Professional snooker

Catching up with 2025 German Masters and World Open Qualifiers results

Monique Professional snooker tournament

While the top ten players where battling it out for (allegedly) a golden ball in the luxury1 of Riyadh, most of the tour players were battling it out in Ponds Forge to try to qualify for the 2025 German Masters and the 2025 World Open … in front of nobody. Lets have a look at what happened there …

All the 2025 German Masters Qualifiers results are available on snooker.org. The lowest ranked players had to win two matches to get to Berlin.

Here are the relevant reports by WST:

December 16, 2024

BAI WINS AGAIN IN BERLIN QUALIFIERS

Bai Yulu added another victory to her impressive debut pro season as she beat Liam Pullen 5-4 in the first qualifying round of the Machineseeker German Masters.

China’s 21-year-old Bai will face Yuan Sijun on Tuesday afternoon with the winner to go through to the final stages of this world ranking event at the Tempodrom in Berlin in the new year.

Last month, Bai won three qualifying matches in the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship, and she followed up with a first round win at the 9Club Shoot Out, and notched another success today against world number 90 Pullen. Breaks of 56 and 66 gave her a 2-1 lead, and she later came from 4-3 down to take the last two frames.

Ken Doherty, recently recovered from an umbilical hernia operation, earned his first win of the season with a 5-4 defeat of Oliver Lines. From 4-0 down, Lines recovered to 4-4 and led 53-0 in the decider, only for veteran Doherty to snatch it with a superb 66 clearance. 

Julien Leclercq top scored with 131 in a 5-2 win over Jimmy White, while Stan Moody fired runs of 108 and 133 in a 5-0 whitewash of Ahmed Aly Elsayed. Artemijs Zizins made a 94 in the decider to edge out Kreishh Gurbaxani 5-4.

December 17, 2024

DOHERTY EARNS BERLIN SPOT

Just eight weeks after having emergency surgery for an umbilical hernia, 55-year-old Ken Doherty booked a place in the final stages of the Machineseeker German Masters with a 5-4 victory over Jordan Brown.

Veteran Doherty lost his first five matches this season and was then forced to take a break after being rushed to hospital for the surgery in October. He returned at this week’s qualifying event with low expectations, but the former World Champion edged out Oliver Lines 5-4 in his first match on Monday then beat Brown by the same scoreline

Doherty took a 4-2 lead with top breaks of 53, 80 and 64, then Brown fought back to 4-4 and he led 59-46 in the decider only for Doherty to clear from last red to pink.    

Bai Yulu made the second highest break ever by a woman in a ranking event, making a 128 during her match with Yuan Sijun. This has only been topped by Allison Fisher who made a 133 in the 1992 Dubai Classic. However that break was the only highlight of the day for Bai as she lost 5-1.

Xu Si top scored with 142 in a 5-1 win over Julian Leclercq. Aaron Hill battled to a 5-4 win over Stan Moody, winning an 85-minute deciding frame on the colours. Latvia’s Artemijs Zizins followed up his 5-4 first round win over Kreishh Gurbaxani by beating Matthew Selt by the same scoreline. Zizins made a 70 clearance to take the decider, helped by a fluke on the last red.

In round one, BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan saw his winning streak ended by a 5-3 defeat against Allan Taylor.

December 18, 2024

EVANS ON TARGET FOR TEMPODROM

Reanne Evans scored her first win on the pro tour this season, beating Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 in the first qualifying round of the Machineseeker German Masters.

Evans will face Joe O’Connor on Thursday with the winner to go through to the final stages at the iconic Tempodrom venue in Berlin in January. Breaks of 66 and 50 helped 12-time World Women’s Champion Evans to a 3-0 lead, and she later sealed victory in frame eight.

9Club Shoot Out runner-up Liam Graham made a tremendous comeback from 4-0 down to beat Ma Hailong 5-4. Graham, who was denied a first ranking title by Tom Ford earlier this month, took the last five frames with a top break of 55.   

Poland’s Antoni Kowalski enjoyed a 5-4 success against Ian Burns, making an 83 in the decider. Amateur Joshua Thomond beat Ben Mertens 5-4, winning the last frame on a respotted black. Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko beat Michael Holt 5-2 with a top break of 79.

December 19, 2024

KOWALSKI SET FOR BERLIN

Antoni Kowalski sealed his place in the final stages of the Machineseeker German Masters with a 5-0 demolition of last season’s Welsh Open runner-up Martin O’Donnell at qualifying in Sheffield.

Polish number one Kowalski is in his debut season on tour, having come through Q School at the beginning of the season. He’s enjoyed a strong start to life as a professional, with today’s win marking his 13th victory of the campaign. He top scored with 58 in the second frame. 

Welshman Jackson Page produced a break building blitz to ease past Thailand’s Sunny Akani 5-1. Runs of 64, 65, 59, 86 and 64 were enough to see him through in just over an hour and a half. 

