2017–18 snooker season

The 2017–18 snooker season was a series of professional snooker tournaments played between 4 May 2017 and 7 May 2018. The season began with the pro–am Vienna Snooker Open in May 2017 and ended with the 2018 World Snooker Championship in April the following year. Ronnie O'Sullivan earned a joint-record five ranking titles in the season. He joined Stephen Hendry (1990/1991), Ding Junhui (2013/2014), and Mark Selby (2016/2017) in winning five ranking titles in the same season.[1]

2017–18 snooker season
Nations that hosted an event in the snooker calendar during the 2017–18 season
Details
Duration4 May 2017 – 7 May 2018 (2017-05-04 – 2018-05-07)
Tournaments45[n 1] (20 ranking events)
Triple Crown winners
UK Championship Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Masters Mark Allen (NIR)
World Championship Mark Williams (WAL)

The China Championship became a ranking event and was brought forward to a mid-August date, ahead of the Paul Hunter Classic. The Shanghai Masters was initially withdrawn from the season calendar, but was later rescheduled for November 2017.[2] The biennial World Cup team event was played in July 2017. Another event not held every year returning in 2017 was the 2017 IWGA World Games. The Snooker Shoot Out was brought forward to the start of February, ahead of both the World Grand Prix and Welsh Open.[3]

A new World Seniors Tour was formed by Snooker Legends for players over 40 years of age, comprising four events, including the World Seniors Championship which has returned to Scunthorpe in 2018.[4]

The second edition of the Home Nations Series was being held in this season with the English Open, Northern Ireland Open, Scottish Open and Welsh Open tournaments. For a single winner of all four tournaments would earn a bonus of £1 million.[5]

Ronnie O'Sullivan won five ranking events during the season, with Mark Williams winning three times and Ryan Day, John Higgins and Mark Selby each winning twice. Shaun Murphy reached four ranking event finals during the season but lost them all.

Players

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The top 64 players from the prize money rankings after the 2017 World Championship, and the 31 players earning a two-year card the previous year automatically qualified for the season (Rouzi Maimaiti has resigned his membership). Next, eight places were allocated to the top 8 on the One Year Ranking List who have not already qualified for the Main Tour. Another two players came from the EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs, and a further places were available through the 2017 Q School, four from each of the two events and the four best-ranked players in the Order of Merit. The rest of the places on to the tour came from amateur events and national governing body (NGB) nominations. Hamza Akbar received a tour card as a special dispensation in place of America's nomination.[6][7]

The list of all professional players in the 2017/2018 season consist of 131 players, including the standard field of the 128 players and three invitational tour cards (James Wattana has second year of a two-year invitational tour card while Jimmy White and Ken Doherty were awarded the new two-year permission).[6][7] Beginning from this season, players with invitational tour cards are eligible to compete in any ranking event.[8] These players are seeded after main tour professionals, but above amateur top ups taken from the Q School ranking list.[9]

New professional players

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All players listed below received a tour card for two seasons.[6][7]

Calendar

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The following tables outline the dates and results of all events of the World Snooker Tour, World Women's Snooker, the World Seniors Tour, and other events.[18][19][20][21]

