Twelve Remain After Opening Day of Q Tour Global Play-Offs
The opening day of the 2025 WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs has reached its conclusion and just 12 players now remain in contention for the three World Snooker Tour (WST) tour cards on offer.
Cueists from seven countries and three continents are among those left standing in the competition and by the end of tomorrow the three final round matches will be known.
The event is being held alongside the EBSA European Championships in Antalya, Türkiye from 11-13 March 2025.
PLAY-OFF 1
Q Tour Europe top seed Dylan Emery was among those to secure his passage into the Global Play-Off semi-finals on the opening morning of the event in Antalya, Türkiye.
The 23-year-old Welshman, who won the second event of the campaign in Bulgaria, comfortably overcame Iran’s Ali Gharahgozlou 5-2 with a pair of half-century breaks along the way.
In the most dramatic contest of the top section, England’s Ryan Davies came from 4-3 behind against fellow countryman and former professional Kuldesh Johal to earn victory in the decider.
Davies had led 2-0 but, despite compiling a break of 97 in the sixth frame to restore parity, it was Johal who moved one away from the winning line at 4-3 ahead.
The 22-year-old held his nerve, however, to take frame eight on the black before taking the decider on the last pink having earlier trailed by 37 points.
Davies is joined in the last four of the first play-off by fellow Englishmen Steven Hallworth and Mark Joyce.
Joyce showed some fine form in his opening encounter with Connor Benzey and hit breaks of 82, 76 and 51 en route to a 5-2 victory. Meanwhile, Hallworth was forced to work hard against former World Snooker Federation (WSF) champion Luo Honghao from China but ultimately held his nerve to take the concluding two frames and earn a 5-3 win.
PLAY-OFF 2
Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese earned an impressive 5-1 victory over former ranking event semi-finalist Craig Steadman to keep the flag flying for the WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific series.
Calabrese, who won four of the five Q Tour events in the region, impressed with a top break of 62 to reach the last four and extend Steadman’s wait for a return to the professional ranks.
A trio of fellow former professionals from Europe join Calabrese in the semi-finals of the second play-off.
Ukraine’s Iulian Boiko, who compiled the third maximum break in Q Tour history in Belgium earlier this season, defeated England’s Alex Clenshaw 5-2 to reach the last four.
The English duo of Harvey Chandler and Liam Highfield dropped just a single frame between then as Chandler whitewashed Brazil’s Dhimones Moraes with a top break of 79 while Highfield swept aside Bahrain’s Habib Humood by a 5-1 scoreline.
PLAY-OFF 3
Four players from four different nations earned their place in the semi-finals of the third Q Tour Global Play-Off.
There were upsets in the closing session of the opening day as former professionals Ryan Thomerson and Sean O’Sullivan succumbed to defeats against Iran’s Ehsan Heydari Nezhad and England’s Oliver Sykes each by a 5-1 scoreline.
Austrian national champion Florian Nuessle moved one step closer to securing professional status for the first time in his career as he defeated Josh Thomond 5-3 to set up a last four meeting with Nezhad.
A late night finish between Estonia’s Andres Petrov, who won the first Q Tour Europe title of the season, and Canada’s Vito Puopolo eventually saw the Estonian secure a 5-2 victory.
The WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs semi-finals take place tomorrow (12 March) and you can follow the event via WPBSA SnookerScores or watch live on the WPBSA Facebook page and YouTube channel.
