It was quite the day, yesterday on the green baize … so many things happened!
2025 EBSA Championships in Antalya
The 2025 EBSA Championships in Antalya came to a conclusion yesterday. Liam Highfield won the main event. Two of those events were “carrying” a professional tour car for the winner: the under-21 event, won by Iulian Boiko last week and the main event won by Liam Highfield yesterday. The story of the championships though was very much Michal Szubarczyk, an extraordinary young talent.
Michal is only 14, he was born on 12 January 2011. At the tender age of 12 he won the Polish snooker championship. Earlier this month he won both the under-16 and the under-18 EBSA championships. Yesterday he played Liam Highfield in the final of the “main” EBSA event. He didn’t play well in that match, he was beaten by 5-0. Maybe the occasion got at him, maybe he was tired … after all he had played in all four EBSA events. He won the first two, made it to the final in the main event, played 26 matches over the last two weeks and won 24 of them. No mean feat, especially at just 14 years of age! The good news for Michal though is that, because Liam had already secured his tour card for the next two seasons via the Q-Tour, the losing finalist, Michal is now offered that card. The news was shared by WBSA before the final:
Szubarczyk, 14, To Be Nominated For Tour Card
Fourteen-year-old Michał Szubarczyk will be nominated for a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card after reaching the final of the 2025 EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Türkiye.
Should he accept the nomination, then Poland’s Szubarczyk will make history by becoming the youngest ever professional snooker player.
Organised by the European Billiards & Snooker Association, the 2025 European Championships in Antalya feature Under-16, Under-18, Under-21 and Main tournaments with the winners of the Under-21 and Main events each earning two-year tour cards.
Having already won both the Under-16 and Under-18 events in impressive fashion, Szubarczyk has reached a third final of the Championships by dropping just two frames in knockout stage victories over Maksim Kostov, Daan Leyssen, Chris Peplow and Nicolas Mortreux before stunning former professional Harvey Chandler 4-3 in the semi-finals.
He will face England’s Liam Highfield in the title match later today (22 March) after he overcame Dylan Emery in a deciding frame.
The 34-year-old has continued his fine form in Antalya which earlier saw him secure a two-year WST tour card via the WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs. Therefore, Szubarczyk has now guaranteed himself a nomination to the professional ranks as a result of reaching the European Championship final.
Congratulations to Liam and Michal!
Today, the 2025 Players Championship Final will be played in Telford. The World Number One, Judd Trump, will face the reigning World Champion, Kyren Wilson over a possible 19 frames. It can’t get better than this, can it? Those two have been the star competitors this season.
Yesterday Judd Trump beat John Higgins by 6-4 to book his place in the final (report shared by WST).
Trump Beats Higgins To Make Telford Final
Judd Trump extended his ranking event win streak over John Higgins to 12 consecutive matches, prevailing 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.
Trump’s winning run over Higgins includes the 2019 World Championship final and extends back to a quarter-final meeting at the 2018 China Championship. The Englishman now leads their head-to-head standings 19-14.
Victory this evening for the Ace in the Pack sets up a mouth-watering meeting with World Champion and world number two Kyren Wilson in tomorrow’s final. They will be battling it out over the best of 19 frames for a top prize of £150,000.
The pair have been the two standout performers of the season. They’ve already met in two finals, with Wilson emerging victorious at the Xi’an Grand Prix and the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open. However, the overall head-to-head is 13-12 to Trump.
Trump has enjoyed a tremendous campaign, having already racked up £1,375,600 in prize money. The 30-time ranking event winner has picked up titles at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the UK Championship, as well as the invitational Shanghai Masters.
Trump set the tone in the opening frame of the evening with a superb 130 to move 1-0 up. Further runs of 126 and 88 helped him to claim three of the next five frames to go 4-2 up.
At that point Higgins stepped up with two on the bounce to restore parity at 4-4. The Scot made the first significant move in the ninth, but crucially missed a red to the top left on 41. Trump hammered home a crucial break of 61 to punish and go 5-4 ahead.
The last frame of the evening was won with contributions of 53 and 23, which put Trump in the final.
“I had four or five years where he (Kyren Wilson) didn’t beat me before this season. I can see the confidence when he walks around the table. His body language has been different since winning the World Championship,” said 35-year-old Trump.
“For me it is difficult because I’m playing at my level, I’m not full of confidence. If I win the World Championship or something like that I would take the game to that kind of level. He’s in a purple patch, but it’s not going to last forever. It makes for an exciting rivalry for snooker.
“I feel that at the start of my career it was the other way around (against John Higgins). He was making incredible clearances to beat me. It is nice to turn it around. I’m obviously confident to beat him. It is probably in the back of his head that he hasn’t beaten me for a while, but I still have to go out there and do it. I need to play near my best every time.”
