Q Tour
Tournament information
Established1994–1995
FormatProfessional (1994–2005)
Amateur (2018–present)
Recent edition2023–24 Q Tour

The Q Tour is a series of snooker tournaments, immediately below the level of the World Snooker Main Tour.

The tour originally ran between the 1994–95 season and the 2004–05 season as professional non-ranking events. Due to the large numbers of players on tour at that time the new WPBSA Minor Tour was formed so players lower down the rankings had tournaments to play in. It was subsequently rebranded the UK Tour and then the Challenge Tour.[1] It was revived for the 2018–19 season, before being rebranded as the Q Tour for the 2021–22 season.[2][3]

History

The concept of a secondary professional tour was first experimented with in the 1994–95 season in the form of the WPBSA Minor Tour to provide competition for lower ranked professionals, but only ran for a season.[4] Due to over-subscription of the World Snooker Tour, a two-tiered tour structure was adopted from the 1997–98 season resulting in the Main Tour and the UK Tour. The Main Tour had an exclusive membership, whereas initially the whole professional membership could compete on the UK Tour and the best performers could earn promotion.[1] From the 1999–2000 season, entry was limited to players not competing on the Main Tour,[1] and from the 2001–02 season the UK Tour itself had an exclusive membership.[5] From the 2000–01 season it was rebranded the Challenge Tour.[4]

In its first season there were five events, but the number was reduced to four in the following seasons.[4] There were two official maximum breaks at the UK Tour, both in the 1998–99 season; the first was made by Stuart Bingham against Barry Hawkins in Event 3, and the second by Nick Dyson against Adrian Gunnell in Event 4.[1] The tour was discontinued after 2004–05 season.

The Pro Challenge Series was introduced for the 2009–10 season, all tour players being eligible to play.[6] Only four of the planned seven events were played before the series was axed due to low player participation.[7] The following season, 2010–11, saw the Pro Challenge Series replaced by the Players Tour Championship, a secondary tour comprising tournaments carrying ranking points, but at a much lower tariff than the major televised tournaments.

The Challenge Tour was revived in the 2018–19 season, consisting of ten events each played over one or two days, with prize money offered and a maximum field of 72 players (top 64 of the Q School Order of Merit, plus eight wildcards). The top two players from the Challenge Tour Order of Merit received a tour card for the following season.[2] From the 2020–21 season, the Challenge Tour was rebranded as the Q Tour.[3][8]

Event finals

[1][4]

