This is a seriously weird situation.
A week ago, 133 players from 36 countries were in line to compete. Now, just 59 players from 20 countries hope to win the two-year tour card.
We all know the elephant in the room. It quite serious and let’s be honest, it is amazing the event is holding up at all, especially the Gibraltar Open and the Players Championship too. There is a lot to talk about the Gibraltar Open and its circumstances, but we could be all day More importantly, I hope everyone reading this are coping well in not a very good situation with the recent coronavirus outbreak and are being sensible and safe.
There were three tournaments before this event even took place! So let’s take a look:
The U18 and U21 Tournaments
The competition in the U18 event is fierce. So much so that hot prospects Robbie McGuigan, Dean Young and Iulian Boiko failed to make the quarter-finals! In the end, Aaron Hill won the U18 category for the second time in a row. The Irishman lost just two frames in total during the knockout rounds and whitewashed Belgian Ben Mertens in the semi-finals. Hill, who defeated Kyren Wilson in the 2020 Shoot-Out, defeated WSF Junior Open finalist Sean Maddocks 4-1 to defend his title.
Amazingly, Aaron Hill succeeded in the U21 event! After defeating compatriot Ross Bulman, Englishman Mark Lloyd and Merten (again), hill clinched the U21 by beating Hayden Staniland 5-2. Therefore, Hill won the two-year professional card for next season. This will be a huge relief for Irish snooker, after relying on Ken Doherty and Fergal O’Brien for so long. It’s been a while since an Irishman broke the snooker scene, as recently, Vincent Muldoon, David Morris and Josh Boileau failed to make the cut. Here’s a recent article about him by clicking here.
There is also the 6reds European Championship as well. 14-year-old Iulian Boiko beats 53-year-old former professional Darren Morgan in the final to win the European 6reds Snooker Championships. Iulian, the WSF Open finalist, will have a very bright future indeed.
The Main Championship
There is still a lot of talk about. Not as much as initially thought, but oh well. This year, only one player can add their name to the list of former European champions who have gone to greater things in professional snooker. These names include Robin Hull (1997 & 2013), Mark Allen (2004), Luca Brecel (2010) and Scott Donaldson (2012).
Let’s look at the list of former professionals hoping to get back on tour. Rory McLeod, Sanderson Lam, Ross Muir and Andrew Pagett, though a number decided to withdraw. That is an impressive list and would total up a good number of Crucible appearances between them.
From the U18 and U21 events, we already mentioned Hill, Maddocks, Mertens, Boiko, Connor Benzey and Antoni Kowalski. Now we have Tyler Rees, Dylan Emery, Ben Hancorn, Heikki Niva, Kevin Hanssens Brian Ochoiski and Florian Nüßle into the fray. There is a lot of talent in the draw despite what’s happened. I now hope winning the tournament makes all make it worthwhile to the victor. Good luck to all players and staff involved.
The draw, scores, breaks and knockout rounds can be found here. The event will take place between Tuesday 17th – Thursday 19th March.
