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2023–24 Q Tour

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2023–24 Q Tour
Details
Duration25 August 2023 – 15 March 2024 (2023-08-25 – 2024-03-15)

The 2023–24 Q Tour is a series of snooker tournaments that took place during the 2023–24 snooker season. The Q Tour is the second-tier tour, run by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, for players not on the main World Snooker Tour.

A series of seven UK/Europe events were played, with the leading money-winner gaining a place on the main tour for the 2024–25 snooker season. Eighteen players – the tournament winners and the highest-ranked players who had not already secured a place on the main tour for the 2023–24 season – gained entry to a further event, the WPBSA Q Tour Global Playoff. They were joined by six players from the Q Tour Global; qualifying from three regional Q Tour series. The two qualifiers from the Asia-Pacific series withdrew and were replaced by the next two players from the Q Tour UK/Europe rankings. These 24 players competed for a further three places on the World Snooker Tour.[1]

Michael Holt won three of the first six UK/Europe events to guarantee his position as the leading money-winner and gain a place on the main tour. Duane Jones, Amir Sarkhosh and Mohamed Shehab got places through the Q Tour Global Playoff.

Q Tour UK/Europe

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Format

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UK/Europe events are generally played over three days. The first day is an open qualifying day with 16 places available. The main draw starts on the second day when the 16 qualifiers are joined by the 48 seeded players who qualified based on their rankings in the 2023 Q School Orders of Merit to make a first round field of 64 players. There are three rounds on the second day and a further three on the final day, to determine the winner of the event. The 48 who qualified directly included the top 32 eligible players from the 2023 UK Q School Order of Merit, the top eight from the 2023 Asia-Oceania Q School Order of Merit, and the eight highest ranked junior players on the 2023 UK Q School Order of Merit, not already qualified.[2]

Prize fund

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Each UK/Europe event featured a prize fund of £14,300 with the winner receiving £3,000.

  • Winner: £3,000
  • Runner-up: £1,500
  • Semi-final: £900
  • Quarter-final: £600
  • Last 16: £300
  • Last 32: £200
  • Total: £14,300

Schedule

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The schedule for the seven Q Tour UK/Europe events is given below.[1]

Date Country Tournament Venue City Field Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
25 Aug 27 Aug  ENG Event 1 North East Snooker Centre North Shields 115 Wales Liam Davies England Craig Steadman 5–2 [3]
15 Sep 17 Sep  SWE Event 2 Snookerhallen Stockholm 105 England Michael Holt Wales Liam Davies 5–2 [4]
20 Oct 22 Oct  GER Event 3 TSG Heilbronn Heilbronn 106 Germany Umut Dikme England Hamim Hussain 5–1 [5]
9 Nov 12 Nov  ENG Event 4 Landywood Snooker Club Great Wyrley 139 Poland Antoni Kowalski Jamaica Rory McLeod 5–3 [6]
15 Dec 17 Dec  ENG Event 5 Castle Snooker Club Brighton 120 England Michael Holt England Daniel Womersley 5–1 [7]
5 Jan 7 Jan  BUL Event 6 National Snooker Academy Sofia 77 England Michael Holt Wales Alfie Davies 5–4 [8]
16 Feb 18 Feb  ENG Event 7 Northern Snooker Centre Leeds 117 England Peter Lines Germany Umut Dikme 5–1 [9]

Rankings

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Below are listed the leading players in the prize money rankings. The top-ranked player gets a place on the main tour for the 2023–24 season. Eighteen other players – the tournament winners and the highest-ranked players who have not already secured a place on the main tour – gained entry to a further event, the WPBSA Q Tour Global Playoff.[10] The two qualifiers from the Asia-Pacific series withdrew and were replaced by the next two players from the rankings, increasing the number of players who qualified to 20.[11] Players on equal points were ranked by "countback", with the player having won the most prize money in the latest event played being ranked higher.[12]

