Riga Masters Qualifying Preview

The opening of the snooker season is finally upon us. After a longer off-season than in recent years, the majority of players will be back in action this week at the Preston Guildhall, starting with the last 128 round of the Riga Masters. 

Ryan Day is the defending champion after winning his first ranking title in Latvia last year, and as a result his first round match has been heldover to the final stages later this month. World champion Mark Williams will also have to wait until the final stages to get his campaign under way, while a number of other top players have chosen to give this opening event a miss.

Despite the draw for this event being completely unseeded, the top players that are in the field have largely managed to avoid each other. However, there are still some tasty ties including Yan Bingtao vs Martin Gould and Xiao Guodong vs Tom Ford, all of whom are more than good enough to go on and win the event should they qualify.

Here is how the draw looks in full for the Riga Masters qualifier this week:

Last 128 Draw: 

Jamie Jones Vs Simon Lichtenberg
Martin O'Donnell Vs Rod Lawler
Chris Wakelin Vs Kuldesh Johal
Sam Craigie Vs Thor Chuan Leong
Robbie Williams Vs Alan McManus
Alexander Ursenbacher Vs Lukas Kleckers
Matthew Selt Vs Xu Si
Mark King Vs Peter Ebdon
Soheil Vahedi Vs Mei Xiwen
Joe Swail Vs Dechawat Poomjaeng
Stuart Carrington Vs Mitchell Mann
Fergal O'Brien Vs Eden Sharav
Hammad Miah Vs David Lilley
Shaun Murphy Vs Sanderson Lam
Mark Joyce Vs Nigel Bond
Jimmy Robertson Vs Zhao Xintong

Noppon Saengkham Vs Scott Donaldson
Robin Hull Vs James Cahill
Zhou Yuelong Vs Michael Georgiou
Yuan Sijun Vs Craig Steadman
Kurt Maflin Vs Lu Haotian
Liang Wenbo Vs Adam Duffy
Li Yuan Vs Paul Davison
Neil Robertson Vs Luo Honghao
Barry Hawkins Vs Andy Lee
Li Hang Vs Duane Jones
Ricky Walden Vs John Astley
Jimmy White Vs Wildcard Player (Heldover to main venue)
Mark Allen Vs Daniel Wells
Peter Lines Vs Shane Castle
Ali Carter Vs Billy Castle
Ryan Day Vs Jamie Cope (Heldover to main venue)

Michael White Vs Gary Wilson
David Gilbert Vs Farakh Ajaib
Joe Perry Vs Lu Ning
Robert Milkins Vs Jak Jones
Stephen Maguire Vs Michael Judge
Gerard Greene Vs Chen Feilong
Basem Eltahhan Vs Lee Walker
Jordan Brown Vs Joe O'Connor
Zhang Jiankang Vs Luke Simmonds
Kyren Wilson Vs Dominic Dale
Stuart Bingham Vs Niu Zhuang
Mike Dunn Vs Simon Bedford
Yan Bingtao Vs Martin Gould
Anthony Hamilton Vs Chris Totten
Liam Highfield Vs Sean O'Sullivan
Michael Holt Vs Matthew Stevens

Zhang Anda Vs Tian Pengfei
Graeme Dott Vs Wildcard Player (Heldover to main venue)
Harvey Chandler Vs Ashley Carty
Anthony McGill Vs Kishan Hirani
Xiao Guodong Vs Tom Ford
Marco Fu Vs Elliot Slessor
Mark Davis Vs Andrew Higginson
Luca Brecel Vs Allan Taylor
Rory McLeod Vs Adam Stefanow
Zhang Yong Vs Ross Muir
Mark Williams Vs Rhys Clark (Heldover to main venue)
Ben Woollaston Vs Sam Baird
Oliver Lines Vs Akani Songsermsawad
Chen Zifan Vs Alfie Burden
Ian Burns Vs Jamie Clarke
Jack Lisowski Vs Fan Zhengyi

Despite the absence of top players like Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui there are still plenty of top players in action. Former champion Neil Robertson will open up against tour rookie and WSF Champion Luo Honghao, while runner-up to Robertson in 2016 Michael Holt faces a tough clash against Matthew Stevens. Barry Hawkins will take on Andy Lee in Lee's first match back on tour, while Stuart Bingham takes on China's Niu Zhuang and Mark Allen faces a tricky tie against Daniel Wells. Last year's runner-up Stephen Maguire is in action against Q School top-up Michael Judge, as Liang Wenbo also faces a top-up in recently relegated Adam Duffy. 

The runner-up of the first Challenge Tour event Luke Simmonds is also in the field as a Q School top-up player, and he should prove a stern test for Chinese rookie Zhang Jiankang, while another of the Chinese rookies Fan Zhengyi faces a very tough ask against one of the rising stars of last season in Jack Lisowski. It certainly would not be a surprise to anyone who watched Lisowski last year if he had a big run at winning this title, should he qualify for the final stages of course. It's still too early in the season to make many bold predictions, and a lot of these matches look tough calls on paper as we don't know which players will come in the sharpest and or the pros that have put in the most hard work over the long off-season. 

One man that should be raring to go is Jamie Clarke who has waited a long time for his chance on the professional tour and will be hoping to make the most of every frame. He will not mind waiting a few more days to start in the final set of matches on Thursday where he faces the Preston local Ian Burns. Meanwhile, the players that were able to earn an immediate tour return at Q School will now be looking to kick on. Those players include young talent Zhao Xintong who faces a tough opener here against the ever-improving Jimmy Robertson, Jak Jones will open his 2018/2019 campaign against Robert Milkins, who himself will be one of the players looking to take inspiration from Ryan Day's victory last and break through to win a first ranking title. Craig Steadman's tour return will be against young Yuan Sijun, who is one of a number of players in the second year of a two-year tour card and looking to break into the top 64. Hammad Miah faces a tough return as well as he faces Q School top-up David Lilley, who was one of the players who came incredibly close to earning his own tour card. 

