THE ALTERNATIVE VIEW: Will Hardy's Preston Qualifiers Preview

In a new addition to Cue Action Snooker, young William Hardy will occasionally be contributing to the blog with "The Alternative View" which will offer some tournament previews and reviews along with any other ideas that Will brings to the table. You can follow William Hardy on Twitter @willhardyx 

So, to kick off the season, we have the alternative view on the upcoming qualifiers for the Riga Masters and China Championship getting underway on May 31 in Preston: 

It's only been just over 4 weeks since the memorable World Snooker Championship final, battled out between two respectable greats of the game, but after 29 days that felt almost like months - snooker finally returns to the calendars of hardcore fans, reappearing cueists, and the new faces of the professional game that earned tour cards in the sport's very own holidays.

A qualifying double-bill is set to hit one of the most established venues at the Preston Guild Hall in the coming days. Most players will play twice throughout the next week in order to qualify for the ever-growing Riga Masters and the brand-new layout for the incredible China Championship. Snooker fans have become accustomed to the game's only event in Latvia since 2014 when the 'Riga Open' featured on the European Tour.

Since that year, when Mark Selby beat Mark Allen in a deciding frame in the final, Barry Hawkins (£20,000) and Neil Robertson (£37,500) have also picked up sizeable cheques. After the ridding of the European Tour two seasons ago, the tours 128 players now partake in a full-ranking event in the Riga Masters, therefore attracting some of the games highest-paid professionals.

Elsewhere in the China Championship, prize money is the centre of attention with the event boasting a total prize fund of £650,000 - only smaller than the World and UK Championship. Last year was the tournament's first instalment where the 16 invitees needed to win just 3 matches in order to reach the final in Guangzhou. John Higgins went home with a cash sum of £200,000 and his first victory of the season. Changes to the tournament's set up mean it's no longer just an invitational event and 128 players will get the opportunity to claim the trophy, with one win needed to secure a trip to China.

Amateurs will no doubt have a big part to play in qualification for Riga this week as 10 aspiring players hope to repeat the actions of Welsh Wizard and former-pro Darren Morgan from last year's event, who beat Adam Stefanow, Zhao Xintong, Ken Doherty and Xiao Guodong to reach a Semi-Final with Neil Robertson in a tournament he was close to not entering. 15-year old Jackson Page, who made heads turn last season when he secured 2 wins in the Welsh Open, will play fellow Q- School top-up James Silverwood.

Jamie Rhys Clarke will be looking for a repeat of last year too, as he got through qualifying at the Gibraltar Open, when he plays David Grace. Ben Jones, who missed out of Q-School graduation by just one win, takes on Mike Dunn. Other amateurs haven't been quite as lucky with the draw in Preston as William Lemons plays Alan McManus, Charlie Walters faces David Gilbert, and Daniel Ward has the task of overcoming Neil Robertson in a game that will take place at Arena Riga before Round one. Seemingly, because the majority players with tour cards have taken up the opportunity to play in Guangzhou this year, there's no amateurs on that specific schedule.

For most snooker fans, this week will be a chance to check out the 2017 graduates of Q-School from less than two weeks ago in Preston, or players who guaranteed their two-year tour cards via other competitions and nominations. Some familiar faces will be returning to the snooker tour this year as Gerard Greene is set to face Zhang Yong and Neil Robertson, and World Seniors Champion Peter Lines will challenge Ken Doherty and Matthew Selt in the respective events, after both secured tour cards through the EBSA play-offs.

Those qualifying this year through the Q-School Order of Merit will also have previous memories and triumphs of the professional game, as Joe Swail returns to play Li Hang next Tuesday (he is the only member of Q-School who has not taken up the option to enter Riga), Sean O'Sullivan has drawn Christopher Keogan and Belgian Bullet Luca Brecel, while Martin O'Donnell, who took home the highest break prize of last year's Riga Masters, will play Jimmy Robertson and Michael White over the next seven days.

The only other successful player on the Q-School Order of Merit, Zhang Yong, will experience the test of Ronnie O'Sullivan in his first match of the 2017/18 season at the China Championship. Sanderson Lam, Paul S Davison, Ashley Hugill, Duane Jones and Allan Taylor are also names that got through the tension of Q-School and featured regularly last season. Lesser known players can always make a huge impact nevertheless as Lukas Kleckers (vs Li Yuan and Ben Woolaston), Billy Joe Castle (vs Alexander Ursenbacher and Stuart Bingham) and Chen Zifan (vs Ross Muir and Dominic Dale) are all more than capable of shocks. It's also notable that Hamza Akbar, Soheil Vahedi, Yuan Sijun, Chris Totten, Xu Si and Lyu Hoatian who gained two-year invites from World Snooker via various routes are also all in action twice this week.

Aside from those looking to plant their feet in the future of snooker for decades to come, or those that may struggle to stay on the tour before retirement in the coming years, these two tournaments attract the very best of snooker players worldwide. New three-time world champion Mark Selby will have to wait to kick-off his 2017/18 season however as both of his qualifying games are to take place at the main venues before round one. Anthony McGill and Chen Zhe were lucky in the draw to have their qualifying games held over to Riga, whilst the same fell to Andrew Higginson, Daniel Wells and Tian Pengfei by drawing wildcards in the China Championship.

