Wikipedia

2019–20 Challenge Tour

(Redirected from Challenge Tour 2019/2020)

The 2019–20 Challenge Tour was a series of snooker tournaments that took place during the 2019–20 snooker season. The Challenge Tour was the second-tier tour for players not on the main World Snooker Tour. The top player in the final rankings earned a two-year card to the World Snooker Tour from the 2020–21 snooker season. The following eight players in the rankings progressed to a play-off event, with the winner of that event also receiving a two-year place on the World Snooker Tour. Two of the events were postponed: Event five was rearranged due to poor weather conditions, whilst the play-off was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2019–20 Challenge Tour
Details
Duration31 August 2019 – 20 July 2020 (2019-08-31 – 2020-07-20)
Tournaments11

Played between August and July, the series was contested over ten events. Ashley Hugill finished top of the rankings, winning two of the events. Hugill had already earned a place on the World Snooker Tour having won the 2020 WSF Open, so second placed Lukas Kleckers earned a tour card. Third ranked Andrew Pagett also received a place on the World Snooker Tour after his victory in the 2020 EBSA European Snooker Championship. Allan Taylor, who had finished seventh in the rankings, won the play-off tournament and a place on the World Snooker Tour.

Format

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The Challenge Tour is a series of ten snooker tournaments, featuring as a qualification route for the World Snooker Tour. Featuring 10 events across Europe, each tournament had 64 participants.[1] The leading 56 players in the 2019 Q School Order of Merit who had not qualified for the main tour, as well as eight wildcards are eligible to play. If there are fewer than 64 entries, additional entries from the Q School Order of Merit could enter.[2] All matches are for the original ten event were held as the best-of-five frames.[1] The player with the most prize money from the ten events received participation for the World Snooker Tour for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 snooker season.[1] A final event, the Challenge Tour play-off was held for the eight highest prize fund winners, who had not already received a tour card. The winner of the play-off, contested as the best-of-seven frames was also awarded a two-year tour card.[1][3]

Prize fund

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Each event featured a prize fund of £10,000 with the winner receiving £2,000.[4][1]

  • Winner: £2,000
  • Runner-up: £1,000
  • Semi-final: £700
  • Quarter-final: £500
  • Last 16: £200
  • Last 32: £125
  • Total: £10,000

Participants

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The leading 56 players in the 2019 Q School Order of Merit, excluding the 16 who qualified for the main tour, were automatically eligible to play.[2][5]

Summary

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Ashley Hugill won two events, and was the highest ranked player on the Challenge Tour.

The first event was won by Ka Wai Cheung, who defeated Oliver Brown 3–1 in the final in Nuremberg, Germany.[6] Jake Nicholson defeated Welshman Andrew Pagett in the second event, in Berkshire, England.[7] Paggett then won the third event, defeating Robbie McGuigan 3–0 in the final.[8] At the fourth event in Bruges, Belgium, Ashley Hugill defeated Aaron Hill 3–1.[9] Allan Taylor won the fifth event, defeating Scottish player Michael Collumb in the final.[10] Brown won the sixth tournament, defeating Hugill in Budapest, Hungary.[11] Scottish 17-year-old Dean Young overcame Paggett in Pelt, Belgium.[12] Lukas Kleckers completed a 3–1 win over Tyler Rees in Tamworth, England in event 8.[13] Hugill won his second title in event 9 in Llanelli, Wales after a 3–1 win over Sydney Wilson.[14] The final event was won by Adam Duffy, who beat Kuldesh Johal in Leicester, England.[15]

Hugill finished the season as the highest ranked player, but had won the 2020 WSF Open, which gave him a place on the World Snooker Tour for the following two seasons.[16] As such, second placed Lukas Kleckers qualified from the Challenge Tour to the main tour for the next two seasons.[17] Third placed Andrew Pagett also received a tour card, having won the 2020 EBSA European Snooker Championship.[18] The next eight highest ranked players took part in the play-off in Sheffield in England for a final World Snooker Tour place for the following two seasons.[19][20] The play-off was postponed until August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was won by Taylor, who completed a 4–0 whitewash victory over Duffy.[21]

Results

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Below is the schedule for the eleven events.[22]

Date Country Tournament Venue City Field Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
31 Aug 1 Sep   GER Event 1 Ballroom Nürnberg Nuremberg 67   Ka Wai Cheung   Oliver Brown 3–1 [6]
21 Sep 22 Sep   ENG Event 2 The Crucible Sports & Social Club Newbury 64   Jake Nicholson   Andrew Pagett 3–1 [7]
5 Oct 6 Oct   ENG Event 3 Northern Snooker Centre Leeds 64   Andrew Pagett   Robbie McGuigan 3–0 [8]
19 Oct 20 Oct   BEL Event 4 The Trickshot Bruges 58   Ashley Hugill   Aaron Hill 3–1 [9]
28 Feb 29 Feb[a]   ENG Event 5 The Winchester Leicester 64   Allan Taylor   Michael Collumb 3–1 [10]
16 Nov 17 Nov   HUN Event 6 Hungary Snooker Academy Budapest 62   Oliver Brown   Ashley Hugill 3–1 [11]
14 Dec 15 Dec   BEL Event 7 De Maxx Pelt 42   Dean Young   Andrew Pagett 3–1 [12]
18 Jan 19 Jan   ENG Event 8 Tamworth Sports Bar Tamworth 60   Lukas Kleckers   Tyler Rees 3–1 [13]
15 Feb 16 Feb   WAL Event 9 Terry Griffiths Matchroom Llanelli 52   Ashley Hugill   Sydney Wilson 3–1 [14]
1 Mar 2 Mar   ENG Event 10 The Winchester Leicester 61   Adam Duffy   Kuldesh Johal 3–1 [15]
20 Jul 20 Jul[b]   ENG Tour Playoff English Institute of Sport Sheffield 8   Allan Taylor   Adam Duffy 4–0 [21]

