World Billiards is delighted to announce that the 2024 World Billiards Championship will be returning to Landywood Snooker Club in October.

This will be held as a double-header with the English Open, a level 3 World Ranking Event, on 26-27th October, with the timed format World Championship following on from 28-31st October.

Since reopening following significant refurbishment in 2021, the Midlands venue quickly gained a reputation for high quality playing conditions in an environment fitting for national and international tournaments.

After hosting our English Open and World Championship last October the feedback was unanimous from players and spectators alike on the quality of the venue and the warm welcome received.

We are extremely grateful for the generosity of Paul Lloyd and his team in agreeing to host this year’s event and their enthusiasm for Landywood to be an ongoing venue partner for the World Billiards circuit moving forward. We look forward to returning for our blue riband event once again, where a high-quality international field will do battle for the prestigious John Roberts Trophy which dates back to the first World Championship in 1870.

Jason Colebrook, Managing Director of World Billiards, said: “We are delighted to be back at Landywood again this year for the 2024 World Billiards Championship. Last year the playing conditions were excellent, and the hospitality from Paul and his team was greatly appreciated by all players and officials”.

Paul Lloyd, owner of Landywood Snooker Club, said: “Myself and all the staff at Landywood Snooker Club are very proud to be hosting the prestigious World Billiards Championship again this year. Last year’s championship was a milestone for our club, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back in October”.

More details will be announced in due course.

Reanne Evans and Luca Brecel combined to capture the World Mixed Doubles title, beating Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenna 4-2 in the final at Manchester Central.

The duo were this year’s most decorated pair, with Evans having 12 Women’s World Championship titles to her name and Brecel being the current World Champion. However, they only clinched their place in the final courtesy of taking the final frame this afternoon, when they lost 3-1 to Selby and Kenna.

It’s second time lucky for Evans, who was paired with seven-time Crucible king Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2022. On that occasion they missed out on a place in the final by a single frame.

Brecel’s hit and miss season thus far has seen him miss out on next week’s Players Series finale, the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship. However, his first piece of silverware of the season will act as a welcome boost heading into the defence of his World Championship title.

Selby and Kenna suffer defeat in the final for a second consecutive season. They were runners-up to Neil Robertson and Mink Nutcharut last time around.

It was Brecel who got this evening’s final up and running with a break of 57 to take the opener. They then added the second to lead 2-0.

Selby had an opportunity to take the third and reduce their arrears, but missed a straightforward final blue. Eventually, he was given another chance and did make it 2-1. That was followed up by a run of 67 by the Leicester cueman to restore parity.

Brecel and Evans moved 3-2 ahead by taking the fifth, before a contribution of 59 from the Belgian in the sixth gave them the title.

Evans said “It’s taken 22 years to win a final on television. I know Luca carried me a little bit, but I’ve been playing a long time and it is fantastic to lift a trophy and play in a final like this, alongside all of these great players. The crowd have been fantastic and I’ve really enjoyed myself.”

Evans added: “Playing in these sort of events and getting the recognition that the women deserve and the support from these top players is only going to help the women and help the game. Hopefully there is a lot more to come. Bigger and better and always hoping and believing in the future.”

Brecel said: “It was a special occasion to play in this tournament. I was looking forward to it as soon as I knew I was in it. I always felt we had a good chance to win it because we are a really strong team. If we played a bit closer to our normal standards we could have made it a bit easier for ourselves.”

The 2024 Cazoo World Snooker Championship is almost upon us as this season’s battle for tour survival reaches its conclusion in Sheffield.

Follow our live blog which track the key movements on the provisional one-year and two-year ranking lists as the tournament progresses.

Live Standings

The full two year breakdown can be found here, however below you can see only the players fighting for their main tour status, which will be updated with players being ‘struck out’ as the tournament progresses to show the current live position.