Mark Allen starts this season, without coach Terry Griffiths, by facing Jack Lisowski and Lee Walker, although Michael Holt and Ding Junhui look for victory under Griffith's watchful eye yet again. More names who look to get on the TV table in the Riga Masters include Martin Gould, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire, Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy who'll go in as favourites against Kurt Maflin, Li Hang, Ian Burns, Alfie Burden and Luca Brecel respectively.

They'll also be eyeing up a large chunk of the cash in the China Championship and start that tournament facing Adam Duffy, Billy Joe Castle, Jamie Barrett, Michael Georgiou and Zhang Anda, who will all have hoped for easier draws. Mark Williams is, impressively, kicking off his 25th season as a professional in Preston this week and told World Snooker during the break that he 'really thought hard about retiring', at the end of last season and insists if he is going to carry on playing he'll have to 'try something completely different'. His campaign begins sitting 15th in the world rankings, versus Yu Delu on Friday and Jak Jones on Saturday.

Finally, there's no doubt the name's crowds from all around the globe will flock to the Preston Guildhall to see will be those fulfilling their invitational tour card's for the first time. These were awarded to Jimmy White and Ken Doherty before the World Championships in the 40th Anniversary celebrations at the Crucible. The Whirlwind is set to enjoy his 37th year on the tour, after he narrowly fell off during a heart-breaking 10-7 defeat to Jack Lisowski at Ponds Forge in April. Jimmy told Barry Hearn he will be looking to regain a place on the tour, starting with fixtures against Jak Jones tomorrow (Wednesday) and Ryan Day next Tuesday.

The second player to be handed an invitation back to the snooker tour is the 1997 world champion, who lost his place at Ponds Forge following defeat in round two of world qualifying against Ben Woollaston. The ‘Darlin’ of Dublin’ has drawn Peter Lines and Gary Wilson in the two qualifiers, who he'll play tomorrow (Wednesday) and on Saturday.

All entrants need just one win in both competitions this week to ensure a place in the Riga Masters (23-25 July) and China Championship (16-22 August), but more importantly to guarantee a solid start to the long awaited 2017/2018 season.

2017/2018 Season Preview

Another season of snooker is upon us and with Qualifying School completed and the full field of tour players set for the new campaign, everything is ready to get underway with the Riga Masters qualifiers on Wednesday.

The first full tournament of the season will then be the final stages of the Riga Masters from June 23-25, so there is still quite a bit of time to wait before the first silverware is lifted.

Where 2016/2017 left off

Mark Selby was the man picking up trophies like it was nobodies business in the 2016/2017 season. He ended the season as World and UK Champion and is top of the world rankings having smashed the one million pound barrier over the last two seasons.

It's going to be very difficult to beat Selby this season in the big events, but there are still many other trophies to play for besides and despite Selby's dominance, Judd Trump was able to secure some success and ended the year ranked world number 3. World Championship runner-up John Higgins is second in the world, while China's Ding Junhui completes the world's top four. Barry Hawkins has climbed to number five after yet another World Championship semi-final, while Marco Fu is up to six with Neil Robertson and Shaun Murphy very close together at seven and eight.

Stuart Bingham has fallen to number nine in the world with his World Championship prize money of 2015 coming off the money list. Ronnie O'Sullivan has fallen to 14, while Ricky Walden, Joe Perry and Stephen Maguire remain outside of the world's top 16 and will be aiming to fight there way back this year.

Riga Masters and China Championship Qualifiers

As indicated earlier, the qualifying rounds for the Riga Masters kick the season off on Wednesday and last for three days at the Preston Guildhall. Picking up from there on Saturday is the last 128 round for the new China Championship which then lasts Tuesday June 6 in Preston.

At a very early point in the season it is not always going to be the case that the entire tour are prepared to enter these two events. The Riga Masters is the one missing the most players with top players such as John Higgins, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Marco Fu, Liang Wenbo, Ali Carter and Ronnie O'Sullivan all choosing to save their season openers for the China Championship.

A completely unseeded draw for Riga has offered some interesting last 128 ties though with Barry Hawkins taking on Michael Holt, while Shaun Murphy faces Belgian Luca Brecel. Selected matches have been held over to the main venue, including that of defending champion Neil Robertson and world champion Mark Selby. Anthony McGill and Chen Zhe also have holdovers as they have been drawn to play two unconfirmed wildcard players.

A number of Q School top-ups have been used to fill the field and the random draw has seen two put up against each other, with 15 year-old Jackson Page facing James Silverwood.

The China Championship is an event that you may remember featuring on last season's calendar. Back in November 2016 it was played as a 16 man invitational tournament, almost as a Chinese version of the Masters. However, the powers that be have decided to make it the same as every other event with a flat 128 draw and full ranking status.

The event also sees a different wildcard system to the norm for Chinese events, with four wildcards coming straight into the last 128, leaving 124 spaces for professionals. On this occasion that has worked out fine but in the event that more than 124 of the tour players entered there would then be a pre-qualifying round to get down to the required 128.

Mark Selby, Andrew Higginson, Daniel Wells and Tian Pengfei have drawn the four wildcards (which are yet to be decided) and will have their last 128 fixtures held over to the main venue stages in August.

Selby's match would have been held back anyway as per the agreement that the world champion and defending champion of Chinese events and the top two Chinese players get to skip qualifying and play their first round games at the venue. This means that John Higgins who won the event when it was invitational in November, as well as China's number one and two Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo, will not have to travel to Preston.