Scotland’s Shoot Out runner-up Liam Graham continued his good form by registering a second consecutive 5-4 win to qualify, this time beating Sanderson Lam to follow up his first round win against Ma Hailong.

Former Shoot Out champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made breaks of 101 and 104 during a 5-3 defeat of amateur Paul Deaville, while Alfie Burden scored an impressive 5-0 win over Jamie Jones. 

Joe O’Connor scored a 5-1 win over Reanne Evans and Hammad Miah defeated Matthew Stevens 5-2 with two century breaks.

Some observations about the outcome of those “German” qualifiers …

  • The second round of qualifiers started before the first round finished. This was done so that players who had won their first match during the first two days should not have to wait “idle” to play their second one. It’s good for the players but makes following the results a bit more difficult for the fans.
  • Eight players from China/Hong Kong have booked their place in Berlin and ALL of them did it on the first day of round 2. Actually the vast majority of the Chinese players were scheduled to play early in these qualifiers. I thought at first that it might be a move by WST to allow them to travel back to China “early” in the holiday time, should they wish to do that, but with the World Open qualifiers to follow that made no sense.
  • From mainland Europe, Artemijs Zizins, Antoni Kowalski and Alex Ursebacher have qualified. For Alex of course this event is as close as it can be from being a “home” event.
  • Two of the four women won their first match: Bai Yulu and Reanne Evans, and Bai made her fits century as a professional. Bai is the best female on tour, she actually competes with the men, and I believe that what she is doing is actually re-motivating the other women.
  • The tour “veterans” did very well: Dominic Dale, Ken Doherty, Graeme Dott, Mark Davis and David Lilley are all Berlin bound! At 47, Dotty is the “baby” in this list. When I started following snooker, the general opinion was that past 35 years of age, players were “finished”… clearly the said players have other ideas.

The 2025 World Open Qualifiers results are, of course, also available on snooker.org.

For this event, only one qualifying match was required, but most of the top players had to go through the qualifying process. The qualifiers were played over three days, again without spectators.

Here are the reports by WST:

December 20, 2024

HAWK SET FOR YUSHAN

Barry Hawkins produced a brilliant display to demolish Ka Wai Cheung 5-1 and clinch his place in the final stages of next year’s World Open, which will take place in Yushan. 

The Hawk is in fine form currently, having reached the first Victorian Plumbing UK Championship final of his career earlier this month. He was runner-up to Judd Trump after losing a classic contest 10-8. He followed that up by beating John Higgins 4-3 during last week’s BetVictor Scottish Open, where he exited against Wu Yize in the last 16. 

Hawkins surged to an emphatic win today, crafting breaks of 66, 76, 71, 51 and 133 on his way to victory.

World number 89 Zak Surety staged a stunning upset victory to thrash world number 13 Si Jiahui 5-0. Surety hammered home contributions of 64, 74 and 87 as he blitzed past the talented Si.

Another significant shock saw world number 108 Chris Totten score a 5-1 win over 2015 Crucible king Stuart Bingham. Totten fired in two century runs of 102 and 103 during the win.

Alfie Burden beat Stephen Maguire 5-4 by a single point on the final black, while Gary Wilson was a 5-1 winner against Gong Chenzhi.

December 21, 2024

HIGGINS BEATS WANG WITH LATE CLEARANCE

John Higgins came through a tough battle against Wang Yuchen in the qualifying round of the World Open, making a vital deciding frame clearance to score a 5-4 victory and book his place in the final stages.

World number 14 Higgins was pushed all the way by a player ranked 95 places lower, but eventually got over the line and will be in Yushan, China in February for the world ranking event. Breaks of 66, 80, 54 and 50 helped Higgins build a 4-2 lead, before Wang recovered to 4-4. The underdog led 48-0 in the decider only for Higgins to make an excellent 76.

Newly crowned BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan enjoyed a tremendous fight-back as he recovered a 4-0 deficit to beat Anthony Hamilton 5-4 with a top run of 79. India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha came from 3-1 down to beat Dominic Dale 5-4 with a top break of 100.

Poland’s Antoni Kowalski continued his fine recent form with a 5-1 thrashing of Paul Deaville. Crucible runner-up Jak Jones compiled runs of 107 and 102 in a 5-0 whitewash of Allan Taylor.

December 22, 2024

BRECEL CONTINUES FORM TO REACH YUSHAN

Luca Brecel’s mid-season recovery continued with a 5-3 defeat of Iulian Boiko to qualify for the final stages of the World Open, which will take place in Yushan next year. 

The Belgian’s points for winning the 2023 World Championship will drop off  at the end of the season, at which point he is currently projected to plummet to 57th position in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings. However, a recent recovery of his form started at the BetVictor Scottish Open, where he made the quarter-finals. On Friday, he was also runner-up to Mark Allen at the invitational Riyadh Season Snooker Championship. 

