Kleckers Regains Tour Place
Germany’s Lukas Kleckers has earned a place on the World Snooker Tour for the next two seasons thanks to his performances on the 2019/20 Challenge Tour.
Kleckers, age 23 from Essen, finished second in the Challenge Tour rankings after ten events, behind only Ashley Hugill. Englishman Hugill had already secured a tour card by winning the World Snooker Federation Open in January. So Kleckers was next in line to earn the automatic tour place available from the Challenge Tour.
Players ranked third to tenth in the Challenge Tour rankings will qualify for the Play Off tournament on March 29th in Clacton. The winner of that event will also earn a World Snooker Tour card for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.
Kleckers won Challenge Tour event eight in Tamworth in January. He also reached the semi-finals of three other events and has now been rewarded for his consistency.
At the age of just 17, Kleckers won the German national Championship. He turned pro in 2017 after coming through Q School and competed on the pro tour for two seasons. He has reached the last 32 of five ranking events, including the Riga Masters three times, and scored wins over the likes of Neil Robertson and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: “On behalf of WPBSA and WST I’d like to congratulate Lukas for his superb performances on the Challenge Tour this season. He fully deserves his place back on the World Snooker Tour and we look forward to seeing him compete at the top level over the next two seasons.
“Snooker has grown dramatically in Germany over the past decade and we are delighted to see young talent like Lukas coming through and enjoying success. I hope his achievements will be an inspiration for young players across Germany and further afield.
“The standard of play on the new Challenge Tour this season has been outstanding and it provides a platform for developing talent to thrive and chase their dreams. The Play Off event later this month will feature eight fantastic players with a huge prize at stake. Let the best man win!”