Changes to the tour

We have already seen a couple of changes to the tour with the addition of the China Championship as a ranking event, and this change to the Chinese wildcard system. As yet it is unknown whether this applies to all Chinese events, and what the situation is with the Shanghai Masters which has still been played under a tiered qualifying system.

With it being the alternate year for it's staging, the World Cup returns after the China B team of Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong took the title in June 2015. The pairs of players and the countries that will be represented are yet to be confirmed with the event not kicking off until July 3.

The Indian Open has changed dates once more, as Anthony McGill will defend the title he won last summer in September this year, the week before the final stages of the Shanghai Masters. The qualifying rounds for both rounds will be played in early August.

In other date change news, it looks as though the Shoot-Out will change once again to an early February date that will come prior to the World Grand Prix this year, rather than following it. Meanwhile, the Welsh Open has been pushed right back to a late February date with the tournament set to conclude on March 4. However, these changes do mean that there will be a clear week before both the Grand Prix and Players Championship, which many people have been calling for. 

Players To Watch

A number of new players have once again joined the professional ranks, and just as I did last year, I have picked out a few players to keep an eye on for the next 12 months.

Xu Si  - My first player to watch for 2017/2018 is the IBSF under-21 champions Xu Si. Xu won that title by beating Alexander Ursenbacher in the final, which is a pretty good win as the Swiss player went on to win a tour card via the European under 21 championship at a later date. He also saw off Lukas Kleckers in the semi-finals, who was good enough to win a tour card this year via Q-School. The 19 year-old Chinese player competed in a few events last year as a wildcard, and impressively overcame a major player in Mark Williams 6-5 in the last 64 of the International Championship having already beaten Wang Yuchen in the wildcard round. Xu also claimed the scalp of James Wattana in the World Open last season, but it is the win over Williams which is most impressive of all given that this was also a major tournament. He is clearly a big young Chinese prospect who has earned his right to be on tour. 

Yuan Sijun - Yuan Sijun has also earned his place on tour, having come through the Asian Under 21 championship. Yuan was put on everybody's radar when he thrashed Martin Gould 5-0 in the 2016 China Open at the age of just 15, as well as beating Andrew Higginson in the wildcard round of that tournament. Gould is a top quality player who was also a ranking event winner by this time which makes this an unbelievable victory that also featured a century break. Although, he displayed that this was not just a one-off in last season's Shanghai Masters when put up against the same opponent, he was able to repeat the dosage. Yet another 5-0 win against Gould and making a century in the match once again is a sign that we have an incredibly promising player on our hands. Beating a player of Gould's class is one thing, but to do it by the margins and with the quality shown is a completely different accomplishment. On top of that he got another wildcard win in the International Championships against Ian Burns, with the scoreline being 6-3 on that occasion. His 17th birthday is on May 29 just two days before the Riga Masters qualifiers get underway making him even younger than Yan Bingtao, and his performances thus far show he could be just as big of a talent.

Ashley Hugill - My third and final player to watch is 22 year-old York potter Ashley Hugill. Hugill earned his place on tour via the first event of Q School. On the way he saw off another impressive player George Pragnall who I think could get on tour in the next couple of years, along with former pro's Steven Hallworth and Simon Bedford. He has had some notable victories in the past though, playing as a top-up in professional events. In China Open qualifying earlier this year he beat Anthony Hamilton 5-2, just a week or so before Hamilton would go on and win his first ranking title at the German Masters. In the Indian Open he beat Ross Muir, whilst triumphing in the first round of the European Masters against Mitchell Mann. If you go back even further to the 2015/2016 season then you will find Hugill's best win. The German Masters qualifiers just after the 2015 UK Championship saw the Englishman beat new UK Champion Neil Robertson 5-1. From what I have seen he looks like a very talented player and his results up to this point show that, and I think he will hit the ground running now that he has picked up his tour card.

Notable Mention: Lu Haotian - On top of my three to watch I will also make a special mention for returning pro Lu Haotian. Lu won the Asian snooker championship by defeating Pankaj Advani in the final, and despite the feeling that he has been around for a long time, he is still only 19. He was unable to survive when his two year tour card ran out at the conclusion of the 2014/2015 season, despite making the final of an Asian Tour event in his first season which really signified the talent that he has. It is much easier to come along and do the business as a wildcard in events under no pressure, but to make a final in his first few months on tour was very impressive. I did wonder, having heard little about him in the last year, if he would disappear from the game but was relieved when discovering that he had won the Asian title in April. Let's not forget that at the age of 14 he beat Marco Fu in the Shanghai Masters, before making the quarter-finals of the International Championship just a month or so later which was an unprecedented achievement at the time.

Plenty of other players have earned a tour place for the next two seasons, with a number of those bouncing straight back onto the tour or regaining places after a year away from the tour. However, as I mentioned earlier there is a return to tour for Alexander Ursenbacher. The swiss player did not have a great deal of success first time out on tour, but will have grown greatly in confidence from winning the European under 21 title and defeating Robert Milkins on the way to the final round of qualifying for this season's World Championships.

German Lukas Kleckers has gained a card through Q School, to offer the German fans a native player to support for the next two years. Success for him could see the game in Germany explode even further and do wonders for the tour throughout Europe, building on the foundations laid by Belgian Luca Brecel.