After a quick turnaround, he travelled to Sheffield for today’s qualifier with Boiko. With the scores locked at 2-2, Brecel racked up three frames on the bounce to secure another important win. 

Thailand’s Sunny Akani scored a shock 5-2 win over Mark Williams to earn his place in Yushan. Breaks of 60, 109 and 87 helped him to progress this afternoon. 

Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong eased to a 5-0 win over Dylan Emery. There were contributions of 116 and 86 for Xiao on his way to victory. 

Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh scored only his eighth win of the season after beating David Gilbert 5-3, taking the concluding frame on the final black. 

Mark Selby made a stunning 142 in the deciding frame to beat Artemijs Zizins 5-4 and Mark Allen won the last two frames to overcome Rory Thor 5-4.

England’s 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy beat Mostafa Dorgham 5-3, while Pang Junxu beat 1997 Crucible king Ken Doherty 5-2. 

Again, some thoughts about these results…

  • From the top 16, only Mark Williams and Si Juahui failed to qualify. Si appears to be going through a dip of form recently. He was whitewashed by Zak Surety who is a very decent player, but not a top player by any means. Willo lost to Sunny Akani and, as much as I like Willo, I’m delighted for Sunny.
  • Among the players close to the top 16, or that I feel are/were top 16 material, a few will miss the “main event” in Yushan. Neil Robertson failed to show up. No explanation was provided by WST. Stephen Maguire was beaten in a decider by Alfie Burden who, of course, is very experienced. I doubt that Maguire was particularly happy to have to travel to England this time of the year to play a qualifying match in front of no one, therefore, I’m not overly surprised. On the other hand David Gilbert’s 5-3 defeat to Amir Sarkosh did surprise me.
  • Mark Selby and Mark Allen had to battle really hard against Artemijs Zizins and Rory Thor (Thor Chuan Leong). Those were the two last matches of the day and both went the distance. Artemijs Zizins is definitely one to watch!
  • For me, the most surprising result of the event was Manasawin Phetmalaikul 5-2 win over Matthew Selt, with 3 breaks over 50. How come? “Quid” has done very, very little on the main tour so far. I didn’t see the match. Maybe I will watch it because I’m truly nonplussed.

And with that professional snooker is over until the New Year …

  1. For the privileged ones of course… ↩︎

Lei Peifan is the 2024 Scottish Open Champion

Monique Professional snooker tournament, Snooker

Lei Peifan beat Wu Yize by 9-5 yesterday evening in Edinburgh to become the 2024 Scottish Open Champion.

Congratulations Lei Peifan!

Here is the report shared by WST

UNDERDOG LEI LANDS MAIDEN CROWN

World number 84 Lei Peifan created history in the first ever final between two players born in the 21st century, beating fellow Chinese 21-year-old Wu Yize 9-5 to win the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh.

Outsider Lei becomes the highest ranked player to win a tournament since 1993. Dave Harold was world number 93 when he won the Asian Open that year.

Incredibly, Lei had never been beyond the last 16 of a ranking tournament prior to this week. He’s overcome a world class list of opponents to make it to the final, defeating Hossein Vafaei, Shaun Murphy, Stuart Bingham, Tom Ford and Mark Allen.

Lei’s prize for victory is £100,000, which will see him leap to 43rd position in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings.

He heads into the BetVictor Welsh Open next year trailing Neil Robertson by £8,600 in the BetVictor Series standings. Whoever tops the list after the Welsh Open will scoop a bumper £150,000 bonus.

Earlier this year Lei wasn’t even a professional player, having lost his status twice previously. He regained his place on the professional circuit by winning the Asia Pacific Championship in March, beating Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese 6-5 in the final.

At 42, the aggregate age of today’s finalists was the lowest in a ranking event title match since 1998. Paul Hunter (19) defeated John Higgins (22) to capture the Welsh Open crown on that occasion.

Defeat sees Wu fall short in his second final of the campaign. He was also runner-up to Neil Robertson at the BetVictor English Open. However, he will emerge from the week ranked 25th in the world.

Lei came out of the afternoon session with a 5-3 advantage. That gap was closed when Wu took the opener this evening, but Lei quickly responded with 70 in the tenth to make it 6-4.

A tightly contested 11th frame then went the way of Lei after 35 minutes of play. The 12th came down to the green, where Wu missed an opportunity to the top left. That afforded Lei the chance to clear to the pink and move one away from glory at 8-4.

Wu provided resistance by taking the next, but a break of 62 saw Lei hold his nerve and get over the line for a momentous victory.

“Honestly, it feels so unexpected to win the title. I initially just wanted to better my previous best result, which was the last 16. Reaching that stage already felt satisfying, so I played with no pressure and didn’t overthink things.”