As I mentioned earlier with Milkins, there are a number of players who will be hoping they can make a major breakthrough this year. David Gilbert is near the top of many people's list of players who could win a maiden ranking title, and he faces top-up player Farakh Ajaib to qualify for the venue in Riga. It's nearly been three years since Kyren Wilson broke through to win the 2015 Shanghai Masters from nowhere, and after a number of close calls since he will be hoping to add to his title tally in this campaign and start brightly in Preston with a win over Dominic Dale. Zhou Yuelong made his maiden ranking semi-final last year but has a tough opener here in Preston against Shoot-Out champion Michael Georgiou, while two former Welsh Open semi-finalists face off in young stars Noppon Saengkham and Scott Donaldson, both of whom have the talent to make a rankings rise. 

The matches I'm looking to live blog from Preston in the three days I'm there are the likes of Germany's Simon Lichtenberg in his first tour match, where he faces Jamie Jones. Another stand out match on the Monday is the European clash between Lukas Kleckers of Germany and Switzerland's Alexander Ursenbacher. Also on Monday I will have a very keen eye on Shaun Murphy's season opener against Sanderson Lam.

Finnish readers of the blog will be pleased to know that Robin Hull and James Cahill is likely to be a feature match on Tuesday morning, while Kurt Maflin against Lu Haotian is another mouth-watering clash, along with a clash between Jordan Brown and Joe O'Connor that evening, both of whom earned their tour cards in the spring.

Wednesday's order of play looks just as good with blog favourite Liam Highfield in action against Sean O'Sullivan while young Shane Castle is in action as a Q School top-up against Peter Lines, providing a good chance to see Castle up close and look at the development of a young English talent. Another all-rookie clash between Harvey Chandler and Ashley Carty features on Wednesday afternoon, while Adam Stefanow makes his tour debut against Rory McLeod, Sam Baird returns to the tour with a tough tie against Ben Woollaston and Dechawat Poomjaeng competes as a top-up against Joe Swail. Closing out the week of live blogs is likely to be the evening game between Oliver Lines and Akani Songsermsawad.

Hopefully you can follow along with my live commentary during the qualifiers or catch up at a later date on what should be a really intriguing start to the new snooker season, where we may learn a little something about what to expect over the next 10 months. 

Interview: Harvey Chandler

Harvey Chandler is set to begin his first season as a professional snooker player next week, and he comes into it having won the European Championship in February. The style in which he won that Championship to earn his two-year tour card was emphatic and shows the potential for what he could do over the next couple of seasons. 

Winning the European Championship is no easy task and he will now be looking to follow in the foot steps of former champions like Masters champion Mark Allen, ranking winner Luca Brecel, former Crucible qualifiers like Robin Hull or Kristjan Helgason and former ranking event semi-finalists like David Grace, Scott Donaldson or Mitchell Mann. Although, as Chandler explains, it all could have been very different.


"It feels great to finally say I am a professional snooker player! It’s a dream come true. Especially after quitting the game for years. There are many people who have helped me along my journey to becoming a professional snooker player. My Mum, Dad and my amazing family and friends,  but if there is one person who should get a lot of recognition it would hands down be Colin Mitchell", Chandler explains.

It seemed as if his potential could have been let slip if it was not for Colin Mitchell. Without him, everything that has followed in recent times, with the European Championship victory which subsequently earned him pro status, may not have been.  

"I was working 12 hour days at the time and I wasn’t playing snooker at all. Maybe 1-2 times a week after work against club players at Rushden windmill club. Colin's been a good friend of mine for many years. He’s watched me make many centuries and 147's. Anyway one night when I was at work I got a phone call from Colin and he basically just said to me 'I can’t let you waste your talent away. I want to sponsor you and give you a chance to get on the pro tour'. So the cue came back out the case and the rest is history."

Fast-forward to mid-February and the Englishman had his chance and with some excellent had put himself in position to step up and win the European Championships against a strong field. 

"If you look at my results in the European Championship I won the title quite convincingly. I had a little scare in the last 64 of the knockout stages but that was about it". 

After his 4-2 last 64 win against Sergey Isaenko, Chandler followed up with a 4-0 win in the last 32 and a 5-1 win against Latvian national champion Rodion Judin to make the quarter-finals. There he produced another 5-1 win against Finnish World Cup player Heikki Niva, before another fine victory against ex-tour pro Fraser Patrick in the last four by a 6-2 scoreline. That set up a final another ex-tour player in Northern Ireland's Jordan Brown. 

"When I found out I had Jordan in the final I knew I was in for a tough match seeing the players he had beat to reach the final and the big breaks he had been making throughout the tournament. I started off very well with a 5-1 lead at the interval. From then on it was just about holding my nerve. I went 6-2 up. Then the next frame I made an 80 odd break to clinch the European Championship winning 7-2.  A few hours after the final Jordan came and spoke to me one on one. He congratulated me again and told me I deserved it and wished me well for the pro tour. Can I just add, congratulations to Jordan on your recent success at Q School. See you on the tour mate". 

While his European glory was one big challenge to come through, the next big test is how the 23-year-old will adjust to tour life and perform in the early stages of his professional career. First up is his Riga Masters qualifier against fellow English rookie Ashley Carty. 

"I’m looking forward to it. Me and Ashley grew up together at junior tournaments so I know what he’s capable of". 

Following that it is a stern test against two-time ranking winner Michael White in the World Open qualifiers. 

"Again I'm looking forward to it. It’s just another match. If I play my game I can beat anyone".

Some of the Chinese tournaments come with boosted prize money but to a player in his opening year on the circuit, every tournament is valuable and an opportunity to shine - a sentiment that Chandler echoes. 

"I will treat every tournament exactly the same, I’m looking forward to playing in every event possible, but the stand out ones I would like to have a run in are obviously the UK Championship and the World Championship".

Many players will join Chandler in earmarking the UK and World Championship as the top two events of the season, and as a result of winning the European Championship he benefited from an invite to the 2018 World Championship qualifiers. 

"It was great to get a call up for the World Championship on the back of winning the European Championship. The result didn’t go my way but life goes on and I have learnt from that defeat".

While things did not go his way losing 10-6 to Oliver Lines, getting a two-year tour card does give the new players more time to settle, though the young Englishman is looking to make an immediate impact. 