A second Iranian has joined the ranks, courtesy of Soheil Vahedi's win at the World Amateur Championship. Soheil can take a lot of confidence from the success of his fellow countryman Hossein Vafei over the last year, and had some blistering wins on the way to the amateur title. Andrew Pagett was dispatched 8-1 in the final, after a 7-6 win in the semi-finals against decent young Irishman Declan Brennan, as well as victories over Lukas Kleckers and Chris Totten in the earlier rounds.

The final player I want to mention is Chinese Chen Zifan. Chen only dropped five frames in his six event two wins that saw him get a tour card, and having witnessed his wins on the final day I thought he looked like a promising prospect. In event one he came pretty close to beating Jamie Cope but could not fall over the line. He did gain a scalp as a wildcard in the International Championships of 2016 by beating Tian Pengfei, before only narrowly losing out on the colours in a deciding frame to Liang Wenbo, having been 5-1 down in that particular game.

It all shapes up to be another exciting season of snooker with plenty of hot prospects joining the tour and plenty of tournaments in which to ply their trade, starting of course with the qualifiers in Preston coming up this week.

Dramatic final day for Q School qualifiers

The final day of qualifying school lived up to it's billing with plenty of twists and turns at the Guildhall in Preston. On the day, Paul Davison, Chen Zifan, Sanderson Lam and Duane Jones earned the tour cards for event two while Sean O'Sullivan, Zhang Yong, Joe Swail and Martin O'Donnell were confirmed as the four tour card winners from the order of merit.

The scene in Preston before the drama kicked in

It was a very tight race the entire way through as the 16 players competed for the spots with the likes of James Cahill and Jackson Page coming incredibly close to claiming tour spots. In all it means that eight out of the twelve cards given away in this years Q School went to players who were members of the tour during the 2016/2017 season.

Five of the eight matches in the penultimate round went down to the final frame just to increase the tension even further. Of those deciders, Hu Hao lost out to Duane Jones having led 3-1 and missing a tough cut back black in the decider to move 38 points in front with just 35 left. When Jones' chance came though he cleared with ease and let out a fist pump just to show what it meant.

If Duane dodged a big bullet then so too did Sanderson Lam. Lam's deciding frame with Lu Ning went down to the final pink. After missing match ball brown Lam had to sit and watch as Lu attempted the clearance, but the Chinese players missed pink into the middle pocket left Lam a shot from range which he took to get into the final round.

The man he would face in the final round also had to come through the hard way. Joe Swail had to see off Joel Walker in a deciding frame to progress into the final round. The moment of the match came in frame four with Swail wading in with a break of 119 but it nearly mattered not when Walker was clearing in the decider. Missing a difficult red along the side cushion when screwing up for the blue proved the vital moment, as Walker could not win the subsequent safety battle on the final red and his chances of returning to the tour went with it.

The deciders did not end there as Alex Davies overcame Zhang Yong. Davies had led 3-1 in the match before Zhang played himself back into the contest with runs of 61 and 70 forced the final frame. Both players missed chances in the decider, but Zhang's proved the most costly when he found the jaws from close range on an easy red to the middle. The consolation for Zhang was that his three frames won on the morning were enough when combined with his tally for the rest of events one and two, to earn him one of the four order of merit cards.

One final decider was to come with James Cahill coming out the right side of a very close battle against Ashley Carty. This was a very entertaining match that saw twists and turns galore. A run of 56 was not enough to give Cahill the opener, as he had to sit and watch Carty clear the table in cool style with a 71. Cahill returned the favour in the second with a counter attack of 64 to square the match before taking the third frame to lead 2-1. Another 64 clearance came soon after and Cahill was one away from the final round at 3-1.

Carty would not give in and he came in with contributions of 62 in the fifth and a high pressured 73 after Cahill's chance to win was scuppered by a kick. Both players had chances in the final frame but it was Cahill who dominated at the key times and he was relieved to eventually come through a tense battle.

Cahill could not keep a bright start going in the final round

In the final round it just became too much for the 21 year-old with an early 2-0 lead against Paul Davison being squandered. Davison had much more time off before the final round after beating Thomas Dowling 4-0 in pretty quick time. However, it was Cahill that took the momentum of his previous match forward as he got off to a perfect start in the opening couple of frames. 

It did not last long though as the York potter heeped the pressure back on with a flawless 111 break in the third being quickly backed up with a 72 contribution to level the contest at 2-2. From here the pressure really seemed to get on top of his young opponent, who could be seen rehearsing his cue action at the back of the table between shots. He had cause to bemoan his luck and look to the heavens on a couple of occasions with an unlucky in-off featuring in the closing frame when he had a good chance to score. 

After losing a disappointing fifth frame Cahill threw his cue on to the table in disgust before heading out of the arena, and he struggled to recover. His best chance in frame six came after snookering Davison on the final red which yielded a foul and a free ball. Taking the pink as the "free red" sent him back up the table perfectly for the yellow to play on the final red which was in the baulk end and with the remaining colours in the middle of the table, Cahill could easily have forced the decider. However, stretching slightly on the yellow appeared to cause the mistake as he faltered on what seemed a simple enough shot and landing perfectly on the red meant it was a costly mistake indeed. Davison's victory meant that Martin O'Donnell was given the final order of merit card. 