• Players in dark green are currently inside the top 64 provisionally and as it stands will remain on tour
• Players in blue are currently set to qualify through the one-year list
• Players in red are currently set to be relegated from the tour
• Players in purple are on the first-year of a two-year card
• Players in pink have qualified for the Crucible and gained a tour card
• Players with their names struck through are out of the Cazoo World Championship

Latest in-running two-year list:

57th – Graeme Dott – 75,500 (r112)

58th – Michael White – 75,000 (r112)

59th – Jamie Clarke – 72,500 (r112)

60th – Aaron Hill – 70,500 (r112)

61st – David Grace – 70,500 (r112)

62nd – Sanderson Lam – 70,000 (r112)

63rd – Mark Davis – 69,500 (r112)

64th – David Lilley – 68,000 (r112)

————————————

65th – Julien Leclercq – 65,500 (r112)

66th – Oliver Lines – 64,000 (r112)

67th – Mark Joyce – 58,500 (r112)

68th – Ashley Hugill – 58,000 (r112)

69th – Dylan Emery – 58,000 (r112)

70th – Daniel Wells – 55,000 (r112)

71st – He Guoqiang – 53,000 (r112)

72nd – Zak Surety – 53,000 (r112)

73rd – Ben Mertens – 51,500 (r112)

74th – Andy Hicks – 50,000 (r112)

75th – James Cahill – 48,000 (r112)

76th – Lukas Kleckers – 46,500 (r112)

77th – Ken Doherty – 44,000 (r112)

78th – John Astley – 43,000 (r112)

80th – Liam Highfield – 41,000 (r112)

81st – Martin Gould – 40,000 (r144)

84th – Allan Taylor – 29,000 (r144)

85th – Sean O’Sullivan – 27,000 (r144)

87th – Rod Lawler – 26,500 (r144)

91st – Oliver Brown – 25,000 (r144)

93rd – Adam Duffy – 24,000 (r144)

95th – Peng Yisong – 22,000 (r144)

97th – Andy Lee – 20,500 (r144)

98th – Mohammad Asif – 20,000 (r144)

103rd – Mark King – 17,500 (N/A)

104th – Jenson Kendrick – 16,000 (r144)

107th – Fergal O’Brien – 15,500 (r144)

109th – Andrews Petrov – 15,000 (r144)

112th – Mohamed Ibrahim – 12,000 (r144)

113th – Asjad Iqbal – 11,000 (r144)

114th – Ryan Thomerson – 9,500 (r144)

115th – Anton Kazakov – 8,000 (r144)

119th – Mink Nutcharut – 5,500 (r144)

120th – Himanshu Jain – 5,000 (r144)

124th – Victor Sarkis – 1,000 (r144)

126th – Stephen Hendry – 0 (r144)

127th – Rebecca Kenna – 0 (r144)

Latest in-running one-year list:

