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Landywood English Amateur Snooker Championship 2025 | Tournament Preview
The final stages of the 104th edition of the Landywood English Amateur Championship take place at the Landywood Snooker Club this weekend with 16 players competing for glory.
First staged in 1916, the Landywood English Amateur Championship holds the unique distinction of being the longest-running competition in the sport and boasts a roll of honour that features former world champions Ray Reardon, John Spencer, Terry Griffiths, Stuart Bingham and John Pulman as well as household names such as Jimmy White.
This year’s edition began last September with a trio of regional qualifiers at the Northern Snooker Centre, Landywood Snooker Club and Frames Sports Bar narrowing the field down from 151 to the final 16 who embark on the Staffordshire venue this weekend.
The Last 16
Six former professionals feature in a strong last 16 line-up. Among them are Steven Hallworth and Liam Highfield, who are both looking to secure the prestigious title before returning to the professional ranks as a result of their respective success in the WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Antalya, Türkiye in March.
Hallworth arrives at the Landywood Snooker Club as the defending champion, having defeated Callum Downing in the title match 12 months ago to lift the famous trophy for the first time in his career.
The 29-year-old from Lincoln will face Richard Binns in the last 16 after he overcame Hayden Staniland in a final frame decider in Leeds to qualify for this stage.
Last year’s runner-up Downing is also among the line-up this weekend as he aims to go one step further than he did in 2024. He will face Ryan Davies, who is looking to complete a unique national grand slam by adding the Landywood English Amateur crown to English Under-21, Under-18, Under-16 and Under-14 titles he has already won.
The aforementioned Highfield, who followed up his Q Tour success by winning the EBSA European Championship in Turkey earlier this month, will come into the event as one of the strong favourites and he meets Anthony Parsons in his opening match of the weekend.
Other former professionals in the line-up include Craig Steadman, who faces Gary Milne, and Barry Pinches – who takes on Jack Harris and could potentially meet his son Luke Pinches at the semi-finals stage should the two get that far.
Luke Pinches begins his campaign against Tom Maxfield in an intriguing tie, while the top half is completed by a contest between Zachary Richardson and Jay Bullen.
Meanwhile, in one of the standout ties of the last 16, former world number 80 Peter Devlin meets 16-year-old Vladislav Gradinari – a former European Under-16 champion who recently completed a national hat-trick by adding the English Under-18 to the English Under-16 and Under-14 titles he has won previously.