Rank Player Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6 Event 7 Total (£)
1 England Michael Holt * 3,000 600 200 3,000 3,000 9,800
2 Wales Liam Davies + 3,000 1,500 0 200 200 600 200 5,700
3 England Peter Lines + 200 600 900 300 600 0 3,000 5,600
4 Germany Umut Dikme + 0 300 3,000 0 200 200 1,500 5,200
5 Poland Antoni Kowalski + 900 200 3,000 0 300 4,400
6 England Harvey Chandler + 200 200 900 900 0 900 900 4,000
7 England Craig Steadman + 1,500 300 200 600 200 200 0 3,000
8 Wales Duane Jones + 600 200 200 200 200 600 900 2,900
9 England Barry Pinches + 300 0 600 300 900 300 300 2,700
10 Wales Alfie Davies + 300 900 0 0 0 1,500 0 2,700
11 England Daniel Womersley + 0 600 0 0 1,500 200 300 2,600
12 Ukraine Iulian Boiko + 600 200 0 600 0 300 600 2,300
13 Jamaica Rory McLeod + 300 200 0 1,500 0 0 200 2,200
14 England Ryan Davies + 900 300 200 200 0 300 200 2,100
15 Scotland Chris Totten + 0 200 300 0 900 300 300 2,000
16 England Steven Hallworth + 200 0 200 900 0 600 0 1,900
17 Wales Tyler Rees + 900 0 200 0 0 0 600 1,700
18 England Hamim Hussain + 0 200 1,500 0 0 0 0 1,700
19 Austria Florian Nuessle + 200 600 300 0 0 200 300 1,600
20 England Peter Devlin + 0 300 600 0 300 0 200 1,400
21 Hong Kong Yu Kiu Chang + 200 600 0 0 600 0 1,400
* Qualified for the main tour
+ Qualified for the Q Tour Global Playoff

Event 1

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The first UK/Europe event took place at North East Snooker Centre, North Shields, from 25 to 27 August 2023. Liam Davies beat Craig Steadman 5–2 in the final. After a walkover at the last 64 stage, Davies won his next four matches in the deciding frame to reach his first Q Tour final. Davies took a 2–0 lead in the final and although Steadman reduced the deficit to 3–2, Davies took the next two frames to win the match.[3] The final-day results are given below.[13]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames
Final
Best of 9 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
England Craig Steadman4
 
 
 
Ukraine Iulian Boiko2
 
England Craig Steadman4
 
 
 
Wales Tyler Rees3
 
India Asutosh Padhy3
 
 
 
Wales Tyler Rees4
 
England Craig Steadman2
 
 
 
Wales Liam Davies5
 
Wales Duane Jones3
 
 
 
Wales Liam Davies4
 
Wales Liam Davies4
 
 
 
England Ryan Davies3
 
India Kreishh Gurbaxani2
 
 
England Ryan Davies4
 

Event 2

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The second UK/Europe event took place at Snookerhallen, Stockholm, Sweden from 15 to 17 September 2023. Michael Holt lost only two frames in reaching the final and then beat Liam Davies, the winner of event 1, 5–2 in the final.[4] The final-day results are given below.[14]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames
Final
Best of 9 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
Austria Florian Nuessle3
 
 
 
Wales Liam Davies4
 
Wales Liam Davies4
 
 
 
Poland Antoni Kowalski0
 
England Sean McAllister1
 
 
 
Poland Antoni Kowalski4
 
Wales Liam Davies2
 
 
 
England Michael Holt5
 
Wales Alfie Davies4
 
 
 
England Peter Lines1
 
Wales Alfie Davies 1
 
 
 
England Michael Holt4
 
England Michael Holt4
 
 
England Daniel Womersley0
 

Event 3

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The third UK/Europe event took place at TSG Heilbronn, Heilbronn, Germany from 20 to 22 October 2023. Umut Dikme beat Hamim Hussain 5–1 in the final, finishing with a break of 106.[5] The final-day results are given below.[15]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames
Final
Best of 9 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
England Barry Pinches1
 
 
 
England Harvey Chandler4
 
England Harvey Chandler0
 
 
 
England Hamim Hussain4
 
England Hamim Hussain4
 
 
 
England Michael Holt3
 
England Hamim Hussain1
 
 
 
Germany Umut Dikme5
 
Germany Umut Dikme4
 
 
 
Hong Kong Yu Kiu Chang2
 
Germany Umut Dikme4
 
 
 
England Peter Lines2
 
England Peter Devlin1
 
 
England Peter Lines4
 

Event 4

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The fourth UK/Europe event took place at the Landywood Snooker Club, Great Wyrley, England from 9 to 12 November 2023. Antoni Kowalski beat Rory McLeod 5–3 in the final. Kowalski led 4–0 and although McLeod won the next three frames, Kowalski won frame eight to clinch the match.[6] The final-day results are given below.[16]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames
Final
Best of 9 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
England Harvey Chandler4
 