"I’m looking to push on straight away. Two years isn’t a long time so I need to continue to work hard and get the results needed. The main and obvious goal for me is to get into the top 64 and keep my tour card. After I achieve that I will move onto bigger goals and targets". 

A lot of debate has taken place over the last couple of years about the opportunities for amateur players to continue their development as they look to get on tour, especially after many of the old European Tour events were removed from the calendar. Chandler though insists there are still plenty of events for amateurs if you really want to play. 

"So when I had my first sponsorship meeting with Colin back in April 2017 we sat down and discussed what our plan of action would be along with the goals I wanted and needed to achieve. We decided that I would enter absolutely everything going. I was away every single weekend up and down the country playing in every pro-am and amateur event. I even entered little handicap events giving a 70+ start. The main goal was for me to be match sharp. The amateur game in my opinion is in great shape, especially now Barry Hearn has set up the new challenge tour. There are tournaments all over the country every single weekend".

The new Challenge Tour could really help to change things for non-tour players, but entry numbers for the first event were lower than anticipated. 

"Yes I found it a little strange, but I think the reason for not having many entrants was because it was a few days after Q School finished".

One player that could thrive on the new Challenge Tour is another young English star in Shane Castle, who will also compete in the Riga Masters as a Q School top-up player. Chandler is someone that knows Castle very well and thinks he might not be far from earning his own professional status. 

"Me and Shane are good friends, we grew up together around the junior scene, he’s a great talent. He could have got on the tour at the age of 14 but just lost out in the European Championship final. So I think he’s more than capable of getting his form back and getting on the tour either this year or next year". 

With every great player comes a great team of people behind the scenes that do not always get the credit that they deserve, but for Chandler there are lots of people he is giving credit for helping with his success. 

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people. My Mum and Dad for always pushing me and supporting me in everything I do. Rushden windmill club and Jamie Wright along with all the staff. Pete Beerten from Belgian Pete’s home improvements, Nihad and Warren from Larkin homes and last but not least my amazing friends and family - Thank you for everything". 


As for all tour rookies the uphill climb is far from over and exciting times lay ahead for Harvey and all those that support him. From everyone at Cue Action Blog we would like to thank Chandler for his time and wish him well for the 2018/2019 snooker season. 

Interview: Kishan Hirani

Kishan Hirani was one of just two rookies to win tour cards at Qualifying School last month and now he is set to embark on a new journey - his first season as a professional snooker player. 

Getting through Q School is no mean feat with over 190 players competing for the 12 tour cards on offer in 2018. Add to that the fact that many had just dropped off of the tour, or had been on tour at some stage in the past and the achievements of both Hirani and Ashley Carty, who was the other rookie to come through Q School, escalate massively.

For some new tour players it may take a while to get used to the tour and for others it may not have fully sunk in that they are now on the professional snooker circuit, but the response that the Welshman has had to his success helped it sink in early on.  

"It took a few days for it to sink in fully, as soon as I put my phone on after the match I was constantly getting messages and calls which made it sink in a little bit straight away. I only intended to have a few days off before I played again, but I soon realised I needed a week off after the preparations for Q school and the tournament itself which takes it out of you", Hirani said.  

The 26-year-old came through in the final event, meaning he went through a gruelling two and a half weeks of snooker to earn his professional status. His form was bubbling up nicely in the first two events as he reached the fourth of six possible rounds in the first event, before going a round further at the second attempt. 

"I felt good knowing I was playing well in the first two events, my game was in good shape but it was frustrating not being able to play well in the matches I lost, but thankfully I learnt from it and played better going into the later rounds of the final event".       

The former Paul Hunter Classic qualifier was aided in the final event by walkovers in both of the first two rounds, but once he got to play in the final event, there was some quality opposition standing between him and a two-year professional tour card. In the third round he took out recently relegated pro Jamie Barrett, before defeating eventual winner of the first Challenge Tour event Brandon Sargeant in round four. On the final day he faced two more former professionals in the shape of Michael Judge and Simon Bedford to complete the task, and the extra bit of rest helped for Hirani's final push.                          

"I would've got myself ready if I had to play the next day but It was nice to have a couple days off to go home and get ready mentally for the final event. The only downside to it was I felt cold coming back into the 3rd round so that could've tripped me up but thankfully it didn't". 

Overcoming the quality of opponent that he has to get on the tour, the self-belief of Wales' latest tour professional should be high, knowing that he can beat players that have been good to be on the tour in the past, and in the shape of Sargeant - one's that are taking huge strides to earning their own pro status. 

"It's nice to beat the players I have especially when you're under pressure. With the ex pros and top amateurs you know you have to play well in all departments and they are more than capable of being on the tour so I know my game is there it's just up to me to keep working hard". 

Work hard Hirani must, having drawn the calibre of opponent that he has in the first two tournament qualifiers coming up next week. In the Riga Masters qualifiers on Wednesday July 4 he takes on one of only 11 top 16 players that have entered the tournament in Anthony McGill, prior to facing world number five Judd Trump in World Open qualifying on Sunday July 8. 

"Drawing two top 16 players to start off will be tough but I'm looking forward to them both and excited for the challenge". 

As he looks to climb the rankings the new pro may wish for a few kinder draws in the future. With plenty of tournaments though come lots of chances to shine and many weeks to target for a big run. 

"It's very important to get off to a good start especially being my first year on tour, I know winning can either make or break your confidence so all the events are just as important as each other to me".

What should give Hirani greater belief and make him more at home on the tour are his previous experiences around the circuit. Not only has he been a regular qualifier for the professional stages of the old European Tour events, he was very competitive against the pros he faced there (including his first pro opponent McGill who he took to a decider in Gibraltar in 2015), as well as being invited to compete in the 2016 World Championship qualifiers. 

"I think all of those experiences will help. I will feel comfortable especially in the qualifiers as it's the same setup I've played in for a while, the only lack of experience I've had is on the TV table as I've only played on there once, so hopefully when that happens again I'll be ready for it".

The old European Tour events were a great opportunity for amateurs to get regular game time and to test themselves against the top players if they were good enough to come through the amateur qualifiers. However, since the start of the 2016/2017 season when many of these events were removed from the calendar, opportunities for amateurs in recent years have decreased as Hirani details. 