1 – Oliver Lines – 37,000

2 – Zak Surety – 34,500

3 – Dylan Emery – 33,500

4 – Julien Leclercq – 32,000

————————————

5 – Ben Mertens – 25,500

6 – Mark Joyce – 25,000

7 – Ashley Hugill – 24,500

8 – Lukas Kleckers – 23,000

9 – James Cahill – 21,000

10 – Ken Doherty – 20,500

11 – Oliver Brown – 19,500

12 – Andy Hicks – 17,000

13 – Rod Lawler – 16,000

14 – Adam Duffy – 15,500

16 – Jenson Kendrick – 15,000

17 – Allan Taylor – 15,000

18 – Martin Gould – 15,000

19 – Liam Highfield – 15,000

20 – Iulian Boiko (A) – 12,500

21 – Sean O’Sullivan – 12,000

22 – Peng Yisong – 12,000

23 – Fergal O’Brien – 12,000

24 – John Astley – 10,000

25 – Muhammad Asif – 8,500

26 – Craig Steadman – 8,500

27 – Gong Chenzhi (A) – 8,000

28 – Mohamed Ibrahim – 6,500

31 – Andy Lee – 5,000

32 – Andres Petrov – 4,500

33 – Haydon Pinhey (A) – 3,000

34 – Anton Kazakov – 3,000

35 – Oliver Sykes (A) – 3,000

36 – Mink Nutcharut – 2,500

37 – Ryan Thomerson – 2,500

38 – Gao Yang (A) – 2,500

39 – Sydney Wilson (A) – 1,000

40 – Peter Lines (A) – 1,000

41 – Mostafa Dorgham – 500

42 – Victor Sarkis – 500

43 – Ahmed Aly-Elsayed – 0

44 – Baipat Siripaporn – 0

45 – Rebecca Kenna – 0

46 – Himanshu Jain – 0

List includes selected amateur players and excludes players who have already earned a two-year Tour card.

Follow @prosnookerblog on Twitter for all of the latest updates as the tournament unfolds.

Manchester Central hosts the world’s best players at the World Mixed Doubles (March 30th and 31st) and the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship (April 1st to 7th).

Tickets for both events are still available – click here and here.

Or if you’re watching from home, the broadcasters are…

World Mixed Doubles

UK
ITV – for listings click here

China
Liaoning TV
Migu
Huya.com

Hong Kong China
Now TV

Malaysia and Brunei
Astro SuperSport

Thailand
True Vision

Taiwan
Sportcast

Philippines
Premier Sports Network

Pakistan
Fastsports

All other territories
matchroom.live

Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship

UK
ITV – for listings click here

China
Liaoning TV
Migu
Huya.com

USA, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Spain
DAZN

Czech Republic and Slovakia
Nova

Poland, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway
Viaplay / Go3

Hong Kong China
Now TV

Malaysia and Brunei
Astro SuperSport

Thailand
True Vision

Taiwan
Sportcast

Philippines
Premier Sports Network

Pakistan
Fastsports

All other territories
matchroom.live

With just the Cazoo World Championship to be completed for the majority of players on the World Snooker Tour, today we look at the current standings as the annual race for ‘Tour Survival’ reaches its climax next month.

How can tour places be retained?

At the end of this season (i.e. after the 2024 World Championship), all players not on the first year of a two-year tour card must finish inside of the world’s top 64 on the official world ranking list to remain on the circuit next term.

Additionally, the top FOUR money earners during the current 2023/24 season, who are outside of that top 64 on the two-year list, will earn a fresh tour card. All other players will be relegated, unless they are able to re-qualify through Q School.

What is the provisional end of season ranking list?

The provisional end of season ranking list includes all money earned during last season (2022/23), and from the current 2023/24 season.

This differs from the official rolling world ranking list, which still currently includes prize money from the 2021/22 season which will not count towards the race for next season’s tour places. To provide the most accurate picture of the Tour Survival battle, this money has already been removed from the table.

Who is safe?

All players who were able to earn a two-year tour card for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons, are guaranteed to remain on tour for next season.

All of these players have been highlighted in green on the latest provisional end of season ranking list.

Who is at risk?

All players who finished in the top 64 at the end of last season, or who began their two-year tour cards at the start of 2022/23.

Those higher up the rankings can be confident of their places, but the closer they are to the all-important ‘top 64’ cut-off on the provisional end of season ranking list, the more uncertain their position.

How can players stay on tour?

By finishing in the top 64 at the end of the 2023/24 season.

Traditionally the cut-off point for tour survival, the top 64 on the official world ranking list following the 2024 World Championship will retain their places on tour for at least another season.

What is the cut-off point likely to be? At the end of the 2022/23 season, 64th placed Mark King had £67,000 to his name, while during the previous two seasons, £65,500 was enough for Stuart Carrington and £71,750 for Nigel Bond.

Already however, the bar looks set to be raised this April with David Lilley currently positioned 64 with £68,000 and the big money World Championship still to follow. This means that the final figure is likely to fall somewhere between the £70,000-£80,000 bracket, with the top 64 importantly carrying their ranking points total into next season.

