Former World Champion Ken Doherty has been awarded an invitational tour card to keep his place on the professional circuit for at least the next two years.
One of snooker’s great ambassadors, Irishman Doherty has played on the pro tour since 1990, winning six ranking titles including the 1997 World Championship.
Last weekend he reached the final of the World Seniors Championship, losing 5-4 to Jimmy White.
Doherty, age 50, finished the 2019/20 season ranked 68th in the world, narrowly missing out on a top 64 place which would have seen him keep his card automatically.
But WST has now decided to award the Dubliner an invitational card for the second time, having first given him that status in 2017.
WST Chairman Barry Hearn said: “Ken has been a fabulous servant to snooker over the past three decades, as a player, ambassador and television commentator. He is a fantastic asset to the tour and his love of our sport is undiminished. He is also extremely competitive on the pro tour. We are delighted to give him this chance to remain as a World Snooker Tour player for another two years.”
Here is a what we know about the 2020/21 calendar so far
The CLS is the first event on the calendar, due to start in less than three weeks.
Emily Frazer, Managing Director of Matchroom Multi Sport Ltd, tweeted this yesterday
Asked if it would be on TV, she answered that this is the plan and that they are still working on it.
Meanwhile WST put a poll on twitter asking if Ronnie will win a 7th World Title.
“He’s the best player I’ve ever seen in my life, including Hendry, Davis and many others of the past,” added Welshman Reardon, 87.
O’Sullivan is never far from controversy and during this year’s tournament, which was re-scheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 45-year-old criticised the standard of young players coming through to challenge him.
He has also been open with his struggles with mental health during his career, which has seen him win a record 37 ranking titles since he won the first of his seven UK Championship titles as a 17-year-old in 1993.
“When he loses the plot anybody could beat him. It depends what frame of mind he’s in. He’s an unusual character really. He’s amazing,” added Reardon.
“He’s passionate about it. I know he doesn’t say it. He says some silly things sometimes, but he loves snooker.
“He’s the most natural thing you’ll ever see. He must have been born with a block of chalk in his mouth.”
Judd Trump has been named snooker’s Player of the Year after a record breaking performance across the 2019/20 season.
Trump became the first player to win six ranking titles in a single season, lifting the trophy at the World Open, International Championship, Northern Ireland Open, German Masters, Players Championship and Gibraltar Open.
The 31-year-old also built a huge lead at the top of the world rankings and became the second player to make 100 century breaks in a season.
He receives the main Player of the Year award, voted by a panel of experts, for a second consecutive year.
Trump was also voted Snooker Journalists’ Player of the Year by media around the world who cover snooker. And he won the Fans’ Player of the Year, voted by fans on the WST App and on social media platforms in China.
Ronnie O’Sullivan took the Performance of the Year award for winning the World Championship for the sixth time. The Rocket beat Kyren Wilson 18-8 in last weekend’s final at the Crucible.
Magic Moment of the Year went to John Higgins for his 147 during the second round of the World Championship, becoming the first player to make a maximum at the Crucible since 2012.
Leicester’s Louis Heathcote won Rookie of the Year following an excellent debut season which was highlighted by a run to the final qualifying round of the World Championship and a jump to 82nd in the rankings.
WST Awards: 2019/20 winners Player of the Year – Judd Trump Fans’ Player of the Year – Judd Trump Snooker Journalists’ Player of the Year – Judd Trump Performance of the Year – Ronnie O’Sullivan Rookie of the Year – Louis Heathcote Magic Moment of the Year – John Higgins
Player of the Year – former winners
2011: John Higgins
2012: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2013: Mark Selby
2014: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2015: Stuart Bingham
2016: John Higgins
2017: Mark Selby
2018: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2019: Judd Trump
2020: Judd Trump
and the video going with it:
Judd Trump, having won a record six ranking titles this season, whilst being the reigning World Champion, was always going to be “Player of the Year” . It should be “Player of the Season” really, as the year isn’t over yet. Those awards are a recognition of players perfornmance over a the season.
The only “bemol” one can put on Judd’s season is that he hasn’t performed in any of the “Majors”. He lost by 6-3 to 54 years old Nigel Bond in the UK Championship, he lost by the same score to Shaun Murphy in the Masters first round, and never really impressed at the Crucible where he lost at the QF stage. But then, both the UK Championship 2019 (Ding Junhui) and the Masters 2020 (Stuart Bingham) have been won by players who did pretty nothing before or after this season. It was all a bit bizarre.