Season Event Winner Runner-up Final score Venue Ref.
WPBSA Minor Tour (professional non-ranking)
1994–95 Event 1 England Jamie Woodman England Matt Wilson 6–2 Antwerp
Event 2 Thailand Noppadon Noppachorn Malaysia Sammy Chong 8–6 Khon Kaen
Event 3 Scotland John Lardner England Eddie Manning 5–2 Munich
Event 4 England Colin Morton England Matthew Couch 6–5 Helsinki
Event 5 England David Roe Malta Tony Drago 6–3 Marsaskala
Event 6 Scotland Drew Henry Wales Mark Williams 6–5 Beijing
UK Tour (professional non-ranking)
1997–98 Event 1 Scotland Paul McPhillips England Michael Holt 6–5 Aldershot
Event 2 Wales Mark Fenton England Antony Bolsover 6–4 Stockport
Event 3 England Simon Bedford England Robert Milkins 6–4 Swindon
Event 4 Northern Ireland Patrick Wallace England Shaun Murphy 6–4 Stirling
Event 5 England Paul Sweeny Scotland Hugh Abernethy 6–5 Newcastle-under-Lyme
1998–99 Event 1 England Alfie Burden Wales Anthony Davies 6–5 Stockport
Event 2 Northern Ireland Joe Swail England Alfie Burden 6–1 Swindon
Event 3 England Stuart Bingham England Matthew Couch 6–1 Swindon
Event 4 Wales James Reynolds England Jason Ferguson 6–4 Stockport
1999–2000 Event 1 England Matt Wilson England Barry Hawkins 6–4 Oldham
Event 2 England Andrew Higginson Scotland Scott MacKenzie 6–3 Swindon
Event 3 England Simon Bedford England Barry Hawkins 6–5 Stockport
Event 4 England Barry Hawkins England Craig Butler 6–1 Swindon
Challenge Tour (professional non-ranking)
2000–01 Event 1 England Adrian Rosa England Surinder Gill 6–4 Swindon
Event 2 England Andrew Norman England Luke Fisher 6–3 Harrogate
Event 3 England Shaun Murphy England Andrew Norman 6–3 Swindon
Event 4 England Shaun Murphy England Luke Simmonds 6–2 Harrogate
2001–02 Event 1 Wales James Reynolds England Steve Judd 6–5 Harrogate
Event 2 Republic of Ireland Leo Fernandez Wales Ryan Day 6–3 Swindon
Event 3 England Lee Spick Republic of Ireland Joe Delaney 6–3 Harrogate
Event 4 England David Gilbert Wales Ryan Day 6–3 Swindon
2002–03 Event 1 England Chris Melling England Tom Ford 6–2 Mansfield [9]
Event 2 England Adrian Rosa England Stuart Mann 6–5 Swindon [10]
Event 3 England Michael Rhodes England Luke Simmonds 6–5 Swindon [11]
Event 4 Norway Kurt Maflin England James Leadbetter 6–2 Prestatyn [12]
2003–04 Event 1 England Stefan Mazrocis England Paul Davison 6–2 Prestatyn [13]
Event 2 Scotland Hugh Abernethy England Gary Wilson 6–0 Prestatyn [14]
Event 3 England Brian Salmon England Steve James 6–1 Prestatyn [15]
Event 4 England Gary Wilson China Jin Long 6–4 Prestatyn [16]
2004–05 Event 1 England Jamie Cope England Chris Norbury 6–2 Prestatyn [17]
Event 2 England James Tatton England Matthew Barnes 6–4 Prestatyn [18]
Event 3 Scotland James McBain Northern Ireland Mark Allen 6–3 Prestatyn [19]
Event 4 England Jamie Cope England Matthew Couch 6–0 Prestatyn [20]
Challenge Tour (amateur)
2018–19 Event 1 England Brandon Sargeant England Luke Simmonds 3–1 Burton upon Trent
Event 2 England David Grace England Mitchell Mann 3–0 Preston
Event 3 England Barry Pinches Wales Jackson Page 3–2 Riga
Event 4 England Mitchell Mann Wales Dylan Emery 3–0 Fürth
Event 5 England David Lilley England Brandon Sargeant 3–1 Derby
Event 6 England David Grace England Ben Hancorn 3–0 Lommel
Event 7 England Joel Walker England Jenson Kendrick 3–0 Barnsley
Event 8 England Simon Bedford England David Lilley 3–1 Budapest
Event 9 England Adam Duffy England Matthew Glasby 3–1 Sheffield
Event 10 England George Pragnell Wales Callum Lloyd 3–2 Gloucester
2019–20 Event 1 Hong Kong Ka Wai Cheung England Oliver Brown 3–1 Nuremberg
Event 2 England Jake Nicholson Wales Andrew Pagett 3–1 Newbury
Event 3 Wales Andrew Pagett Northern Ireland Robbie McGuigan 3–0 Leeds
Event 4 England Ashley Hugill Republic of Ireland Aaron Hill 3–1 Bruges
Event 5 England Allan Taylor Scotland Michael Collumb 3–1 Leicester
Event 6 England Oliver Brown England Ashley Hugill 3–1 Budapest
Event 7 Scotland Dean Young Wales Andrew Pagett 3–1 Pelt
Event 8 Germany Lukas Kleckers Wales Tyler Rees 3–1 Tamworth
Event 9 England Ashley Hugill England Sydney Wilson 3–1 Llanelli
Event 10 England Adam Duffy England Kuldesh Johal 3–1 Leicester
Tour Playoff England Allan Taylor England Adam Duffy 4–0 Sheffield
Q Tour (amateur)
2021–22 Event 1 England David Lilley China Si Jiahui 5–1 Brighton
Event 2 China Si Jiahui Wales Michael White 5–4 Llanelli
Event 3 England Sean O'Sullivan Belgium Julien Leclercq 5–2 Leicester
Event 4 Northern Ireland Robbie McGuigan Scotland Michael Collumb 5–3 Leeds
Playoff Belgium Julien Leclercq England Alex Clenshaw 5–2 Darlington
2022–23 Event 1 Scotland Ross Muir England George Pragnell 5–2 North Shields
Event 2 England Martin O'Donnell England George Pragnell 5–1 Brighton
Event 3 Pakistan Farakh Ajaib England Harvey Chandler 5–3 Mons
Event 4 England Billy Castle England Andrew Higginson 5–4 Stockholm
Event 5 Wales Daniel Wells England Sydney Wilson 5–2 Walsall
Event 6 England Martin O'Donnell Scotland Ross Muir 5–1 Leeds
Playoff England Ashley Carty Austria Florian Nüßle 5–2 Darlington

Order of Merit winners

[1]

Season Winner
UK Tour (professional non-ranking)
1997–98 Scotland Paul McPhillips
1998–99 England Alfie Burden
1999–2000 England Barry Hawkins
Challenge Tour (professional non-ranking)
2000–01 England Shaun Murphy
2001–02 Wales Ryan Day
2002–03 England Martin Gould
2003–04 England Brian Salmon
2004–05 England Jamie Cope
Challenge Tour (amateur)
2018–19 England Brandon Sargeant
2019–20 England Ashley Hugill
Q Tour (amateur)
2021–22 China Si Jiahui
2022–23 England Martin O'Donnell

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "WPBSA Secondary Professional Tour". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b "World Snooker Challenge Tour 2018/19". worldsnooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b "WPBSA Q Tour Launched". WPBSA. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  4. ^ a b c d Hayton, Eric (2004). The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker. Suffolk: Rose Villa Publications. pp. Introduction, 166, 167 & 171–186. ISBN 978-0-9548549-0-4.
  5. ^ "2000 / 2001 Challenge Tour". fcsnooker. Preston, Lancashire: The Frank Callan Suite. 26 April 2002. Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  6. ^ Hendon, Dave (30 June 2009). "Pro Challenge Series Launched". Snooker Scene Blog. Snooker Scene. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  7. ^ Hendon, Dave (2 March 2010). "Pro Challenge Series Axed". Snooker Scene Blog. Snooker Scene. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  8. ^ "WPBSA Q Tour 2021/22". 10 September 2021.
  9. ^ "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event One". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-10-16. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  10. ^ "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event Two". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  11. ^ "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event Three". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-10-17. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  12. ^ "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event 4". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 1". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-04-21. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 2". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-04-21. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 3". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-03-19. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 4". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-03-19. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  17. ^ "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event One". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2004-12-09. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  18. ^ "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Two". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2005-04-05. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  19. ^ "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Three". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2005-03-22. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  20. ^ "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Four". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2005-09-04. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
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