The top 64 players next May will each earn a fresh one-year card for the 2024/25 season.

By finishing in the top four of the one-year list, not already qualified

Under the ‘one-year list’ route, the top four players taking into account prize money earned solely during the 2023/24 season, who finish outside of the top 64 on the main two-year ranking list, will earn a new tour card.

This means that players out of the running on the two-year list, for example due to a poor first season (in this case 2022/23), still have every chance of earning a fresh two-year card with strong performances during their second year.

At the time of writing, those currently in place to earn tour places via this route are:

1. Oliver Lines (£37,000)
2. Zak Surety (£34,500)
3. Dylan Emery (£33,500)
4. Julien Leclercq (£32,000)

The four players who finish in these positions at the end of this season will earn a two-year card for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons. Unlike those who qualify through the top 64 however, their ranking points will be reset to zero at the start of next season.

Players to Follow

As ever, the Tour Survival battle is set to be keenly contested, with three players within £10,000 of 64th placed David Lilley and further players within two Sheffield wins of overtaking him if he were to lose his opening match – with Lilley and all players seeded from 49-80 – set to begin in round two.

Leading the chasing pack ahead of the crucial World Championship qualifiers are Julien Leclercq and Olivier Lines. who could break into the top 64 with a single match win in Sheffield. As things stand, both would also be set to qualify via the one-year ranking list, but would be vulnerable to players behind if they were to lose early.

In more danger are Mark Joyce – an ever-present on the professional circuit since 2006 – and former WSF Championship winner Ashley Hugill, who look likely to need at least two match wins to challenge for a top 64 place and are both not currently in position to retain their positions via the one-year ranking list. Welsh youngster Dylan Emery is level on £58,000 with Hugill, but crucially is better positioned on the one-year ranking list with £33,500 earned so far this season.

England’s Zak Surety is the final player currently on target to stay on Tour via the one-year list, with a Crucible run likely required if he is to move into the top 64.

Notable names currently at risk on both lists and in need of multiple match wins in Sheffield include Belgian talent Ben Mertens, former Crucible semi-finalist Andy Hicks and 1997 world champion Ken Doherty. Similarly, Liam Highfield and Martin Gould, who have held unbroken main tour runs since 2010 and 2007 respectively, know that they must reach the Crucible stages if they are to remain on Tour next season.

Among those currently inside of the top 64, but likely needing at least one win to make sure they stay there include David Lilley, Mark Davis, Sanderson Lam and Aaron Hill. All four players would also currently retain their positions via the one-year list if they were to be overtaken, though Lilley would be vulnerable with £35,000 banked so far this season.

Most at risk would appear to be 60th placed David Grace, who currently holds a £5,000 advantage to Leclercq in 65th, but with only £21,000 earned so far during the current season would not have the safety net of the one-year list if he were to be overhauled.

Above him, the likes of Jamie Clarke, Michael White and 2006 world champion Graeme Dott have more breathing room, with one win surely enough to guarantee their top 64 positions for at least one more season.

Visit over the coming days to view our official Tour Survival Blog, while the latest provisional end of season rankings will be updated throughout the Cazoo World Championship qualifiers and venue stages.

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is delighted to share that the ‘Introduction To Snooker’ coaching sessions in support of Parkinson’s UK have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from those taking part.

The sessions, which began in February and will continue until the end of May, engage with local Parkinson’s UK groups to offer free two-hour sessions hosted by WPBSA coaches offering basic-level, fun snooker coaching, as well as recreational group play and the opportunity to socialise with fellow group members.

Additional sessions with the WPSBA’s Head of Coaching and Training Development Manager Chris Lovell at Preston’s Elite Snooker Club were recently announced and one person taking part in the session described it as “pitched at a great level which is accessible for all and great fun.”

