Q Tour Europe – The Race to Spain | Event 5 Update
Jamie Clarke has moved ahead in the race for a place on the World Snooker Tour (WST) after lifting a second successive WPBSA Q Tour Europe title in Sofia, Bulgaria last weekend.
As in previous seasons, the top ranked player following the conclusion of the seventh and final event will earn an automatic two-year WST place for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 campaigns, with a minimum of 16 further players to qualify for the season-end Global Playoffs to contest three further tour cards.
Winners of each Q Tour Europe event are guaranteed a spot in the Global Play-Offs meaning that Hammad Miah, Peter Lines, Simon Blackwell and Jamie Clarke have already secured their places.
CLARKE MOVES AHEAD
Wales’ Jamie Clarke has risen to the summit of the Q Tour Europe ranking list after defeating Stuart Carrington in the event five final at the National Snooker Academy of Bulgaria last weekend.
The success saw Clarke, who was relegated from the World Snooker Tour at the end of last season, win his second consecutive Q Tour Europe title following victory at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds last month.
Clarke has overtaken previous frontrunner Peter Lines, who fell at the quarter-finals stage in Bulgaria, and now holds a 4,380 point advantage with two events of the regular season remaining.
Event two champion Lines leads the chasing pack, closely followed by Hammad Miah and last weekend’s runner-up Carrington who could each climb into top spot by lifting the event six title should Clarke fall in his opening match.
THE PLAY-OFF RACE
With a maximum of 20,000 points on offer between now and the end of the season, the opportunity remains for all players to claim a place at the Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Spain next March while anybody ranked down to 20th could still mathematically claim top spot in the end of season rankings.
Former professional Peter Devlin currently sits in 17th position with a total of 9,400 points – just 65 clear of compatriot Ashley Carty in 18th.
The WPBSA Q Tour Europe series continues with Event Six at the Delta Moon, Mons, Belgium on 12-15 February. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.