"I personally felt the PTC's were good for the amateur circuit, it gave us a chance to try and test ourselves against the pros but they were pricey, especially going to all 6 events abroad. I don't feel like there have been many opportunities for amateurs to be honest, after Q School for the last couple of years I've been putting my cue away for a couple of months as there's nothing at all to play in. Now the challenge tour is there it gives players a chance to play in more events and a chance to pick up some money, however I feel in the future the length of matches needs to be changed to at least best-of-7's". 

The lack of amateur opportunity in the time between each annual edition of Q School may be one of the reasons why the relegated pros, with the advantage of match sharpness, have been earning their tour cards back so quickly. 7 out of 12 tour cards won this year were done so by players that had just fallen from the pro circuit and this did not come as a shock to Hirani. 

"I wasn't surprised at all to be honest, I noticed all the players that came off the tour were so sharp whereas the amateurs haven't had many competitions to play in this year which makes a difference. Knowing Q School is the main route to get on tour, everyone is under pressure but I'd say more so for the pros falling off because they have experienced the tour life".

One thing that is sure to have a positive influence on the playing opportunities for non-tour players this year is the introduction of the Challenge Tour, with 10 events to run through the 2018/2019 season, starting earlier this month in Burton where Brandon Sargeant was victorious, but the new pro feels the format could be a bit too short to identify the best players. 

"With it being a best of 5 format I can't really rule out anyone getting far in an event, I think the top two who get the main tour space will be in the balance until the last couple of events. I've got a few friends in there I hope to do well this year", Hirani concluded. 

The Welshman will have plenty of people cheering him on this year as he embarks on his first season on the circuit, where he will be one of 12 Welsh players hoping to write their names into another chapter of the countries rich snooker history.

It all starts next week for Hirani with his first two tournament qualifiers, before another three tournament qualifiers in August as well as the Paul Hunter Classic. On behalf of Cue Action Blog I would like to wish Kishan well for all of those matches and the rest of his 2018/2019 campaign. 

2018/2019 Season Preview

After a four week break following Q School, the 2018/2019 snooker season is set to get underway next week with the first set of tournament qualifiers in Preston. Once the opening rounds for the Riga Masters and World Open have taken place, the final stages of the Riga Masters will take place from July 27-29 in what will be the first full tournament of the new campaign.

The players have had a longer break than in previous years before the new season, but plenty has happened in the mean time with new players earning their professional debuts, new events and venues being added to the calendar and a huge announcement has been made by the WPBSA regarding two Chinese players.


Yu De Lu and Cao Yupeng suspended 

Yu De Lu and Cao Yupeng have both been suspended from playing on the tour and have been told they have a case to answer, following an investigation into alleged breaches of WPBSA rules.

This relates to alleged betting breaches by the pair, who will remain suspended until the conclusion of any hearings regarding the matter and the separate cases have been closed.

Yu De Lu's case relates to manipulating the outcome of five matches since 2015, failing to report two approaches to match fix, betting on snooker and failing to cooperate fully with the WPBSA's enquiry.

As for Cao Yupeng his case relates to manipulating the outcome of three matches since 2016 and failing to cooperate fully with the WPBSA enquiry.


At the time of writing the date of either case is unknown and therefore the length of time the players will be out of action is also unknown. For Cao Yupeng this comes after the best season of his career in which he made the final of the Scottish Open and the final of the Gibraltar Open leaving him ranked at 38 in the world prior to the 2018/2019 season while Yu De Lu is slightly lower in the rankings at 43.

The full statement on these two suspensions is available here.


Riga Masters and World Open Qualifying 

The first set of qualifiers for the new snooker season begin on Monday 2 July with three and a half days of last 128 action for the Riga Masters. Following that, the last 128 action for the World Open will take place from Friday 6 July until Monday 9 July with both of these qualifying rounds taking place at the Preston Guildhall.

At an early stage in the season, and as has become the norm on the circuit, there are several non-entries for both of these events.

Missing both the Riga Masters and World Open are: Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Hossein Vafei, Ashley Hugill, Hamza Akbar, Matthew Bolton and Mohamed Ibrahim. (This is as well as the suspended Cao Yupeng and Yu De Lu).

Missing the Riga Masters only are: Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Ken Doherty and James Wattana.

Missing the World Open only is: Martin Gould.

That means we'll have to wait a little while to see Ronnie O'Sullivan and World Championship runner-up John Higgins, while Ken Doherty is skipping Riga despite making the semi-finals of the event last season.

World Champion Mark Williams will not be appearing in the qualifiers much this season as the majority of his last 128 matches will be held over to the venue. His last 128 matches with Rhys Clark in the Riga Masters and Lukas Kleckers in the World Open will be both be played as part of the final stages. Defending champion Ryan Day has had his match at the Riga Masters held over and he will play Q School top-up Jamie Cope at the main venue. There are also two unconfirmed wildcards that will compete in this event and their last 128 matches will be played at the venue, so Jimmy White and Graeme Dott are the two lucky players to receive a holdover.

For the World Open qualifying, defending champion Ding Junhui has his last 128 match against James Wattana heldover along with the next two highest ranked Chinese players Liang Wenbo (Vs James Cahill) and Yan Bingtao (Vs Ashley Carty). On top of this, there are four unconfirmed wildcards in the draw so Neil Robertson, Mike Dunn, Ben Woollaston and Jimmy Robertson have all received holdovers having drawn one of these wildcards.


Additions and changes to the calendar

As with every season there have been a few changes to tournaments, new tournaments and some new venues added to the World Snooker Calendar.

The first of those changes is that the Shanghai Masters will now be an invitational event, and is returning to it's September slot in the calendar. The top 16 in the world will be invited to join a further eight Chinese players. Four of these will be the next highest ranked Chinese players (which would be Liang Wenbo, Yan Bingtao, Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yuelong if the rankings stay as they are at present). On top of this two players will be invited from the CBSA China tour and two from the China's Amateur Masters series.

The China Championship's place on the calendar has moved back a month from the end of August to the end of September. On this year's home nations series, the English Open has moved from Barnsley to Crawley for this year. The World Grand Prix will now be played in Cheltenham in a venue at the racecourse. The Preston Guildhall will now host the second event of this series, the Players Championship, and a new Tour Championship for the top eight on the one-season money list will debut in March 2019 and will be played in Llandudno.