Lei Peifan

2024 BetVictor Scottish Open Champion

Lei added: “The final frame was tough mentally. I kept picturing myself winning the title if I made the next shot, but I tried to stay calm and prepare myself for each shot.

“Coming back to the professional circuit this year, my goal was just to keep my place on the tour. I’ve already been relegated twice before. I didn’t expect this result at all and it came so fast. It shows that hard work pays off and I’ll keep working hard to win more titles in the future.

“Wu Yize and I have been good friends for ten years. This was our first time playing each other. Meeting in a ranking final made it even more special.

“Seeing the players I practise with achieve such great results has been a huge inspiration for me. It reminded me that with enough effort, I can achieve great things too.”

Wu said: “This week I think I performed well overall, but not in this final match. I don’t know what happened. It felt like I was playing without any touch or rhythm. I didn’t really put much pressure on myself, but maybe I was a bit nervous in the first four frames. I tried to adjust later on, but it still didn’t feel right.

“Thanks to everyone for your support. Maybe my performance this time was a bit disappointing, but I won’t let it crush me. I believe I’ll have many more opportunities in the future and I’m confident I can win a title.”

This is an extraordinary and heart-warming result for Lei Peifan. Twice he dropped off the tour, twice he came back. He showed incredible heart during this tournament. I’m certain that he also spent an incredible amount of hours in practice, not just ahead of this tournament, but ever since he first took a cue in his hands. He’s not the most talented guy on tour, he’s not the easiest on the eye either but he’s certainly among the hardest workers and someone who never gives up. Hats off Lei!

As for Wu, he will be back. He will become a winner one day, likely in a not too distant future. He’s too good not to. He said he doesn’t know what happened and I believe him but maybe the people around him may help him to work it out. After all he was in an unfamiliar situation as he was the one expected to win and, possibly, subconsciously this put pressure on him.

The 2024 Scottish Open – Day 6 – SFs

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

Two young Chinese players already wrote history yesterday and there is more to come today.

Indeed, the final today will be played between Lei Peifan and Wu Yize, both only 21 years of age. Whoever wins today, we will have a “new” ranking event winner as one of them will lift the Stephen Hendry trophy, a first trophy for whoever wins the final but surely not the last.

Both of them came from behind to win their semi-final. Here are the reports shared by WST:

WU MAKES EDINBURGH FINAL

Wu Yize is through to the second ranking event final of his career after a hard fought 6-4 defeat of Chinese compatriot Xiao Guodong at the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh. 

The hugely talented 21-year-old, who was Rookie of the Year in 2022, is enjoying his finest season on the World Snooker Tour thus far.

Earlier in the campaign, he beat the likes of Judd Trump, Ali Carter and Stuart Bingham to reach a maiden title match at the BetVictor English Open. After a fiercely contested encounter, it was Neil Robertson who prevailed 9-7 in the final.

He now faces the prospect of a best of 17 encounter with either Mark Allen or Lei Peifan. Victory will give Wu the Stephen Hendry Trophy, a top prize of £100,000 and the first ranking event win of his fledgling career.

If he goes on and captures the title he will also move ahead of Robertson in the BetVictor Series standings, ahead of the finale at the Welsh Open. Whoever accumulates the most prize money across the qualifying events will scoop a massive £150,000 bonus.

Xiao bows out after yet another deep run in his best ever season as a professional, having first joined the tour back in 2007. He claimed maiden ranking event glory at the Wuhan Open and was a losing finalist at the Champion of Champions.

A cagey first two frames this afternoon went the way of Xiao, before Wu came from behind to take the third and then made 63 in the fourth to head into the mid-session at 2-2.

When play resumed, Xiao made 76 to regain the lead at 3-2 and then claimed the sixth on the pink to move 4-2 up.

Xiao led a crucial seventh 56-0, before falling out of position. With the balls in uninviting positions, a stunning break of 67 from Wu saw him steal on the black and close to 4-3 behind.

That was the moment where momentum shifted, as Wu hammered home further runs of 57, 115 and 54 to make it four on the bounce and a 6-4 victory.

“I really enjoyed the atmosphere today. In the past, I might have felt a lot of pressure in situations like this, but now I just find it enjoyable,” said world number 27 Wu.

“Today, we played on a new cloth and with new balls. The first four frames were challenging, as we were adapting to the table and the conditions, which were quite different from yesterday. Later on, both of us made some adjustments.

“Of course I’m eager to win the title, but for me it’s also about enjoying the process. Winning the title would be a way to reward myself for all these years of effort. For every tournament, becoming champion is hard to come by and it requires me to be at my best.“

LEI FLOORS ALLEN WITH STUNNING FIGHTBACK

Lei Peifan is through to the first ranking event final of his career, after completing an epic fightback against Mark Allen to prevail 6-5 at the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh.

It looked as if Allen was coasting to his 20th ranking when he led 5-2. However, Lei turned the match on its head and scored an unlikely victory with the clock well beyond midnight.

