Q Tour Explained

Tournament Name:Q Tour
Establishment:1994–1995
Format:Professional (1994–2005)
Amateur (2018–present)
Recent Edition:2023–24 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. It was revived for the 2018–19 season, before being rebranded as the Q Tour for the 2021–22 season.

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. 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. From the 1999–2000 season, entry was limited to players not competing on the Main Tour, and from the 2001–02 season the UK Tour itself had an exclusive membership.[1] From the 2000–01 season it was rebranded the Challenge Tour.

In its first season there were five events, but the number was reduced to four in the following seasons. 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. 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.[2] Only four of the planned seven events were played before the series was axed due to low player participation.[3] 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.[4] From the 2020–21 season, the Challenge Tour was rebranded as the Q Tour.[5] [6]

Event finals

[7]

SeasonEventWinnerRunner-upFinal scoreVenueRef.
WPBSA Minor Tour (professional non-ranking)
1994–95 Event 1 6–2
Event 2 8–6
Event 3 5–2
Event 4 6–5
Event 5 6–3
Event 6 6–5
UK Tour (professional non-ranking)
1997–98 Event 1 6–5
Event 2 6–4
Event 3 6–4
Event 4 6–4
Event 5 6–5
1998–99 Event 1 6–5
Event 2 6–1
Event 3 6–1
Event 4 6–4
1999–2000 Event 1 6–4
Event 2 6–3
Event 3 6–5
Event 4 6–1
Challenge Tour (professional non-ranking)
2000–01 Event 1 6–4
Event 2 6–3
Event 3 6–3
Event 4 6–2
2001–02 Event 1 Steve Judd 6–5
Event 2 6–3
Event 3 6–3
Event 4 6–3
2002–03 Event 1 6–2 [8]
Event 2 6–5 [9]
Event 3 6–5 [10]
Event 4 6–2 [11]
2003–04 Event 1 6–2 [12]
Event 2 6–0 [13]
Event 3 6–1 [14]
Event 4 6–4 [15]
2004–05 Event 1 6–2 [16]
Event 2 6–4 [17]
Event 3 6–3 [18]
Event 4 6–0 [19]
Challenge Tour (amateur)
Event 1 3–1
Event 2 3–0
Event 3 3–2
Event 4 3–0
Event 5 3–1
Event 6 3–0
Event 7 3–0
Event 8 3–1
Event 9 3–1
Event 10 3–2
Event 1 3–1
Event 2 3–1
Event 3 3–0
Event 4 3–1
Event 5 3–1
Event 6 3–1
Event 7 3–1
Event 8 3–1
Event 9 3–1
Event 10 3–1
Tour Playoff 4–0
Q Tour (amateur)
2021–22Event 1 David Lilley Si Jiahui5–1Brighton
Event 2 Si Jiahui Michael White5–4Llanelli
Event 3 Sean O'Sullivan Julien Leclercq5–2Leicester
Event 4 Robbie McGuigan Michael Collumb5–3Leeds
Playoff Julien Leclercq Alex Clenshaw5–2Darlington
2022–23Event 1 Ross Muir George Pragnell5–2North Shields
Event 2 Martin O'Donnell George Pragnell5–1Brighton
Event 3 Farakh Ajaib Harvey Chandler5–3Mons
Event 4 Billy Castle Andrew Higginson5–4Stockholm
Event 5 Daniel Wells Sydney Wilson5–2Walsall
Event 6 Martin O'Donnell Ross Muir5–1Leeds
Playoff Florian Nüßle5–2Darlington
2023–24Event 1 Liam Davies Craig Steadman5–2North Shields
Event 2 Michael Holt Liam Davies5–2Stockholm
Event 3 Umut Dikme Hamim Hussain5–1Heilbronn
Event 4 Antoni Kowalski Rory McLeod5–3Great Wyrley
Event 5 Michael Holt Daniel Womersley5–1Brighton
Event 6 Michael Holt Alfie Davies5–4Sofia
Event 7 Peter Lines Umut Dikme5–1Leeds
Playoff 1 Liam Davies10–9Sarajevo
Playoff 2 Iulian Boiko10–8
Playoff 3 Yu Kiu Chang10–8

Order of Merit winners

[20]

SeasonWinner
UK Tour (professional non-ranking)
1997–98 Paul McPhillips
1998–99 Alfie Burden
1999–2000 Barry Hawkins
Challenge Tour (professional non-ranking)
2000–01 Shaun Murphy
2001–02
2002–03 Martin Gould
2003–04 Brian Salmon
2004–05 Jamie Cope
Challenge Tour (amateur)
Brandon Sargeant
Ashley Hugill
Q Tour (amateur)
Si Jiahui
Martin O'Donnell
Michael Holt

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2000 / 2001 Challenge Tour . 26 April 2002 . fcsnooker . The Frank Callan Suite . Preston, Lancashire . 15 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101010165355/http://www.fcsnooker.co.uk/Players/Challenge_tour/challenge_tour_intro.htm . 2010-10-10 . dead .
  2. Web site: Hendon . Dave . Pro Challenge Series Launched . 30 June 2009 . Snooker Scene Blog . Snooker Scene . 29 January 2012.
  3. Web site: Hendon . Dave . Pro Challenge Series Axed . 2 March 2010 . Snooker Scene Blog . Snooker Scene . 29 January 2012.
  4. Web site: World Snooker Challenge Tour 2018/19. worldsnooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 February 2018. 26 May 2018.
  5. Web site: 2020-07-21. WPBSA Q Tour Launched. 2021-07-22. WPBSA. en-GB.
  6. Web site: WPBSA Q Tour 2021/22. https://web.archive.org/web/20210910123147/https://wst.tv/wpbsa-q-tour-2021/. dead. September 10, 2021. 10 September 2021.
  7. Book: Hayton, Eric . The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker . 2004 . Rose Villa Publications . Suffolk . 978-0-9548549-0-4 . Introduction, 166, 167 & 171–186.
  8. Web site: 2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event One . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061016042129/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/02CT1.htm . 2006-10-16 . dead .
  9. Web site: 2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event Two . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060905220857/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/02CT2.htm . 2006-09-05 . dead .
  10. Web site: 2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event Three . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061017150139/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/02CT3.htm . 2006-10-17 . dead .
  11. Web site: 2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event 4 . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060905180822/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/02ct4.htm . 2006-09-05 . dead .
  12. Web site: Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 1 . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060421053834/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res_03_4/03CT1.htm . 2006-04-21 . dead .
  13. Web site: Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 2 . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060421053840/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res_03_4/03CT2.htm . 2006-04-21 . dead .
  14. Web site: Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 3 . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060319221611/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res_03_4/03-4CT3.htm . 2006-03-19 . dead .
  15. Web site: Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 4 . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060319221617/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res_03_4/03-4CT4.htm . 2006-03-19 . dead .
  16. Web site: 2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event One . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20041209030334/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res04_5/04-5CT1.htm . 2004-12-09 . dead .
  17. Web site: 2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Two . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050405140119/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res04_5/04-5CT2.htm . 2005-04-05 . dead .
  18. Web site: 2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Three . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050322013616/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res04_5/04-5CT3.htm . 2005-03-22 . dead .
  19. Web site: 2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Four . Global Snooker Centre . 10 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050904190420/http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Results/res04_5/04-5CT4.htm . 2005-09-04 . dead .
  20. Web site: WPBSA Secondary Professional Tour. https://web.archive.org/web/20120228200859/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/challenge.html. 28 February 2012. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. 8 May 2010.