Davison capitalised while Cahill toiled

It was to be heartbreak though for Jackson Page who missed out on an order of merit tour card despite winning the same number of frames as O'Donnell. Page lost out 4-1 in round five and just by winning a second frame, which he certainly had chances to, he would have overtaken O'Donnell and secured a place on tour for the next two seasons. Had Joe Swail beaten Sanderson Lam in the final round Page would have gotten the order of merit card that subsequently went to Swail upon his defeat, with Page watching on in the arena all afternoon hoping results would go his way. 

Duane Jones contest with Alex Davies was the only one of the final four that did not have order of merit repercussions, and having dodged a major bullet earlier in the day, Jones pounced on his opponents errors and just about managed to avoid going to a final frame decider with a run of 65. A top run of 83 in the fourth put the Welshman in charge of the tie at 3-1 before he eventually closed out a 4-2 triumph. 

Special mention should go to China's Chen Zifan who earned his tour card outright on the final day for the loss of only one frame from his final two matches, and only conceding five frames in the six matches he played in event two. Taking early leads proved the key to both matches as he had his opponents under pressure early on, and played fairly solid snooker overall as well as showing off some good long range potting. 

Sanderson Lam had to dig in and fight hard to earn his tour card against Joe Swail. Runs of 67, 63 and 53 proved too much for the Irishman who had secured an order of merit tour card after winning the third frame to lead 2-1. It did not look as though he was aware of his situation though, with the multi-table set-up and short turnaround between matches, sitting in the arena with his head in his hands after the fifth frame. 

One has to wonder if World Snooker and the WPBSA could find room to give Jackson Page a tour card. Having won the same amount of frames on the order of merit as O'Donnell, he is also the current holder of both the World and European Under 18 titles. The winner of the World and European Under 21 titles both get a card, while Page was the European Under 21 runner-up. A case could be made for him taking up the cards of either Rouzi Maimaiti or Leo Fernandez. 

Both are halfway through tour cards and are published as such on the official ranking list. Fernandez though is still under suspension and if this remains the case he will not be entering any events in the next season. Meanwhile, Maimaiti has not entered a single event in the first season of his card, which is a similar case as when he was on the circuit in the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 seasons when he did not show up or enter any tournaments outside of the Asian Tour. If World Snooker can justify the room for these players, and concede that Page would most likely play in a number of events this season anyway as the number one Q School top-up player, then there is certainly justification for granting him full professional status. 

This idea is most likely pushing its luck a bit though and at the age of 15, while this would give great publicity for the game of snooker and a boost to grassroots snooker in the UK, he has also got plenty of time to come back stronger and earn his tour place by right. 

Congratulations to all of those players who have earned playing privileges for the next two seasons, and it is not long until the new campaign gets underway with Riga Masters qualifiers commencing at the Preston Guildhall on May 31. 

Prior to that I will have my full preview of the new season and players to watch for 2017/2018 up on the blog so keep on the look out for that.  

Thrilling final day ahead for snooker's Q School

Qualifying School at the Preston Guildhall has seen some of the top amateurs in the game competing for places on the professional snooker tour for almost two weeks, and now the final day is upon us.

The conclusion of event two will see four tour cards awarded to the quarter-final winners and another four to those who won the most frames over the two events without getting over the line. Ashley Hugill, Billy Joe Castle and German Lukas Kleckers earned places on the tour for the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons, along with Allan Taylor who secures an immediate return having dropped off of the tour at the end of the 2016/2017 season.

Of the other former professionals in the draw, the likes of Sydney Wilson, Gareth Allen, Fraser Patrick, Jamie Cope, Darryl Hill, Michael Wild and Jason Weston have all failed to do enough to secure a similar return.

However, despite not making it through to the penultimate round in event two, a 4-3 loss in round two coupled with making the final round in event one should ensure that Sean O'Sullivan takes one of the four cards reserved for the aforementioned order of merit leaders.

As for Martin O'Donnell a 4-3 defeat for him in round four of event two may not be enough to secure an order of merit card after he was beaten by Kleckers in the final round of the opening event. O'Donnell is in fourth position in the order of merit currently with Sean O'Sullivan ahead of him. Also in front of him are Zhang Yong and Paul Davison who could both still earn tour cards outright in event two, with Davison currently leading the order of merit.

Just a frame behind O'Donnell though is 15 year old Jackson Page who is through to the penultimate round of event two, while impressive Chinese Chen Zifan is also just a frame adrift of O'Donnell and in the same section as Page. Victory in the penultimate round for Hu Hao would put him level on frames with O'Donnell and needing just one in the final round to overtake the former tour player, whilst Joe Swail is also still in the hunt. It seems highly unlikely that any other players have a chance on the order of merit so the position there seems much more clear cut.

EVENT TWO - FIFTH ROUND DRAW: 

Tour Card Section 1: 

Hu Hao Vs Duane Jones
Alex Davies Vs Zhang Yong

Tour Card Section 2:

Lu Ning Vs Sanderson Lam
Joel Walker Vs Joe Swail

Tour Card Section 3: 

Ashley Carty Vs James Cahill
Paul Davison Vs Thomas Dowling

Tour Card Section 4: 

Chen Zifan Vs Kishan Hirani
Jackson Page Vs Ben Jones


Plenty of intriguing matches to follow here starting with section one where three of the four players have previously been on tour. Duane Jones and Zhang Yong dropped off last year, while Alex Davies dropped off a couple of years ago. Hu Hao has also seemed to breeze through in event two making it a very tough call. For Zhang there is a little less pressure thanks to his favourable order of merit position.