He can now look forward to a final against Chinese compatriot and fellow 21-year-old Wu Yize. The finalist’s combined age of 42 makes this the youngest title match in a ranking final since Paul Hunter (19) beat John Higgins (22) in the 1998 Welsh Open final.

It’s been a stunning ascension to prominence for world number 84 Lei, who until this week had never been beyond the last 16 of a ranking event. He’s already defeated Hossein Vafaei, Shaun Murphy, Stuart Bingham and Tom Ford to reach this point.

The winner tomorrow will pick up the Stephen Hendry Trophy, their first ever ranking event title and a career high payday of £100,000.

Breaks of 73, 97 and 55 helped Allen into his commanding 5-2 lead this evening. However, a missed pink in the eighth, with the balls at his mercy, initiated a barnstorming fightback from Lei.

He capitalised on Allen’s missed opportunity in emphatic fashion, claiming four frames on the bounce to seal an epic fightback win.

Lei said: “It is very exciting to win. Today I didn’t play very well in the first session. I was telling myself not to give up, just to focus on the table and play. It was my first time in a semi-final so I just wanted to enjoy the moment.

“I was nervous today and didn’t know how to adjust myself. It was only one table and there were so many people watching. In the second session I felt a little bit more relaxed.

“Myself and Wu know each other very well. We will just have to go out and try to bring a good performance for everybody to watch. Playing in a tournament is different to practising. It is the first time we have met.”

Allen said: “I probably got what I deserved for not winning 6-2. I missed the pink when I was 5-2 up and then everything started to go against me. I just didn’t close the match out well enough. I’ve got no regrets. He potted some good balls in the last, so credit to him.”

Xiao Guodong was one of the Chinese players who arrived in Britain in the late noughties, in the aftermath of Ding’s breakthrough. I first met him at the SWSA in Gloucester. He didn’t speak much of English at the time but his outgoing personality made him stand out in that group. At the time, some fans on forums, predicted a Chinese tsunami. It didn’t happen, it was never going to happen. Behind the “snooker player” there is a human person and it was preposterous to assume that being away from their family, having to adapt to a different culture, to learn a different language and still to perform at their best would be feasible, never mind easy. All the academies that exist today weren’t around at the time. After the match yesterday Xiao congratulated his young opponent and the smile on his face was 100% genuine, you could see that. He was part of that pioneer group that lay the foundations that allow the younger generation of Chinese players to thrive. Xiao is only 35, he only recently won his first ranking title in Wuhan, he still has time for more, but whatever happens from here he should be proud of himself.

As for Wu and Lei … what can I say? Both were outstanding yesterday, in different ways. Wu is very easy on the eye and Lei’s determination is admirable and his “escape” skills were astonishing yesterday. I just hope that both play well today!

The 2024 Scottish Open – Day 5 – QFs

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

We have three Chinese players in the semi-finals of the 2024 Scottish Open. Two of the, Wu Yize and Lei Peifan, are only 21 years old The two other semi-finalists are experienced campaigners: Mark Allen and Xiao Guodong. Here is how we got there as reported by WST.

WU AND XIAO SET FOR SEMI-FINAL

Wu Yize battled to reach his fourth ranking event semi-final, prevailing 5-4 against world number 16 Chris Wakelin at the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh.

Victory for talented 21-year-old Wu moves him within two games of grasping maiden ranking event glory.

The Chinese star was named Rookie of the Year, after a fine breakthrough season in 2022. Since then, he’s continued to demonstrate his considerable potential.

Earlier this season Wu went on a run to the BetVictor English Open final, which included a win over Judd Trump, before a nerve shredding 9-7 loss to Neil Robertson.

Wu, who plays compatriot Xiao Guodong in the semis, now knows that he is two wins away from a maiden ranking title and the Stephen Hendry Trophy.

Winning the event will move him above Robertson in the BetVictor Series standings ahead of the finale at the Welsh Open. The prize money leader in the series will scoop a £150,000 bonus.

Defeat for Wakelin ends another deep run in a season which has seen him make the top 16 in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings for the first time in his career. As a result, he can look ahead to a Johnstone’s Paint Masters debut at Alexandra Palace in January.

The opening stages of the match saw Wakelin take charge, breaks of 107 and 51 gave him a 2-0 advantage. However, Wu replied by claiming the third and fourth with runs of 82 and 72 to draw level at 2-2.

Wakelin regained the advantage by winning the fifth, but it was Wu who took two on the bounce to move to the verge of victory at 4-3.

A gutsy contribution of 103 from Wakelin forced a decider, where he had an opportunity to win before missing a red to the middle. Wu stepped up and ruthlessly fired in 66 to seal victory.

Wu said: “I’m quite satisfied with my form. Last night, before the match, I watched some of my games from last year. I feel that I’ve improved in many aspects overall, and that’s something that makes me really happy.

