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Finals Weekend Line-Up Set for 2025 Landywood English Amateur Championship
The line-up for the Finals Weekend of the 2025 Landywood English Amateur Championship has been confirmed after a trio of regional qualifying events were held on Saturday.
A total of 151 players competed in the regional qualifying events which were split into North, Midlands and South competitions at the Northern Snooker Centre, Landywood Snooker Club and Frames Sports Bar.
Following a day of high-quality snooker across the country, just 16 players now remain in contention to be crowned the champion of the 104th edition of snooker’s longest-running competition.
The Finals Weekend will take place on 5-6 April 2025 at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall. Read below for a round-up of Saturday’s qualification.
North
Former ranking event semi-finalist Craig Steadman and reigning European and English Under-16 champion Vladislav Gradinari were among six players to qualify from the field of 58 cueists at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.
Steadman, who finished as the top-ranked player on the English Seniors Tour last season, was in fine form as he compiled seven breaks over 80 across three matches and secured his place in the last 16 with a whitewash win against Andrew Owen.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Gradinari is the youngest cueist to qualify for the Finals Weekend for a second consecutive year after he earned victories over Elias Martin-Beris, Stephen Broadhead and Anthony Wall in West Yorkshire.
They were joined by Ryan Davies, who is looking to add the Landywood English Amateur Championship title to his unique national grand slam of the English Under-21, Under-18, Under-16 and Under-14 tournament victories.
The relentless Davies dropped just two frames in three matches as he secured qualification, as did Gary Milne who gained impressive victories over former English Amateur Tour event winner Jake Robinson and former English Under-14 champion Shaun Liu along the way.
Anthony Parsons earned his qualification with wins against former world number two Tony Knowles and Aidan Gallagher, who made a maximum break in the EPSB Open Series last season, and elsewhere Richard Binns battled through a final frame decider against Hayden Staniland to reach the last 16.
Midlands
Steven Hallworth began the defence of his Landywood English Amateur Championship crown in style by securing one of the six qualification spots available from the field of 54 players at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall.
Hallworth defeated Callum Downing 6-4 in last season’s final to win the 103rd edition of the championship. Downing will also once again feature at the 2025 Finals Weekend after overcoming Faizaan Mohammed 4-0 in the final round.
The defending champion was given a scare in the opening round as John Pritchett moved into a 2-0 lead, but Hallworth was able to battle back to get over the line in a decider before whitewashing Geoff Brassington and Josh Mulholland to book his place in the last 16.
Last year’s two finalists will be joined by Jay Bullen, who notably defeated former professional Sean Maddocks in the final round, and Tom Maxfield – who lost a total of just two frames in victories over Ethan Llewellyn, Neal Jones and Wayne Martin
The 24-year-old Jack Harris was in notably strong form as he did not drop a single frame across the day, while the Midlands qualification line-up was completed by former professional Liam Highfield who is back in the amateur game after a spell of 14 years on the World Snooker Tour.
South
Barry Pinches remains in contention to incredibly regain the title he won 37 years ago after defeating former professional Sean O’Sullivan in a dramatic deciding frame at the Frames Sports Bar to earn his place in the 2025 Finals Weekend.
Pinches, who had earlier defeated both Nathan Jones and Oliver Sykes 4-0, will be joined by his son Luke Pinches in the last 16 after he overcame Matthew Glasby 4-1 in the final round.
Peter Devlin is another former professional that will feature in the Finals Weekend after he picked up victories over William Thomson, Nick Fegan and Billy West.
The southern section qualifiers are completed by 37-year-old Zachary Richardson, who overcame Matthew Atasoy, Jasmine Bolsover and Nigel Clarke in Coulsdon.
The 2025 Landywood English Amateur Championship takes place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall on 5-6 April. Learn more about the Landywood English Amateur Championship.