 
 
Ukraine Iulian Boiko0
 
England Harvey Chandler0
 
 
 
Jamaica Rory McLeod4
 
England Sydney Wilson0
 
 
 
Jamaica Rory McLeod4
 
Jamaica Rory McLeod3
 
 
 
Poland Antoni Kowalski5
 
England Craig Steadman2
 
 
 
Poland Antoni Kowalski4
 
Poland Antoni Kowalski4
 
 
 
England Steven Hallworth1
 
England Tom Maxfield1
 
 
England Steven Hallworth4
 

Event 5

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The fifth UK/Europe event took place at the Castle Snooker Club, Brighton, England from 15 to 17 December 2023. Michael Holt beat Daniel Womersley 5–1 in the final to win his second UK/Europe Q Tour event of the season. His closest match was in the semi-finals where he won the deciding frame against Barry Pinches.[7] The final-day results are given below.[17]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames
Final
Best of 9 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
England Peter Lines1
 
 
 
England Barry Pinches4
 
England Barry Pinches3
 
 
 
England Michael Holt4
 
England Michael Holt4
 
 
 
England Hayden Staniland1
 
England Michael Holt5
 
 
 
England Daniel Womersley1
 
England Luke Pinches3
 
 
 
England Daniel Womersley4
 
England Daniel Womersley4
 
 
 
Scotland Chris Totten0
 
Scotland Chris Totten4
 
 
England Mark Lloyd1
 

Event 6

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The sixth UK/Europe event took place at the National Snooker Academy of Bulgaria in Sofia from 5 to 7 January 2024. Michael Holt beat Alfie Davies 5–4 in the final to win his third UK/Europe Q Tour event of the season and secure his return to the main tour. Davies led 4–2 before Holt won the final three frames, which included breaks of 140 in frame seven and 128 in the last frame.[8] The final-day results are given below.[18]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames
Final
Best of 9 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
England Harvey Chandler4
 
 
 
Wales Duane Jones2
 
England Harvey Chandler1
 
 
 
Wales Alfie Davies4
 
Wales Alfie Davies4
 
 
 
Wales Liam Davies0
 
Wales Alfie Davies4
 
 
 
England Michael Holt5
 
England Michael Holt4
 
 
 
Hong Kong Yu Kiu Chang1
 
England Michael Holt4
 
 
 
England Matthew Glasby2
 
England Steven Hallworth3
 
 
England Matthew Glasby4
 

Event 7

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The seventh UK/Europe event took place at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds from 16 to 18 February 2024. Peter Lines beat Umut Dikme 5–1 in the final. Lines had been 3–1 behind in his semi-final match against Harvey Chandler but won the final three frames.[9] The final-day results are given below.[19]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames
Final
Best of 9 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
England Harvey Chandler4
 
 
 
England Haydon Pinhey1
 
England Harvey Chandler3
 
 
 
England Peter Lines4
 
England Peter Lines4
 
 
 
Ukraine Iulian Boiko1
 
England Peter Lines5
 
 
 
Germany Umut Dikme1
 
Wales Duane Jones4
 
 
 
England Phil O’Kane1
 
Wales Duane Jones1
 
 
 
Germany Umut Dikme4
 
Germany Umut Dikme4
 
 
Wales Tyler Rees3
 

Q Tour Global

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The Q Tour Global consisted of three regional Q Tour series held outside the UK/Europe area.[1] Initially it was intended that up to eight players would qualify through the regional events for the Q Tour Global Playoff.[2] However, this was later reduced to six, two from each of the regional series.[10]

Asia-Pacific series

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Two players qualified from a series of three events organised by the Asia-Pacific Snooker and Billiards Federation, one in New Zealand and two in Australia.[10][20][21] Vinnie Calabrese, who won the two Australian events, finished in first place in the rankings and Rob Redgrove, the winner of the New Zealand event, finished second.[22]

The schedule for the three Q Tour Asia-Pacific events is given below.