The new venue's in Crawley and Cheltenham provide good news for snooker fans in the South of England who will now have a couple of events slightly closer to home, without taking much away from the North.


Players to Watch

As in the last two years, I will be picking out my top three new tour players to keep an eye on in the 2018/2019 season. In previous years I picked out Yan Bingtao in his rookie season and last year picked out Xu Si who would make a semi-final in his first few months on tour, so hopefully my selections will be just as successful again this time.

Ashley Carty - Ashley Carty earned his tour card through this season's Q School and is an exciting player that I have been looking to qualify for the main tour in recent years, so now that he has I believe he could do some serious damage. His heavy scoring helped him through Q School with some sublime performances and big results, including a victory against Wang Yuchen who had just dropped off the tour. Carty had come close in Q School 2017 where he overcame Martin O'Donnell 4-3 before losing to James Cahill in the penultimate round by the same score. That was enough to get him an invite to last year's Riga Masters and he defeated David Grace there to get through to the last 64 at the venue.

A run of results Carty had in 2015 show that with a little more experience and maturity in the game he could regularly collect good results in the his first season on tour. He qualified for the last 32 of the 2015 German Masters with wins over Robert Milkins and James Cahill before narrowly losing to Martin Gould at the main venue. He followed that with a win against Jimmy White to qualify for the China Open and carried that into his Welsh Open invite by defeating Michael Holt and Alfie Burden to make the last 32 in Cardiff. As well as that he whitewashed Kyren Wilson in the 2014 Australian Open qualifiers as an amateur, around 15 months before Wilson won the Shanghai Masters title. If Carty can get off to a bright start on the tour and build the kind of confidence and belief he must have had in 2015 as an amateur, then he could really go deep in a few ranking events this year, and he is certainly one of those players that is capable of a 'surprise' run to a quarter or semi-final in one of the slightly smaller events.

Luo Honghao - Luo Honghao is the WSF Championship and both by winning that title and what he achieved immediately after that he has demonstrated what he can do. At the age of 18 he is yet another young Chinese player who could shoot into the top 64 in no time at all. In winning the WSF Championship he whitewashed his opponents in four out of five knockout round matches. Only in the semi-final against Kacper Filipiak was there any hardship as he had to come through a deciding frame. Among his rivals in that tournament were Jamie Clarke who he saw off 4-0 in the quarters and Adam Stefanow who he showed few nerves in thumping 6-0 in the final. This also came after losing a deciding frame in the final of the World Under-21 Championship a few months earlier, where again he eased into the final. Against the pros he has already had some success, competing in the 2018 China Open just a couple of weeks after winning the WSF Championship.

He was invited as a wildcard and had to start out in the preliminary round against Basem Eltahhan. A 6-1 victory there put him up against Stuart Carrington in the last 128 on the same day and he would drop one more frame there to come through 6-2 against a quality opponent. Facing Anthony McGill in the last 64 you would naturally have assumed his run would end, but that was not the case. With two centuries and a run of 84 he saw off McGill 6-4 to put himself in the last 32 with a total of four centuries made to that point. Another century along with a break of 91 featured in his next match against Duane Jones, who had two century breaks of his own in a high quality encounter. Luo would eventually win in a decider before his run was ultimately ended by Tom Ford in the last 16. Those sort of results over a longer format, so close to a professional tour debut must give him so much confidence and it will be fun to see if he can use that to keep on producing big results over the course of this season.

Jamie Clarke - The world of snooker stands as one I believe to congratulate Jamie Clarke after his succession of near misses when it came to getting on the tour. The feat was finally completed in the EBSA play-offs in April as he beat Andy Hicks 4-2 before a deciding frame win against George Pragnall. Clarke's near misses date back to Q School of five years ago when he lost in the final round to Ahmed Saif. He fell in the final round of Q School again in 2014 to Zhang Anda, but also had successes against pro players in European Tour events during this period. In February 2014 he beat Luca Brecel 4-1 before beating Ben Woollaston and Anthony McGill later that year. In the 2015 EBSA play-offs there was more heartache as he lost a decider against Martin O'Donnell in another match that would have seen him earn a place on the tour. A couple of months after that, Clarke made the final of the European Championship before losing to Michael Wild. His third near miss in quick succession came when Boonyarit Keattikun beat Clarke 8-7 in the final of the World Under-21 Championship.

In February 2016 he was undone by fellow Welshman Jak Jones in the final of the European Championships and he must have been beginning to tire of this trend. April 2016 was a mixed time for Clarke as he was invited to play in the World Championship qualifiers, and secured a victory in the first qualifying round 10-9 against Jamie Burnett before narrowly losing out in the following round 10-8 to Xiao Guodong, showing the potential he has and the results he can gain now that he's on the circuit. Just a few days after that though, he had another chance to get on tour and lost another big decider to Elliot Slessor in the EBSA play-offs. To come back from all of those near misses, continue trying as hard as he clearly has done and to now to be on the tour is a fantastic achievement and an incredible show of mental strength. Blanking all of those deciding frame losses in the heat of battle in another decider against Pragnall this year in order to come through, is something the likes of golfers Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia would be proud of. (Garcia and Johnson both had several near misses in major championships before eventually landing their major glory, Johnson is now Golf's World number 1 - some inspiration for Clarke).

What should make Clarke proud is that so many others would not have been able to get over the line and keep going, so now that he is on tour he can put all of that behind him and start showing what he is truly capable of. Clarke is still only 23 and has a lot of time ahead of him, and a fair bit of experience in the bank having competed regularly in professional events as an amateur. Just last season he defeated top 32 player Xiao Guodong in a European Masters qualifier, as well as making the last 32 of the Gibraltar Open with wins over Sam Baird and Jamie Curtis-Barrett.



There are plenty of other rookies to watch out for like Joe O'Connor, Adam Stefanow, Kishan Hirani, European Champion Harvey Chandler and European Under-21 champion Simon Lichtenberg from Germany, who could all do some damage and take the snooker tour by storm in what promises to be an exciting 2018/2019 season.

