By Elliott West
“I have been practising more than at any time in the last 20 years and I have really got the love of the game back. I have a table at home and I’m using some of the practice methods I used many years ago, working on my long potting and cue action. And I haven’t lost the thrill that comes with playing in tournaments.”
Tony Knowles
Introduction
The time is rapidly approaching when over 200 players will make their way through the doors of Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield to compete for a place on the main snooker tour via Q School. Made up of three events, each of which lasting six days, this group of sportsmen will compete for one of the limited 14 places available.
The Dream
Running from May 27th until June 13th, a multitude of players will take part including players who have just fallen off the tour such as Ian Burns, Jackson Page, Soheil Vahedi, James Cahill, Yuan Sijun, Duane Jones, Luo Honghao, Daniel Wells, Peter Lines and new World Seniors champion David Lilley.
There will also be some familiar faces taking part, the former World Shootout champion, Michael Georgiou, the legend that is Tony Knowles, who last took part in this qualification process in 2017 and a blast from the past, Dean Reynolds and very talented Welsh player, Michael White. Each hasn’t lost that burning ambition to succeed and clearly miss the cut and thrust of competing on the main circuit. Losing your place on the tour, can be a bitter pill to swallow and so it’s great to see these players pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start again. They are too good to remain in the snooker wilderness for long and no player loses that natural talent that first brought them into the game in the first place.
Look out for some new and exciting players who you may not have heard of or ever seen play. These include, up and-coming European cuemen Ben Mertens, Florian Nuessle, Brian Ochoiski, Julien LeClercq and Antoni Kowalski.Also promising British talent such as Robbie McGuigan, Westley Cooper, Dylan Emery, Peter Geronimo and Stan Moody.
You will also see a player from the women’s tour. Currently ranked number four, Rebecca Kenna is a player that I have had high hopes for, for a while. She impressed me in her performance in the recent World Championship qualifiers and was definitely the strongest of the players from the women’s tour that went to English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. She is a fearless player and doesn’t mind who she draws against. I wish her well because she certainly deserves a crack at the big time.
A separate ranking list will be compiled during Q School with players earning one point for every frame won. During the 2021/2022 season, should the number of entries in any WST event fall below the required number of entrants, subject to wildcards and commercial agreements, the highest ranked players from the Q School ranking list will be used to top up to the required number of entrants.
Further opportunities may become available for the top 32 players on the Order of Merit who do not qualify for the Tour, on the WPBSA Q Tour. This remains subject to the easing of travel and Covid restrictions.
Summary
As they say ‘fortune favours the brave’ and this year’s Q School is no exception. All those players taking part, want a slice of the main tour and are hungry in ambition to achieve this goal. It will not be an easy task with the limited number of places available and the hoops they will have jump through to get to the finishing line. All have that natural talent, that few possess. This already makes them stand out from the rest. All they need to do now is to seal it with the required wins to book their place on the main tour and receive that two year golden ticket.