“In the first frame, my cue tip had some issues and even miscued. Fortunately, my dad was with me, as I don’t know how to fix a tip myself. After the second frame, I asked him to help adjust it.

“I often see online that Edinburgh is described as a very romantic city. I visited here in 2021 and spent two or three days exploring. This is my first time competing in Edinburgh and everything feels amazing. My focus now is to give my best performance in the tournament and after it’s over, I plan to take my dad on a little tour around the city.”

On the other table, Xiao scored a 5-1 defeat of 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel to book his spot in the last four. 

It’s been a landmark season for Xiao, who won his maiden ranking title at the Wuhan Open and was runner-up at the invitational Champion of Champions. 

Defeat for Brecel ends an important run, which has gone a long way towards staving off the very real threat of dropping out of the world’s top 64, when the points for his 2023 Crucible victory drop off at the end of the season. 

The opening stages of this afternoon’s encounter were truncated, with Xiao moving 2-1 ahead after winning a 50-minute third frame. He then clicked into gear, with breaks of 106 and 81 on his way to crossing the line after five frames in a row.

The Wu vs Wakelin match was a very enjoyable high quality affair, the kind of match that make you think “It’s a shame there had to be a loser“. Wu still has that freedom and freshness of the very young. He’s blessed with a huge talent and an excellent temperament … it’s a deadly combo! Wu was interviewed on ES after the match … in English. His command of the language is still basic but he went through that interview with a smile. All credits to him. The British players, and the Brits and Americans in general, usually only speak English and find it “normal” that every one else speaks it as well. It’s not, it takes an effort, especially when your native language is completely different in its etymology, structure, grammar and uses a different alphabet. It always infuriates me when, here on my Greek island, I witness tourists1 being rude to waiters, hotel/restaurant staff and shopkeepers because their command of English isn’t perfect. Their own command of Greek is usually zero.

In the second match of the afternoon, Xiao Guodong played well too. I will refrain to write what I think of Brecel’s “performance”.

PISTOL FIRES PAST SAENGKHAM TO MAKE SEMIS

Mark Allen is through to the 41st ranking event semi-final of his career after defeating Noppon Saengkham 5-2 at the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh.

The Pistol has been searching for form in recent weeks, but was back to his fluent best this evening in a captivating clash against the always dangerous Saengkham.

Allen spent a brief period at the start of the campaign as world number one, but has subsequently slipped back down to fifth. His exploits this week will see him move to at least fourth and making the final would push him to world number three.

The Northern Irishman is aiming to win this event for a second time. He first lifted the Stephen Hendry Trophy back in 2018, when he beat Shaun Murphy 9-7 in the title match.

Defeat for Saengkham means he will have to wait for a maiden ranking crown. He came close last year in Edinburgh, when he lost to Gary Wilson in the final. However, once again it has been a positive week in the Scottish capital for the Thai.

A break of 87 gave Saengkham the opener this evening, before Allen turned up the heat with contributions of 87, 120 and 127 on his way to four on the bounce and a 4-1 lead.

Saengkham responded with a stunning 136 to close the gap, but the high quality encounter was finished off with 105 in the seventh from Allen to triumph 5-2. He now faces China’s Lei Peifan in the last four.

“I played well there and scored heavily. I can’t complain. I only missed one or two shots in the whole game so I can’t complain,” said 11-time ranking event winner Allen.

“I’m enjoying what I’ve been trying this week. Just getting on with it and going for my shots. The games in York and in the early part of this week I wasn’t enjoying things. I just thought I’d get on with it and see what happens. I couldn’t have felt worse than I did so nice to see some balls going in and I’m scoring pretty well.

“I am confident, but I’m not taking anything for granted. I need to keep performing the way I have so far. I’m going to be playing a tough opponent no matter who gets through.”

It was China’s Lei who prevailed in the other quarter-final, winning a tense decider with Tom Ford to come through 5-4.

Lei was competing in the last eight of a ranking event for the first time in his career, having already beaten the likes of Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham thus far.

The final frame came down to a safety exchange on the brown. Eventually Lei conjured a brilliant pot and held his nerve with a tough cut back blue to get himself into a maiden ranking semi-final.

I chose to watch table two. It was another good match and one where the “momentum” appeared to shift from one player to the other every odd frame. Tom was the heavier scorer, he had two big centuries in this match: a 136 and a 125. It was Lei however who came on top in most of the close more tactical frames. Given that Tom is old enough to be Lei’s father, you would expect the opposite … that said, tactical play has never been Tom’s favourite cup of tea.

  1. Usually Americans, but sometimes Brits as well ↩︎

Tom Ford is the 2024 Shoot-out Champion

Monique Professional snooker tournament, Snooker

Despite very difficult personal circumstances, Tom Ford emerged the winner after four days of madness at the 2024 Shoot-out in Leicester. It is Tom’s first ranking title.