Also coming up this week on the blog, I will have interviews with two of these pro tour rookies so keep an eye out for that, on top of a full preview for the season opening Riga Masters qualifiers.

Brandon Sargeant leads the way after Challenge Tour event 1

Brandon Sargeant has taken a big step towards the professional tour after winning the first event in the new Challenge Tour.

After the last of ten events on this amateur tour this season, the top two players on the Order of Merit will receive two year tour cards and move up to the professional tour, so victory for Sargeant in the final against Luke Simmonds has seen the pair hit the front in the standings.

Despite the top 64 on the Q School Order of Merit earning the right to play on the tour, as well as further invitations being handed out, World Snooker had to go much further down the list in order to secure the 59 man field that would eventually compete last weekend in Burton.

However, a quality group of players remained at the latter stages of Sunday's play with recently dropped relegated pro's David Grace and Mitchell Mann making the semi-finals and signalling their intentions.

Grace was one of six players that would eventually receive a walkover into the last 32, before 3-1 victories against Adam Edge and Kuldesh Johal put him into the quarter-finals. Another 3-1 victory followed against Kevin Van Hove who has been invited on to the tour as the Belgian national champion. Van Hove took £500 back to Belgium for his efforts, while Grace would leave Burton with £700 after his 3-2 semi-final loss to Simmonds.

As for Mann, he came from behind to beat Joshua Thomond 3-1 in the opening round before whitewashing Jamie Trump in the last 32. Trump received a first round walkover and was invited to play in Burton despite a very low finish on the Q School OoM.

That put Mann through to the final day where he would overcome Women's tour legend Reanne Evans 3-1 in the last 16, prior to a 3-2 defeat off fellow ex-professional Joel Walker put him into the last four. Like Grace though, Mann would eventually fall in a deciding frame to Sargeant.

38-year-old Simmonds made it to the final round in the first event of Q School this year, falling short against Hammad Miah in the match that would have earned him a tour card. In the opening round of Challenge Tour event one he faced a decider against Himanshu Jain, who reached the final round of the recently completed third event of Q School before falling to Ashley Carty. 12-year-old Iulian Boiko of Ukraine was Simmond's last 32 victim, before he made it back-to-back whitewashes on Sunday morning with a 3-0 win over Oliver Brown.

Next up for Simmonds was a tie with ex-pro James Cahill who repeatedly came close in Q School this year, but experience told here with Simmonds winning 3-1, and then the deciding frame win over David Grace put him into the final. His eventual runners-up finish would earn Simmonds £1000 for the two days of work.


Brandon Sargeant had things tough right from the opening round when he had to come through in a decider against Phil O'Kane to move into the last 32. Another decider was needed in round two as he eventually took down Anthony Jeffers to advance to the final day.

His only whitewash of the weekend came in the last 16 on Sunday morning when he thrashed India's Lucky Vatnani to set up a mouth watering quarter-final with young Welshman Jackson Page. Once more, Sargeant would have to hold his nerve in a final frame decider to come through that one, while a solid start for Page would see him take home £500. A fourth decider of the weekend would follow and his luck showed no signs of running out as he took out Mann and reached the final.

Breaks of 64 and 56 in the final put the 20-year-old into a 2-1 lead on Simmonds, before closing out the match like a true champion with a total clearance of 139. What it means is that Sargeant has taken home the first trophy of the 2018/2019 season and a nice prize of £2,000, a healthy reward for six victories over two days of play.


The full list of results from event one are as follows:

Round 1: 

Kevin Van Hove 3-2 Peter Devlin
Felix Frede 3-2 John Foster
Lee Shanker 3-0 Andrew Milliard
Charlie Walters 3-0 Leo Fernandez
David Grace W/O
Adam Edge 3-0 Peter Delaney
Kuldesh Johal 3-2 Heikki Niva
Patrick Whelan 3-0 Andrew Smith
Adam Duffy 3-2 Michael Collumb
David Lilley 3-2 Jeff Cundy
James Cahill 3-0 Barry Pinches
Jack Bradford W/O
Luke Simmonds 3-2 Himanshu Jain
Iulian Boiko W/O
Oliver Brown 3-2 Rodion Judin
Andreas Ploner 3-1 Joshua Cooper
William Lemons 3-1 Jake Nicholson
Sydney Wilson 3-1 Bash Maqsood
Ben Hancorn 3-0 Lee Daegyu
Joel Walker 3-0 Dylan Emery
Mitchell Mann 3-1 Joshua Thomond
Jamie Trump W/O Sergey Isaenko
Reanne Evans 3-0 Heather Clare
Chae Ross W/O
Brandon Sargeant 3-2 Phil O'Kane
Anthony Jeffers 3-1 Brandon Hall
Matthew Day 3-1 Lee Gorton
Lucky Vatnani 3-2 Callum Lloyd
Farakh Ajaib 3-1 Daniel Womersley
Sean Maddocks W/O
Jackson Page 3-2 Steven Hallworth
Jamie O'Neill 3-0 Andy Marriot

Round 2:

Kevin Van Hove 3-2 Felix Frede
Charlie Walters 3-1 Lee Shanker
David Grace 3-1 Adam Edge
Kuldesh Johal 3-0 Patrick Whelan
David Lilley 3-1 Adam Duffy
James Cahill 3-0 Jack Bradford
Luke Simmonds 3-0 Iulian Boiko
Oliver Brown 3-2 Andreas Ploner
William Lemons 3-2 Sydney Wilson
Joel Walker 3-2 Ben Hancorn
Mitchell Mann 3-0 Jamie Trump
Reanne Evans 3-2 Chae Ross
Brandon Sargeant 3-2 Anthony Jeffers
Lucky Vatnani 3-2 Matthew Day
Farakh Ajaib 3-0 Sean Maddocks
Jackson Page 3-1 Jamie O'Neill

Last 16:

Kevin Van Hove 3-1 Charlie Walters
David Grace 3-1 Kuldesh Johal
James Cahill 3-1 David Lilley
Luke Simmonds 3-0 Oliver Brown
Joel Walker 3-0 William Lemons
Mitchell Mann 3-1 Reanne Evans
Brandon Sargeant 3-0 Lucky Vatnani
Jackson Page 3-1 Farakh Ajaib

Quarter-Finals: 

David Grace 3-1 Kevin Van Hove
Luke Simmonds 3-1 James Cahill
Mitchell Mann 3-2 Joel Walker
Brandon Sargeant 3-2 Jackson Page

Semi-Finals: 

Luke Simmonds 3-2 David Grace
Brandon Sargeant 3-2 Mitchell Mann

Final: 

Brandon Sargeant 3-1 Luke Simmonds


After going deep into the Q School list it is worth mentioning that William Lemons (78) and Oliver Brown (104) performed the best out of the players who were invited to play as top-ups from outside of the top 64 on the order of merit, with both making the last 16 on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kevin Van Hove showed that he was worthy of his invite by making the quarter-finals.