Section two is even more jam-packed as all four players have been on tour at one time or another. Lu Ning has had a spell on tour and made his name as a wildcard player in some of the Chinese ranking events where his scalps include that of Shaun Murphy back in the 2012 China Open. Sanderson Lam dropped off at the end of the 2016/2017 season alongside the incredibly experienced Joe Swail. Joel Walker meanwhile is a very talented player who has previously reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open in 2014.

Then we come to section three where there again is plenty of potential. James Cahill may not have consistently showed what he can do, but his run in the 2014 UK Championships including victory over Ding Junhui is one that sticks in my mind and shows there is plenty more in his locker. Paul Davison has less pressure on with a tour card all but secure via the order of merit. Ashley Carty is the man who put an end to Martin O'Donnell's run and has had some success as an amateur in tour events. Carty is still only 21 and back in 2015 he reached the Last 32 in both the German Masters and Welsh Open despite not being on the tour. Thomas Dowling is not someone I know huge amounts about but he is flying the flag for Ireland this week and has already beaten former pro Gareth Allen to reach this stage.

Finally, we come to the section that includes "The Action" Jackson Page who does not even turn 16 until August. He is the current World and European Under 18 champion, as well as making the European Under 21 final earlier this year where he lost out to Alexander Ursenbacher. Victory in that final would have gotten Page on to the tour by that route but he showed by reaching the Last 32 at the Welsh Open, his first attempt in a professional event, that he is a very confident player. Meanwhile, Chen Zifan is another talented Chinese hope, who came close to defeating Liang Wenbo in the 2016 International Championship. Chen overcame Tian Pengfei in the wildcard round of that event.

Ben Jones competed in the EBSA play-off this season where he lost out to Peter Lines, having qualified by making it through the amateur qualifying of both the Paul Hunter Classic and Gibraltar Open. To reach this stage Jones avenged a 4-0 event one defeat to Charlie Walters by beating him 4-0 in round four of this event. Kishan Hirani meanwhile completes a trio of Welsh representatives in this bottom section. Hirani will have gained a little taste of what is required on tour by coming through the amateur qualifiers and into the Last 128 pro stages in four out of six European Tour events in both the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 seasons.


With the number of tour cards still available in this event it would be good to see some young and exciting talent come on to the tour, and there is plenty of potential for that looking at those who are still in the running.

2016/2017 Season Review

At the start of the season I put a little something together, looking at some of the new tour players, new events on the calendar and in general my three players to watch. When the new season begins after Q School is completed on the May 20, with qualifiers for the Riga Masters and China Championship starting on May 31, a similar blog with more players to watch, info on new players and tournaments will be produced. Before then, this blog will comprise a re-cap of the season, those that have dropped off tour and those that have been saved by other means and an evaluation of my players to watch.

TOUR SURVIVAL: 

As always when a season comes to a close, players will be leaving the tour and some will be starting again from £0 on the ranking list. Those that will be leaving the tour, unless they can get back on via Q School, are:

Dechawat Poomjaeng (Poomjaeng has not taken up the opportunity to enter Q School)
Joe Swail
Martin O'Donnell
Jamie Cope
Jamie Burnett (Having not competed on the tour since July 2016 Burnett has also decided not to enter Q School)
Allan Taylor
Sean O'Sullivan
Paul Davison
Sanderson Lam
Zhang Yong
Duane Jones
Sydney Wilson
Darryl Hill
Fraser Patrick
James Cahill
Gareth Allen
Igor Figueiredo (Igor only entered the World Championships in the 2015/2016 and could not make up lost ground in the back half of this season.) 
Hamza Akbar (Akbar has been handed a 'special dispensation' meaning he will be given a new two year tour card for 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons. This will be instead of an America's tour card as no All America's Championship took place this year. Further details )
Michael Wild
Jason Weston
Hatem Yassin (Yassin failed to win a single match in two years as a professional and has not entered Q School) 
Itaro Santos (Santos failed to win a single match in two years as a professional and has not entered Q School) 

Meanwhile, the following players have managed to regain their playing rights for next season having finished in the top 8 not already qualified for next year via the 1 season money list: 

Akani Songsermsawad
Rhys Clark
Robin Hull
Rod Lawler
Ross Muir
Nigel Bond
Eden Sharav
Ian Burns

HONORARY TOUR CARDS: 

- After dropping off of the tour this year Ken Doherty and Jimmy White have been offered honorary tour cards to continue competing on the tour for the next two years.



SEASON REVIEW: 

To start looking back at the season, here are all of the events that took place, the winners as well as the runner-up and final scoreline.