Rankings

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Below is the leading 20 players in the prize money rankings over the series.[25]

Rank Player Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6 Event 7 Event 8 Event 9 Event 10 Total (£)
1   Ashley Hugill 125 125 500 2,000 125 1,000 700 0 2,000 125 6,700
2   Lukas Kleckers 200 125 500 700 700 700 500 2,000 0 500 5,925
3   Andrew Pagett 500 1,000 2,000 125 200 200 1,000 125 125 125 5,400
4   Dean Young 200 0 0 700 125 125 2,000 200 200 700 4,250
5   Adam Duffy – 500 125 200 0 500 125 500 0 2,000 3,950
6   Oliver Brown 1,000 – – 0 0 2,000 0 0 125 125 3,250
7   Allan Taylor – 700 125 – 2,000 – – 200 – 200 3,225
8   Patrick Whelan 700 0 125 500 125 200 200 700 125 500 3,175
9   Rory McLeod 125 500 0 500 700 500 125 500 200 – 3,150
10   Ka Wai Cheung 2,000 – 200 0 – 200 500 0 200 0 3,100
11   Jake Nicholson – 2,000 0 0 0 500 125 125 125 0 2,875
12   Tyler Rees 200 0 – – 125 – – 1,000 700 500 2,525
13   Michael Collumb 0 200 125 0 1,000 700 – 200 200 0 2,425
14   Robbie McGuigan 125 500 1,000 125 0 0 125 0 500 0 2,375
15   Zak Surety 500 125 700 125 500 – – 125 0 0 2,075
16   George Pragnell 0 0 700 0 125 200 125 700 0 200 2,050
17   Sanderson Lam 0 200 500 200 200 500 0 200 0 125 1,925
18   Aaron Hill 500 125 125 1,000 0 0 125 – – – 1,875
19   Paul Davison 0 0 125 500 0 125 200 200 500 200 1,850
20   Daniel Womersley 125 125 500 200 125 0 125 125 200 125 1,650
Qualified for the main tour through other means
Qualified for the play-offs
Qualified for the main tour

Tour Playoff

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The final event, the Challenge Tour Playoff, was held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield on 20 July. The event was originally planned for March but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.[24] The event saw the eight highest ranked players, excluding those already qualified for the main tour, compete for a further place on that tour. Ka Wai Cheung chose not to play and was replaced by Tyler Rees.[26] All matches were over 7 frames. The draw was not seeded.[19] The event was won by Allan Taylor, who completed a 4–0 whitewash victory over Adam Duffy.[21]

 
Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames		Final
Best of 7 frames
 
          
 
 
 
 
   Jake Nicholson4
 
 
 
  Tyler Rees2
 
   Jake Nicholson1
 
 
 
  Allan Taylor4
 
   Oliver Brown4
 
 
 
  Allan Taylor3
 
   Allan Taylor4
 
 
 
  Adam Duffy0
 
   Adam Duffy4
 
 
 
  Patrick Whelan0
 
   Adam Duffy4
 
 
 
  Rory McLeod1
 
   Dean Young1
 
 
  Rory McLeod4
 

Notes

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  1. ^ The event was postponed due to weather.[23]
  2. ^ Postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "World Snooker Challenge Tour 2018/19". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Challenge Tour 2019/20". World Snooker Tour. 25 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Challenge Tour Revision". World Snooker Tour. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 27 March 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Challenge Tour Prize Money". World Snooker Tour. 31 May 2018. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Q School Order of Merit". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Cheung the Champ at Challenge Tour One". World Snooker Tour. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 1 September 2019. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Nicholson wins the shining Challenge Two trophy". World Snooker Tour. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 22 September 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Pagett Shows Northern Soul To Win Challenge Three". World Snooker Tour. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 6 October 2019. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Hugill Best In Bruges". World Snooker Tour. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 20 October 2019. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Taylor Made For The Challenge". World Snooker Tour. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Brown Strikes Gold In Budapest". World Snooker Tour. 17 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Young Blood: Dean Wins Challenge Seven". World Snooker Tour. 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Klekers King At Challenge Tour Eight". World Snooker Tour. 19 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  14. ^ a b Årdalen, Hermund. "Challenge Tour 9 (2020) - snooker.org". snooker.org (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Duffy Wins Challenge Tour Ten". World Snooker Tour. 3 March 2020. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Klekers Regains Tour Place". World Snooker Tour. 3 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Kleckers Regains Tour Place". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Pagett Wins European Amateur Championship". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Challenge Tour Play-Off 2020" (PDF). World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Challenge Tour Play-offs Postponed". World Snooker Tour. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020.
  21. ^ a b c "Taylor Made Up At Tour Return". World Snooker Tour. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Challenge Tour Calendar". World Snooker Tour. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 10 July 2019. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  23. ^ "Challenge Tour Five Postponed". World Snooker Tour. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 2 November 2019. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Challenge Tour Play-Off To Take Place July 20th". World Snooker Tour. 1 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Challenge Tour Rankings". snooker.org. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  26. ^ "Challenge-Tour play-off draw". World Snooker Tour. 9 July 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020.
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