As was the case last season, alongside the European Order of Merit will run an EBSA Order of Merit, on which amateurs will be awarded points, with the top 16 after six events qualifying for a play-off event next spring.
Two players from that event will earn two-year tour cards from the start of the 2016/17 season, following in the footsteps of last season’s qualifiers Martin Donnell and Sanderson Lam.
Click below to see how the list looks after two events…
Ali Carter has this evening defeated Shaun Murphy 4-3 to win the 2015 Paul Hunter Classic, a popular victory for a player who has of course gone through so much in recent seasons.
His reward is a cheque for £18,750, in addition to places at the upcoming Champion of Champions and Players Championship events, not to mention the nice new Waterford Crystal trophy that he is pictured with above.
Click below for the World Snooker story on his triumph, on this occasion I would like to take a little more time before posting my own reflections on the tournament…
A short line of news tonight courtesy of Jan Verhaas on Twitter that tomorrow’s final at the 2015 Paul Hunter Classic will be officiated by Tatiana Woollaston, her first professional final.
Recognisable of course as the wife of last season’s Welsh Open finalist Ben Woollaston, Tatiana is a long time friend of the blog, not to mention an excellent referee in her own right and so congratulations to her on what is a significant career milestone.
Good luck to all the players and officials tomorrow but especially to @tatiana_referee who will referee her first pro final #milestone
— Jan Verhaas (@janverhaas) August 29, 2015
During recent years the subject of ‘kicks’ is one that has dominated a lot of snooker discussion, to the extent that a number of outside observers have become weary of hearing complaints about conditions.
Tomorrow sees the start of the professional rounds of the Paul Hunter Classic, one of the sport’s most popular events and for 2015 there will be an extra special prize, with a new glass trophy (above), supplied by Waterford Crystal.
Following the conclusion of the Riga Open and the first publication of this season’s European Order of Merit, World Snooker have now published the draw and format for the Paul Hunter Classic, which will be played later this month in Fuerth.
Gibraltar will host a professional snooker tournament for the first time when the fifth event on this season’s Kreativ Dental Clinic European Tour series takes place in December.
Barry Hawkins is the 2015 Riga Open champion after the world number eight defeated Leicester’s Tom Ford 4-1 this evening.
Having dropped the opening frame, he made short work of the next four to make the perfect start to the new season, after he elected not to enter last month’s Australian Goldfields Open.
He earns £18,750, which will make certain of his place at this season’s Players Championship event, while his victory will also see him back at the Champion of Champions event this November…