Former champion Zhao Xintong is certainly one of 16 amateurs who’ve been invited by the WPBSA to compete within the 2024 UK Championship qualifiers.
The younger Chinese language competitor memorably made a reputation for himself on the event three years in the past when he romped to glory on the Barbican Centre in York.
Zhao beat Luca Brecel within the 2021 closing and was broadly considered the brightest younger participant within the recreation on the time.
Not lengthy after, he beat good friend and countryman Yan Bingtao 9-0 to seize a second rating title with success on the 2022 German Masters.
However Zhao’s promising profession on the primary tour rapidly unravelled when he was caught up within the subsequent match-fixing scandal that rocked the game.
Ten gamers from China have been discovered responsible of being concerned, together with Liang Wenbo and Li Cling who have been handed lifetime bans.
Zhao was given the lightest sentence after being discovered not responsible of fixing matches, though he was conscious of different matches that have been being fastened and he additionally broke the foundations by betting on snooker video games.
Free to return to aggressive motion in September, it didn’t take lengthy for him to get again to profitable methods as he emerged with the trophy at Q Tour Occasion 3 in Sweden.
That victory has safeguarded his spot within the 2024 UK Championship qualifiers, the place he’ll compete alongside professionals for the primary time in virtually two years.
Andres Petrov and Dylan Emery, winners of Q Tour Occasions 1 and a couple of respectively, have been invited by the WPBSA as nicely.
Among the many others who’ve been provided probably profitable spots within the UK Championship qualifiers is world seniors champion Igor Figueiredo.
The favored Brazilian qualifies by his victory on the Americas Q Tour, whereas Moldovan teenager Vladislav Gradinari earns a ticket by his performances on the EBSA underage occasions.
WPBSA Qualifiers
This season’s subject will embrace as much as 16 gamers who’ve earned their locations by
new pathway alternatives for elite performers by actions staged and
coordinated by the WPBSA Group.
The 16 initially invited gamers are listed under:
WPBSA Q Tour UK/Europe
Winners from the world’s premier secondary tour to the World Snooker Tour to this point
this season:
– Andres Petrov – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Occasion 1 winner
– Dylan Emery – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Occasion 2 winner
– Zhao Xintong – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Occasion 3 winner
– TBC – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Occasion 4 winner
– TBC – WPBSA Q Tour Europe – Highest Ranked Participant (not together with the
above)
WSF Championships 2024
Eligible gamers from the world’s largest worldwide newbie tournaments:
– Gao Yang* – 2024 WSF Championship finalist
– Iulian Boiko – 2024 WSF Championship semi-finalist
– Daniel Womersley – 2024 WSF Championship semi-finalist
– Hamza Ilyas – 2024 WSF Junior Championship semi-finalist
– Oliver Sykes – 2024 WSF Junior Championship semi-finalist
WPBSA Q Tour World
– Vinnie Calabrese* – WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific – Occasion winner
– Matthew Scarborough* – WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific – Occasion winner
– Igor Figueiredo – WPBSA Q Tour Americas – Occasion winner
– Habib Sabah Hamood – WPBSA Q Tour Center East – Occasion winner
– Ali Gharahgozlou* – WPBSA Q Tour Center East – Occasion winner
– Vladislav Gradinari – EBSA Beneath-16 Champion / Beneath-18 Finalist
*These gamers have declined their invitation
Any gamers who don’t settle for their place can be changed by reserve gamers from
the WPBSA Q Tour Europe Rating Checklist after Occasion 4.
The format for the 2024 UK Championship will comply with an analogous guise to the one which has been generally adopted in current seasons.
The highest 16 gamers from the official world rankings checklist following this week’s Worldwide Championship will robotically qualify for the venue levels in York and the final 32.
An extra 16 positions are up for grabs by the UK Championship qualifiers, which can be held on the Mattioli Enviornment in Leicester.
Gamers will enter the preliminary part in staggered rounds primarily based on their seeding, with the WPBSA invitees starting their quest for glory in spherical one.
The UK Championship qualifiers run from November sixteenth to twenty first with the primary occasion not lengthy after, scheduled from November twenty third to December 1st.
Featured photograph credit score: WST
