Q Tour

Q Tour
Tournament information
Established1994–1995
FormatProfessional (1994–2005)
Amateur (2018–present)
Recent edition2024–25 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. 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. Only four of the planned seven events were played before the series was axed due to low player participation. 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. From the 2020–21 season, the Challenge Tour was rebranded as the Q Tour.

Event finals

Season Event Winner Runner-up Final score Venue Ref.
WPBSA Minor Tour (professional non-ranking)
1994–95 Event 1 Jamie Woodman Matt Wilson 6–2 Antwerp
Event 2 Noppadon Noppachorn Sammy Chong 8–6 Khon Kaen
Event 3 John Lardner Eddie Manning 5–2 Munich
Event 4 Colin Morton Matthew Couch 6–5 Helsinki
Event 5 David Roe Tony Drago 6–3 Marsaskala
Event 6 Drew Henry Mark Williams 6–5 Beijing
UK Tour (professional non-ranking)
1997–98 Event 1 Paul McPhillips Michael Holt 6–5 Aldershot
Event 2 Mark Fenton Antony Bolsover 6–4 Stockport
Event 3 Simon Bedford Robert Milkins 6–4 Swindon
Event 4 Patrick Wallace Shaun Murphy 6–4 Stirling
Event 5 Paul Sweeny Hugh Abernethy 6–5 Newcastle-under-Lyme
1998–99 Event 1 Alfie Burden Anthony Davies 6–5 Stockport
Event 2 Joe Swail Alfie Burden 6–1 Swindon
Event 3 Stuart Bingham Matthew Couch 6–1 Swindon
Event 4 James Reynolds Jason Ferguson 6–4 Stockport
1999–2000 Event 1 Matt Wilson Barry Hawkins 6–4 Oldham
Event 2 Andrew Higginson Scott MacKenzie 6–3 Swindon
Event 3 Simon Bedford Barry Hawkins 6–5 Stockport
Event 4 Barry Hawkins Craig Butler 6–1 Swindon
Challenge Tour (professional non-ranking)
2000–01 Event 1 Adrian Rosa Surinder Gill 6–4 Swindon
Event 2 Andrew Norman Luke Fisher 6–3 Harrogate
Event 3 Shaun Murphy Andrew Norman 6–3 Swindon
Event 4 Shaun Murphy Luke Simmonds 6–2 Harrogate
2001–02 Event 1 James Reynolds Steve Judd 6–5 Harrogate
Event 2 Leo Fernandez Ryan Day 6–3 Swindon
Event 3 Lee Spick Joe Delaney 6–3 Harrogate
Event 4 David Gilbert Ryan Day 6–3 Swindon
2002–03 Event 1 Chris Melling Tom Ford 6–2 Mansfield
Event 2 Adrian Rosa Stuart Mann 6–5 Swindon
Event 3 Michael Rhodes Luke Simmonds 6–5 Swindon
Event 4 Kurt Maflin James Leadbetter 6–2 Prestatyn
2003–04 Event 1 Stefan Mazrocis Paul Davison 6–2 Prestatyn
Event 2 Hugh Abernethy Gary Wilson 6–0 Prestatyn
Event 3 Brian Salmon Steve James 6–1 Prestatyn
Event 4 Gary Wilson Jin Long 6–4 Prestatyn
2004–05 Event 1 Jamie Cope Chris Norbury 6–2 Prestatyn
Event 2 James Tatton Matthew Barnes 6–4 Prestatyn
Event 3 James McBain Mark Allen 6–3 Prestatyn
Event 4 Jamie Cope Matthew Couch 6–0 Prestatyn
Challenge Tour (amateur)
2018–19 Event 1 Brandon Sargeant Luke Simmonds 3–1 Burton upon Trent
Event 2 David Grace Mitchell Mann 3–0 Preston
Event 3 Barry Pinches Jackson Page 3–2 Riga
Event 4 Mitchell Mann Dylan Emery 3–0 Fürth
Event 5 David Lilley Brandon Sargeant 3–1 Derby
Event 6 David Grace Ben Hancorn 3–0 Lommel
Event 7 Joel Walker Jenson Kendrick 3–0 Barnsley
Event 8 Simon Bedford David Lilley 3–1 Budapest
Event 9 Adam Duffy Matthew Glasby 3–1 Sheffield
Event 10 George Pragnell Callum Lloyd 3–2 Gloucester
2019–20 Event 1 Ka Wai Cheung Oliver Brown 3–1 Nuremberg
Event 2 Jake Nicholson Andrew Pagett 3–1 Newbury
Event 3 Andrew Pagett Robbie McGuigan 3–0 Leeds
Event 4 Ashley Hugill Aaron Hill 3–1 Bruges
Event 5 Allan Taylor Michael Collumb 3–1 Leicester
Event 6 Oliver Brown Ashley Hugill 3–1 Budapest
Event 7 Dean Young Andrew Pagett 3–1 Pelt
Event 8 Lukas Kleckers Tyler Rees 3–1 Tamworth
Event 9 Ashley Hugill Sydney Wilson 3–1 Llanelli
Event 10 Adam Duffy Kuldesh Johal 3–1 Leicester
Tour Playoff Allan Taylor Adam Duffy 4–0 Sheffield
Q Tour (amateur)
2021–22 Event 1 David Lilley Si Jiahui 5–1 Brighton
Event 2 Si Jiahui Michael White 5–4 Llanelli
Event 3 Sean O'Sullivan Julien Leclercq 5–2 Leicester
Event 4 Robbie McGuigan Michael Collumb 5–3 Leeds
Playoff Julien Leclercq Alex Clenshaw 5–2 Darlington
2022–23 Event 1 Ross Muir George Pragnell 5–2 North Shields
Event 2 Martin O'Donnell George Pragnell 5–1 Brighton
Event 3 Farakh Ajaib Harvey Chandler 5–3 Mons
Event 4 Billy Castle Andrew Higginson 5–4 Stockholm
Event 5 Daniel Wells Sydney Wilson 5–2 Walsall
Event 6 Martin O'Donnell Ross Muir 5–1 Leeds
Playoff Ashley Carty Florian Nüßle 5–2 Darlington
2023–24 Event 1 Liam Davies Craig Steadman 5–2 North Shields
Event 2 Michael Holt Liam Davies 5–2 Stockholm
Event 3 Umut Dikme Hamim Hussain 5–1 Heilbronn
Event 4 Antoni Kowalski Rory McLeod 5–3 Great Wyrley
Event 5 Michael Holt Daniel Womersley 5–1 Brighton
Event 6 Michael Holt Alfie Davies 5–4 Sofia
Event 7 Peter Lines Umut Dikme 5–1 Leeds
Playoff 1 Duane Jones Liam Davies 10–9 Sarajevo
Playoff 2 Amir Sarkhosh Iulian Boiko 10–8
Playoff 3 Mohamed Shehab Yu Kiu Chang 10–8

Order of Merit winners

Season Winner
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 Ryan Day
2002–03 Martin Gould
2003–04 Brian Salmon
2004–05 Jamie Cope
Challenge Tour (amateur)
2018–19 Brandon Sargeant
2019–20 Ashley Hugill
Q Tour (amateur)
2021–22 Si Jiahui
2022–23 Martin O'Donnell
2023–24 Michael Holt

References

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  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.
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