Congratulations Tom Ford!

Here is the report by WST:

FORD HOLDS NERVE TO WIN FIRST RANKING TITLE

Tom Ford won the 9Club Shoot Out in Leicester, beating Liam Graham in the last few seconds of a dramatic final to win his maiden ranking title, 23 years after turning professional.

World number 100 Graham, in his second season on the tour, looked set for a fairytale victory when he led by 20 points with little more than a minute remaining in the one-frame knockout event where every match lasts a maximum of ten minutes. But a missed red proved costly for the 20-year-old as it handed Ford the table, and his break of 23 gave him the title.

It’s a landmark moment on home turf for Leicester’s 41-year-old Ford as he was widely recognised as one of the best players not to win a ranking event but has now made that breakthrough. His previous career highlights had included two Players Tour Championship titles in 2010 and 2011, three other ranking finals and a UK Championship semi-final appearance, but this is without doubt his finest moment.

And Ford was overcome with emotion during the celebrations as he remembered his long term friend and sponsor Brian Todd, who sadly passed away last month. Ford was at the funeral on Wednesday and came close to pulling out of the tournament, but decided to play and has paid tribute to Todd in the perfect way.

Having climbed into the top 16 last season, Ford had a woeful start to the current campaign, winning just two matches before this week. He was 110th on the Johnstone’s Paint one-year rankings but the £50,000 prize boosts him to 32nd on that list and he’s up from 22nd to 19th on the official list.

“Brian was with me for eight years,” said Ford. “He went everywhere with me. I said to my wife before the event that I didn’t want to play, I was down in the dumps. She told me to go because you never know what might happen. The money, the trophy, is not what I was thinking about this week. It has been so hard. But winning the tournament for Brian means so much. 

“When I got a chance in the final I just tried not to think about anything expect potting the balls. I had to put everything to one side for a few minutes and get the job done.”

Defeat will be heart-breaking for Graham who had showed tremendous spirit throughout the event, knocking out the likes of Mark Selby and Ali Carter and gaining the support of the enthusiastic crowd. Having never previously been beyond the last 32 of a ranking event, the Scot broke new ground and more than doubled his career prize money as he added £20,000 to his previous total of £19,000. But having come so close to becoming arguably the most unlikely ranking event winner of all time, he will look back on the week with mixed emotions. 

Graham, who will jump 15 places to 85th in the rankings, said: “It has been a great run. The red I missed in the final was one of the few balls I missed all week. Well done to Tom, he’s a great guy. But I’m gutted for myself because I thought I had it. One ball made the difference. It will take me a while to get over it but I think I will gain confidence from this. Hopefully I have shown that I have the bottle to win under pressure.”  

Earlier in the semi-finals, Graham beat Selby, coming from 20-0 down to win it with a vital break of 31. Ford won a dramatic blue ball shoot out against China’s Wu Yize after their match finished 32-32. Wu potted a tremendous long red and added the brown in the closing seconds. But after Ford slotted in the blue in sudden death, Wu missed the target. 

…

The commentators had mentioned that Tom was facing a difficult situation in his private life, but hadn’t mentioned the nature of it. This was of course the right thing to do but when I read that he was grieving because he lost a close friend and mentor, the enormity of his achievement hit me. This event with its “festive” and loud atmosphere must have been particularly hard to cope with under such circumstances. Hats off Tom!

As for Liam Graham, he was visibly very, very disappointed1 but in a few days, when he will reflect on what he did with a clear head, he should be very proud of himself. What he did this week should be a “springboard” that helps him to reach the next level in his budding career.

I used to dislike the Shoot-out, and I still don’t think it should be ranking, although, if it wasn’t, most top players would probably give it a miss and the “tension” would be much lower. This time however, I appreciated the event more, I enjoyed watching so many excellent young players, including from mainland Europe. Ahead of the last evening Neal Foulds said that he would love to see one of the young players from mainland Europe lift the trophy. This surprised me in a good way, given that he’s British. He’s right though. Mainland Europe deserves more events and more prestigious events. WST shouldn’t wait for a sponsor to present itself, they should seriously invest in that market and, if those events are good and successful they WILL attract sponsors in the future.

All results are available on snooker.org.

  1. And Tom of all people went over to him to hug him. ↩︎

The 2024 Shoot-out Random Predictions – Day 3 and final…

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

Yesterday saw the round of 64 at the 2024 Shoot-out played to completion in Leicester. Of the 32 matches played, my “coin predictions” only yielded 14 correct “guesses”. My overall winner guess was equally dire … Shaun Murphy bowed out.

The crowd was bigger and VERY loud especially in the evening. Far too loud for my liking actually. I switched off the sound on my computer at one point. It was that bad. I do get it that people want to have a good time, but does that necessarily involve shouting all the time? There was one guy in particular … he was utterly annoying and, unfortunately, encouraged by the fact they showed him on TV all the time.

