One of Barry Hearn's great snooker innovations begins for a second season tomorrow.
Q School gives 12 amateur players the chance to secure a coveted place on next season's professional circuit.
Four semi-finalists from each of the three events will be rewarded with a two-year tour card and the competition for places promises to be intense.
The draws are packed to the rafters with quality snooker hopefuls and if last season's maiden event is anything to go by, it will take a steely effort to make the cut.
This event is about wall-to-wall action between players who all believe they are good enough to turn professional. But now is the time to find out...
Only the very best will make it through and others will be left with their dreams unfulfilled for another year.
This is the last mad scramble for a place alongside the big boys and coping with the demands of relentlessly playing capable opponents is by no means any easy task.
It's sure to be a big test of nerve.
This great event - created by Hearn - is another example of how he's developing the game to become a level playing field.
Click here to see the draw for the first event.
And, click here to read more about the 12 players that made it through to the main tour via Q School a year ago.
Here's a run-down of who will make up next year's professional circuit...
Top 16
Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Stephen Lee, Ding Junhui, Matthew Stevens, Mark Allen, Graeme Dott, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Martin Gould, Ricky Walden and Stuart Bingham.
Players ranked 17-32
Ali Carter, Andrew Higginson, Mark Davis, Peter Ebdon, Stephen Hendry (retired and how he's replaced yet TBC), Barry Hawkins, Dominic Dale, Joe Perry, Marcus Campbell, Tom Ford, Jamie Cope, Marco Fu, Ryan Day, Jamie Jones, Mark King and Anthony Hamilton.
Players ranked 33-48
Michael Holt, Fergal O'Brien, Ken Doherty, Robert Milkins, Liang Wenbo, Rory McLeod, Jamie Burnett, Jack Lisowski, Xiao Guodong, Gerrard Greene, Ben Woollaston, Matthew Selt, Nigel Bond, Jimmy White, Joe Jogia and Dave Harold.
Players ranked 49-64
Mike Dunn, Anthony McGill, Steve Davis, Alan McManus, Peter Lines, Michael White, Jimmy Robertson, Liu Chuang, David Gilbert, Yu Delu, Mark Joyce, Alfie Burden, Andy Hicks, Adam Duffy, James Wattana and Barry Pinches.
Top 8 in the PTC Order of Merit outside the top 64
Li Yan, Passakorn Suwannawat, Simon Bedford, Dechewat Poomjaeng, Craig Steadman, Kurt Maflin, David Grace and Liam Highfield.
12 Q School qualifiers
TBC
2011 IBSF World Champion
Hossein Vafaei Ayouri
2011 IBSF World Under-21 Champion
Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon
2012 European Champion
TBC
2012 European Under-21 Champion
Michael Leslie
2012 Asian Champion
Aditya Mehta
2012 Asian Under-21 Champion
Anda Zhang (Qualifies as runner-up because winner Hossein Vafaei Ayouri already earned tour place)
China nomination
2 x TBC
Thailand nomination
TBC
India nomination
Pankaj Advani
European nomination
Luca Brecel and Tony Drago
Americas nomination
Alex Pagulayan
Africa nomination
Mohamed Khairy
Oceania nomination
TBC
Do you mind if I re-post this on my blog?
ReplyDeleteYeah sure, so long as you give me a credit and a link to the blog. What is the blog?
ReplyDeletein my opinion Hendrys place should as of rite be ocupied by the WN 65 Tony Drago therefore give a euro nom to someone else.
ReplyDelete