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Competitions Update – May 2021
In our latest monthly competitions update we can today announce a number of confirmed venues for our upcoming events, as well as confirm a number of date changes following our initial calendar announcement last month.
We are also able to give further information in respect of the planned formats and eligibility for future events.
2019/20
Dates
Within our previous update we confirmed the provisional dates for our outstanding competitions to be completed from the 2019/20 season. We can today announce the planned venues as follows:
- 17-18 July
- North Finals – Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds
- South Finals – Crucible Sports & Social Club, Reading
- 24-25 July
- Under-21 Play Offs – Cueball, Derby
- 31 July – 1 August
- Finals Weekend – Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds
- English Women’s Open – Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds (planned test event with World Women’s Snooker, entry information TBC)
All dates remain subject to Stage Four of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown proceeding as planned on 21 June 2021. In the event of any changes, these will be published on our website.
Junior Play Offs Eligibility
Due to the unprecedented period of time since the last competitive junior action, unfortunately, several players are now ineligible for the 2021/22 Under-21 Premier Development Tour (PDT) as they will be above the age threshold*.
We have therefore decided to reduce next season’s U21 PDT from 32 players to 30.
Those who have qualified and remain eligible for the tour next season are:
Connor Benzey, Lewis Ullah, Jenson Kendrick, Hayden Staniland, Hamim Hussain, Kayden Brierley, Callum Beresford, Joe Fenton, Harry Andrew Gosney, Liam Pullen, Luke Pinches, Ryan Davies, Oliver Sykes, Aidan Murphy, Paul Deaville, Matthew Lawton, Stan Moody, Riley Fisher, Halim Hussain, Jack Haley, Steven Hughes (21 players).
This means that there are nine qualifying spaces for the 2021/22 U21 PDT at the upcoming Junior Playoffs to be held at Cueball Derby in Derby on the 24th and 25th July.
In addition to those who were already eligible for a place at the Playoffs, players that finished in the top nine in each of the North, South and Midlands regions from the 2019/20 Under-20 Regional Development Tour, will also be eligible to compete.
Those who have qualified for the Junior Playoffs are therefore:
Lewis George Harper, Ish Ishtiaq, Mickey Joyce, Bradley Cowdroy, Michael Roberts, Aidan Gallagher, Samuel Lee Stevens, Adam Williams, Dylan Kemp, Brandon Garside, Ryan Roberts, Westley Cooper, Edward Jones, Edward Taylor, Joe Woodhouse, Ryan Hughes, Lee Whaley, Ronnie Sullivan, Simon Bubb, Samuel Laxton (20 players playing for nine spaces).
PLEASE NOTE: Should any of the named players above not wish to, or are unavailable to take their place at either the respective U21 PDT for next season or the Junior Playoffs, please inform us through our website or via social media.
Should a player withdraw from the Playoffs who was on the U20 RDT in 2019/20, the next ranked player from that respective player’s region will be invited to enter.
*Players must be under the age of 21 on December 31st, 2021.
Under-21 Playoffs Order of Merit
For those that do not qualify from the Junior Playoffs, players will earn ranking points for their performances through the weekend which will count to a new Junior Playoffs Order of Merit (OOM).
Should an Under 21 PDT event not reach full 30-player capacity, players from this Order of Merit will be used to top up the field, working down the list until the event is full.
2021/22
Dates
We are now also able to confirm a number of venues for our provisional 2021/22 season calendar of events.
Please note that there have been a number of changes to the dates originally published last month as follows:
- Under-20 Regional Development Tour – events will be held on one day, not two
- English Billiards Championship – moved to 12-13 March 2022.
New dates have been added for the following events:
- English Billiards Tour
- Regional Junior Billiards Tour
- English Seniors Championship Qualifiers
- Under-21 Junior Playoffs 2021/22
View the latest provisional calendar in full. All dates remain subject to change.
Event Formats
Having listened to the playing membership and the feedback received from Player Director Mark Ball, we have made changes to the format of several tournaments for the 2021/22 season.
The English Amateur Tour will now consist of six one-day straight knockout events played over three weekends (Saturday and Sunday events at each weekend). Whilst these days are likely to be long, we feel this format represents value for money for the players with hopefully fewer travel expenses incurred and more chance of taking home prize money from one of the weekends.
Both the EPSB Under-21 Premier Development Tour and the EPSB Seniors Tour will also consist of six one-day events played over three weekends (Saturday and Sunday events at each weekend) with the format for both days being a round-robin format only to maximise value for players competing.
Further updates
Our next planned update will follow on 21 June as we all hope that Stage Four of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown is able to proceed as planned and allow for the return of national competitions.
If you have any further questions, please contact us, either through this website or via our social media channels.
Of course, today marks the Stage Three of the government’s roadmap – which importantly means the reopening of snooker clubs across England – and we cannot wait to see you all back on the baize!
Learn more about the reopening and what this means for clubs in our recent article.
