2020 Q School

{{Infobox individual snooker tournament

|tournament_name = 2020 Q School

|logo =

|dates = {{Start and end dates|2020|8|3|2020|8|9|df=y}}

|venue = English Institute of Sport

|location = Sheffield

|country = England

|organisation =

|format = Qualifying School

|highest_break =

|qualifiers = 12 via the 3 events

|previous=2019

|next=2021}}

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.

Format

Originally 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.{{Cite web |url=https://wpbsa.com/q-school-2020-event-preview/ |title=Q School 2020: Event preview |date=1 August 2020 |publisher=WPBSA}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://wst.tv/q-school-open-for-entry/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622044336/https://wst.tv/q-school-open-for-entry/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 June 2020 |title=Q School |date=16 June 2020}}{{Cite web |url=https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Click-here-for-the-updated-format.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015142639/https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Click-here-for-the-updated-format.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 October 2020 |title=Q School 2020 provisional format of play |website=World Snooker |access-date=22 September 2023}}

Event 1

The 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.{{Cite web |url=https://wst.tv/action-jackson-bounces-back/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601163304/https://wst.tv/action-jackson-bounces-back/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 June 2021 |title=Walker and Lichtenberg bounce back |date=8 August 2020 |publisher=World Snooker Tour}}{{Cite web |url=https://wpbsa.com/q-school-2020-event-one-qualifiers/ |title=Q School 2020: Event One qualifiers |first=Michael |last=Day |date=8 August 2020 |publisher=WPBSA}} The results of the four final matches are given below.{{Cite web|url=https://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=1026 |title=Qualifying School - Event One (2020) - snooker.org |website=www.snooker.org}}

{{flagathlete|Lee Walker|WAL}} 4–1 {{flagathlete|Simon Blackwell|ENG}}
{{flagathlete|Peter Devlin|ENG}} 4–2 {{flagathlete|John Astley|ENG}}
{{flagathlete|Simon Lichtenberg|GER}} 4–1 {{flagathlete|Leo Fernandez|IRL}}
{{flagathlete|Fan Zhengyi|CHN}} 4–2 {{flagathlete|Michael White|WAL}}

Event 2

The 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.{{Cite web |url=https://wst.tv/jones-earns-professional-return/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926205615/https://wst.tv/jones-earns-professional-return/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 September 2020 |title=Jones earns professional return |date=9 August 2020 |publisher=World Snooker Tour}}{{Cite web |url=https://wpbsa.com/q-school-2020-event-two-qualifiers/ |title=Q School 2020: Event Two qualifiers |first=Michael |last=Day |date=9 August 2020 |publisher=WPBSA}} The results of the four final matches are given below.{{Cite web|url=https://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=1027 |title=Qualifying School - Event Two (2020) - snooker.org |website=www.snooker.org}}

{{flagathlete|Jamie Jones|WAL}} 4–0 {{flagathlete|Michael Georgiou|CYP}}
{{flagathlete|Zak Surety|ENG}} 4–1 {{flagathlete|Leo Fernandez|IRL}}
{{flagathlete|Oliver Lines|ENG}} 4–2 {{flagathlete|Paul Davison|ENG}}
{{flagathlete|Ben Hancorn|ENG}} 4–0 {{flagathlete|Kuldesh Johal|ENG}}

Event 3

The 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.{{Cite web |url=https://wst.tv/q-school-event-three-results/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922004826/https://wst.tv/q-school-event-three-results/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 September 2020 |title=Q School Event Three results |date=9 August 2020 |publisher=World Snooker Tour}}{{Cite web |url=https://wpbsa.com/q-school-2020-event-three-qualifiers/ |title=Q School 2020: Event Three qualifiers |first=Michael |last=Day |date=10 August 2020 |publisher=WPBSA}} The results of the four final matches are given below.{{Cite web|url=https://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=1028 |title=Qualifying School - Event Three (2020) - snooker.org |website=www.snooker.org}}