There was quite a bit of drama. Noppon narrowly avoided a heart attack ❤️‍🔥. Kreishh Gurbaxani played some really crazy stuff and still won! The defending champion bowed out. Generally the young players did well and that’s one positive of this event: we get to see everyone on TV, not just the big names and their (often unfortunate) opponents.

All the results are available on snooker.org

Another positive is that because generally the top guys don’t take it too seriously many of them are more inclined to make themselves available to fans. Going by what transpired on social media, Zimena met her hero… 😊. Happy for you Zimena!

Today we have 31 matches on the menu and tonight we will know the 2024 madness champion.

This is the draw for the last 32 round and my predictions

  1. Neil Robertson v Liam Pullen – Liam Pullen
  2. Dylan Emery v Noppon Saengkham – Noppon Saengkham
  3. Zhou Yuelong v Florian Nüßle – Florian Nüßle
  4. Duane Jones v Tom Ford – Tom Ford
  5. Antoni Kowalski v Vladislav Gradinary – Antoni Kowalski
  6. Andrew Higginson v Ma Hailong – Andrew Higginson
  7. Wu Yize v Liam Davies – Wu Yize
  8. Zhang Anda v Elliot Slessor- Elliot Slessor
  9. Mark Selby v Jamie Jones – Mark Selby
  10. Liam Graham v Ali Carter – Liam Graham
  11. Aaron Hill v Allan Taylor – Allan Taylor
  12. Si Jiahui v Martin O’Donnell – Martin O’ Donnell
  13. Kreishh Gurbaxani v Ashley Carty – Kreishh Gurbaxani
  14. Robbie Williams v Fan Zhengyi – Robbie Williams
  15. Huang Jiahao v David Gilbert – Huang Jiahao
  16. Robert Milkins v Haydon Pinhey – Robert Milkins

This time I didn’t use a coin or anything, I made my predictions based on what I saw so far … let’s see if I can do better than the coins. I have absolutely no clue about who will win this crazy event. It’s a shame that Joe Swail isn’t playing… maybe, for once, being partially deaf might have been an advantage1.

Post afternoon session update

Well, I’m definitely better than the coins: 10 out of 16… and here is what the round of 16 brings and my predictions.

  1. Mark Selby v Liam Pullen – Mark Selby
  2. Antoni Kawalski v Florian Nüßle – Antoni Kowalski
  3. Allan Taylor v Andrew Higginson – Andrew Higginson
  4. Elliot Slessor v Wu Yize – Wu Yize
  5. Robert Milkins v Martin O’Donnell – Robert Milkins
  6. Robbie Williams v Huang Jiahao – Robbie Williams
  7. Kreishh Gurbaxani v Tom Ford – Tom Ford
  8. Noppon Saengkham v Liam Graham – Noppon Saengkham

Make that 6 out of 8 then…

Not going to predict anything about the evening… see you tomorrow!

  1. Although… I’m partially deaf myself and I really struggle in loud environments. So, maybe not… ↩︎

Snooker News – 5 December 2024

Monique Professional snooker, Professional snooker tournament

First of all … it’s Ronnie’s birthday. He turns 49 today. He doesn’t like birthdays but all the same

Happy birthday Ronnie !

Next, WST has published some information about the next events to come

WORLD OPEN DRAW

Judd Trump will defend the World Open title in China in 2025, in a strong field of snooker’s biggest names.

The draw for the qualifying round is now available – CLICK HERE for the match schedule.

Trump won the title for the second time last season, beating Ding Junhui in the final in Yushan. He will start the defence of his crown against Xing Zihao. The following matches have been held over to the final stages in China:

Judd Trump v Xing Zihao
Ding Junhui v Jiang Jun
Sanderson Lam v wild card
David Lilley v wild card
Scott Donaldson v wild card
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Stuart Carrington
Zhang Anda v Stan Moody
Xu Si v wild card
Kyren Wilson v Hammad Miah

The remaining ties will take place during the qualifying round at Pond’s Forge in Sheffield on December 20-22. Notable qualifying ties include:

John Higgins v Wang Yuchen
Neil Robertson v Michael Holt
Mark Selby v Artemijs Zizins
Luca Brecel v Iulian Boiko
Mark Williams v Sunny Akani
Mark Allen v Rory Thor
Shaun Murphy v Mostafa Dorgham 

GERMAN MASTERS QUALIFIERS DRAW

The draw for the 2025 German Masters qualifying rounds has been made. CLICK HERE for the match schedule.

The qualifying rounds run from December 16 to 19 at Pond’s Forge in Sheffield, with players battling to make it through to the final stages at the Tempodrom in Berlin (January 27 to February 2). The top 32 are seeded through to Berlin, with the draw to be announced soon.