And last but not least … WST has published the list of players who have entered the World Championship.
2025 World Championship Entrants Confirmed
The World Championship entry deadline has now passed and WST is delighted to now announce the full list of entrants for the sport’s showcase event.
The final stages take place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from April 19th to May 5th, where the top 16 in the world rankings are pitted against 16 players that have come through a nerve shredding qualifying process.
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The qualifiers will be staged from April 7th to 16th, at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The competitors will be battling it out for places at the Theatre of Dreams, as well as vital ranking points in the quest for tour survival.
The full list of players is below. Please note that the players are not necessarily in order, with the seeding cut off set for the conclusion of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship.
WST Tour Player Entrants
Kyren Wilson
Judd Trump
Mark Selby
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Mark Williams
Luca Brecel
John Higgins
Mark Allen
Ding Junhui
Shaun Murphy
Neil Robertson
Zhang Anda
Barry Hawkins
Si Jiahui
Ali Carter
Xiao Guodong
Gary Wilson
Jak Jones
Tom Ford
Stuart Bingham
Chris Wakelin
Wu Yize
David Gilbert
Hossein Vafaei
Jack Lisowski
Pang Junxu
Stephen Maguire
Elliot Slessor
Noppon Saengkham
Ryan Day
Joe O’Connor
Zhou Yuelong
Jackson Page
Jimmy Robertson
Yuan Sijun
Matthew Selt
Lyu Haotian
Robert Milkins
Xu Si
Ricky Walden
Lei Peifan
Anthony McGill
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ben Woollaston
Scott Donaldson
Fan Zhengyi
Martin O’Donnell
Robbie Williams
Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells
Mark Davis
He Guoqiang
Matthew Stevens
Jordan Brown
Aaron Hill
Graeme Dott
Liu Hongyu
Jamie Jones
David Lilley
Long Zehuang
Sanderson Lam
Jamie Clarke
Anthony Hamilton
David Grace
Joe Perry
Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Stan Moody
Louis Heathcote
Tian Pengfei
Marco Fu
Ashley Carty
Zak Surety
Ma Hailong
Stuart Carrington
Jiang Jun
Ross Muir
Xing Zihao
Michael Holt
Alfie Burden
Rory Thor
Hammad Miah
Ian Burns
Oliver Lines
Alexander Ursenbacher
Liam Graham
Andrew Higginson
Gong Chenzhi
Duane Jones
Antoni Kowalski
Liam Pullen
Jimmy White
Ben Mertens
Sunny Akani
Andrew Pagett
Dean Young
Amir Sarkhosh
Artemijs Zizins
Bulcsu Revesz
Allan Taylor
Liam Davies
Ka Wai Cheung
Julien Leclercq
Haydon Pinhey
Chris Totten
Wang Yuchen
Haris Tahir
Mostafa Dorgham
Robbie McGuigan
Farakh Ajaib
Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Bai Yulu
Huang Jiahao
Mitchell Mann
Reanne Evans
Mink Nutcharut
Kreishh Gurbaxani
Jonas Luz
Ken Doherty
Mohamed Shehab
Hatem Yassen
Ahmed Elsayed
Baipat Siripaporn
WPBSA Nominations
Gao Yang – WSF Champion
Leone Crowley – WSF Junior Champion
Zhao Xintong – Q Tour Europe Winner
Steven Hallworth – Q Tour Playoff 1 Winner
Liam Highfield – Q Tour Playoff 2 Winner
Florian Nuessle – Q Tour Playoff 3 Winner
Brian Cini – WSF Runner-Up
Kaylan Patel – WS Junior Runner-Up
Fergal Quinn – WSF Semi-Finalist
Mateuz Baranowski – WSF Semi-Finalist
Zhou Jinhao – WSF Junior Semi-Finalist
Amaan Iqbal – WSF Junior Semi-Finalist
Michal Szubarcyzk – EBSA U18 Winner
Iulian Boiko – EBSA U21 Champion
Dylan Emery – Q Tour Europe Ranking
Ryan Thomerson – Q Tour Europe Ranking
Q School Top Ups
Simon Blackwell
Joshua Thomond
Paul Deaville
Daniel Womersley
Anton Kazakov
Joshua Cooper
The seeding still could change with the 2025 Tour Championship coming next, and last before the World Championship itself.
Ronnie has entered the event. Will he play? Time will tell. Some posts by Jason Francis and Phil Seymour on social media suggest he will, but then, Ronnie himself had said he would play at the Players Championship in Hong Kong and he withdrew last minute. Now, this is the World championship, he won’t need to travel abroad which of course can be tiring.
