QUALIFICATION CRITERIA FOR THE WORLD PLAY-OFFS IN THE Q TOUR
With great pleasure, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) announces the method by which the twenty-four player field for the recently reopened Global Q Tour Play-Off will be filled.
From March 13–15, 2024, Bosnia & Herzegovina will host the esteemed tournament, which will coincide with the EBSA European Championships. This will mark the first time that three spots on the World Snooker Tour will be up for grabs starting with the 2024–2025 season.
18 players from the Q Tour UK/Europe Rankings will definitely make it to the playoffs, up from the minimum of 16 players that was initially declared at the beginning of the season.
To complete the 24-player lineup in Bosnia and Herzegovina, two players from each of the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Americas series will join them.
There’s still plenty to play for, with events taking place all across the world. This is a summary of the
Michael Holt has an unstoppable lead at the top of the rankings and has already guaranteed his spot on the World Snooker Tour for the 2024–2025 season after winning three of the six Q Tour UK/Europe tournaments so far this season.
But there’s still a lot to play for, as the top 19 positions in the ranking will earn 18 spots in the Global Play-Off.
There is barely 1,000 points separating the players ranked between 11th and 28th in the current ranking list, so for those further down the list, it will undoubtedly be a nerve-wracking weekend in Leeds. Past event champions Liam Davies, Umut Dikme, and Antoni Kowalski are already guaranteed qualification.
Amir Sarkhosh of Iran dominated the first two Middle East series events. He won back-to-back events in January, defeating Mohamed Shehab (4-3) and Habib Humood (4-0) in the finals to guarantee his spot in the Global Play-Off, regardless of the outcome of the third event.
Sarkhosh’s first-round exit in event three meant a new winner would have to be chosen in Abu Dhabi, and that person was Shehab. Shehab had trailed 3-0 in the event two final before losing to the Iranian, but she made amends by defeating Yazan Alhaddad in the final and taking the second spot that was open in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
After winning the opening tournament in Toronto, Canadian Vito Puopolo is presently ranked first in the Americas.
Playing at the Crucible Theatre during the previous year’s World Seniors Championship, Puopolo defeated Alan Whitfield, Charlie Brown, and Matt Fifield to go to the final, where he faced fellow citizen Jason Williams.
Puopolo was once again dominant in the title match, surging into a 4-0 lead and eventually defeating Williams 5-1 to capture the event one trophy. He had dropped just one frame on his way to the final.
Williams and Puopolo are presently in the Global Play-Off qualifying spots, but there is still plenty of competition left in the USA and Brazil.
The top two spots on the Q Tour Asia-Pacific ranking list are occupied by players who have earned maximum points in one of the two events that have been staged thus far, and zero points in the other. The competition is still fierce at the top.
Rob Redgrove was victorious in the final frame decider of Event One, which was held in September and October in New Zealand, to take the lead in the race to Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The victor of the second event, which took place in Sydney, was former main tour professional Vinnie Calabrese. Calabrese won the championship by defeating Steve Mifsud 6-3 in the championship match after charging past an amazing field of 111 players.
Currently, Redgrove and Calabrese are located in the
