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Landywood SC English Amateur Championship Finals Weekend | Draw & Preview
The draw for the finals weekend of the Landywood SC English Amateur Championship has been released with 16 players set to compete for the title in snooker’s longest running competition.
First held in 1916, the prestigious title is the highest domestic honour for amateur players in England and has previously been won by former world champions Ray Reardon, John Spencer, Terry Griffiths and Stuart Bingham as well as other iconic names such as Jimmy White and Jack Lisowski over the previous 102 editions.
The final 16 battled through a field of 175 players in regional qualifiers to book their place in the finals weekend, which takes place on 2-3 March at the Landywood Snooker Club.
Quarter 1
Four players who all qualified via the Northern qualifier at the Northern Snooker Centre will battle it out for a semi-final place, with former ranking event semi-finalists Craig Steadman and Steven Hallworth both featuring the top quarter of the draw.
Steadman faces Gary Milne, who defeated 2022 champion Jamie Curtis-Barrett to qualify, while it is a battle between youth and experience as former main tour professional Hallworth takes on 15-year-old Vladislav Gradinari, the youngest player still in the tournament.
Quarter 2
The second quarter of the draw includes another former professional and a former English Amateur Championship runner-up.
Having lost in the final to Curtis-Barrett in 2022, John Welsh once again qualified for the finals weekend via the Northern qualifier and will meet 22-year-old Hamim Hussain in the last 16.
Meanwhile, former professional Jeff Cundy will take on Nathan Jones, who defeated Luke Pinches in the Southern qualifier at Frames Sports Bar to reach this stage.
Quarter 3
Nobody has successfully defended the English Amateur Championship title since Griffiths in 1978.
Defending champion Paul Deaville’s hope of breaking this run were brought to an end by Callum Downing in the final qualification round of the Midlands qualifier, and Downing will continue his run with a match against last year’s English Under-21 Championship runner-up Lewis Ullah.
Matthew Glasby and Marcos Dayao, who lost just one and three frames respectively in their four qualification matches, will face off in the other last 16 match in this quarter.
Quarter 4
1995 World Championship finalist and recent English Seniors champion Nigel Bond headlines the bottom quarter of the draw.
The 1989 English Amateur champion is aiming to lift the title an incredible 35 years on from his first success and he begins his finals weekend against Lee Martin.
In the other match in the bottom quarter of the draw, former professional Sydney Wilson and 49-year-old David Brown will do battle.
Learn more about the Landywood SC English Amateur Championship