Date Country Tournament Venue City Field Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
28 Sep 1 Oct  NZL New Zealand Snooker Open Championship The Richmond Club Christchurch 45 New Zealand Rob Redgrove New Zealand Adam Shaw 5–4 [23]
12 Oct 15 Oct  AUS Bob Hawke AC Memorial Australian Open Snooker Championship Mounties Club Sydney 111 Australia Vinnie Calabrese Australia Steve Mifsud 6–3 [24]
25 Jan 28 Jan  AUS Dr Clem Jones AO Queensland Open Snooker Championship Matchroom Snooker Centre Brisbane 71 Australia Vinnie Calabrese Australia Adrian Law 5–3 [22]

Americas series

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Two players qualified from a series of two events organised by the Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association.[10] The winners of the two events, Vito Puopolo and Hasanain Khalid Alsultani, qualified for the playoff.[25] Initially three events were planned with separate ranking lists for North America and South America.[26] The South American event was still held, in Brazil in March 2024, but became the first event of the 2024–25 series.[27]

The schedule for the two Q Tour Americas events is given below.

Date Country Tournament Venue City Field Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
19 Jan 21 Jan  CAN Event 1 The Corner Bank Toronto 22 Canada Vito Puopolo Canada Jason Williams 5–1 [28]
22 Feb 25 Feb  USA Event 2 PABSA Academy San Jose 28 United States Hasanain Khalid Alsultani United States Sargon Isaac 5–4 [25]

Middle East series

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Two players qualified from a series of three events, organised by the UAE Cue Sports and played in Abu Dhabi.[10][29] Amir Sarkhosh, who won the first two events, finished in first place in the rankings while Mohamed Shehab, the winner of the final event, finished in second place.[30]

The schedule for the three Q Tour Middle East events is given below.

Date Country Tournament Venue City Field Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
4 Jan 9 Jan  UAE Event 1 Cue Sports Academy Abu Dhabi 31 Iran Amir Sarkhosh Bahrain Habib Humood 4–0 [31]
11 Jan 17 Jan  UAE Event 2 Cue Sports Academy Abu Dhabi 36 Iran Amir Sarkhosh United Arab Emirates Mohamed Shehab 4–3 [32]
18 Jan 24 Jan  UAE Event 3 Cue Sports Academy Abu Dhabi 36 United Arab Emirates Mohamed Shehab Syria Yazan Alhaddad 4–0 [30]

Q Tour Playoff

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The final event, the WPBSA Q Tour Playoff, was held at the Hotel Hills, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 13 to 15 March. The event saw 24 players compete for a further three places on the main tour. Eighteen players qualified for the playoff through the Q Tour UK/Europe rankings, with six players qualifying through Q Tour Global, two from each of the three series.[10] The two qualifiers from the Asia-Pacific series withdrew and were replaced by the next two players from the Q Tour UK/Europe rankings.[11]

Playoff 1

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Duane Jones qualified from the first group after beating Liam Davies 10–9 in the group final. Jones led 6–3 after the first session of the final, but Davies won six of the next seven frames to lead 9–7. However Jones then won the last three frames to win the match. In his semi-final match against Florian Nuessle, Jones lost the first three frames but then won the next six.[33] The results for the first group are given below.[34]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
Final
Best of 19 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
Wales Liam Davies5
 
 
 
England Peter Devlin2
 
Wales Liam Davies6
 
 
 
Jamaica Rory McLeod1
 
England Hamim Hussain2
 
 
 
Jamaica Rory McLeod5
 
Wales Liam Davies9
 
 
 
Wales Duane Jones10
 
Wales Duane Jones5
 
 
 
Canada Vito Puopolo0
 
Wales Duane Jones6
 
 
 
Austria Florian Nuessle3
 
Austria Florian Nuessle5
 
 
England Craig Steadman2
 

Playoff 2

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Amir Sarkhosh won the second group after defeating Iulian Boiko 10–8 in the group final. Sarkhosh led 6–3 after the first session and increased his lead to 9–5. Boiko won the next three frames before Sarkhosh won frame 18 to win the match.[33] The results for the second group are given below.[35]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
Final
Best of 19 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
England Peter Lines3
 
 
 
Wales Tyler Rees5
 
Wales Tyler Rees1
 
 
 
Ukraine Iulian Boiko6
 
Scotland Chris Totten1
 
 
 
Ukraine Iulian Boiko5
 
Ukraine Iulian Boiko8
 
 
 
Iran Amir Sarkhosh10
 
England Barry Pinches2
 
 
 
