Andres Petrov Wins Q Tour Europe Title in Leeds
Andres Petrov defeated Ryan Thomerson 4-3 in a dramatic final at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds to win the first WPBSA Q Tour Europe event of the 2024/25 season.
The Estonian cueist came through a record-breaking Q Tour field in West Yorkshire to secure the title and take an early lead in the Q Tour Europe ranking list after the first of seven events to be held across the continent.
Petrov, who made history in 2022 by winning the EBSA European Championship to become his country’s first ever professional, showed his determination on the final day by coming from 3-1 behind in both the quarter and semi-finals before firing in two century breaks in a final which also went down to the wire.
A total of 154 cueists, a new record for a Q Tour event, embarked on the famous Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds as the first two days saw 106 players battle it out to join the 48 seeded competitors in the last 64 stage on the Saturday.
A number of notable names fell during a high-quality first two days, including recent former professionals Adam Duffy, Rebecca Kenna and Victor Sarkis.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Scot Jack Borwick made headlines by compiling a stunning tournament high break of 139 in a 3-0 victory over Daniel Bagley, before following this up with a 3-1 win against former professional Kuldesh Johal to make it to the last 64 – ultimately succumbing to the experienced Craig Steadman at this stage.
As one of the seeded competitors, eventual champion Petrov entered the fray on the Saturday and back-to-back 4-2 wins over Rodions Judins and Halim Hussain saw the Estonian book his place in the final day.
A relatively comfortable 4-1 victory over Hamim Hussain, the brother of Halim, put Petrov into the quarter-finals where he would face 48-year-old Simon Bedford on the Northern Snooker Centre’s main table.
Despite a break of 61 in the third frame, Petrov found himself 3-1 down and on the brink of defeat to Bedford in the last eight.
Success on a respotted black in frame five saw the Estonian reduce his deficit to one and, from here, Petrov showed his battling qualities to earn the victory in a deciding frame.
Petrov would need to call upon these qualities once more in the semi-finals against Simon Blackwell, as the Englishman charged into a 3-1 lead with back-to-back half centuries. Again, however, Petrov refused to accept defeat and forced a decider by taking a dramatic sixth frame on the final black before getting over the line in the seventh by a 71-0 scoreline.
This set up a title match contest with Australia’s Ryan Thomerson, who had similarly been relegated from the main tour at the end of the last season, after he had defeated Ryan Davies 4-1 in the semi-finals.
Having started on the Thursday, Thomerson had impressively advanced through eight rounds to reach the final with notable victories over former professionals Harvey Chandler, James Cahill and Steven Hallworth.
But it looked to be Petrov’s day when the man known as ‘The Tallinn Lamborghini’ raced into a 3-0 lead with breaks of 121, 90, 55 and 51 to move just one frame away from lifting the title.
Thomerson had already proved to be a fighter across the weekend, coming from 3-1 down to earn victories over both Chandler and Hallworth en route to the final, and after taking the fourth frame on the last black he then compiled a break of 72 to reduce his deficit to just a single frame.
In frame six, Petrov moved 62-0 ahead and looked certain to get over the line but a steely clearance of 64 from Thomerson saw him dramatically force a decider having trailed 0-3.
The man from Estonia saved perhaps his most majestic break of the weekend for the most important moment as he compiled an outstanding clearance of 119, his second century of the final, to win the title.
Petrov was visibly emotional following the victory having played 26 out of a possible 28 frames on a final day full of drama.
The tournament success means that Petrov makes the perfect start as he aims to make an instant return to the World Snooker Tour (WST) with the top ranked player at the conclusion of the campaign earning an outright two-year tour card.