We can only wait and hope … IF he does play, how will he perform? Again, it’s impossible to predict. In 2013 he had sat the whole season out, except for a single match he had lost in a PTC, and he won the title. But that was 12 years ago … he was 37 back then, not much older than Judd currently is. Now he is 49. His eyesight is likely not as sharp as it was, and fatigue could be a factor as well. Anyway, there is nothing we can do about … just, as already mentioned, wait and hope.
The action continued in Telford yesterday … and, as far as I’m concerned, life continued to get in the way of snooker1 , so, again, I saw next to nothing of the action at the tables.
John Higgins stormed back from 5-2 down to beat Xiao Guodong 6-5 and make the semi-finals of the Sportsbet.io Players Championship in Telford.
The Wizard of Wishaw captured a first ranking title in four years at the recent World Open in Yushan. He’s since admitted that it has provided newfound confidence after suffering a string of heartbreaking losses.
Higgins now has 32 ranking titles to his name, but his four-year drought extended back to the 2021 Players Championship. The intervening period saw him lose his next five ranking finals.
Next up Higgins, who also won 6-5 in his opening round tie with Chris Wakelin, faces a blockbuster semi-final showdown with world number one Judd Trump. The Scot will be aiming to end a streak 11 consecutive ranking event defeats at the hands of the Englishman.
Xiao dominated the early exchanges this afternoon. He fired in runs of 111, 55, 60 and 104 on his way to storming into a 5-2 lead and moving one from victory.
At that point Higgins dug deep and things began to unravel for Xiao. The Chinese cueman sportingly called a foul on himself after missing a ball with difficult bridging in the eighth and Higgins stepped in with 70 to close within two frames.
Xiao had another opportunity in the ninth, but missed a tricky red to left middle after an unfortunate pack split. Higgins took the frame to make it 5-4.
Both players spurned opportunities in the next, the worst of which was an easy blue to the middle by Xiao. Glasgow’s Higgins forced the final frame, which he controlled to get over the line for a comeback victory.
“I’m very relieved. I’ve been on the wrong end of matches like that, where I’ve been dominant. To come out on the right side is brilliant,” said 49-year-old Higgins.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the game. He was outplaying me, but it was great. There was a packed crowd. I was hoping to make him win the game. Luckily , he missed a couple of pressure balls and let me back into it.
“That is what I’ll miss when I retire from the game. That pressure moment at 5-5 when you have a chance to win the match. You can’t replicate that at any time. It only happens at snooker, in crunch matches. That is one thing I definitely will miss.
“I can’t wait to play Judd. I’m sure the arena will be packed. I’ll be second favourite, maybe a big second favourite. I think I’ll go into it relaxed, knowing that I’ve got to play well to have a chance. Even then it doesn’t guarantee winning. I can’t wait to go out there and give it my all.”
I didn’t see the match but that moment when Xiao called a foul on himself was shared on social media. This is the kind of things the sport we love can be proud about: players perfect honesty. Xiao was playing over a cluster of balls, elevating the cue . Nobody saw the foul, but he felt it and immediately called it. Going by the comments on social media, after that incident Xiao’s game started to disintegrate. Your mind can play tricks on you like that sometimes. A seemingly rather minor thing can damage your confidence or break your concentration.
World Champion Kyren Wilson mounted a superb comeback to rally from 4-1 down and beat Neil Robertson 6-5 to make the Sportsbet.io Players Championship final in Telford.
The Warrior will now appear in his fourth title match of the campaign and the 18th ranking final of his career. He’s already captured silverware this season at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters.
It’s been an incredible first season as World Champion for Wilson. The Kettering cueman has already amassed £541,800 in ranking events, which has seen him assume second position on the Johnstone’s Paint One-year List behind Judd Trump. He will now face either Trump or John Higgins in Sunday’s final, where he will be aiming to win his tenth ranking crown.
Robertson’s hopes of becoming the first ever player to win all three Players Series events in a single season come to an end. However, his performances in the first two tournaments have seen him secure qualification for the World Championship.
As a result of winning the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong and making the semis this week in Telford, the Australian will rise to ninth in the world rankings.
Robertson got off to a flying start this evening, crafting breaks of 100, 83 and 73 on his way to establishing a 4-1 advantage. Wilson replied with runs of 116 and 57, as he claimed three on the bounce to restore parity at 4-4.
Frame nine brought huge drama. Trailing by 43, Wilson fired in a brilliant clearance of 43 to force a respotted black. However, his safety attempt on the extra ball sent the white into the right middle to hand the frame to Robertson.
World number two Wilson refused to back down and a brilliant break of 89 took the match all the way, setting up a final frame decider. Robertson then left a red to the middle from his break off, Wilson deposited it and made a brilliant total clearance of 134 to emerge a 6-5 victor.
