Carty, Steadman and Hugill Secure World Snooker Tour Return at Q Tour Play-Offs

Ashley Carty, Craig Steadman and Ashley Hugill have each earned two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour cards after successfully coming through the WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Gandia, Spain.

• Results

All three players have previous WST experience and were able to earn their returns to the professionals ranks during a dramatic and emotional three-days at the Gandia Palace Hotel.

CARTY CAPTURES Q TOUR GLORY

Ashley Carty held off the comeback of Peter Lines to regain his professional status after a year away from the WST.

The 30-year-old fired in four half centuries in just over an hour to open up an 8-5 lead over the highest seeded player in the event, but Lines piled on the pressure as he pulled it back to 9-8 before Carty showed great composure to clear the colours for victory at 10-8.

Carty had began the event with a 5-3 success over Hayden Staniland, before battling through a dramatic final frame decider against Peter Devlin to reach the final.

The first session of the best-of-19 frame contest was a hard-fought affair and had to be pulled off early with the scoreline level after eight frames.

A stunning scoring spree from Carty then saw him open up a four frame lead in barely an hour as breaks of 95, 61, 62 and 59 made it 8-4.

He took the next but then, by his own admission, “barely saw another shot” as Lines won four in a row to reduce the deficit to just a single frame at 9-8.

Lines hit a break of 51 in the 18th frame and it looked like there would be a deciding frame to conclude the action in Gandia, but Carty battled back and calmly cleared the colours to earn a two-year tour card.

An emotional Carty said: “I’m just relieved. I played so well to go 8-5 up but Peter is so hard to play against. I never make things easy for myself! When I qualified for the Crucible, I was 9-3 up against Robert Milkins and won 10-8 so I had to remind myself that I’d been through it before. I know I’ve got plenty of bottle and I’m over the moon the get through that!”

“I found it difficult to adjust to the amateur game for the first few months and it is tough financially as well, so to to get back on after the first season – I believe that is where I should be.” he added.

Carty also paid tribute to his former coach Keith Johnstone, who sadly passed away recently: “He used to coach me when I first started playing at the age of eight or nine. When I first went to him, I could barely hold a cue and within a couple of years he helped me make century breaks. His son is my current coach and his family has been a massive help to me for over 20 years. I’m pleased that I’ve done it for him.”

HUGILL HITS THE HEIGHTS

Ashley Hugill beat Mark Joyce 10-5 in the final of the second Q Tour Global Play-Off to secure a return to the WST following a two-year absence.

The 31-year-old, who has featured among the professional ranks in two previous spells, led Joyce 6-3 after the first session and held his nerve to win four of the next six frames to earn a two-year tour card from the start of the 2026/27 campaign.

A relatively comfortable passage to the title match had seen Hugill overcome Luke Pinches (5-1) and Alfie Davies (6-3) to set up a meeting with fellow former professional Joyce.

A strong start saw 2020 World Snooker Federation (WSF) champion move into a 4-0 lead with a top break of 98, before his opponent rallied to reduce the deficit to 5-3.

The final frame of the opening session proved to be a pivotal moment during which Hugill later admitted he was “absolutely gone”.

“I knew that frame was massive, I’d played so well to go 5-1 up and then he came back into it and it almost felt like the match hung on that last frame of the first session” Hugill admitted following the victory.

It was Hugill who won it to end the session with a 6-3 advantage and, by sharing the first four frames of the afternoon, he headed into the final mid-session interval with an 8-5 lead.

A break of 99 put the Englishman one frame from glory and he remained calm in a scrappy 15th frame to get over the line and secure a third spell on the Tour.

Post-match, Hugill said: “I can hardly breathe! It’s just pure relief – it felt like it was all on the line for me there. I’m not sure I was going to do another season on the amateur tour. Obviously, I would have gone to Q School if I hadn’t won today but, having led all day, if I’d not got over the line there then I don’t think I would have made it through that. The long format suits me so this was the time to get it done.”

Ranking event winner Anthony Hamilton was part of Hugill’s team in Gandia, and he explained: “I started working with Anthony this season. He’s a friend as much as a coach, I’ve been practicing with him for three or four years. We’ve changed some technical things so I can play better under pressure now and ave done some mental work too.”

He added: “I don’t think I would have got through today without Anthony, it was absolutely massive having him here – the best decision I made.”

STEADMAN SECURES TOUR RETURN

Craig Steadman will compete on the WST for the first time since 2023 after defeating Stuart Carrington 10-7 in the third Q Tour Global Play-Off final.

The 43-year-old first turned professional in 2009 and will return for a fourth spell among the world’s elite cueists after defeating Callum Beresford (5-0), Patrick Whelan (6-5) and finally Carrington in Gandia.

The reigning European Seniors champion made a strong start to the final as a break of 123 in the fourth gave him a 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval.

Carrington, who was aiming to return after a one-season absence, took the next three to reduce the deficit but Steadman was able to keep him at arm’s length and concluded the opening session with a 6-3 advantage.

His opponent continued to battle in the afternoon and managed to get within a single frame of Steadman on three separate occasions – lastly at 8-7.

Steadman showed his experience, however, to move within one frame of glory courtesy of a break of 52 before getting over the line in the next.

Post-match, he said: “I feel brilliant! That last match is tough – any best-of-19 match is tough. I set off really well today and could have had a bigger lead, but fair play to Stuart – he dug in and I was relieved to shake hands in the end. I felt nervous to be quite honest but you’ve just got to remember that everyone is feeling the same way.”

Reflecting on his three years in the amateur game, Steadman added: “I’ve liked the amateur circuit and I’m not just saying that. I’ll kind of miss it because there’s events every week and I like playing in tournaments. When you get older, the practicing gets a bit harder but I love competing. It has shown me that there is life after professional snooker and it’s not all doom and gloom.”

“Going into that match, I’d lost my last two matches to get back on the Tour at the European Championships and then Q School so it did creep into my thoughts. I’m looking forward to it – I won’t be the oldest player on the Tour but I won’t be the youngest! I’m happy to have proven to myself that I can get back on.”

The WPBSA would like to thank the European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA) and Real Federación Espanola De Billiard for their support with running the 2026 WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs.