Q Tour

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

Q Tour
Tournament information
Established1994–1995
FormatProfessional (1994–2005)
Amateur (2018–present)
Recent edition2023–24 Q 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)
1994–95Event 1England Jamie WoodmanEngland Matt Wilson6–2Antwerp
Event 2Thailand Noppadon NoppachornMalaysia Sammy Chong8–6Khon Kaen
Event 3Scotland John LardnerEngland Eddie Manning5–2Munich
Event 4England Colin MortonEngland Matthew Couch6–5Helsinki
Event 5England David RoeMalta Tony Drago6–3Marsaskala
Event 6Scotland Drew HenryWales Mark Williams6–5Beijing
UK Tour (professional non-ranking)
1997–98Event 1Scotland Paul McPhillipsEngland Michael Holt6–5Aldershot
Event 2Wales Mark FentonEngland Antony Bolsover6–4Stockport
Event 3England Simon BedfordEngland Robert Milkins6–4Swindon
Event 4Northern Ireland Patrick WallaceEngland Shaun Murphy6–4Stirling
Event 5England Paul SweenyScotland Hugh Abernethy6–5Newcastle-under-Lyme
1998–99Event 1England Alfie BurdenWales Anthony Davies6–5Stockport
Event 2Northern Ireland Joe SwailEngland Alfie Burden6–1Swindon
Event 3England Stuart BinghamEngland Matthew Couch6–1Swindon
Event 4Wales James ReynoldsEngland Jason Ferguson6–4Stockport
1999–2000Event 1England Matt WilsonEngland Barry Hawkins6–4Oldham
Event 2England Andrew HigginsonScotland Scott MacKenzie6–3Swindon
Event 3England Simon BedfordEngland Barry Hawkins6–5Stockport
Event 4England Barry HawkinsEngland Craig Butler6–1Swindon
Challenge Tour (professional non-ranking)
2000–01Event 1England Adrian RosaEngland Surinder Gill6–4Swindon
Event 2England Andrew NormanEngland Luke Fisher6–3Harrogate
Event 3England Shaun MurphyEngland Andrew Norman6–3Swindon
Event 4England Shaun MurphyEngland Luke Simmonds6–2Harrogate
2001–02Event 1Wales James ReynoldsEngland Steve Judd6–5Harrogate
Event 2Republic of Ireland Leo FernandezWales Ryan Day6–3Swindon
Event 3England Lee SpickRepublic of Ireland Joe Delaney6–3Harrogate
Event 4England David GilbertWales Ryan Day6–3Swindon
2002–03Event 1England Chris MellingEngland Tom Ford6–2Mansfield[9]
Event 2England Adrian RosaEngland Stuart Mann6–5Swindon[10]
Event 3England Michael RhodesEngland Luke Simmonds6–5Swindon[11]
Event 4Norway Kurt MaflinEngland James Leadbetter6–2Prestatyn[12]
2003–04Event 1England Stefan MazrocisEngland Paul Davison6–2Prestatyn[13]
Event 2Scotland Hugh AbernethyEngland Gary Wilson6–0Prestatyn[14]
Event 3England Brian SalmonEngland Steve James6–1Prestatyn[15]
Event 4England Gary WilsonChina Jin Long6–4Prestatyn[16]
2004–05Event 1England Jamie CopeEngland Chris Norbury6–2Prestatyn[17]
Event 2England James TattonEngland Matthew Barnes6–4Prestatyn[18]
Event 3Scotland James McBainNorthern Ireland Mark Allen6–3Prestatyn[19]
Event 4England Jamie CopeEngland Matthew Couch6–0Prestatyn[20]
Challenge Tour (amateur)
2018–19Event 1England Brandon SargeantEngland Luke Simmonds3–1Burton upon Trent
Event 2England David GraceEngland Mitchell Mann3–0Preston
Event 3England Barry PinchesWales Jackson Page3–2Riga
Event 4England Mitchell MannWales Dylan Emery3–0Fürth
Event 5England David LilleyEngland Brandon Sargeant3–1Derby
Event 6England David GraceEngland Ben Hancorn3–0Lommel
Event 7England Joel WalkerEngland Jenson Kendrick3–0Barnsley
Event 8England Simon BedfordEngland David Lilley3–1Budapest
Event 9England Adam DuffyEngland Matthew Glasby3–1Sheffield
Event 10England George PragnellWales Callum Lloyd3–2Gloucester
2019–20Event 1Hong Kong Ka Wai CheungEngland Oliver Brown3–1Nuremberg
Event 2England Jake NicholsonWales Andrew Pagett3–1Newbury
Event 3Wales Andrew PagettNorthern Ireland Robbie McGuigan3–0Leeds
Event 4England Ashley HugillRepublic of Ireland Aaron Hill3–1Bruges
Event 5England Allan TaylorScotland Michael Collumb3–1Leicester
Event 6England Oliver BrownEngland Ashley Hugill3–1Budapest
Event 7Scotland Dean YoungWales Andrew Pagett3–1Pelt
Event 8Germany Lukas KleckersWales Tyler Rees3–1Tamworth
Event 9England Ashley HugillEngland Sydney Wilson3–1Llanelli
Event 10England Adam DuffyEngland Kuldesh Johal3–1Leicester
Tour PlayoffEngland Allan TaylorEngland Adam Duffy4–0Sheffield
Q Tour (amateur)
2021–22Event 1England David LilleyChina Si Jiahui5–1Brighton
Event 2China Si JiahuiWales Michael White5–4Llanelli
Event 3England Sean O'SullivanBelgium Julien Leclercq5–2Leicester
Event 4Northern Ireland Robbie McGuiganScotland Michael Collumb5–3Leeds
PlayoffBelgium Julien LeclercqEngland Alex Clenshaw5–2Darlington
2022–23Event 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)
1997–98Scotland Paul McPhillips
1998–99England Alfie Burden
1999–2000England Barry Hawkins
Challenge Tour (professional non-ranking)
2000–01England Shaun Murphy
2001–02Wales Ryan Day
2002–03England Martin Gould
2003–04England Brian Salmon
2004–05England Jamie Cope
Challenge Tour (amateur)
2018–19England Brandon Sargeant
2019–20England Ashley Hugill
Q Tour (amateur)
2021–22China Si Jiahui
2022–23England Martin O'Donnell

References
  1. "WPBSA Secondary Professional Tour". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  2. "World Snooker Challenge Tour 2018/19". worldsnooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  3. "WPBSA Q Tour Launched". WPBSA. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  4. 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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