There can be no arguing with Ronnie’s “Performance of the Year” (aka Season). Winning a 6th World Title, a record 37th ranking title, at 44, definitely deserved the recognition. He beat a ranking event winner is every round, including two former multiple World Champions, and a former World runner-up. He beat his nemesis, Mark Selby, over best of 33 in the semi finals, and with this, hopefully the 2014 demons will be gone too.
In this category though, I think one player, who wasn’t a “winner” should have been nominated: Jamie Clarke. After two seasons of struggling badly, winning three matches at the World qualifiers and then beating Mark Allen at the Crucible before narrowly losing to Anthony McGill, should, in my oponion, get him some recognition. Another one who deserved a nomination was Yan Bingtao: in Riga, he became the first teenager since Ding in 2006 to win a ranking event, and went on to become a member of the top 16 elite.
No argument with Louis Heathcote being awarded “Rookie of the year”.
Magic moment of the year? John Higgins 147 ? … maybe. I can’t really think of one particular “Wow!” moment this season other than Ronnie lifting that World Trophy again after 7 years of Crucible struggles.
But I would like to add some more “awards” …
The “Best day of the Season” goes, without a doubt, to Friday 14th of August. The two semi finals at the Crucible, going to a decider and producing incredible drama. The last frame of the Kyren Wilson v Anthony McGill was the craziest frame I’ve ever seen and very few will disagree with that assesment. Ronnie beating his demons, and Mark Selby, in a decider only hours after made the day very, very special!
Also, both WPBSA and WST deserve huge credit for bringing snooker back, and getting players to play in the context of this pandemic. I still disagree with having a crowd at the Crucible. The nature of the place made that a huge risk and I sincerely hope that nobody got infected. But, the efforts put into getting the CLS up, then running both the World qualifiers and the World Championship were exceptional Thank you WST and WPBSA.
Those who read this blog for some time know that I also have “Golden Turkey” awards
A permanent feature in this category is the “ranking” status of the Shoot-out. It gets a Golden Turkey once again.
What else this season?
The Paul Hunter Classic once the best, biggest and most vibrant Pro-Am in the snooker calendar, has been slowly but effectively destroyed, by being made a ranking event, and this season being just reduced to a 16 players “sanctioned” event. It leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth and, I’m sure, I’m not the only one. Anyone who went to Fürth in the glory days of the Pro-Am will feel the same.
Also the “yellow” incident during the John Higgins v Ali Carter QF at the Masters 2020. You can read about it, and watch the video again, in this piece by David Caulfield.
The white never touched the yellow, That’s plain for all to see. Desi had made the right call. Yet Carter’s aggressive reaction – I’m even tempted to use the word “bully” here – prompted her to change her call. So many things went wrong here. Surely, Desi and the marker should have reviewed the replay and she should have stood her ground. Carter claimed to be flabbergasted. Did he not look at the white whist it traveled and missed its aim? How could he honestly think he had hit the yellow if he did? Why not calmly ask for a video review if he honestly thought he had hit it instead of being plainly aggressive? Answers/opinions on a postcard…
The World Snooker Championship will continue to be sponsored by Betfred until at least 2022 thanks to an extended agreement.
Betfred and WST have announced the extension on the final day of the 2020 tournament at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, as Ronnie O’Sullivan and Kyren Wilson battle for the trophy.
The Betfred World Championship is snooker’s biggest tournament and one of the greatest sporting events on the planet, with an international audience of 500 million.
It brings together the world’s top 16 players, plus 16 more who battle through the qualifying rounds. The final stages run for 17 days at the famous Crucible.
Betfred first sponsored the tournament in 2009.
WST Chairman Barry Hearn said “We have worked with Betfred on the World Championship for many years and we are delighted to extend the agreement. Over that time it has developed into a truly global event with a vast audience, and its reach continues to grow. More and more fans in an increasing number of countries tune in each year to watch history in the making. This year’s Championship has been one of the best. We look forward to working with the fantastic Betfred team for many years to come.”