“It is great to make a final of one of these tournaments. The field this week has been so strong. Of the eight quarter-finalists, seven were World Champions. That just shows the standard. I’m so proud that I’ve managed to get to the final,” said 33-year-old Wilson.
“I feel like I dominated most of the matches with Mark Allen and Mark Williams in the first two rounds. They are both great players. I just got off to a slow start against Neil and allowed him to get into his stride.
“When he is hitting the ball the way he can do it is a daunting prospect. At 4-1 down I’m proud of the way I came back. Despite losing that sickener of a frame to go 5-4 down, I’ve come back again and had two one visit frames. It is very pleasing.”
I’ll write it again … Kyren Wilson is indeed carrying himself outstandingly well as a first time World Champion. He should be proud and I do believe that he could well break the Crucible curse come May. It’s a very hard thing to do, of course, and Kyren could even lose on the opening day … but I never felt this way about previous first time World Champions since I’m following the sport.
EBSA 2024 Championship
The Championship is now at the semi-finals stage. Three of the remaining players are British and all three are former professionals. They are Liam Highfield, Dylan Emery and Harvey Chandler. The latter will face Michał Szubarczyk in the semi-finals. Michal is polish, and only 14 years old.
Earlier this month, Michal has won both the under-16, and under-18 EBSA events. What if he was to win the “main” event, the one currently under way and the one that carries a Tour Card for the winner? It would be remarkable, extraordinary even. It would also create a situation that WST will need to handle very carefully. Is it reasonable and safe to give a 14 years old a tour card. Shaun Murphy would probably say yes. Himself wasn’t 16 yet when he turned pro and uses to say “if you are good enough, you are old enough”. I disagree, STRONGLY.
Shaun forgets that
he was nearly 16, not 14.
at the time, there weren’t that many tournaments outside the UK, hence there weren’t, for him, that many “travels” to manage, with the administrative burden that comes with it (visas, flights, hotels and travels organisation to name a few).
he wasn’t going to live in a foreign country away from his family and friends, nor did he need to learn and master a foreign language. Michal is Polish… he would have to deal with all that stuff.
and Shaun’s father was a member of the board…
Michal is too young to have to cope with life on tour without his family close support. The pressure of the main tour combined with relative isolation from family and friends could impact him very badly. Many adult players couldn’t cope. Michal is still a child, he’s still developing. That card, if he earns it, should be put on hold for at least a year, maybe two. If he earns it, he should get it … but not right now.
Although hopefully the administrative, financial and juridic imbroglio I’m caught in, by no fault of myself, will end soon and well – fingers crossed – I tell you … Kafka is still alive and kicking hard somewhere here in Greece! ↩︎
WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs 2025 | Draw & Preview
The draw has been made for the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) Q Tour Global Play-Offs, where players will compete for a trio of two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) cards.
The prestigious event will be held alongside the EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Turkey from 11-13 March 2025.
A total of 24 players have qualified from the WPBSA Q Tour series’ in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region as well as one nomination by the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA).
The cueists have been split into three sections of eight and the player coming through each will earn their professional status for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons.
Play-Off 1
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Dylan Emery (Wales) vs. Ali Gharagozlou (Iran)
Connor Benzey (England) vs. Mark Joyce (England)
Steven Hallworth (England) vs. Luo Honghao (China)
Kuldesh Johal (England) vs. Ryan Davies (England)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Emery/Gharagozlou vs. Benzey/Joyce
Hallworth/Luo vs. Johal/Davies
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
Wales’ Dylan Emery is the top seed after finishing second in the Q Tour Europe ranking list, behind only four-time event winner Zhao Xintong, as a result of winning the second title of the season in Bulgaria and finishing runner-up to Liam Highfield in event seven.
He faces a tough opening round tie against Iran’s Ali Gharagozlou, who finished at the summit of the Q Tour Middle East ranking list by winning back-to-back titles in the United Arab Emirates.
Former professionals Mark Joyce, Steven Hallworth and Kuldesh Johal are joined by Connor Benzey and Ryan Davies as qualifiers from Q Tour Europe in the top section while Luo Honghao, a former World Snooker Federation (WSF) champion who reached the televised stages of the World Championship in 2019, completes the line-up as the CBSA nomination.
Play-Off 2
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Liam Highfield (England) vs. Habib Humood (Bahrain)
Dhimones Moraes (Brazil) vs. Harvey Chandler (England)
Iulian Boiko (Ukraine) vs. Alex Clenshaw (England)
Vinnie Calabrese (Australia) vs. Craig Steadman (England)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Highfield/Humood vs. Moraes/Chandler
Boiko/Clenshaw vs. Calabrese/Steadman
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
A trio of Q Tour event winners from across the globe feature in a strong second section where five nations and four continents are represented.