Further feedback from a recent session at the Portslade Sports Centre in Brighton included:

• “Fantastic social experience”
• “Helped me feel better after feeling low in mood earlier today”
• “Helped with my physical movements”
• “Helped me with my coordination”
• “Holding the cue helped momentarily with my tremor”.

There is still time to take part and a full list of upcoming session’s can be found below. Please note that some dates have changed from those initially announced.

• Maltings Q Club, King’s Lynn
  • Contact – Phill Welham
  • Wednesday 27th March – 3pm
  • Wednesday 24th April – 3pm
  • Wednesday 29th May – 3pm
• Brackla Snooker Club, Bridgend
  • Contact – Byron Phillips
  • Wednesday 3rd April – 11am
  • Wednesday 17th April – 11am
  • Wednesday 1st May – 11am
• Portslade Sports Centre, Brighton
  • Contact – Olly Stewart
  • Wednesday 3rd April – 2pm
  • Wednesday 17th April – 2pm
• Elite Snooker Club, Preston
  • Contact – Chris Lovell
  • Monday 8th April – 12:30pm
  • Monday 15th April – 12:30pm
  • Monday 13th May – 12:30pm
• Club 147, Leicester
• Barratts Snooker Club, Northampton
• Woking Snooker Centre, Woking
  • Contact – Dave Harwood
  • Thursday 9th May – 11am
  • Thursday 16th May – 11am
  • Thursday 23rd May – 11am
  • Thursday 30th May – 11am

Find out more about the Parkinson’s UK Introduction to Snooker sessions.

Liam Davies defeated Antoni Kowalski 5-3 in the final of the EBSA European Under-21 Championship in Bosnia & Herzegovina to earn a two-year World Snooker Tour card.

The success in Sarajevo means that the 17-year old will compete as a professional on the main tour for the first time in his career from the 2024/25 season.

He will also play in the upcoming Cazoo World Championship qualifying rounds as a result of this victory – an event where in 2022 he set the record as the youngest player ever to win a match.

Davies had come agonisingly close to securing professional status just a few days earlier in the WPBSA Q Tour Global play-offs, held alongside the EBSA European Championships, having led fellow Welshman Duane Jones 9-7 before losing the contest in a deciding frame.

The teenager showed his fighting spirit to quickly move on from the disappointment and charge through the field to earn a coveted two-year World Snooker Tour card.

Having qualified from the group phase comfortably, Davies then overcame the newly-crowned EBSA European Under-16 champion Vladislav Gradinari 4-1 in the last 32.

Further victories against Thijs Pauwels and Andrejs Pripjoks then set up a semi-final meeting with Latvian teenager Artemijs Zizins.

A break of 100 from Davies in the second frame restored parity after Zizins had taken the opener, and the Welshman looked firmly in the ascendacy as he moved one away from victory at 3-1.

The Latvian cueist refused to go down without a fight, however, and fired in a stunning break of 128 to force a decider before Davies finally managed to get over the line and set up a title match against Poland’s Kowalski.

The first six frames of the final were shared between the two players in the best-of-nine frame contest but the class of the Welsh teenager showed as he held himself together to secure the title with a 5-3 victory.

“For the last few balls I was just trying to concentrate on hitting the white, my arm was shaking that much,” admitted Davies after the final. “It means so much to me to finally get on the tour, having missed a few chances over the last two years. I think I am ready for it now. I have had so much support from my mum, dad and brother so I’m happy just to give something back to them.”

The Under-16 and Under-18 events have already reached their conclusion in Sarajevo, with 15-year-old Gradinari from Moldova lifting the Under-16 crown while the recent WSF Junior champion Bulcsu Revesz added to his trophy cabinet with a dominant victory in the Under-18 Championship.

 

Peter Gilchrist defeated Dhruv Sitwala 1101-757 to win the Walter Lindrum Open at the Mounties Club in Mount Pritchard, Australia.