Brandon Sargeant meanwhile came from 54 on the order of merit to beat 5th placed Luke Simmonds in the final, and Sargeant only made it into the top 64 on the order of merit after turning around a 3-0 deficit to beat Jamie O'Neill in the final Q School event.


The second event on the Challenge Tour is just over a month away, taking place from July 10-11 at the Preston Guildhall, following the completion of the qualifiers for the Riga Masters (July 2-4) and the World Open (July 5-9), when the professional tour's 2018/2019 season commences.

Until then, there will be very little to report from the snooker world and the next pieces to come from the blog will be a preview of the first set of qualifiers and a full 2018/2019 season preview, with a round-up of all the players that will feature on the pro circuit during the campaign, as well as my selected 'Players to Watch'.

Challenge Tour 2018/2019 Preview

After the conclusion of the 2018 edition of Q School, confirming new tour players for the upcoming season, the next best 64 from the events are set to begin their long quest for a tour card as the new 2018/2019 Challenge Tour commences this weekend.

The top 64 players on the Q School order of merit (excluding those that won professional tour cards) are all eligible for entry along with a series of WPBSA invitations for this weekend's opening event, taking place in Burton at the same venue as Q School, so it will be familiar territory for the competitors.

In all, there will be ten events on the Challenge Tour across the UK and Europe, with a number of them coinciding with events on the main tour. When all is said and done by March 2019 the top two players on the Challenge Tour order of merit will earn two-year tour cards to move up to the professional tour.

2018/2019 Challenge Tour Calendar: 

Event 1 - June 2-3 - Burton
Event 2 - July 10-11 - Preston Guildhall
Event 3 - July 28-29 - Riga, Latvia
Event 4 - August 27-28 - Furth, Germany
Event 5 - September 22-23 - TBC Snooker Club in the UK
Event 6 - October 4-5 - Lommel, Belgium
Event 7 - October 13-14 - Preston Guildhall
Event 8 - TBC dates in November - TBC venue in Europe
Event 9 - TBC dates in January - TBC Snooker Club in the UK
Event 10 - March 3-4 - Barnsley

The good news for the players is that a number of events will be played in venues that coincide with tour events. The first event comes straight off the back of Q School, while event 2 follows the first set of pro tour qualifiers for the new season in Preston. Event 3 is played alongside the final two days of the Riga Masters, while the fourth event in Germany will follow the Paul Hunter Classic. Event 6 will be played during the European Masters, while the seventh event follows International Championship qualifying in Preston and the final event will follow the qualifiers for the China Open.

Events 5 and 9 are being played at snooker clubs in the UK, following a press release from March that detailed this information, and mentioned that clubs must be gold club members of the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards in order to apply to host an event. While these clubs are yet to be confirmed a list of 25 147 Gold Club members can be viewed here.

Eligible Challenge Tour Players - Q School Order of Merit: 

1 - David Lilley
2 - Dechawat Poomjaeng
3 - James Cahill
4 - Adam Duffy
5 - Luke Simmonds
6 - Jamie Cope
7 - Fang Xiongman
8 - Farakh Ajaib
9 - Andy Hicks
10 - Michael Judge
11 - Kuldesh Johal
12 - Hu Hao
13 - Chen Zhe
14 - Geng Mingqi
15 - Mitchell Mann
16 - Shane Castle
17 - Simon Bedford
18 - Ben Hancorn
19 - Steven Hallworth
20 - Leo Fernandez
21 - Jamie O'Neill
22 - Jackson Page
23 - Laxman Rawat
24 - Fraser Patrick
25 - Wang ZePeng
26 - Joel Walker
27 - Liu Jiaming
28 - Kristjan Helgason
29 - Peter Devlin
30 - Wang Yuchen
31 - Barry Pinches
32 - David Grace
33 - Sydney Wilson
34 - Lee Daegyu
35 - Greg Casey
36 - Himanshu Jain
37 - Phil O'Kane
38 - Jake Nicholson
39 - Heikki Niva
40 - Callum Lloyd
41 - Jamie McArdle
42 - Jamie Barrett
43 - Jeff Cundy
44 - Patrick Whelan
45 - Dylan Emery
46 - Brian Ochoiski
47 - Andreas Ploner
48 - Lucky Vatnani
49 - Haydon Pinhey
50 - Ning Kang
51 - Long Zehuang
52 - Ma TingPeng
53 - Sean Maddocks
54 - Brandon Sargeant
55 - John Foster
56 - Brandon Hall
57 - David Craggs
58 - Matthew Day
59 - Felix Frede
60 - Charlie Walters
61 - Anthony Jeffers
62 - Adam Edge
63 - Andrew Smith
64 - Chae Ross

Of these 64 players, the final two in Smith and Ross both got in on countback after a total of eight players finished tied on 20 frames from the three events. In total, 14 different nationalities are represented by the 64 above players with: 36 English, 10 Chinese, 3 Welsh, 3 Republic of Irish, 3 Indian, 1 Northern Irish, 1 Scottish, 1 Thai, 1 French, 1 German, 1 Icelandic, 1 Austrian, 1 Finnish and 1 South Korean.

Eight of the players in the Challenge Tour dropped off of the professional tour at the end of the 2017/2018 while a number of others have been on the main tour in the past. Such players include the likes of Adam Duffy, James Cahill and Mitchell Mann who all came close to securing tour cards this year and will be among the top contenders on the Challenge Tour.

