Maiden UK Crown

China’s Bai Yulu has ended the reign of Reanne Evans at the Taom UK Women’s Snooker Championship following a 4-0 final victory at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.

Record 12-time champion Evans was looking to extend a run which had seen her lift the title on four successive occasions, but it was reigning world champion Bai who dominated the title match to lift her third title on the World Women’s Snooker Tour since May 2023.

The 21-year-old Chinese star becomes the first winner of the UK Championship other than Evans and Ng On Yee in 12 years and the first player to win the world and UK titles during the same calendar year since Evans in 2019.

The victory will also see Bai rise to a new career-high world ranking of fourth position, behind only Mink Nutcharut, Ng and Evans.

Having been seeded through to the last 16 stage as reigning world champion, Bai progressed to the final with victories against Emma Powers-Richardson, recent US Open finalist Anupama Ramachandran and world number one Mink Nutcharut.

Awaiting her would once again be top seeded Evans, who survived a scare in the last 16 stage from India’s Amee Kamani to win 3-2, before she saw off So Man Yan and compatriot Rebecca Kenna – who had defeated Ng On Yee in the last eight – to set up a repeat of last year’s Leeds final.

In 2023 it had been Evans who ran out a 4-1 winner, but it would be a different story a year on as Bai quickly earned a 2-0 lead, before claiming a crucial third frame on the pink to move to within one frame of the title. Bai was not to be denied as she edged a final close frame to claim her first victory since her world title win in March and further cement her reputation as one of the leading Tour players.

Bai also achieved the highest break of the tournament with a run of 99 during her semi-final victory against Mink Nutcharut.

Side Tournaments

The Under-21 side tournament saw 13-year-old Ellise Scott claim her second successive junior title following her breakthrough win at the British Open back in May.

England’s Scott did not win a match during the group stages of the main competition, but enjoyed a successful run in the Under-21s with victories against Daisy May Oliver, Zoe Killington and Chloe Payne.

The Seniors side-tournament saw England’s Tessa Davidson lift her 12th over-40s crown following victory against Sarah Dunn in a repeat of the 2022 final in Leeds.

Davidson – who remains unbeaten at Seniors events since November 2023 – defeated Maureen Rowland, Mhairi Mackay and Dunn to win her second UK seniors title.

The Challenge Cup tournament for players who did not reach the quarter-finals saw Jasmine Bolsover lift her first WWS Tour title in nine years following a 2-1 success against Amee Kamani.

Winner of the Under-21 and Plate competitions at the 2015 World Championship, Bolsover won five matches during the final day under the six-red format to secure victory.

World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to another hugely successful event, most notably our title sponsors Taom Billiards, our long-standing hosts at the Northern Snooker Centre and of course the players and officials without whom the event would not have been possible.

The 2024/25 season continues with the Australian Women’s Snooker Open from 5-8 October 2024 at the Mounties venue in Sydney, Australia.

Some of the matches can be found on WWS Youtube Channel

Congratulations Bai Yulu

I have no doubts that Bai is currently the best female snooker player on tour. For now she is finding it difficult, but she was able to compete very successfully on the youth CBSA tour, against the boys. I hope she adapts in the UK, and gets the support she needs. It would be great to see her develop and reap some success.

Christian Richter is the 2024 IBSF World U17 Men Snooker Champion

Monique Amateur, Snooker ,

Christian Richter from Germany has won the Under-17 IBSF men snooker championship in Bangalore, India, yesterday.

Here is the report shared by IBSF

Christian Richter wins the 2024 IBSF World U17 Men Snooker Champion

Christian Richter from Germany has clinched the IBSF World Under-17 Men’s Snooker Championship 2024, defeating Thailand’s Lomnaw Issarangkun 4-1 in the final held today at KSBA, Bengaluru, India. This marks Christian’s first international snooker title.

Christian entered the knockout stage as the 7th seed and made an impressive start by overcoming Germany’s Paul Arthur Jeroch 3-1, highlighted by a standout break of 91. He then proceeded to beat India’s Jabez Naveen Kumar 3-0, with breaks of 44 and 67, securing his first international medal.

In a challenging semi-final, Christian faced last year’s runner-up, Riley Powell from Wales. Despite Riley’s century break in the second frame, Christian stayed composed, winning the match 4-2 with a break of 60 in the first frame and strong counterplay throughout.

In the final against the 2nd seed Lomnaw Issarangkun, Christian set the pace with opening breaks of 44 and 67 to lead 2-0. Lomnaw won the third frame but couldn’t catch up as Christian maintained his focus and won the next two frames effortlessly to secure the title.

