Vinnie Calabrese Crowned Q Tour Asia-Pacific Event One Champion
Vinnie Calabrese defeated Ben Foster 5-4 in the final of the first WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific event of the season at the Pot Black Snooker Centre in North Perth, Australia.
A dominant performance from Calabrese saw the former World Snooker Tour (WST) professional reach the final without dropping a single frame before overcoming Foster in dramatic fashion by winning the last two frames of the final from 4-3 behind.
Victory in the first of five WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific events to be held during the 2024/25 campaign sees Calabrese take an early lead in the series ranking list and lift the third Q Tour title of his career overall.
A total of 44 cueists from the region headed to the Pot Black Snooker Centre for the three-day event known as the West Coast International.
Calabrese, who ended the previous season in top spot on the WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific ranking list, was in fine form as he made century breaks in each of his first two matches and whitewashed both John McDonnell and Australia’s top-ranked player on the World Women’s Snooker (WWS) Tour Jessica Woods to reach the quarter-finals.
Further back-to-back 4-0 wins against Steve Hanna and fellow former professional Ben Judge then saw the 36-year-old cueist book his place in the final where he would face Foster.
Foster had battled his way to the title match with consecutive deciding frame victories against Paul Norris and Cale Barrett and fought valiantly in the final against Calabrese as he moved into an early 2-1 lead with a half-century and later put himself just one frame away from victory at 4-3 with a break of 85.
Calabrese refused to be denied, however, and forced a decider before storming over the line with a superb break of 103 in the deciding frame after midnight to claim the first WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific title of the new season.
The WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific returns on 2-4 August with the Fred Osbourne Classic. Click to learn more about the newly-expanded series.