Riga Masters - Neil Robertson defeated Michael Holt 5-2
Indian Open - Anthony McGill defeated Kyren Wilson 5-2
World Open - Ali Carter defeated Joe Perry 10-8
Paul Hunter Classic - Mark Selby defeated Tom Ford 4-2
Shanghai Masters - Ding Junhui defeated Mark Selby 10-6
European Masters - Judd Trump defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8
English Open - Liang Wenbo defeated Judd Trump 9-6
International Championship - Mark Selby defeated Ding Junhui 10-1
China Championship - John Higgins defeated Stuart Bingham 10-7 (Non-Ranking event)
Champion of Champions - John Higgins defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 (Non-Ranking event)
Northern Ireland Open - Mark King defeated Barry Hawkins 9-8
UK Championships - Mark Selby defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7
Scottish Open - Marco Fu defeated John Higgins 9-4
The Masters - Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Joe Perry 10-7 (Non-Ranking event)
German Masters - Anthony Hamilton defeated Ali Carter 9-6
World Grand Prix - Barry Hawkins defeated Ryan Day 10-7
Welsh Open - Stuart Bingham defeated Judd Trump 9-8
Snooker Shoot-Out - Anthony McGill defeated Xiao Guodong
Gibraltar Open - Shaun Murphy defeated Judd Trump 4-2
Players Championship - Judd Trump defeated Marco Fu 10-8
China Open - Mark Selby defeated Mark Williams 10-8
World Championships - Mark Selby defeated John Higgins 18-15


Plenty of ranking event winners there. First off Anthony McGill put in a very good performance to win his first ranking title at the Indian Open. A fabulous effort from him. After Neil Robertson won the Riga Masters playing some brilliant snooker and scoring very heavily, it has probably surprised many that this was his only title of the season. Ali Carter was able to get back into the winners circle and the world's top 16 with victory in China at the World Open. Joe Perry was unlucky to lose out in that final, and had he won his season would have turned out much differently to the loss in the second qualifying of World qualifying that saw his season come to a close.

The season really kicked into gear at the Shanghai Masters as Ding Junhui earned another win on home soil and his first ranking event win for the best part of two and a half years. Then Judd Trump had the first of his hot spells in the season, winning the European Masters with a nice comeback in the final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, losing out in the English Open final to Liang Wenbo, and the semi-finals of the International Championship to Ding. This was certainly the first of two parts in the season that helped the bookies decide he was worthy of being one of the favourites for Sheffield.

A mention needs to be given to Liang Wenbo, another of this season's first time ranking winners. November was mainly about John Higgins as he took the back to back invitational titles with exemplary performances in the China Championship and the Champion of Champions. The signs were all out in force at this stage that he could have the run that followed at the World Championships.

In Northern Ireland there was a very special moment for Mark King as he won his first ever ranking title, and then gave a very emotional interview with his family straight after the final. A third ranking title for Marco Fu over at the Scottish Open closed out 2016. Fu probably could have won more but the story of his career will surely be inconsistency. While this season has been pretty good in the second half, he did not pass the last 32 in a ranking event until the UK Championships.

The new year started in a fashion that many would have expected. Another Masters title for Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is his seventh triumph in London overall coming from his 12th Masters final. A simply incredible record in an event as big as this one. If he plays for three more seasons then you would not write off his ability to make that ten Masters title.

Another first time winner came at the German Masters with Anthony Hamilton brushing the field aside. Ali Carter, Stuart Bingham, Barry Hawkins and Mark Selby were amongst the victims for Hamilton that week, and what made the win even more incredible was the fact that he started the season with a fresh two year tour card and £0 on his ranking after dropping out of the top 64 at the end of the 2016 World Championships. Barry Hawkins then showed some very strong form at the World Grand Prix as he denied Ryan Day the chance to add his name to the first time winners list in the 2016/2017 campaign. This was Hawkins third full ranking title and probably his biggest one so far.

The final home nations event of the season belonged to Stuart Bingham. Bingham managed to hold off Trump in the final and win a deciding frame to win the Welsh Open and his first ranking title since becoming world champion in May 2015. A long wait for Bingham but one that made this one even more special. Shaun Murphy showed some of his best snooker in Gibraltar, winning one of the smaller events on the calendar but one that still counts as a full ranking event and led to Murphy's seventh career ranking title. These 'European Tour' style events seem to suit Murphy, winning three in 2014 when they were minor ranking and making the final of the Paul Hunter in 2015, so he has to be a front runner for these weekend expeditions.

Again this point in the season was another hot spell for Trump. Having taken back to back runner-up cheques at the Welsh Open and Gibraltar Open but he soon put that right by winning the Players Championship straight after. Overcoming O'Sullivan on the way and clawing his way back into the final from 5-2 down he made another statement of intent ahead of the world championships. However, things did not end well for him in Sheffield. After saying he was worthy of the bookies favouritism and that he would win easily against Rory McLeod in round one, he fell to McLeod 10-8. Some people say he looked to be struggling with back or shoulder pain, but as he seemed to have a lot less talking to do after his loss (skipping the press conference) it is always hard to tell.

The season as ever belonged to Mark Selby. Three massive victories winning the International Championship, a second UK Championship title and the small matter of a third world title in his back pocket. These wins along with the China Open and Paul Hunter Classic and a runners-up cheque at the Shanghai Masters saw the world number one affirm his place at the top of the rankings. In all he collected £859,550 from the 2016/2017 season alone, and on the two year ranking list he has smashed the million pound barrier and then some, reaching £1,298,425 for the last two seasons. A truly phenomenal effort from a player who is dominating the rest in these big events and finding a way to peak at exactly the right times in the year.