Victory for the Singaporean cueiest secured his first World Billiards ranking title since the Sydney Open back in November and means that he and David Causier, absent from the event, continue to dominate the tour having split the last nine ranking crowns between them.

A total of 40 players from six nations competed in the event, named in honour of Australian multiple world champion Walter Lindrum, and they were initially split into eight groups of five to narrow the field down to the last sixteen.

As most will have anticipated, top seed Gilchrist stormed through his group with a clean sweep of victories before defeating Australia’s Todd Hayward by a score of 835-140 to book his place in the quarter-finals stage.

A high break of 189 helped the reigning world champion to then overcome Adwin Teh of Malaysia to set up a semi-final meeting with Steve Mifsud.

Mifsud, a former snooker professional, gave Gilchrist his toughest contest thus far but two breaks of over 100 were still not enough to stop the Singaporean as he eventually ran out a 826-593 victor.

Gilchrist’s opponent in the title match was India’s Sitwala, who was competing in a second consecutive ranking event final after finishing runner-up to Causier in the Austrian Open earlier in the month.

The final was a high-quality affair with the players compiling eleven breaks over 50 between them in the four-hour contest. Gilchrist ultimately proved too strong, however, to secure the victory by a margin of 344 and lift the prestigious title.

The next stop on the World Billiards tour is a double-header in Carlow, Ireland, where both the Irish Open and World Matchplay will take place between 12th and 19th April.

 

People with complex disabilities will be able to meaningfully play snooker, rounders and badminton for the first time ever, thanks to a charity reinventing the traditional sports.

Sense, the national disability charity, has created three new versions of sports – sensory snooker, sensory rounders and sensory badminton – after consulting with disabled people they support on the activities they most wanted to play but were unable to take part in.

Working closely with the sports’ three governing bodies, the charity which supports people with complex disabilities, created simpler versions of each game. Sense first identified the key skills required for the traditional sport, then designed activities to help people achieve the same goals in a more accessible way.

Ideas were honed over an intensive six-month period, including recreating a snooker table on the floor with a felt mat or potting the balls by hand; throwing objects overarm and underarm to mirror badminton shots; using a small bat to hit a ball balanced on a stand in rounders. Each sensory sport can be adjusted to suit the skills and abilities of individual players, so everyone can get involved.

Now Sense will invest £60,000 over the next three years to launch sessions for hundreds of disabled people across England, alongside Badminton England, Rounders England and The World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association, with the first groups swinging into action this April.

It is hoped the three new sensory sports will appeal to a broad range of players, encouraging them to enjoy being active and socialising. Recent Sense research found over half (53%) of people with complex disabilities felt lonely*, compared to 25% of the general public**.

The groundbreaking scheme is being funded by a £2.2million grant that Sense was awarded by Sport England in April 2023 to tackle “inactivity” among people with complex disabilities. The aim is to encourage 5,000 more people into sport by 2027.

Alissa Ayling, Head of Sense Active, said:

“The three all-new sensory sports we’ve developed offer a nice range of activities for players to choose from. Badminton is a more traditional sport, snooker is a sociable activity that can typically be more difficult for people with complex disabilities to understand and play, while rounders can be combined with a picnic on a fun day out.

“We hope the new versions of these sports will encourage hundreds more people with complex disabilities to become more physically active and less lonely. At Sense, we want to ensure that everyone has the chance to engage meaningfully in any sport – and this is a huge leap in that direction.”

Bob Hill, Club and Facilities Manager at World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) said:

“The experience of playing snooker is multi-sensory, uplifting and good for physical, mental and social health.  We feel strongly that those benefits should be available to everyone and we are committed to making adaptations wherever necessary to create the right conditions for each player to take part, have a challenge and gain a sense of achievement.

“Working with Sense allows our sport to tap into the expertise of dedicated and creative people who understand how to innovate to make a sport appeal to people with complex disabilities.  We hope many people Sense supports will develop a passion for snooker through this new initiative.”