Fred Done, Boss of Betfred, added: “I’m delighted to extend my association with the World Snooker Championship and I would like to take this opportunity to thank WST, the Crucible, BBC, Eurosport and especially the players for putting this event on in such challenging times.”
World Snooker Championship sponsor Betfred has made an incredible donation of £25,000 to WST’s official charity Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home.
Before the tournament started, Betfred pledged £200 for every century break to Jessie May, with the total to be rounded up to £25,000 if 80 centuries were made.
In fact the ton count finished at 79, though champion Ronnie O’Sullivan narrowly missed out on another century in the last frame, running out of position on the last black on 96. Betfred has generously decided to count that as a century and trigger the massive £25,000 donation.
WST Chairman Barry Hearn said: “This is an amazing gesture from Betfred and I know just how much this will mean to the Jessie May team at a time when they have been forced to reduce their fund-raising activity. They need the kindness of people like Fred Done in order to keep up the remarkable work they do for children and their families. Our gratitude goes to Betfred.”
Fred Done, Boss of Betfred, added: “I am thrilled that we are able to round up the donation to £25,000 because Jessie May is such a wonderful charity. Congratulations to the players for making so many centuries and providing a great tournament.”
Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home, based in Bristol, is WST’s official charity partner. They provides a hospice at home service for terminally ill children, offering care to families in the South West area. For more information about Jessie May visit www.jessiemay.org.uk
The World Snooker Tour continues to lead the way to the return of regular live sport with the announcement of a packed calendar for the first half of the 2020/21 season, with nine tournaments between September and December.
Snooker has set the pace in recent months with a pioneering approach towards the return of live events. The Betfred World Championship was selected as the first indoor sporting event in the UK with a crowd, then following a revision of Government guidelines it reverted to being behind closed doors at this stage.
And despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the tour continues to thrive, with a packed pre-Christmas calendar.
As China has announced that international sporting events will not take place in the country until 2021, WST’s intention has been to reschedule certain UK tournaments into the slots usually taken by events in China.
The 2020/21 season will begin with the Matchroom Multi Sport promoted Championship League. Previously an invitation event, this has now been expanded into a full ranking event for all players on the tour.
This follows the ground-breaking success of this tournament when it was staged at the beginning of June, becoming the UK’s first major post-lockdown sporting event.
The Championship League will take place over three legs: the first from September 13-20, the second from September 28 to October 5 and the third from October 23-27.
The second ranking event of the season will be the European Masters to be played from September 21-27.
As usual, three of the Home Nations series tournaments will take place before Christmas: the English Open (October 12-18), Northern Ireland Open (November 16 to 22) and Scottish Open (December 7 to 13).
The quick-fire Shoot Out takes place from October 29 to November 1, followed by the Champion of Champions from November 2 to 8.
The first Triple Crown event of the campaign, the UK Championship at the York Barbican, runs from November 24 to December 6. And the first event of the Coral Series, the World Grand Prix, has been brought forward to December 14 to 20.
All venues for these events will be confirmed in due course, with decisions pending as to whether tournaments will be played with a live crowd or behind closed doors, depending on Government guidelines.
WST Chairman Barry Hearn said: “We are delighted to announce a full calendar. In recent months there has been uncertainty for all sports in terms of future events but we have worked alongside all of our partners to find solutions. Our players and fans will be thrilled to see that we have a packed schedule for the first half of 2020/21.
“For the players there are plenty of opportunities to compete and I am delighted to confirm that there will be no reductions in prize money for the above events, despite the current Covid-19 crisis.
“We are excited to be working with our broadcasters including BBC, Eurosport, ITV, Discovery, DAZN, Matchroom Live and many other television companies, bringing top class sporting action to many millions of fans across the globe.
“Developing the Championship League into a full ranking event underlines the success of that tournament in terms of its viewing figures and its popularity among the players.
“We are working towards confirming plans for the second half of the 2020/21 season, with full details to be announced later this year.”
World Snooker Tour dates for remainder of 2020
September 13-20 Championship League
September 21-27 European Masters
September 28 to October 5 Championship League
October 12-18 English Open
October 23-27 Championship League
October 29 to November 1 Shoot Out
November 2-8 Champion of Champions
November 10-14 German Masters qualifiers
November 16-22 Northern Ireland Open
November 24 to December 6 UK Championship
December 7-13 Scottish Open
December 14-20 World Grand Prix
It’s a busy schedule but one that won’t imply traveling back and forth between continents and timezones. Much better this way.
