O’Donnell Claims Final Amateur Tour Title of Season

Martin O’Donnell defeated Patrick Whelan 4-2 in the final at the Landywood Snooker Club to win the fifth and final English Amateur Snooker Tour event of the 2022/23 season.

• View the results from Event 5 here

This latest victory for the 36-year-old represents two titles in two weekends after his triumph in Leeds last Sunday at Q Tour Event 6 – a result that saw him finish top of those rankings and book a return to the professional circuit next season. 

O’Donnell has also been superb on the English national scene, reaching the last 16 of the 102nd English Amateur Snooker Championship scheduled for April and prior to this weekend having already reached two Amateur Tour finals at Events 2 and 4 where he lost to George Pragnell each time. This time, the MOD made sure that the third time was a charm.

Victories over Jake Robinson 4-2 and Josh Mulholland 4-0 moved O’Donnell into the last eight where he constructed a break of 144 during a 4-1 win against teenager Faizaan Mohammed. He then registered a trio of half-centuries as he ended the charge of Hamim Hussain 4-2 in the semi-finals.

Hussain enjoyed a memorable weekend having made his maiden maximum 147 break in competitive play earlier in the event. Read about that here.

On the other side of the draw, multiple-time Open Series event winner Whelan eliminated Hayden Staniland 4-1, Paul Oatley 4-0, Alex Clenshaw 4-2 and the consistent Harvey Chandler 4-2 in the last four. 

However, it was O’Donnell celebrating in Great Wyrley as he crafted runs of 82, 79 and 133 in the final to claim the title. 

Pragnell is Number One 

A three-time event winner on the circuit this season, George Pragnell finishes the campaign top of the rankings, and becomes the number one ranked amateur player in England. 

A 4-3 preliminary round win over Stan Moody – where he made a 101 break in the deciding frame – would ultimately be enough to assure him of top spot.  

The Norwich cueman – victorious at Events 1, 2 and 4 – went on to reach the quarter-finals where he was stopped by Chandler, 4-1. 

Thank you to host venue Landywood Snooker Club for their hospitality throughout the weekend.