Q Tour

WPBSA Q Tour

Current season, competition or edition: 2025–26 Q Tour
Sport	Snooker
First season	1994 (professional non-ranking event) 2018 (amateur event)
Organising body	WPBSA
Division	2
Country	Worldwide
Region	Q Tour Europe Q Tour Global (Americas, Asia-Pacific and Middle East)
Most recent champion(s)	By Order of Merit:   Zhao Xintong  (CHN)
Qualification	Q School Open entry (Preliminary rounds and non-Europe events)
Promotion to	World Snooker Tour
Official website	https://wpbsa.com/events-list/wpbsa-q-tour/

The Q Tour, officially the WPBSA Q Tour, is a second-tier series of snooker tournaments immediately below the level of the World Snooker Tour, consisting of amateur and ex-professional players to compete for qualifying places to the main tour. It is organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

The tour originally ran from the 1994–95 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. Being subsequently rebranded the UK Tour and then the Challenge Tour, ^[1] The WPBSA operated the three-level circuit until the end of the 2002–03 season when it split with the amateur governing body and professional players were no longer eligible to enter through the third-tier International Open Series. ^[2] The Challenge Tour was axed upon completion of the 2004–05 season.

It was revived for the 2018–19 season as a multi-regional development tour and was rebranded as the Q Tour from the 2021–22 season. ^{[3] [4]}

History

Pathways to enter the main tour including the WPBSA Q Tour

Early editions

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. ^[5] A two-tiered tour structure was formally adopted from the 1997–98 season due to over-subscription of the Main Tour, where all professionals can compete in 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 exclusive membership was implemented from the 2001–02 season. ^[6] From the 2000–01 season it was rebranded the Challenge Tour. ^[5]

In its first season there were five events, but the number was reduced to four in the following seasons. ^[5] 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]

Pro-am replacement

Main article: Players Tour Championship

The Pro Challenge Series was introduced for the 2009–10 season, all tour players being eligible to play. ^[7] Only four of the planned seven events were played before the series was axed due to low player participation. ^[8] The following 2010–11 season saw the Pro Challenge Series replaced by the Players Tour Championship, a series of minor-ranking tournaments that were open to the entire professional membership with an amateur leg, effectively making it an open tour. ^[9] They also counted towards the rankings for professionals on the Main Tour, ^[10] and any player who finished in the top 8 of the PTC Order of Merit was guaranteed a tour card for the following season.

Return to amateur-only event and expansion

The Challenge Tour in its initial format was revived in the 2018–19 season, consisting of ten events each played by only amateur players over one or two days; 72 players (top 64 of the Q School Order of Merit, plus eight wildcards) were fielded and there was prize money. The top two players from the Challenge Tour Order of Merit received a main tour invitation card for the following season. ^[3]

From the 2020–21 season, the Challenge Tour was rebranded as the Q Tour (retrospectively known as Q Tour Europe). ^{[4] [11]} It was expanded to other regions in the form of Q Tour Global from the 2023–24 season.

Format

Q Tour events are generally played over three days with the first day being an open qualifying day.

In a Q Tour Europe event, the main draw starts on the second day when the 16 open qualifiers are joined by the 48 seeded players to form a 64-player knockout competition. It consists of the top 32 eligible players from the Q School Order of Merit, another top eight junior players who are not already qualified, and the last eight places from the Asia-Oceania version of Q School. ^[12] In other regional events, entrants are largely local players and do not involve seedings.

Prize money

Q Tour Europe

Each Q Tour Europe event featured a prize fund of £30,000, with the winner receiving £6,000.

• Winner: £6,000
• Runner-up: £3,000
• Semi-final: £2,000
• Quarter-final: £1,250
• Last 16: £750
• Last 32: £350
• Total: £30,000

Event finals

^{[1] [5]}

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	[13]
	Event 2	Adrian Rosa	Stuart Mann	6–5	Swindon	[14]
	Event 3	Michael Rhodes	Luke Simmonds	6–5	Swindon	[15]
	Event 4	Kurt Maflin	James Leadbetter	6–2	Prestatyn	[16]
2003–04	Event 1	Stefan Mazrocis	Paul Davison	6–2	Prestatyn	[17]
	Event 2	Hugh Abernethy	Gary Wilson	6–0	Prestatyn	[18]
	Event 3	Brian Salmon	Steve James	6–1	Prestatyn	[19]
	Event 4	Gary Wilson	Jin Long	6–4	Prestatyn	[20]
2004–05	Event 1	Jamie Cope	Chris Norbury	6–2	Prestatyn	[21]
	Event 2	James Tatton	Matthew Barnes	6–4	Prestatyn	[22]
	Event 3	James McBain	Mark Allen	6–3	Prestatyn	[23]
	Event 4	Jamie Cope	Matthew Couch	6–0	Prestatyn	[24]
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
2024–25	Event 1	Andres Petrov	Ryan Thomerson	4–3	Leeds
	Event 2	Dylan Emery	Harvey Chandler	4–3	Sofia
	Event 3	Zhao Xintong	Craig Steadman	4–3	Stockholm
	Event 4	Zhao Xintong	Ryan Davies	4–3	Manchester
	Event 5	Zhao Xintong	Ryan Thomerson	4–2	Vienna
	Event 6	Zhao Xintong	Ehsan Heydari Nezhad	4–1	Mons
	Event 7	Liam Highfield	Dylan Emery	4–3	Walsall
	Playoff 1	Steven Hallworth	Mark Joyce	10–5	Antalya
	Playoff 2	Liam Highfield	Iulian Boiko	10–3
	Playoff 3	Florian Nüßle	Andres Petrov	10–3

Order of Merit winners

^[1]

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
2024–25	Zhao Xintong

See also

• Q School
• WSF Championship

References

1. "WPBSA Secondary Professional Tour". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
2. Hayton 2004, pp. Introduction & 178–182.
3. "World Snooker Challenge Tour 2018/19". worldsnooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
4. "WPBSA Q Tour Launched". WPBSA. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
5. 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.
6. "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.
7. Hendon, Dave (30 June 2009). "Pro Challenge Series Launched". Snooker Scene Blog. Snooker Scene. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
8. Hendon, Dave (2 March 2010). "Pro Challenge Series Axed". Snooker Scene Blog. Snooker Scene. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
9. "Players Tour Championship pits stars against amateurs". BBC Sport . BBC. 22 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
10. Turner, Chris. "Players Tour Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
11. "WPBSA Q Tour 2021/22". 10 September 2021. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021.
12. "WPBSA Q Tour Global Expanded for 2024/25". WPBSA . 24 June 2024.
13. "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event One". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-10-16. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
14. "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event Two". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
15. "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event Three". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-10-17. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
16. "2002-3 WSA Challenge Tour Event 4". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
17. "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 1". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-04-21. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
18. "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 2". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-04-21. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
19. "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 3". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-03-19. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
20. "Pontins World Snooker Challenge Tour - Event 4". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2006-03-19. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
21. "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event One". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2004-12-09. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
22. "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Two". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2005-04-05. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
23. "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Three". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2005-03-22. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
24. "2004-5 Pontin's Challenge Tour - Event Four". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 2005-09-04. Retrieved 10 November 2021.