World Snooker Tour

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Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Score Runner-up Ref.
23 Jun 25 Jun Riga Masters Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia   Ryan Day (WAL) 5‍–‍2   Stephen Maguire (SCO) [22]
3 Jul 9 Jul World Cup Wuxi City Sports Park Stadium in Wuxi, China   China A 4‍–‍3   England [23]
20 Jul 23 Jul Hong Kong Masters Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong, China   Neil Robertson (AUS) 6‍–‍3   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) [24]
28 Jul 29 Jul CVB Challenge Nanshan Culture & Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China   Great Britain 26‍–‍9   China [25]
16 Aug 22 Aug China Championship Guangzhou Sport University in Guangzhou, China   Luca Brecel (BEL) 10‍–‍5   Shaun Murphy (ENG) [26]
22 Aug 27 Aug Paul Hunter Classic Stadthalle in Fürth, Germany   Michael White (WAL) 4‍–‍2   Shaun Murphy (ENG) [27]
4 Sep 9 Sep Six-red World Championship Bangkok Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand   Mark Williams (WAL) 8‍–‍2   Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) [28]
12 Sep 16 Sep Indian Open Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach in Vishakhapatnam, India   John Higgins (SCO) 5‍–‍1   Anthony McGill (SCO) [29]
18 Sep 24 Sep World Open Yushan Number One Middle School in Yushan, China   Ding Junhui (CHN) 10‍–‍3   Kyren Wilson (ENG) [30]
2 Oct 8 Oct European Masters De Soeverein in Lommel, Belgium   Judd Trump (ENG) 9‍–‍7   Stuart Bingham (ENG) [31]
16 Oct 22 Oct English Open Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 9‍–‍2   Kyren Wilson (ENG) [32]
29 Oct 5 Nov International Championship Baihu Media Broadcasting Centre in Daqing, China   Mark Selby (ENG) 10‍–‍7   Mark Allen (NIR) [33]
6 Nov 12 Nov Champion of Champions Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England   Shaun Murphy (ENG) 10‍–‍8   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) [34]
13 Nov 18 Nov Shanghai Masters Shanghai Grand Stage in Shanghai, China   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 10‍–‍3   Judd Trump (ENG) [35]
20 Nov 26 Nov Northern Ireland Open Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland   Mark Williams (WAL) 9‍–‍8   Yan Bingtao (CHN) [36]
28 Nov 10 Dec UK Championship Barbican Centre in York, England   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 10‍–‍5   Shaun Murphy (ENG) [37]
11 Dec 17 Dec Scottish Open Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland   Neil Robertson (AUS) 9‍–‍8   Cao Yupeng (CHN) [38]
14 Jan 21 Jan Masters Alexandra Palace in London, England   Mark Allen (NIR) 10‍–‍7   Kyren Wilson (ENG) [39]
31 Jan 4 Feb German Masters Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany   Mark Williams (WAL) 9‍–‍1   Graeme Dott (SCO) [40]
8 Feb 11 Feb Shoot Out Watford Colosseum in Watford, England   Michael Georgiou (CYP) 1‍–‍0   Graeme Dott (SCO) [41]
19 Feb 25 Feb World Grand Prix Preston Guild Hall in Preston, England   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 10‍–‍3   Ding Junhui (CHN) [42]
26 Feb 4 Mar Welsh Open Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales   John Higgins (SCO) 9‍–‍7   Barry Hawkins (ENG) [43]
7 Mar 11 Mar Gibraltar Open Tercentenary Sports Hall, Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar, Gibraltar   Ryan Day (WAL) 4‍–‍0   Cao Yupeng (CHN) [44]
14 Mar 18 Mar Romanian Masters Bucharest Metropolitan Circus in Bucharest, Romania   Ryan Day (WAL) 10‍–‍8   Stuart Bingham (ENG) [45]
19 Mar 25 Mar Players Championship Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales   Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 10‍–‍4   Shaun Murphy (ENG) [46]
2 Jan 29 Mar Championship League Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England   John Higgins (SCO) 3‍–‍2   Zhou Yuelong (CHN) [47]
2 Apr 8 Apr China Open Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Beijing, China   Mark Selby (ENG) 11‍–‍3   Barry Hawkins (ENG) [48]
21 Apr 7 May World Championship Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England   Mark Williams (WAL) 18‍–‍16   John Higgins (SCO)
Ranking event
† Non-ranking event

World Ladies Billiards and Snooker

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Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Score Runner-up Ref.
24 Aug 27 Aug Paul Hunter Women's Classic Ballroom in Nuremberg, Germany   Reanne Evans (ENG) 4‍–‍1   Ng On-Yee (HKG) [49]
30 Oct 1 Nov UK Women's Championship Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England   Ng On-Yee (HKG) 4‍–‍1   Reanne Evans (ENG) [50]
28 Oct 29 Oct Eden Women's Masters South West Snooker Centre in Quedgeley, England   Ng On-Yee (HKG) 4‍–‍3   Reanne Evans (ENG) [51]
17 Feb 18 Feb Women's British Open Stourbridge Institute in Stourbridge, England   Reanne Evans (ENG) 4‍–‍0   Nutcharut Wongharuthai (THA) [52]
14 Mar 17 Mar World Women's Championship Dolmen Hall in St Paul's Bay, Malta   Ng On-Yee (HKG) 5‍–‍0   Maria Catalano (ENG) [53]
14 Apr World Women's 10-Red Championship Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England   Reanne Evans (ENG) 4‍–‍1   Ng On-Yee (HKG) [54]
15 Apr World Women's 6-Red Championship Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England   Reanne Evans (ENG) 4‍–‍3   Ng On-Yee (HKG) [55]

World Seniors Tour

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Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Score Runner-up Ref.
24 Oct 26 Oct UK Seniors Championship Harlequin Theatre in Redhill, England   Jimmy White (ENG) 4‍–‍2   Ken Doherty (IRL) [56]
6 Jan 7 Jan Seniors Irish Masters Goffs in Kill, Ireland   Steve Davis (ENG) 4‍–‍0   Johnathan Bagley (ENG) [57]
21 Mar 24 Mar World Seniors Championship Baths Hall in Scunthorpe, England   Aaron Canavan (JER) 4‍–‍3   Patrick Wallace (NIR) [58]
12 Apr Seniors Masters Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England   Cliff Thorburn (CAN) 2‍–‍1   Johnathan Bagley (ENG) [59]

