EPSB Season Set for Summer Finale

The long-awaited climax of the 2019/20 EPSB season is almost upon us with five national champions to be crowned on 8 August.

Following an enforced suspension of almost 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the extended season is now set to resume as the country enters Step 4 of the government roadmap out of lockdown on 19 July.

To be held over three weekends from 24-25 July, five national titles are due to reach their denouement, as well as this year’s Junior Playoffs which will determine the players who will be eligible for next season’s Under-21 Premier Development Tour.

Junior Playoffs

Our competitive return is set to begin with the staging of our junior play-offs, which will see up to 20 players contest nine promotion places to the 2021/22 Under-21 Premier Development Tour.

To be held on the weekend of 24-25 July at the Cueball Derby, the players will initially compete in four round-robin groups on Saturday, with the top three progressing to three final day groups. The top three players from each group will earn promotion for next season.

The players set to compete in these events are:

Lewis George Harper, Ish Ishtiaq, Mickey Joyce, Bradley Cowdroy, Michael Roberts, Aidan Gallagher, Samuel Lee Stevens, Adam Williams, Dylan Kemp, Ryan Roberts, Westley Cooper, Edward Jones, Edward Taylor, Joe Woodhouse, Ryan Hughes, Lee Whaley, Ronnie Sullivan, Simon Bubb, Samuel Laxton, one additional TBC.

National Championships

There are five national titles still to be won as follows:

• English Under-14 Championship
• English Under-16 Championship
• English Under-18 Championship
• English Under-21 Championship
• English Over-55 Championship

While the final of the Over-55 competition is already set between John Welsh (North) and Ashley Beal (South), our four junior competitions are set to be played down from 16 to just two from 31 July – 1 August.

Featuring the likes of current professionals Sean Maddocks and Jamie Wilson – who remain eligible having qualified prior to gaining a place on the World Snooker Tour – among our leading juniors, the finalists will be decided at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds and Reading’s Crucible Sports and Social Club.

All five titles will then be contested the following weekend in Leeds, with our Finals weekend due to run from 7-8 August.

As well as these prestigious titles, the weekend will also see the staging of the English Women’s Open, an event run in partnership with the World Women’s Snooker Tour as the first recognised women’s tournament since the start of the pandemic. Entries for the event remain open until 30 July.

Full tournament information, including scores, results and schedules will be available via WPBSA SnookerScores.

EPSB Membership for the 2021/22 season is now available to purchase online.