English League Snooker Championship 2024 – Qualifier 1 | Meet The Teams

Former English Amateur champion Paul Deaville is among the field of 37 players heading to Landywood Snooker Club this weekend for the first qualifying event of the inaugural English League Snooker Championship.

Announced back in December, the groundbreaking new event sees snooker league teams from across the country competing for the title and a total prize fund of over £3,500.

The 2024 championship will be held across three weekends, with the first taking place this weekend while the winners are set to be crowned at the end June. Read the tournament information.

The 19-year-old Deaville, who defeated Leo Fernandez to lift the prestigious English Amateur title in 2023, is representing the Staffordshire & West Midlands Billiards & Snooker Association (SWMBSA) ‘B’ team which is captained by former English Seniors Tour event finalist James Brown.

A bronze medalist at the 2023 World Abilitysport Games, Dave Bolton is among the line-up for Nottingham Snooker who are led by non-playing captain Tony Morgan. Bolton remains unbeaten in ranking events on the World Disability Billiards & Snooker (WBDS) tour and he could face a rematch of the recent Belgian Open final against Dave Waller, who is representing the Yeovil & District Snooker League.

Double EPSB Open Series event-winner Labeeb Ahmed, who qualified for the recent end-of-season series play-offs, is also among the line-up representing Byfleet alongside Ryan Mears – who Ahmed defeated in the final of one of his Open Series success’.

Mark Ball, a former English Seniors Tour event finalist and semi-finalist at this year’s English 6-Red Championship, leads the Leeds Billiards & Snooker Organisation (LBSO) Absolute Dream Team while West Wilts B are captained by Mark Philipps.

This weekend will see each team will play each other twice (‘home and away’). The top two placing teams will secure their place at the finals weekend in June, while third will have to await the outcome of the second qualifier in May.

The full team lists can be found below:

Byfleet (The Byfleet League)

• Paul Bunyard (Captain)
• Andrew Vernon
• Matt Ford
• Labeeb Ahmed
• Paul Ganley
• Ryan Mears
• Paul Morrison

LBSO Absolute Dream Team (Leeds Billiards & Snooker Organisation (LBSO))

• Mark Ball (Captain)
• Chris Hart
• Richard Binns
• Malcolm Bilclough
• Lewis Harper
• Andrew Taffinder
• Bob Paterson

Nottingham Snooker (Nottingham Snooker)

• Tony Morgan (Non-Playing Captain)
• Wayne Martin
• Adam Clift
• Andy Diacopoulos
• Dave Bolton
• Dave Jobling
• Jim Harrison
• Steve Donner

SWMBSA ‘B’ (Staffordshire & West Midlands Billiards & Snooker Association)

• James Brown (Captain)
• Dave Brown
• Paul Deaville
• Mike Tierney
• Mark Ganderton
• Karl Ashmore

West Wilts ‘B’ (West Wilts League)

• Mark Philipps (Captain)
• Gary King
• Dave Williams
• Richard Pang
• Ian Meaker

Yeovil & District Snooker League (Yeovil & District Snooker League)

• Chris Stephenson (Captain)
• Andy Symes
• Rod Sully
• Mark Turner
• Dave Waller

Learn more about the English League Snooker Championship