The presentation ceremony was attended by IBSF Vice President Jim Leacy, IBSF Treasurer and Tournament Director Joseph Lo, BSFI President S. Balasubramaniam, and other officials from the Indian Federation, along with Shri Daulat B. Chhabria, the title sponsor.

Congratulations Christian!

Note that the “seeding” mentioned above is based on the results in the group stage and not on a kind of “IBSF ranking system”.

Meanwhile, the under-21 event is underway and still in the groups phase. Both “under-17” finalists are playing in this one as well. You can follow that event here.

Q-Tour 2024/25 – Event 1 News

Monique Amateur, News, Snooker ,

Congratulations to Andres Petrov, winner of Q-Tour Event 1

Here is the WPBSA report:

Andres Petrov Wins Q Tour Europe Title in Leeds

Andres Petrov defeated Ryan Thomerson 4-3 in a dramatic final at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds to win the first WPBSA Q Tour Europe event of the 2024/25 season.

The Estonian cueist came through a record-breaking Q Tour field in West Yorkshire to secure the title and take an early lead in the Q Tour Europe ranking list after the first of seven events to be held across the continent.

Petrov, who made history in 2022 by winning the EBSA European Championship to become his country’s first ever professional, showed his determination on the final day by coming from 3-1 behind in both the quarter and semi-finals before firing in two century breaks in a final which also went down to the wire.

A total of 154 cueists, a new record for a Q Tour event, embarked on the famous Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds as the first two days saw 106 players battle it out to join the 48 seeded competitors in the last 64 stage on the Saturday.

A number of notable names fell during a high-quality first two days, including recent former professionals Adam Duffy, Rebecca Kenna and Victor Sarkis.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Scot Jack Borwick made headlines by compiling a stunning tournament high break of 139 in a 3-0 victory over Daniel Bagley, before following this up with a 3-1 win against former professional Kuldesh Johal to make it to the last 64 – ultimately succumbing to the experienced Craig Steadman at this stage.

As one of the seeded competitors, eventual champion Petrov entered the fray on the Saturday and back-to-back 4-2 wins over Rodions Judins and Halim Hussain saw the Estonian book his place in the final day.

A relatively comfortable 4-1 victory over Hamim Hussain, the brother of Halim, put Petrov into the quarter-finals where he would face 48-year-old Simon Bedford on the Northern Snooker Centre’s main table.

Despite a break of 61 in the third frame, Petrov found himself 3-1 down and on the brink of defeat to Bedford in the last eight.

Success on a respotted black in frame five saw the Estonian reduce his deficit to one and, from here, Petrov showed his battling qualities to earn the victory in a deciding frame.

Petrov would need to call upon these qualities once more in the semi-finals against Simon Blackwell, as the Englishman charged into a 3-1 lead with back-to-back half centuries. Again, however, Petrov refused to accept defeat and forced a decider by taking a dramatic sixth frame on the final black before getting over the line in the seventh by a 71-0 scoreline.

This set up a title match contest with Australia’s Ryan Thomerson, who had similarly been relegated from the main tour at the end of the last season, after he had defeated Ryan Davies 4-1 in the semi-finals.

Having started on the Thursday, Thomerson had impressively advanced through eight rounds to reach the final with notable victories over former professionals Harvey Chandler, James Cahill and Steven Hallworth.

But it looked to be Petrov’s day when the man known as ‘The Tallinn Lamborghini’ raced into a 3-0 lead with breaks of 121, 90, 55 and 51 to move just one frame away from lifting the title.

Thomerson had already proved to be a fighter across the weekend, coming from 3-1 down to earn victories over both Chandler and Hallworth en route to the final, and after taking the fourth frame on the last black he then compiled a break of 72 to reduce his deficit to just a single frame.

In frame six, Petrov moved 62-0 ahead and looked certain to get over the line but a steely clearance of 64 from Thomerson saw him dramatically force a decider having trailed 0-3.

The man from Estonia saved perhaps his most majestic break of the weekend for the most important moment as he compiled an outstanding clearance of 119, his second century of the final, to win the title.

Petrov was visibly emotional following the victory having played 26 out of a possible 28 frames on a final day full of drama.

The tournament success means that Petrov makes the perfect start as he aims to make an instant return to the World Snooker Tour (WST) with the top ranked player at the conclusion of the campaign earning an outright two-year tour card.

Event 2 of the Q Tour Europe series takes place in Sofia, Bulgaria on 20-22 September. Entries remain open until 6 September at 12:00 BST.