Other events

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Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Score Runner-up Ref.
4 May 7 May Vienna Open 15 Reds Köö Wien Snooker Club in Vienna, Austria   David Grace (ENG) 5‍–‍2   Nigel Bond (ENG) [60]
24 May 27 May Belgium Open Snooker Club Arena in Ghent, Belgium   Bjorn Haneveer (BEL) 6‍–‍5   Ben Mertens (BEL) [61]
7 Jun 11 Jun Pink Ribbon South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester, England   Robert Milkins (ENG) 4‍–‍2   Rob James (ENG) [62]
26 Jul 30 Jul World Games Wrocław Congress Center in Wrocław, Poland   Kyren Wilson (GBR) 3‍–‍1   Ali Carter (GBR) [63]
19 Sep 21 Sep Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games – Six-red Billiard Sports Arena in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan   Yan Bingtao (CHN) 5‍–‍1   Soheil Vahedi (IRI) [64]
22 Sep 24 Sep Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games – Team Billiard Sports Arena in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan   Iran 3‍–‍0   Qatar [65]
24 Sep 26 Sep Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games – Singles Billiard Sports Arena in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan   Zhao Xintong (CHN) 4‍–‍2   Hossein Vafaei (IRI) [66]
23 Oct 27 Oct Haining Open Haining Sports Center in Haining, China   Mark Selby (ENG) 5‍–‍1   Tom Ford (ENG) [67]

Points distribution

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2017/2018 points distribution for World Snooker Tour ranking events:[68]

Round
Tournament
R144 R128 R80 R64 R48 R32 R16 QF SF F W
Riga Masters £0 £1,000 £2,000 £4,000 £6,000 £15,000 £25,000 £50,000
China Championship £0 £4,000 £7,000 £12,000 £18,000 £32,000 £75,000 £150,000
Paul Hunter Classic £0 £600 £1,000 £1,725 £3,000 £4,500 £10,000 £20,000
Indian Open £0 £2,000 £4,000 £6,000 £10,000 £15,000 £25,000 £50,000
World Open £0 £4,000 £7,000 £12,000 £18,000 £32,000 £75,000 £150,000
European Masters £0 £2,000 £4,000 £6,000 £11,000 £17,500 £35,000 £75,000
English Open £0 £2,500 £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000
International Championship £0 £4,000 £8,500 £13,500 £21,500 £32,000 £75,000 £150,000
Shanghai Masters £0 £4,000 £7,000 £12,000 £18,000 £32,000 £75,000 £150,000
Northern Ireland Open £0 £2,500 £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000
UK Championship £0 £5,000 £10,000 £15,000 £22,500 £35,000 £75,000 £170,000
Scottish Open £0 £2,500 £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000
German Masters £0 £2,000 £4,000 £5,000 £10,000 £20,000 £35,000 £80,000
Shoot Out £0[n 2] £500 £1,000 £2,000 £4,000 £8,000 £16,000 £32,000
World Grand Prix £5,000 £7,500 £12,500 £20,000 £40,000 £100,000
Welsh Open £0 £2,500 £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000
Gibraltar Open £0 £1,000 £2,000 £3,000 £4,000 £6,000 £12,000 £25,000
Players Championship £10,000 £15,000 £30,000 £50,000 £125,000
China Open £0 £5,000 £11,000 £18,000 £27,000 £45,000 £90,000 £225,000
World Championship £0 £9,000 £13,500 £18,000[n 3] £27,500 £42,500 £85,000 £180,000 £425,000

Notes

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  1. ^ The three disciplines at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games were part of the same tournament.
  2. ^ First round losers in the Shoot Out received £250 prize money which did not count towards the prize money rankings.
  3. ^ Players who lose their first match receive no ranking points.