Also the Q-school started today although nothing has transpired so far in terms of results.
World Snooker Tour in consultation with the WPBSA can today announce that any player provisionally in a tour qualification position following the Betfred World Championship qualifiers, will be guaranteed to remain on tour next season.
This is an exceptional decision that will apply for this season only, due to the circumstances which will see the final stages of the World Championship completed alongside this season’s Q School over the coming two weeks.
This means that even if the provisional tour qualifying positions for next season were to change following results at the Crucible, players currently set to qualify have certainty of their tour card for next season. This avoids players having to unnecessarily play at Q School while their position is otherwise unclear.
This applies to players currently in position to qualify through either the provisional two-year or one-year list.
We can also confirm that any player who is able to retain their tour position through the one-year list and has qualified for the final stages of the World Championship, will earn their new card based upon their ranking position, not their Crucible qualification.
The draws and format for 2020 Q School are now available. The event will take place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, starting on August 3rd.
Sixteen players have withdrawn from Q School 2020, therefore the updated draws and format are below.
Please note that the draws still include players that have qualified for the Tour, and that all players who qualify will be removed in one process. The updated draws will then be re-issued.
Yesterday, the sad news that Brandon Parker had passed away was shared on twitter by Shaun Murphy. Brandon had been Shaun’s manager for years and they were close friends.
WST is deeply saddened to announce that one of our directors, Brandon Parker, passed away today after a long battle against illness.
Brandon made a tremendous contribution to our sport for over 20 years, as a manager of players, promoter of events and as a WST director.
In 2018 he was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and underwent surgery followed by several rounds of treatment. Over the past few days he became ill while at his home in Portugal, and sadly lost his battle on Saturday afternoon, at the age of 55.
WST Chairman Barry Hearn said: “Snooker has lost a great friend with Brandon’s passing. His contribution to snooker over more than two decades has been a fundamental part of the game’s success. His enthusiasm and drive will be much missed. The entire sport sends condolences to Brandon’s family and friends at this sad time.”
Brandon’s early career was in the chemical industry as a technical sales executive. Snooker was initially a hobby for him – he made a century break and was champion at his local Conservative Club in his native Manchester.
During the 1990s he began working for the Wheels In Motion snooker management team, and soon gave up his job in the chemical industry to focus full time on the sport he loved. Over the years that followed he managed players including Quinten Hann, Paul Hunter, Matthew Stevens, Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins, Neil Robertson, Ryan Day and (until the present) Kyren Wilson.
He faced tragedy himself when Hunter died from cancer at the age of 27 in 2006. Brandon had been Paul’s right-hand man through most of his great moments on the baize, and he set up the Paul Hunter Foundation to fulfil Paul’s wish of getting more children involved in snooker.
In the early 2000s, Brandon made his first ventures into tournament promotion, setting up an event in Germany which later became the Paul Hunter Classic. This helped kick start a surge of interest in snooker in Germany which has developed ever since.
In 2010, when Matchroom Sport took control of World Snooker, one of Chairman Barry’s Hearn’s first appointments was to bring Brandon on to the board, as European Operations Director. His company Dragon Stars promoted a series of new events across the continent, in countries including Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Germany remained the biggest centre of growth, and in 2011 Brandon brought the German Masters world ranking event to the iconic Tempodrom venue in Berlin for the first time. The 2500-seat arena has become one of the most famous on the circuit. Driven by Eurosport’s blanket coverage, the expansion of snooker into the continent has been one of the sport’s success stories over the past decade and Brandon deserves great credit for this.
Throughout his time in snooker he has been an energetic presence at tournaments and in the boardroom, and he built close friendships with many leading players. His passion for snooker can never be questioned and throughout his illness he continued to work behind the scenes on a variety of projects.
All of his fellow directors and everyone at WST extends deepest sympathies to Brandon’s wife Charlotte, daughter Annabelle and son Max.
Article originally published by WST.
Snooker in mainland Europe would not be what it is now without Brandon. Well before he became a member of the Board, he organised lots of exhibitions there with leading players, mainly in Germany. Brandon was not “just” organising, he was always ready to help for all the practical aspects of the tournament preparation. I’ve seen him hoovering the Tempodrom carpet, hanging banners, carrying boxes and more …
This is Brandon on the eve of the 2011 German Masters, the first at the Tempodrom.