PLAYERS TO WATCH: END OF YEAR ASSESSMENT

At the start of this season I picked out three young players who I thought would be ones to look out for during the 2016/2017 season. While all three had some nice results to show and some high points during the year, one stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Yan Bingtao - One of the first things I stated was that rookie Yan Bingtao would have two years to get inside the top 64 on the main ranking list which would keep him on the tour. He has smashed that target in the first year by finishing 56th on the ranking list and 27th on the one season list. There is a genuine chance that he could end his second season on tour inside the world's top 32 if he carries on, but after this season the expectations have risen rapidly. By Christmas he had already made the last 16 in four events (Riga Masters, Paul Hunter Classic, English Open and Northern Irish Open) and the last 32 at the International and UK Championships (the two biggest money ranking events outside of the world championships). The German Masters was his best run of the season, making it all the way to the quarter-finals and stamping his place in the World Grand Prix (for the best 32 ranked players of the season to that point). The fun did not stop there as he toppled world champion Mark Selby to reach the last 16 in Wales and ended the season with a flourish by winning his three qualifying matches for the world championships. At the Crucible he won his first frame with a century break and pushed Shaun Murphy to the limit, with the 2005 world champion enjoying yet another close battle, this time finishing on the right side a 10-8 winner. It was his win against Murphy in the 2015 Champion of Champions, his first match TV match on UK soil, that really showed me what he was capable of and now no-one could doubt that he is a very hot prospect.

Zhao Xintong - Fellow Chinese player Zhao Xintong did not quite reach the same heights but he certainly has a lot of positive points from which he can build. His best run saw him make the last 16 of the German Masters, narrowly losing out there to eventual runner-up Ali Carter after beating John Higgins in the qualifying event. Zhao also pushed Ronnie O'Sullivan all the way at the English Open and showed a lot of what he could do in that match, as well as making the last 32 at the Riga Masters and Gibraltar Open. If Yan was a thorn in Murphy's side through the season, it was Mark Williams that Zhao pushed close a few times. In China Open qualifying Williams won 5-3 from 1-3 behind in a tournament he went on to make the final of. Just before travelling to Beijing Williams met Zhao again in Gibraltar coming through 4-3. Having narrowly missed out on automatic world championship qualification, the Welshman then drew Xintong in the first round of qualifying. From a position of 4-0 in front Williams then found himself 7-5 down before winning the final five frames to win 10-7. There's still a lot of room for improvement and I expect a few deeper runs from Zhao next season and ultimately believe he will finish in the top 64 to retain his tour card.

Sam Craigie - Craigie won the least of the three players I picked out but by no means was his first season on tour a bad one. He came out of the blocks very early on in the season with a win over Marco Fu on the way to the last 32 at the World Open. In International Championship qualifying Craigie led Neil Robertson 5-3 before narrowly losing out in a deciding frame, which showed some promise even if he did not earn the win. At the Northern Ireland Open he had a front row seat for one of the better short format performances of all-time. Craigie lost 4-1 in the last 64 there to John Higgins who made a maximum 147 break along with breaks of 130 and 137. At the UK Championships he overcame newly crowned Irish open champion Mark King in round one before again losing narrowly to eventual quarter-finalist Luca Brecel in the last 64. He unfortunately suffered a few first round exits in the back half of the season, including in world championship qualifiers where he had the incredibly tough draw of Yan Bingtao. Despite that Craigie led 8-4 at one stage before losing the final six frames and the match 10-8. For a first year back on tour that is a learning curve but we have seen before that he has the talent to do big things in the game and I think we will see more of that next season.



WORLD SNOOKER AWARDS

Just to round off my end of season review, here's a look at who took home trophies from the world snooker awards dinner.

World Snooker Player of the Year - Mark Selby
Snooker Writer's Player of the Year - Mark Selby 
Fans Player of the Year - Mark Selby 
Rookie of the Year - Yan Bingtao
Performance of the Year - Anthony Hamilton (For winning the German Masters)
Magic Moment of the Year - Mark King (For winning the Northern Irish Open)

Hall of Fame Inductions - Jimmy White and Clive Everton 

More domination then for Mark Selby as he took home the three big awards. There is no surprise that Yan Bingtao was named rookie of the year as he was the stand out player in that regard. Overall though it was nice to see recognition for Hamilton and King, while I am actually surprised that Jimmy White and Clive Everton were not already in the hall of fame so that was probably a little overdue.


That is all then for the 2016/2017 snooker season but it will not be long before we go again with another new season, and looking at some of the names that will be joining the tour this year it is one that I am already excited for.

Fantasy Snooker 2016/2017 Final Results

With Mark Selby winning the World Championships on Monday night we have reached the end of the Fantasy Snooker Season. All the maths has been done and with Selby proving a very popular pick we have an interesting final table.

FINAL TABLE: 

1^st: Anthony: 962

2^nd: Isitan Bakar: 928

3^rd: Gary: 911

4^th: Igor: 889

5^th: FAM147: 835

6^th: Daniela Reich: 827

7^th: M. Lowson: 813

8^th: TungstenDarts: 771

9^th: Kellie: 737

10^th: Couge: 736

11^th: John McBride: 718

12^th: P. Mudd: 706

13^th: Andrew Walker: 698

14^th: Gorkem: 681

15^th: Ezgi Ulutas: 675

15^th: LTD: 675

17^th: TYIO: 642

18^th: SnookerFollower: 640

19^th: Andrew Brooker: 609

20^th: Mark Taylor: 580

21^st: Kjetil: 553

22^nd: Munraj Pal: 474 

Congratulations to Anthony on his win then, which of course included a pick on Selby for the World Championships. Fantasy Snooker will be back again next season from the first real 'big event' and with another potential rules change to spice things up and keep everybody on their toes. 

Thank you to everyone for playing this year and making this fun as ever.