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.
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