References

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  1. ^ "Players Championship snooker: Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Shaun Murphy in final". 25 March 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
  2. ^ "Calendar 2017/2018". snooker.org. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  3. ^ a b "The Big 2017/18 Season Preview – WPBSA". www.wpbsa.com.
  4. ^ "Stephen Hendry Fronts New World Seniors Tour – SnookerHQ". 1 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Preview: Home Nations English Open – SnookerHQ". 15 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "2017/18 Tour Qualification: Making 128 (ish)". WPBSA. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Tour Players 2017/18 – WPBSA". www.wpbsa.com.
  8. ^ "Invitational Tour Card Holders – World Snooker". 21 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Q School Order of Merit (2017)". snooker.org. 2017-05-20.
  10. ^ "Players on the Main Tour". snooker.org. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  11. ^ "2017 EBSA Play-Offs". thecueview.com.
  12. ^ Årdalen, Hermund. "EBSA Play Off (2017) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org.
  13. ^ "Kleckers Books Tour Spot – World Snooker". 14 May 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Lam Secures Immediate Tour Return – World Snooker". 20 May 2017.
  15. ^ "China Tour Nominations – World Snooker". 11 May 2017.
  16. ^ "Hamza Akbar – Tour Card". worldsnooker.com. World Snooker. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Jimmy White and Ken Doherty given tour cards by World Snooker". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Full Calendar – World Snooker". Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Calendar" (PDF). www.worldsnooker.com.
  20. ^ "Calendar" (PDF). www.worldsnooker.com. 2017.
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  22. ^ "Riga Masters: Wales' Ryan Day beats Scotland's Stephen Maguire for title". Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  23. ^ "Plan Comes Together China's A-team". Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  24. ^ "Hong Kong Masters 2017: Neil Robertson beats O'Sullivan in final". 23 July 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  25. ^ "Camsing Global CVB Snooker Challenge". 12 July 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  26. ^ "China Championship: Luca Brecel beats Shaun Murphy for first ranking title". Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  27. ^ "Paul Hunter Classic 2017: Michael White beats Shaun Murphy in final". Retrieved 27 August 2017.
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  29. ^ "Indian Open: John Higgins beats Anthony McGill to take title". BBC Sport. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  30. ^ "World Open: Ding Junhui beats Kyren Wilson 10–3 in China". BBC Sport. 25 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  31. ^ "Judd Trump beats Stuart Bingham 9–7 to retain European Masters title". BBC Sport. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  32. ^ "Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Kyren Wilson 9–2 to claim title". BBC Sport. 22 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  33. ^ "International Championship: Mark Selby retains title by beating Mark Allen 10–7". BBC Sport. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
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  36. ^ "Magnificent Mark Williams fights back to win Northern Ireland Open title in epic final". Eurosport. 26 November 2017.
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  38. ^ "Scottish Open: Neil Robertson beats Cao Yupeng 9–8 in dramatic Scottish Open". BBC Sport. 17 December 2017.
  39. ^ "Masters 2018: Mark Allen beats Kyren Wilson 10–7 in final to take title". BBC Sport. 21 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  40. ^ "Mark Williams: Welsh snooker player claims German Masters win". BBC Sport. 4 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  41. ^ "Georgiou Wins Maiden Title In Dott Thriller". World Snooker. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  42. ^ "World Grand Prix: Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Ding Junhui to win title". BBC Sport. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  43. ^ "Higgins Wins Record Fifth Welsh Crown". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
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  45. ^ "Day The Best In Bucharest". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  46. ^ "O'Sullivan Beats Murphy To Equal Titles Record". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  47. ^ "Higgins Retains Championship League Title". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  48. ^ "Selby Back On Form With China Open Victory". World Snooker. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  49. ^ "2017 Paul Hunter Women's Classic - Results". snookerscores.net. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  50. ^ "2017 LITEtask UK Women's Championship - Results". snookerscores.net. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  51. ^ "2017 Eden Women's Masters - Results". snookerscores.net. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  52. ^ "2018 British Open - Results". snookerscores.net. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  53. ^ "2018 World Women's Snooker Championship - Results". snookerscores.net. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  54. ^ "2018 World Women's 10-Red Championship - Results". snookerscores.net. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  55. ^ "2018 World Women's 6-Red Championship - Results". snookerscores.net. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  56. ^ "Jimmy White Wins UK Seniors Championship". Snookerhq.com. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  57. ^ "Steve Davis Crowned Seniors Irish Masters Champion". Snookerhq.com. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  58. ^ "Jersey's Canavan through to snooker World Championship qualifiers". ITV. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  59. ^ "Assetereum World Seniors Masters 2018 – Cliff Thorburn is your Champion!". seniorsnooker.com. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  60. ^ "Vienna Snooker Open 2017". Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  61. ^ "Haneveer Holds On To Take Title". Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  62. ^ "Robert Milkins Captures Pink Ribbon Glory". 13 June 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  63. ^ "World Games 2017: Kyren Wilson beats Ali Carter to win snooker gold". 4 August 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  64. ^ "RESULTS: 6RED MEN – 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017 :: Ashgabat – Turkmenistan". www.cuesportsindia.com.
  65. ^ "RESULTS: SNOOKER MEN Teams – 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017  :: Ashgabat – Turkmenistan". www.cuesportsindia.com.
  66. ^ "RESULTS: SNOOKER MEN Single – 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017 :: Ashgabat – Turkmenistan". www.cuesportsindia.com.
  67. ^ "海宁斯诺克国际公开赛 塞尔比轰单杆147夺冠". lesports. 5 February 2018. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  68. ^ "Indicative Prize Money Rankings Schedule 2017/2018 Season" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
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