Liam Highfield, who won the seventh and final Q Tour Europe event of the season earlier this month, is aiming for a quick return to the World Snooker Tour after an unbroken 14-year spell came to an end last year.
He is joined in the second section by Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese and Bahrain’s Habib Humood, who finished top of the Q Tour Asia-Pacific and Middle East ranking lists as a result of winning all but one of the events in their individual regions.
Humood will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Amir Sarkhosh and Mohammed Shehab, who each earned professional status as qualifiers from the Middle East series 12 months ago.
Former professionals Harvey Chandler, Iulian Boiko and Craig Steadman have qualified from the Europe series, as well as England’s Alex Clenshaw, while Brazil’s Dhimones Moraes will compete as the Q Tour Americas series’ South American nomination.
Play-Off 3
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 Frames)
Ryan Thomerson (Australia) vs. Ehsan Heydari Nezhad (Iran)
Josh Thomond (England) vs. Florian Nuessle (Austria)
Sean O’Sullivan (England) vs. Oliver Sykes (England)
Vito Puopolo (Canada) vs. Andres Petrov (Estonia)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 Frames)
Thomerson/Nezhad vs. Thomond/Nuessle
O’Sullivan/Sykes vs. Puopolo/Petrov
Final (Best of 19 Frames)
Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2
Estonia’s Andres Petrov, the first Q Tour Europe event winner of the season, headlines the third and final section of the play-offs which features competitors from six nations.
Petrov will face Canada’s Vito Puopolo, who won an event on the Q Tour Americas series in Toronto, while the other six contenders have qualified via the Europe series.
Former professional Ryan Thomerson finished fourth in the Europe ranking list and will face Iran’s Ehsan Heydari Nezhad, who reached the final in Stockholm, while the line-up is completed by Josh Thomond, Sean O’Sullivan and Oliver Sykes from England as well as Austrian national champion Florian Nuessle.
This is a proper competition, and the ones who will emerge from it will really deserve their tour card.
It’s interesting that the Q-Tour actually travels more than the main tour, the latter being mainly confined to the UK and China. It is also interesting that it’s “combined” with the EBSA championships that also offer tour cards, possibly making it easier and cheaper for players who want to play in both.
Regarding the main tour, they should scrap the invitational championship league and use the calendar slots for events in mainland Europe. They could also make the ranking championship league shorter by using four tables instead of two. This year the Players Championship is played in Hong Kong. What about having one of the events of that series in mainland Europe? Sponsoring has been an issue in mainland Europe events, I know that. BUT, a big part of the problem is the strong ties between the sport and gambling, something that is much more “regulated” in mainland Europe than it is in the UK, and doesn’t have a very favorable image with the general public. Surely they can find sponsors in other areas? Maybe, at the start, those sponsors won’t offer as big price money as WST would like to get but they surely can and should “complement” it. It’s called “investing” in the future. After all they call themselves “World” snooker, not “UK, China and friends” snooker.
Also I mention mainland Europe, but if successful, in the future WST will have to consider the Americas and Africa and then they will need to consider simultaneous events in various locations like other big sports do because the calendar has only 52 weeks and then, to be fair to all players they will be forced to “depart’ from the money list and adopt a different “rating” system. I’m 70, I may never see it but there will come a time when they will have to evolve to that model … or never grow into a global sport.
Ronnie is due to play in the 2025 World Grand Prix
Two days ago, WST organised a big press conference in Hong Kong to promote the 2025 World Grand Prix. The event was attended by Judd Trump, the current World Number One, who, like Ronnie, has taken residency in Hong Kong.
Schedule For World Grand Prix Announced At Press Conference
Organised by World Snooker Tour (WST) and F-Sports Promotions Limited, and supported by the Billiard Sports Council of Hong Kong China Limited, the 2025 World Snooker Grand Prix will be held in Hong Kong for the first time, taking place from March 4th to 9th at Kai Tak Arena, Kai Tak Sports Park. The top 32 snooker players of the season will compete for the championship.
Tournament organisers held a pre-event press conference today, attended by world number one Judd Trump and the match schedule was announced. A star studded day one lineup sees the likes of Trump, World Champion Kyren Wilson, Masters champion Shaun Murphy and four-time Crucible king John Higgins in action.
The World Grand Prix is proud of being designated as an “M” Mark event, that helps enhance the image of Hong Kong as an international sports event capital. The “M” Mark is awarded by the Major Sports Events Committee, for signature events in the territory sports calendar.
