The 2021 Q School was a series of three snooker tournaments held at the start of the 2021–22 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 May and June 2021 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England with a total 14 players qualifying via the three tournaments and the Order of Merit.[1]
Format
The 2021 Q School consisted of three events. The three events had 196 entries competing for 14 places on the main tour. Four players qualified from each of the three events, with a further two places available from the Q Tour Order of Merit. All matches were the best of seven frames.[2]
Event 1
The first 2021 Q School event was held from 27 May to 1 June 2021 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England. Peter Lines, Fraser Patrick, Jackson Page and Yuan Sijun qualified.[3] The results of the four final matches are given below.[4]
The third 2021 Q School event was held from 8 to 13 June 2021 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England. Ian Burns, Lei Peifan, Dean Young and Duane Jones qualified.[7] The results of the four final matches are given below.[8]
A Q School Order of Merit was produced for players who failed to gain a place on the main tour directly through the three events. Two places on the main tour were given to the leading two players in the Order of Merit, Hammad Miah and Mitchell Mann.[7] The Order of Merit was used to top up fields for the 2021–22 snooker season where an event failed to attract the required number of entries.[2] 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 four 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.[9]
In addition 48 players were seeded in the 2021–22 Q Tour events based on their position in the 2021 Q School Order of Merit. These were the top 40 ranked players not currently on the main tour and a further eight under-21 players outside this top 40.[10]
The leading players in the Q School Order of Merit are given below, those with Q in brackets being awarded places on the main tour.[11]
The following table shows the rankings of the 14 qualifiers from the 2021 Q School, at the end of the 2022–23 snooker season, the end of their two guaranteed seasons on the tour, together with their tour status for the 2023–24 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.[12][13] Because a number of players in the top-64 were suspended the cut-off to retain a place was extended to the top-68.[14]