The invited players are all eligible to enter on top of the 64 (making a total of 70 players), but only once the entries dip below the 64 mark (including invited players) will further players be called up based on the Q School standings.

The following players were the five highest ranked not to qualify for the Challenge Tour:

65 - Dylan Craig
66 - Marc Davis
67 - Joshua Cooper
68 - Wu Shengguang
69 - John Pritchett

Challenge Tour Invitations: 

As mentioned above a total of eight players were set to be invited to the Challenge Tour this season. Adam Stefanow was set to be one of these players as the 2018 WSF Championship runner-up, but Stefanow was recently given a two-year tour card instead. Kristjan Helgason was also set to be one of the invited players after making the WSF Championship semi-finals, but Helgason has qualified by right after finishing 28th on the Q School order of merit. I do not believe that this will mean that the 65th player from the Q School order of merit qualifies, and that instead the invitations and therefore the number of eligible players is simply reduced.

These players have been given invitations to the Challenge Tour:

- Kacper Filipiak - 2018 WSF Championship semi-finalist
- Ng On Yee - 2018 Women's World Champion
- Reanne Evans - End of 2017/2018 season Women's World No.1

- Latvian National Champion (Rodion Judin)
- Belgian National Champion (Kevin VanHove)
- TBC - EBSA Host European Federation.

The invitations above have been written as published by World Snooker and the WPBSA. The current Latvian national champion is Rodion Judin who won this title a little over a week ago. Meanwhile, Kevin VanHove is in the draw for the first event as the Belgian national champion. Meanwhile, the third national nomination is most likely yet to be confirmed due to the pending confirmation of the host European venue for the eighth Tour event in November.

Challenge Tour Prize Money

A total prize fund of £100,000 is up for grabs during the ten events, with £10,000 on offer in each event. The money breakdown will be the same for each of the ten events making them equal in weight. The prizes on offer in each event are as follows:

Winner = £2,000
Runner-Up = £1,000
Losing Semi-finalists = £700
Losing Quarter-finalists = £500
Last 16 losers = £200
Last 32 losers = £125

To offer some extra contest to the breakdown, especially for those players who lose in the earlier rounds, the entry fees for each event are £50.

Further Information 

- All matches in the Challenge Tour from the last 64 or preliminary rounds to the final are played over the best-of-5 frames.

A full format of play for the two days has now been released and the first and second round matches will be played on the opening day, with the remaining rounds coming on the final day.

Event 1 - First Round Draw: 

Kevin VanHove Vs Peter Devlin
John Foster Vs Felix Frede
Andy Milliard Vs Lee Shanker
Charlie Walters Vs Leo Fernandez
Adam Edge Vs Peter Delaney (Winner plays David Grace in round two)
Heikki Niva Vs Kuldesh Johal
Andrew Smith Vs Patrick Whelan
Michael Collumb Vs Adam Duffy
David Lilley Vs Jeff Cundy
James Cahill Vs Barry Pinches (Winner plays Jack Bradford in round two)
Luke Simmonds Vs Himanshu Dinesh Jain (Winner plays Iulian Boiko in round two)
Oliver Brown Vs Rodion Judin
Andreas Ploner Vs Joshua Cooper
Jake Nicholson Vs William Lemons
Bash Maqsood Vs Sydney Wilson
Lee Daegyu Vs Ben Hancorn
Joel Walker Vs Dylan Emery
Mitchell Mann Vs Joshua Thomond
Jamie Trump Vs Sergey Isaenko
Reanne Evans Vs Heather Clare (Winner plays Chae Ross in round two)
Brandon Sargeant Vs Phil O'Kane
Brandon Hall Vs Anthony Jeffers
Daniel Gorton Vs Matthew Day
Lucky Vatnani Vs Callum Lloyd
Daniel Womersley Vs Farakh Ajaib (Winner plays Sean Maddocks in round two)
Jackson Page Vs Steven Hallworth
Jamie O'Neill Vs Andy Marriott 

As you can see the first Challenge Tour event has come up short on entries with only 59 players in total making up the draw. The following players have gotten in courtesy of non-entries:

Joshua Cooper (67th on Order of Merit)
Michael Collumb (70th on Order of Merit)
Daniel Womersley (71st on Order of Merit)
Jack Bradford (73rd on Order of Merit)
Lee Shanker (74th on Order of Merit)
William Lemons (78th on Order of Merit)
Sergey Isaenko (79th on Order of Merit)
Joshua Thomond (84th on Order of Merit)
Oliver Brown (104th on Order of Merit)
Andy Marriott (107th on Order of Merit)
Daniel Gorton (116th on Order of Merit)
Jamie Trump (120th on Order of Merit)
Andy Milliard (124th on Order of Merit)
Bash Maqsood (126th on Order of Merit)
Iulian Boiko (129th on Order of Merit)
Peter Delaney (171st on Order of Merit)
Heather Clare (172nd on Order of Merit)

As for some of the non-entries these include: Dechawat Poomjaeng, Jamie Cope, Fang Xiongman, Andy Hicks, Michael Judge, Chen Zhe, Simon Bedford, Wang Yuchen, Shane Castle and Kristjan Helgason.

Hopefully this blog has answered a few questions that you all had about the Challenge Tour and much more will become clear as the weekend progresses.

After a tiring couple of weeks for all of these players involved a day off between the final day of the final Q School event and the start of the Challenge Tour will hopefully help to give all the players a good chance of performing at their very best. The recently dropped off pro players are the ones many will be looking at to win these events, along with other experienced ex-professional players. Keep your eyes on the likes of David Grace, Adam Duffy, James Cahill, Joel Walker, Mitchell Mann and Jackson Page who I think will go well over the course of this weekend, and one of them may be the player to take home the first Challenge Tour title.

There are also plenty of young players involved who will be looking to gain a lot more experience this season, to help their development ahead of next season's Q School and another attempt to get on the pro tour. After seeing a total of 7/12 tour cards going to players who had just dropped off the main tour this year, the Challenge Tour will look to bridge the gap between the pro players who have dropped off tour and had regular tournament playing time, and the amateur players who have not had the same opportunities during the season when Q School 2019 comes around.