An excited Trump remarked: “I really do enjoy every occasion I get to compete in Hong Kong. I love everything about Hong Kong and being able to play here for the first time as a Hong Kong resident is definitely a particularly meaningful event in my career. I can’t wait to experience the vibrant atmosphere, with 5,000 fans cheering at the amazing new Kai Tak Arena.”
Ms. Feng Huanhuan, CEO, F-Sports Promotions Limited said, ” We wish to thank the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Major Sports Events Committee, and all the supporting organisations for their strong support. The new world-class Kai Tak Arena offers an outstanding venue for hosting this event and will undoubtedly provide audiences with an exceptional viewing experience. With Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan both gracing the stage in their ‘new home,’ we are proud to promote Hong Kong on the world stage. Our goal is to bring top-tier snooker events that reflect the community’s passion for the sport, while leveraging Hong Kong’s position as the premier hub for Mega Events. We are committed to advancing the development of sports within the community, supporting elite sports, enhancing sports professionalism and developing sport as a thriving industry while promoting the city as a world-renowned centre for major international sports events.“
The World Grand Prix has been held since 2015 and is one of the premier events on the World Snooker Tour. This year marks the first time the tournament will be hosted outside of the UK, with a record breaking venue size and prize money on offer.
The huge arena capacity means 5,000 spectators will be able to experience this premier snooker event live at the brand-new Kai Tak Arena, making it the most attended ranking event on the World Snooker Tour to date. The total prize money has increased from £380,000 last year to £700,000 this year, with the champion’s prize rising from £100,000 to £180,000.
This will be the first ranking tournament held in Hong Kong since 1989. Notably, Trump and defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan will be competing at home after becoming residents of Hong Kong.
On March 8th and 9th, exhibition matches will take place at 11 am. On Saturday, the men’s exhibition match will feature Hong Kong’s top player Marco Fu going up against Jimmy White. On Sunday, the women’s exhibition match will showcase Hong Kong number one and world number two Ng On Yee competing against world number one Mink Nutcharut. Tickets for the exhibition matches will be distributed for free, with further details to be announced later.
The Hong Kong Billiards Sports Academy, a collaboration between F-Sports Promotions Limited and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, located at Kai Tak Mall, will officially open during the tournament.
Public tickets are available through HK Ticketing and Damai, ranging from HK$80 to HK$2,580. There is a special ‘roll-on roll-off’ format for this event, with two consecutive matches in both the afternoon and evening sessions, which means that fans buying a ticket for just one session can watch two matches.
Now, if you follow the link at the end of the article, you will open a page that features a video featuring Ronnie explaining that he took a break bit now feels ready to play in this event and I think he will. Why? Because it’s in Hong Kong, where he’s now a resident and it’s a place he loves. It’s a huge arena and you can be certain that the players will be treated extremely well. How well will Ronnie perform? I don’t really know as he’s facing a daunting task. His first opponent will be Si Jiahui who has beaten him earlier this season. Indeed, Si beat Ronnie by 6-4 in the QFs in Saudi Arabia, in an event where Ronnie certainly wanted to do well. I strongly believe that Ronnie will give it his best in this event, but will it be enough after sitting out so many events? I’m really, really not sure…
The first Disability Snooker World Championship will be held in Thailand next week and it has attracted huge interest
I have been told by one of the participants that some matches will be streamed, likely on Facebook.
Incredible Entry for Inaugural World Disability Snooker Championship!
It has today1 been announced that the first-ever staging of the World Disability Snooker Championship will see an impressive 69 players from 17 countries contest six main titles in Thailand.
Organised by World Disability Billiards and Snooker (WDBS) and the Sports Association for the Disabled of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King (SPADT), the landmark event will run from 23 February – 2 March 2025 in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
The opening two days (23-24 February) will incorporate classification sessions for players who have not played at a WDBS event before and optional practice for players ahead of the start of the competition.
The first competitive matches are set to be played on 25 February with the start of the group stages, during which there will also be a spectacular opening ceremony staged to open the Championship.
The Groups
The event will see six tournaments staged, with separate competitions held for players from Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Due to entry numbers received, Groups 6A, 6B, 7 and 8 will be merged to play a single tournament with 12 players. This is subject to change should entry numbers change prior to the start of the event.
Appropriate points starts will be applied within this group in the interest of fair competition and will be confirmed prior to the start of the event.
Following the conclusion of the group stages, there will also be a Challenge Cup tournament held for players who do not qualify for the knockout stages.
Please note that the draws for the tournament will not be released until 24 February following the completion of new player classifications.
“A fantastic response”
Nigel Mawer QPM, WDBS Chairman said: “We are today delighted to announce such a strong line-up for the first-ever staging of the World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand.