England Steven Hallworth5
 
England Steven Hallworth2
 
 
 
Iran Amir Sarkhosh6
 
Iran Amir Sarkhosh5
 
 
England Harvey Chandler4
 

Playoff 3

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Mohamed Shehab won the second group after defeating Yu Kiu Chang 10–8 in the group final. Shehab led 6–3 after the first session. Chang reduced the deficit to one frame at the final session interval but Shehab won three of the next five frames to win the match.[33] The results for the third group are given below.[36]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames
Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames
Final
Best of 19 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
Germany Umut Dikme5
 
 
 
England Ryan Davies1
 
Germany Umut Dikme5
 
 
 
United Arab Emirates Mohamed Shehab6
 
United Arab Emirates Mohamed Shehab5
 
 
 
England Daniel Womersley0
 
United Arab Emirates Mohamed Shehab10
 
 
 
Hong Kong Yu Kiu Chang8
 
Wales Alfie Davies3
 
 
 
Hong Kong Yu Kiu Chang5
 
Hong Kong Yu Kiu Chang6
 
 
 
Poland Antoni Kowalski4
 
United States Hasanain Khalid Alsultani0
 
 
Poland Antoni Kowalski5
 

References

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  1. ^ a b c "WPBSA Q Tour Goes Global for 2023/24!". WPBSA. 17 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Pathway to the World Snooker Tour" (PDF). WPBSA. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Davies Downs Steadman for Q Tour Title". WPBSA. 27 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Holt secures Q Tour success in Stockholm". WPBSA. 17 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b "German Glory! Dikme Wins Q Tour Event on Home Soil". WPBSA. 22 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Champion Kowalski Claims Landywood Q Tour Title". WPBSA. 12 November 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Holt Secures Second Q Tour Triumph of the Season". WPBSA. 17 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Holt Wins Thriller in Sofia to Seal Main Tour Return". WPBSA. 7 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Peter Lines Lifts Q Tour Title in Leeds". WPBSA. 18 February 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Qualification Criteria Set For Q Tour Global Play-Off". WPBSA. 25 January 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Q Tour Global Play-Off - Draw & Preview". WPBSA. 5 March 2024.
  12. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 WPBSA Q Tour UK/Europe Rankings". WPBSA.
  13. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Event One - Matches". WPBSA. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  14. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Event Two - Matches". WPBSA. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  15. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Event Three - Matches". WPBSA. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  16. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Event Four - Matches". WPBSA. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  17. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Event Five - Results". WPBSA. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  18. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Event Six - Results". WPBSA. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  19. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Event Seven - Results". WPBSA. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Asia-Pacific region to join Q Tour Global". WPBSA. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  21. ^ "Asia-Pacific Region to Join Q Tour Global". APSBF. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  22. ^ a b "Vinnie Calabrese wins back-To-back Q Tour titles". WPBSA. 29 January 2024.
  23. ^ "Redgrove wins opening Asia-Pacific Q Tour event". WPBSA. 1 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Classy Calabrese claims Q Tour title in Sydney". WPBSA. 15 October 2023.
  25. ^ a b "Hasanain Khalid Alsultani Wins Q Tour Americas Title in San Jose". WPBSA. 26 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Americas region to join Q Tour Global". WPBSA. 28 October 2023.
  27. ^ "2024/25 WPBSA Q Tour Americas 1". WPBSA. 9 March 2024.
  28. ^ "Vito Victorious in First Q Tour Americas Event". WPBSA. 22 January 2024.
  29. ^ "UAE Cue Sports to host Q Tour Middle East". WPBSA. 4 November 2023.
  30. ^ a b "Mohamed Shehab Dominates Third Q Tour Middle East Event". WPBSA. 24 January 2024.
  31. ^ "Amir Sarkhosh Wins Inaugural Q Tour Middle East Title". WPBSA. 10 January 2024.
  32. ^ "Amir Sarkhosh Secures Q Tour Middle East Double". WPBSA. 17 January 2024.
  33. ^ a b c "Trio of World Snooker Tour Cards Secured in Sarajevo". WPBSA. 16 March 2024.
  34. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Playoff 1 - Matches". WPBSA. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  35. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Playoff 2 - Matches". WPBSA. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  36. ^ "World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association - 2023/24 Q Tour - Playoff 3 - Matches". WPBSA. Retrieved 5 March 2024.