We fully accept the directive from the General Administration of Sport of China regarding the restriction of international sports for the rest of 2020.
In recent years we have staged four tournaments in China between August and November: the Yushan World Open, Shanghai Masters, China Championship and International Championship. We are now working with our partners and promoters in China on rescheduling these events for 2021. Over many years we have built up excellent relationships with our many friends and partners in China and we will continue to work with them on building a successful future for our sport.
We are working towards a full calendar for the 2020/21 season and more details will be released when available.
,Snooker Continues To Lead Sport’s Return With Tour Structure Plans
8th June 2020
Snooker has strengthened its position as the pacesetter for the return of global sport by announcing plans for its qualifying school and the structure of the WST circuit for next season.
This month has seen snooker become the first sport other than horse racing to return to live action, by staging theMatchroom.LiveChampionship League. World-leading standards on Covid-19 testing, sanitisation and social distancing have ensured that the event has run successfully.
So far at the event in Milton Keynes, all 86 players, staff and officials have tested negatively for Covid-19, and the strict health and safety regulations have been followed meticulously. This has set the precedent for further events, with the Coral Tour Championship to follow from June 20th to 26th.
Detailed plans for further events are being put into place, and WST has now announced the structure of the tour for the 2020/21 season, to include 12 players from the qualifying school.
Q School will run during the Betfred World Championship, which will take place from July 31 to August 16. The precise dates, venue and further details for Q School will be announced soon and it will be run according to the government guidelines at the time. Staging Q School during this period will allow the 12 winners to join the tour in time for the start of the 2020/21 season.
The 2020/21 WST players will be:
The top 64 from the official two-year rankings at the end of the 2019/20 season
The top four players on the one-year rankings (outside the official top 64)
35 players in the second year of a two-year tour card
Two players from the Challenge Tour: Lukas Kleckers and the winner of the Play-Off event.
World Snooker Federation Open Champion: Ashley Hugill
World Snooker Federation Open runner-up: Iulian Boiko
World Snooker Federation Junior Open Champion: Gao Yang
World Snooker Federation Junior Open runner-up: Sean Maddocks
EBSA European Champion: Andrew Pagett
EBSA European Under-21 Champion: Aaron Hill
Two players from the CBSA China Tour: Pang Jun Xu and Zhao Jianbo
12 players from Q School
Total: 125 players
In addition, if any player comes through the qualifying rounds to reach the final stages of the Betfred World Championship at the Crucible but finishes the season outside the official top 64, he or she will earn a two-year tour card.
WST Chairman Barry Hearn said: “This is a fantastic announcement for all of those amateur players around the world who were unsure whether Q School would go ahead in the current circumstances.
“Snooker is open for business! We already have a very successful event in progress at theMatchroom.LiveChampionship League, setting an example in terms of testing, sanitisation and social distancing which other sports will have to try to follow. Our remaining WST events this season will be played over the coming weeks, keeping our players busy on the table and plenty of live snooker on television and online.
“Q School was originally planned to start on May 18th but will now be played at the same venue as the World Championship qualifiers, with the venue to be announced shortly.
“As usual there will be three tournaments, with the four semi-finalists from each of them earning a tour card. This is the chance for players around the globe to chase their dream and earn a coveted place on the World Snooker Tour for the next two years.
“We realise there will be challenges for players overseas to travel to the UK for Q School but it is vital that we make this opportunity available for all players. We cannot sit back and allow circumstances to set our sport back when we have made so much progress in recent years. We are liaising with the UK government with the intention to help players coming from overseas.
“As we move forward we will examine every route towards staging events, providing prize money for our players and coverage for our fans, while working with government to keep the safety of all concerned as the highest priority
I have two main concerns here:
With potentially about 200 players how is this going to work safely?
There is a real risk that players outside the UK are left out for various reasons, travel issues and quarantine being the obvious ones. The “World” tour is already very UK centric as it is. If those issues can’t be resolved, this event should NOT go ahead IMO.
Former World Champion Ken Doherty has been awarded an invitational tour card to keep his place on the professional circuit for at least the next two years.