“To have players from 17 individual countries is a fantastic response and marks a truly international event for disability snooker. It is especially exciting to welcome players from Iceland, Indonesia, Libya, Pakistan and the United States to the Tour for the very first time.
“I look forward to meeting all of the players and officials in Thailand for what promises to be a week to remember.”
The World Disability Snooker Championship runs from 23 February – 2 March 2025 with tournament information to be available via WPBSA SnookerScores.
To be held in Srisaman, Nonthaburi, the landmark event will be organised in conjunction with the Sports Association for the Disabled of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King (SPADT) and snooker’s world governing body the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
The first staging of a World Championship comes 10 years on from the foundation of WDBS and represents the latest major milestone in the continued growth of disability snooker worldwide, following snooker’s inclusion at last year’s World Abilitysport Games and the first-ever European Disability Snooker Championship in October.
Format
The event will run across nine days in total from 23 February – 3 March 2025, with the opening two days to include classification and practice days ahead of the start of the first matches on 25 February.
All players must attend from 25 February to be eligible to compete in the tournament.
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“An Historic Event”
WDBS Chairman Nigel Mawer QPM said: “We are today hugely excited to be able to announce the first staging of the World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand next year.
“The event will be the biggest ever disability snooker event held and represents a proud moment for all of us who have been associated with WDBS over the past decade.
“Our inclusion at last year’s World Abilitysport Games in Thailand was a week that I will never forget, and it is only fitting that the first ever World Championship will see us return to this amazing country once again.
“I would like to thank the SPADT and the WPBSA for their support of the event, and mostly importantly our players from around the world, without the support of whom the staging of this event would not be possible.
“Our long-term goal remains to secure the return of snooker to the Paralympic Games and this prestigious new event represents another huge step towards achieving that ambition.”
A spokesperson from SPADT said: “We are honoured to host this Championship. We sincerely thank WDBS for trusting Thailand as the host nation.
“We would also like to express our gratitude to the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand for their invaluable support and collaboration, which has been key to ensuring the success of this event.
“Drawing from our experience in organising international sports events for disabled athletes, SPADT is committed to delivering a smooth and memorable tournament. We warmly invite players from across the globe to join us in Thailand for this incredible Championship.
“We hope this competition will be a truly enjoyable and unforgettable experience for everyone involved. May all participants leave with great memories and the famous ‘Thai smile’ that will stay with you forever.”.
The 2025 Welsh Open has started this morning but, before we turn our attention to the last of the “Home Nations” events, let’s take stock of what happened last week-end on the amateur scene, as reported by WPBSA.
Liam Highfield defeated Dylan Emery 4-3 to win the seventh and final WPBSA Q Tour Europe event of the season at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, England.
The victory marks Highfield’s first title on the Q Tour and guarantees his place at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Turkey next month where three World Snooker Tour (WST) two-year tour cards will be on offer.
The 34-year-old Englishman, who is aiming for a quick return to the professional circuit after his 14-year unbroken spell came to an end last year, joined the three-day event on the Saturday as one of the 48 seeded cueists at the Landywood Snooker Club.
His campaign began with a tough test against fellow former professional Craig Steadman, who had already reached a Q Tour Europe event final in Sweden earlier in the season. The two players went blow for blow in a high-quality contest but a quartet of half-centuries, including a top break of 92, was enough for Highfield to secure the victory in a decider.
A 4-1 win over fellow countryman Ryan Davies earned Highfield his place in the final day for the fourth time this season and he began the Sunday in style with a whitewash of Josh Thomond to reach the quarter-finals.
Back-to-back 4-2 victories over Kuldesh Johal and Alex Clenshaw, the latter from 2-1 behind, saw Highfield book his place in a Q Tour Europe final for the first time.
Welshman Dylan Emery was his opponent in the title match after he proved to be one of the standout performers across the weekend.
Emery, who won the second Q Tour Europe event of the campaign, compiled the tournament high break of 140 against Anton Kazakov on Saturday evening and followed this up by overcoming former World Snooker Federation champion Ashley Hugill to earn a place in the last eight.
There he faced 14-year-old Shaun Liu, who had provided one of the stories of the event by picking up consecutive victories over former professionals Steven Hallworth and Harvey Chandler.
The Hong Kong China cueist came close to adding another scalp against Emery as he led 3-2 in the best-of-seven frame contest. Emery was able to hold his nerve, however, and take the last two frames before once again showing his battling qualities in the semi-finals to defeat Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko in a decider having trailed 3-1.
It had been a day full of drama and a high standard of snooker at the Landywood Snooker Club and the title match proved to be no different.
In a match that featured a half-century break in every frame, Highfield stormed into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 93 and 69 and then moved one away from victory at 3-1 with a further contribution of 59.