{{flagathlete|Rory McLeod|JAM}} 4–2 {{flagathlete|Paul Davison|ENG}}
{{flagathlete|Jamie Wilson|ENG}} 4–3 {{flagathlete|Haydon Pinhey|ENG}}
{{flagathlete|Farakh Ajaib|ENG}} 4–2 {{flagathlete|Brian Ochoiski|FRA}}
{{flagathlete|Steven Hallworth|ENG}} 4–2 {{flagathlete|Alfie Burden|ENG}}

Q School Order of Merit

A 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.{{Cite web |url=https://wpbsa.com/rankings/q-school-order-of-merit/ |title=Q School Order of Merit (2020) |publisher=WPBSA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919113107/https://wpbsa.com/rankings/q-school-order-of-merit/ |archive-date=19 September 2020}}

The Order of Merit was intended to be used to give priority places for the new Q Tour which was announced in July 2020.{{Cite web |title=WPBSA Q Tour Launched |url=https://wpbsa.com/wpbsa-q-tour-launched/ |date=21 July 2020 |website=WPBSA}} However the tour was delayed by a year and only started in 2021–22.{{Cite web |title=WPBSA Q Tour Launched |url=https://wpbsa.com/wpbsa-q-tour-launched/ |date=21 July 2020 |website=WPBSA}}

The leading players in the Q School Order of Merit are given below.

Rank ! Player ! Event 1	Event 2	Event 3	Total
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
1 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|WAL}} Michael White \| 20	12	15	47
2 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|FRA}} Brian Ochoiski \| 10	17	20	47
3 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|ENG}} Paul Davison \| 7	20	20	47
4 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|IRL}} Leo Fernandez \| 19	19	5	43
5 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|ENG}} Jamie Curtis-Barrett \| 13	17	12	42
6 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|ENG}} Kuldesh Johal \| 8	18	13	39
7 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|ENG}} Oliver Brown \| 13	8	17	38
8 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|ENG}} Daniel Womersley \| 9	12	16	37
9 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|ENG}} Haydon Pinhey \| 1	15	21	37
10 \|align=left\|{{flagicon\|ENG}} John Astley \| 20	4	11	35

Two-season performance of qualifiers

The 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.{{cite web |url=https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/World-Rankings-after-2022-World-Snooker-Championship.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503000531/https://wst.tv/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/World-Rankings-after-2022-World-Snooker-Championship.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 May 2022 |title=World Rankings: After the 2022 Betfred World Snooker Championship |publisher=World Snooker Tour |date=2 May 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://wst.tv/2022-23-tour-players/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706143012/https://wst.tv/2022-23-tour-players/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 July 2022 |title=2022/23 Tour Players |publisher=World Snooker Tour |date=6 July 2022}}

rowspan=2\|Player	colspan=2\|End of 2021–22 season	rowspan=2\|Status for 2022–23 season
class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
Money	Ranking
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Lee Walker\|WAL}}	26,500	91	align=left\|Amateur
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Peter Devlin\|ENG}}	26,500	92	align=left\|Amateur
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Simon Lichtenberg\|GER}}	48,500	75	align=left\|Amateur
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Fan Zhengyi\|CHN}}	113,000	36	align=left\|Retained place on tour
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Jamie Jones\|WAL}}	129,500	31	align=left\|Retained place on tour
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Zak Surety\|ENG}}	20,500	101	align=left\|Qualified through the 2022 Q School
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Oliver Lines\|ENG}}	73,000	57	align=left\|Retained place on tour
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Ben Hancorn\|ENG}}	30,000	88	align=left\|Amateur
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Rory McLeod\|JAM}}	42,500	78	align=left\|Amateur
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Jamie Wilson\|ENG}}	22,000	100	align=left\|Amateur
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Farakh Ajaib\|ENG}}	22,500	99	align=left\|Amateur
align=left\|{{flagathlete\|Steven Hallworth\|ENG}}	40,500	81	align=left\|Amateur

References

Category:Q School (snooker)

Category:2020 in English sport

Category:2020 in snooker

Category:Sports competitions in Sheffield