The 2020 Q School was a series of three snooker tournaments held at the start of the 2020–21 snooker season. An event for amateur players, it served as a qualification event for a place on the professional World Snooker Tour for the following two seasons. The events took place in August 2020 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, England with a total 12 players qualifying via the three tournaments.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3–9 August 2020 |
| Venue | English Institute of Sport |
| City | Sheffield |
| Country | England |
| Format | Qualifying School |
| Qualifiers | 12 via the 3 events |
← 2019 2021 → | |
Format
editOriginally planned for June 2020, the series was delayed until August because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Q School still consisted of three events but, rather than taking place one after the other, they were all played in a week. All first and second matches for all three events were played on the opening four days, and then the final stages were played on the next three days.[1] The three events had 172 entries competing for 12 places on the main tour. Four players qualified from each of the three events. Rounds 1 and 2 were contested over 5 frames, with later rounds being played over seven frames.[2][3]
Event 1
editThe first 2020 Q School event was held from 3 to 7 August 2020 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, England. Lee Walker, Peter Devlin, Simon Lichtenberg and Fan Zhengyi qualified.[4][5] The results of the four final matches are given below.[6]
Lee Walker (WAL) 4–1 
Simon Blackwell (ENG)- Peter Devlin (ENG) 4–2 John Astley (ENG)
Simon Lichtenberg (GER) 4–1 
Leo Fernandez (IRL)
Fan Zhengyi (CHN) 4–2 Michael White (WAL)
Event 2
editThe second 2020 Q School event was held from 4 to 8 August 2020 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, England. Jamie Jones, Zak Surety, Oliver Lines and Ben Hancorn qualified.[7][8] The results of the four final matches are given below.[9]
- Jamie Jones (WAL) 4–0
Michael Georgiou (CYP) - Zak Surety (ENG) 4–1 Leo Fernandez (IRL)
- Oliver Lines (ENG) 4–2 Paul Davison (ENG)
- Ben Hancorn (ENG) 4–0 Kuldesh Johal (ENG)
Event 3
editThe third 2020 Q School event was held from 5 to 9 August 2020 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, England. Rory McLeod, Jamie Wilson, Farakh Ajaib and Steven Hallworth qualified.[10][11] The results of the four final matches are given below.[12]
Rory McLeod (JAM) 4–2 Paul Davison (ENG)- Jamie Wilson (ENG) 4–3 Haydon Pinhey (ENG)
- Farakh Ajaib (ENG) 4–2
Brian Ochoiski (FRA) - Steven Hallworth (ENG) 4–2 Alfie Burden (ENG)
Q School Order of Merit
editA Q School Order of Merit was produced for players who failed to gain a place on the main tour. The Order of Merit was used to top up fields for the 2020–21 snooker season where an event failed to attract the required number of entries. The rankings in the Order of Merit were based on the number of frames won in the three Q School events. Players who received a bye into the second round were awarded three points for round one. Where players were equal, those who won the most frames in the first event were ranked higher and, if still equal, the player with most frames in event two.[13]
The Order of Merit was intended to be used to give priority places for the new Q Tour which was announced in July 2020.[14] However the tour was delayed by a year and only started in 2021–22.[15]
The leading players in the Q School Order of Merit are given below.
| Rank | Player | Event 1 | Event 2 | Event 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Michael White
|
20 | 12 | 15 | 47 |
| 2 |  Brian Ochoiski
|
10 | 17 | 20 | 47 |
| 3 |  Paul Davison
|
7 | 20 | 20 | 47 |
| 4 |  Leo Fernandez
|
19 | 19 | 5 | 43 |
| 5 | Jamie Curtis-Barrett
|
13 | 17 | 12 | 42 |
| 6 | Kuldesh Johal
|
8 | 18 | 13 | 39 |
| 7 | Oliver Brown
|
13 | 8 | 17 | 38 |
| 8 | Daniel Womersley
|
9 | 12 | 16 | 37 |
| 9 | Haydon Pinhey
|
1 | 15 | 21 | 37 |
| 10 | John Astley
|
20 | 4 | 11 | 35 |
Two-season performance of qualifiers
editThe following table shows the rankings of the 12 qualifiers from the 2020 Q School, at the end of the 2021–22 snooker season, the end of their two guaranteed seasons on the tour, together with their tour status for the 2022–23 snooker season. Players in the top-64 of the rankings retained their place on the tour while those outside the top-64 lost their place unless they qualified under a different category.[16][17]
| Player | End of 2021–22 season | Status for 2022–23 season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Money | Ranking | ||
| Lee Walker (WAL) |
26,500 | 91 | Amateur |
| Peter Devlin (ENG) |
26,500 | 92 | Amateur |
 Simon Lichtenberg (GER) |
48,500 | 75 | Amateur |
 Fan Zhengyi (CHN) |
113,000 | 36 | Retained place on tour |
| Jamie Jones (WAL) |
129,500 | 31 | Retained place on tour |
| Zak Surety (ENG) |
20,500 | 101 | Qualified through the 2022 Q School |
| Oliver Lines (ENG) |
73,000 | 57 | Retained place on tour |
| Ben Hancorn (ENG) |
30,000 | 88 | Amateur |
 Rory McLeod (JAM) |
42,500 | 78 | Amateur |
| Jamie Wilson (ENG) |
22,000 | 100 | Amateur |
| Farakh Ajaib (ENG) |
22,500 | 99 | Amateur |
| Steven Hallworth (ENG) |
40,500 | 81 | Amateur |
References
edit- ^ "Q School 2020: Event preview". WPBSA. 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Q School". 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Q School 2020 provisional format of play" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "Walker and Lichtenberg bounce back". World Snooker Tour. 8 August 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021.
- ^ Day, Michael (8 August 2020). "Q School 2020: Event One qualifiers". WPBSA.
- ^ "Qualifying School - Event One (2020) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org.
- ^ "Jones earns professional return". World Snooker Tour. 9 August 2020. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020.
- ^ Day, Michael (9 August 2020). "Q School 2020: Event Two qualifiers". WPBSA.
- ^ "Qualifying School - Event Two (2020) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org.
- ^ "Q School Event Three results". World Snooker Tour. 9 August 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
- ^ Day, Michael (10 August 2020). "Q School 2020: Event Three qualifiers". WPBSA.
- ^ "Qualifying School - Event Three (2020) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org.
- ^ "Q School Order of Merit (2020)". WPBSA. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020.
- ^ "WPBSA Q Tour Launched". WPBSA. 21 July 2020.
- ^ "WPBSA Q Tour Launched". WPBSA. 21 July 2020.
- ^ "World Rankings: After the 2022 Betfred World Snooker Championship" (PDF). World Snooker Tour. 2 May 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2022.
- ^ "2022/23 Tour Players". World Snooker Tour. 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022.