Emery wasn’t going down without a fight, however, and visits of 83 and 87 forced a final frame to decide the victor.
All you want in a decider is a chance and when Highfield’s arrived he took full advantage by hitting a 91 clearance to secure the first Q Tour title of his career.
The 2024/25 WPBSA Q Tour season comes a close next month as the Global Play-Offs are staged in Antalya, Turkey on 11-13 March. Full details will be announced in due course.
Reanne Evans has defeated Mink Nutcharut 4-3 following a dramatic final to regain the Belgian Women’s Open title for the first time since 2019 at the Trickshot in Bruges, Belgium.
Success for Evans represents her second ranking event title of the season following her win at the Women’s Masters last November and is her first outside of the UK in almost six years since the 2019 World Women’s Snooker Championship in Thailand.
Victory in Bruges will also see the 12-time world champion regain third place in the updated world rankings, having been overtaken by Bai Yulu following the recent WSF Women’s Championship in Morocco.
Beaten finalist Mink Nutcharut will remain in top spot following her fourth consecutive final appearance on the WWS Tour – all having come down to a deciding frame – which sees her further extend her lead to second placed Ng On Yee with two events remaining this season.
For Evans the run to the final would not be straightforward as having seen off debutant Diana Khodjaeva in the last 16, she would then defeat home favourite Wendy Jans 3-1 in the quarter-finals, before surviving her first decider against 2020 Belgian Open champion Ng On Yee in the semi-finals.
Mink Nutcharut meanwhile enjoyed relatively smooth passage to the title match as she whitewashed Jaique Ip Wan In, Kamila Khodjaeva and most impressively Anupama Ramachandran, during which she hit back-to-back century breaks of 115 and 107 during the final two frames, becoming the first player to do so in seven years.
It was Nutcharut who would get off to the stronger start during what would prove to be a tension-filled final as she stole the opener with a break of 40, before adding a close-fought second to double her advantage.
The frames would continue to be hard-fought and it was Evans who hit back to level at 2-2, before the next two were shared meaning that for the fourth straight final on the WWS Tour, a final frame decider would be required to settle the title.
Evans would gain the early advantage in the crucial seventh frame, before Nutcharut found herself with a chance to potentially steal and take her third consecutive crown in Bruges. A miss on the final red into the green pocket would ultimately prove costly, however, as Evans made a telling contribution to ultimately clinch the title.
The engrossing final would pull down the curtain on what was a memorable event which saw a number of stories throughout the three days. Notably, talented Belgian duo Diana and Kamila Khodjaeva both impressed in reaching the knockout rounds at their debut event, while 13-year-old Ellise Scott took world number five Rebecca Kenna to a deciding-frame at the last 16 stage. For Kenna, she would find herself on the wrong end of a decider in the next round as she dramatically lost to Anupama Ramachandran on a respotted black.
There was also history made as an incredible break of 138 – the fifth-highest ever on the WWS Tour – by Ng On Yee saw her become only the fourth player ever to reach ten career century breaks, before Mink Nutcharut equalled the feat the following day, with her brace of century breaks during the semi-finals.
Side-Tournaments
There was a second-career Under-21 title for Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul in the junior competition as the 19-year-old defeated Laura Killington, Sophie Nix and first-time finalist Chan Wai Lam of Hong Kong China to add to her previous crown at the Women’s Masters last November.
It would prove to be a fruitful weekend for the youngster who also claimed victory in the Challenge Cup event for players who did not reach the quarter-finals following her 2-0 success against England’s Ellise Scott in the final.
The Seniors competition held on Friday meanwhile saw current number one Tessa Davidson maintain her stranglehold at the top of the rankings with a 2-0 win against first-time finalist Anja Vandenbussche.
As always, World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to what is always a popular event in Bruges, in particular Olivier Vandenbohede and his team at the Trickshot.
The 2024/25 season continues with the Landywood British Women’s Open from 28-30 March 2025 in Bruges. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.
Note that I cited the last sentence as it was written at the time I copied the text, but the Landiwood British Open is due to be played in Walsall, England, according to WPBSA Snooker scores … not in Bruges as written in the piece above.
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
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.
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.
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.
The week of exhibitions in Macau concluded yesterday, and, in start contrast with the previous set of exhibition matches in Chinese territory, this one was a huge success for Ronnie who won all his 5 matches!
Indeed he beat both Kyren Wilson by 5-2 and Stuart Bingham by 5-1 on the last day of the event.
I did enjoy the event, and not just because Ronnie won his matches, but because he played well and looked much happier than he was early in the season. All his matches were refereed by women which, I’m sure, was to his liking. I was particularly happy to see Zhou Ying in action again.
And to conclude some images … found by Kalacs of course. THANK YOU KALACS !