Sian Barnett, Workforce Manager at Rounders England, said:

“Ensuring that rounders is a truly inclusive sport means that we must be flexible and provide new adaptations so everyone can take part.

“It’s fantastic to be working with an organisation such as Sense, who will provide expertise and knowledge so we can create new resources to allow individuals with complex disabilities to enjoy our sport. Together, we will support coaches and volunteers to deliver these exciting new sessions.”

Leanne Brown, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Badminton England, said:

“Badminton England is committed to making our sport the most inclusive and accessible sport in England.

“Our partnership with Sense to develop Sensory Badminton will allow more disabled people to get involved in our sport. Working collaboratively, we will upskill our workforce to deliver inclusively through education and training to create welcoming and accessible environments for people with complex disabilities.

“Our sport is for everyone, so we are excited to see people with complex disabilities enjoy badminton!”

Media enquiries:

For more information, please get in touch with the Sense media team on [email protected] or call 0203 833 0611.

Please contact us if you would like to come along and cover a session when the new sensory sports launch in April.

References:

*Results gathered by combined online polling of 1,000 people with complex disabilities (conducted between 13 March-20 March 2023) and a survey of 234 people with complex disabilities promoted through Sense’s channels (conducted between 14 March-11 April 2023).

**Figures on loneliness for the general public are from ONS’s Opinions and Lifestyles survey in April 2023.

About Sense:

Sense is a national disability charity that supports people living with complex disabilities, including those who are deafblind, to communicate and experience the world. Sense supports children, young people and adults in their home and in the community, in their education and transition to adulthood and through its holidays, arts, sports and wellbeing programmes. In addition to practical support to families, Sense also offers information advice, short breaks and family events, and campaigns for the rights of people with complex disabilities to take part in life. For more information, please visit http://www.sense.org.uk.

Article from Sense

Mink Nutcharut will meet Bai Yulu in the final of the 2024 World Women’s Snooker Championship after the pair won their semi-final matches on Saturday at the Changping Gymnasium, Dongguan, China.

World number one Nutcharut will contest the title match for the third time in her career and will be looking to lift the Mandy Fisher Trophy for the second time after she stormed to a 5-0 whitewash of Ng On Yee this evening.

The 2022 winner is yet to drop a frame in this year’s event and claimed a surprisingly one-sided encounter against three-time winner Ng to also guarantee that she will remain world number one following the conclusion of this year’s event.

With Nutcharut having comfortably eased into a 2-0 lead, the crucial frame would prove to be the third as with Ng ahead and favourite to reduce her arrears, a classy break of 40 turned the tide in her favour as she took the frame on the black to move further clear. Ng continued to fight, but Nutcharut proved strong and would maintain her perfect record in the tournament.

Earlier in the day, China’s Bai Yulu completed a successful comeback from 3-0 down to defeat England’s Reanne Evans 5-3 for the second successive year in the World Championship semi-finals.

It was 12-time champion Evans who flew out of the traps with breaks of 30, 68 and 76 to lead 3-0, before Bai claimed a crucial fourth ahead of the mid-session interval to gain a foothold in the contest.

The decisive frame would ultimately prove to be the sixth, however, as with Evans having potted a respotted black to seemingly take a 4-2 lead, she could only watch on as the cueball dropped into the middle pocket and the scores were level at 3-3.

From this point it was Bai who would not be stopped and added breaks of 38 and 71 to clinch a dramatic victory and secure her place in the final for the second successive year. Having lost out to Thailand’s Baipat Siripaporn in 2023, the 20-year-old will be looking to go one step further and claim the title and a place on the World Snooker Tour for the first time in her career.

The best of 11 frames final will begin at 12pm CST, with the pair set to clash for the third time this season with Bai having won 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship and Mink having triumphed 4-3 in the Albanian Open semi-finals last month.