Q Tour Europe – The Race to the Play-Offs | Event 3 Update
Riley Powell has taken the lead in the race for a place on the World Snooker Tour (WST) after winning the first WPBSA Q Tour Europe title of his career in Oberhausen, Germany on Sunday.
As in previous seasons, the top ranked player following the conclusion of the seventh and final event will earn an automatic two-year WST place for the 2027/28 and 2028/29 campaigns, with a minimum of 16 further players qualifying for the season-ending Global Play-Offs to contest three further tour cards.
Winners of each Q Tour Europe event are guaranteed at least a spot in the Global Play-Offs meaning that Sanderson Lam, Aaron Busuttil and Powell have secured their places.
Powell in Poll Position
Riley Powell lifted the biggest title of his career so far by defeating Mark Lloyd 4-1 at Snooker Arena Germany last weekend and has climbed into first position on the Q Tour Europe ranking list as a result.
The 18-year-old Welshman has steadily improved throughout the season and followed up a run to the quarter-finals of event two in Sofia with a title-winning performance in Oberhausen.
Leading the chasing pack is event one winner Sanderson Lam, who suffered a surprise opening round defeat to Fabian Weber in Germany, while Malta’s Aaron Busuttil sits in third courtesy of his title win in Bulgaria last month.
The Play-Off Race
Players from six nations currently make up the top 17 in the race for the season-ending Q Tour Global Play-Offs spots as previous event winners Sanderson Lam and Aaron Busuttil lead the chasing pack.
Former professional Mark Joyce, who has reached two semi-finals in the first three events, current sits fourth while a run to the final in Oberhausen has seen Mark Lloyd rise to fifth position.
Teenager Edward Jones remains in sixth following a breakthrough run to the final in Sofia while event one runner-up Farakh Ajaib drops to 11th having not featured in a Q Tour event since reaching the final in Leeds back in August.
The all-important 17th place is currently held by Shachar Ruberg, who holds a 145-point advantage over Simon Blackwell.
WPBSA Q Tour Europe continues with event four in Vienna, Austria on 12-15 November and entries close on Friday at 12:00 GMT. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.
