The Q School gauntlet has started again. A staple in the calendar since 2011, Q School provides amateurs and relegated professionals a crack to get into the professional ranks. 172 players have entered the series of tournaments. They represent a diverse range of countries including Australia, Poland, China, Malaysia, Russia, Gibraltar, Ukraine, Pakistan, France, and Japan.
There are slight changes to how Q School operates this year. 12 spots are available, compared to last year’s 16, so no Order of Merit places available. The most dramatic are the length of matches. Usually, all matches are a BO7. This time, Round 1 and Round 2 are BO5 matches instead. Lastly, the schedule is different. Round 1 and Round 2 of each of the three events are played between 3rd – 6th August. From 7th – 9th, each event will resume from Round 3.
Even if these players fail to succeed in Q School, there is an extra incentive for doing well in these events. The best 32 players will be invited onto the new Q Tour next season, where there will be more tournaments and two extra places available.
As before, I will separate players from those itching for an immediate return, those who want another crack in the big league and those who want to make their professional debut. There is a huge amount of talent in these draws and this tournament is extremely unforgiving.
Is Q School successful though? If you wish to hear my analysis of that, please click here.
The Relegated Professionals
Just to name a few:
Adam Stefanow, Chen Feilong, John Astley, Thor Chuan Leong, Alfie Burden, Fan Zhengyi, Michael White, Hammad Miah, Oliver Lines, Craig Steadman, Sam Baird, Kishan Hirani, Harvey Chandler and Michael Georgiou.
It’s madness that not all of these players will be on the tour next year. Michael White has won two ranking events, broke into Top 16 and reached the World Championship quarter-finals in 2013. It’s criminal to see White even at Q School given his calibre. Michael Georgiou won the Snooker Shoot-Out two years ago. There are other players who we expect to have made more in the games by now, such as Sam Baird, Oliver Lines and Alfie Burden. Burden had erred about possible retirement before and I cannot wait to see him take this opportunity to get on tour again.
One could argue that they have a slight advantage over the majority of the draw. They will be fairly fresh from the World Championship Qualifiers and are more experienced than most at coping with pressure. Craig Steadman has qualified via Q School three separate times already! But with BO5 and BO7 matches, a lot of things can happen.
The Former Professionals
There are plenty of former pros here, but here are a selection:
Jamie Jones, Paul Davison, Rory McLeod, Leo Fernandez, Sydney Wilson, Kuldesh Johal, Chris Totten, Steven Hallworth, Ross Muir, Jamie Curtis-Barrett, Adam Duffy, Sean O’Sullivan and Reanne Evans.
Jamie Jones will no doubt be the name that people will be looking out for. Jones achieved a lot when he was a professional. His highest ranking was No. 29, he reached two ranking semi-finals and the World Championship quarter-finals in 2012. Unfortunately, he was suspended after he was accused of being part of a plan to fix a 2016 match between fellow Welshman David John and Graeme Dott. Though he wasn’t found guilty of match-fixing, he was suspended for failing to report that corrupt approach, which caused him to fall off the tour. Now, with the worst year of his life behind him, Jones is now looking for another attempt to get back on tour, having attempted to do so at the 2020 WSF Open.
There are a few who already played in the Challenge Tour Play-Offs as well as the World Championship Qualifiers. Rory McLeod and Adam Duffy will benefit from all of that valuable matchplay. Paul Davison, 2020 EBSA European Snooker Championship semi-finalist Ross Muir and 12-time Women’s champion Reanne Evans also played in the Qualifiers.
The Fresh-Faced Amateurs
Now we have some of the hot prospects who hope to become a professional snooker for the first time:
Ben Mertens, Lin Shuai, Brian Ochoiski, Ryan Davies, Florian Nüßle, Tyler Rees, Dylan Emery, Paul Deaville, Ben Hancorn, Hayden Staniland, Antoni Kowalski, Wu Yize, Dean Young, Robbie McGuigan and Ross Bulman.
Kowalski, Mertens, Staniland and Wu already showed in the World Championship Qualifiers that they will have a very bright future in snooker. 15 year-old Mertens impressed many by knocking out James Cahill, who defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round of the World Championship last year, in the first qualifying round. But Wu deserves credit for beating Ashley Hugill and Robbie Williams too.
Some were already mentioned in my article on hot prospects for the future. You can read about them in more detail by clicking here. We saw many more of these youngsters during the Qualifying rounds. Emery is a 2020 WSF Open semi-finalist. Hancorn is the current English Amateur Snooker Champion. Staniland is a U21 European Snooker Championship finalist.
If you wish to see a recent interview with Tyler Rees, please click here.
But this is a large snippet. This will be a very interesting indeed.
The entire duration of Q School will run between 3rd – 9th August at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The draws for each of the three events and the format of play are all shown via this link by clicking here.
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