2020–21 snooker season

The 2020–21 snooker season is a professional snooker season with tournaments played between 21 September 2020 and 9 May 2021.

2020–21 snooker season
Details
Duration21 September 2020 – 9 May 2021
Tournaments20 (15 ranking events)
Triple Crown winners
UK Championship Neil Robertson (AUS)
Masters Yan Bingtao (CHN)
World Championship 
2021–22 →

The COVID-19 pandemic, which had already disrupted the remainder of the previous season, continued to play its part in causing disruption for this season. The World Snooker Tour had hoped that fans would be allowed into some tournaments later in the season, but these plans were repeatedly revised or reversed due to changes in circumstances. With the exception of the World Championship, which has yet to be played and has no firm confirmation on whether fans will be present, the season has been played entirely behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes. The purpose of doing so was to create a Covid-secure "bubble" environment for all players and officials so as to allow the sport to progress.

The pandemic also meant that the season consisted of only 20 tournaments rather than the customary 30-45 that had been seen for the last decade: this was a record low that had not been seen since the 2004-05 snooker season. However, unlike that season, almost every tournament played carried ranking points, providing many opportunities for lower ranked players to continue to make a living. Despite this, several tournaments were not featured in the 2020-21 season, such as the Riga Masters and all of the events played in China.

The season began with WST announcing that all tournaments up to and including the Champion of Champions would be played at the Marshall Arena: this would be revised later to include all tournaments of 2020.[1] Towards the end of October, World Snooker Tour had announced that the UK Championship would have the first round played at the same arena, but all televised stages would then be played at the York Barbican: on 4 November, days after the UK Government announced a lockdown for all of England, this was then revised to include the entire tournament.[2]

Despite space being allocated for back-to-back events in China during March, WST later confirmed on 3 December 2020 that all China-based tournaments were cancelled, due to continuing travel restrictions, making it the first season in more than a decade where no tournaments would be staged in Asia. In its place, a new WST Pro Series was added, taking place between January and March of the new year.[3]

On 4 January 2021, the week prior to the event, WST announced that the Masters would be moved to the Marshall Arena, as a result of logistical challenges associated with Alexandra Palace having no on-site facilities and lengthy travel requirements from a hotel, preventing a secure 'bubble' from being formed to host the event.[4]

Players
Players on the Main Tour
by nation[5]
 Australia 2
 Belgium 1
 Brazil 1
 China 23
 England 60
 Germany 2
 Hong Kong 1
 Iran 2
 Ireland 3
 Israel 1
 Jamaica 1
 Malta 1
 Morocco 1
 Northern Ireland 3
 Norway 1
 Poland 1
 Scotland 8
  Switzerland 1
 Thailand 3
 Ukraine 1
 Wales 11
Total 128

The World Snooker Tour in the 2020–21 season consists of a field of 128 professional players.[6] The top 64 players from the prize money rankings after the 2020 World Championship, and the 35 players earning a two-year card the previous year automatically qualify for the season. Next, four places are allocated to the top four on the One Year Ranking List who have not already qualified for the Main Tour. Another two players came from the Challenge Tour, two players came from the CBSA China Tour, and a further 12 places were available through the Q School (four Event 1 winners, four Event 2 winners and four Event 3 winners). Two-year tour cards were also awarded to any player outside the top 64, who qualified for the main stage of the 2020 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.[7] The rest of the places on to the tour came from amateur events and national governing body (NGB) nominations.[6]

New professional players

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

Calendar

The following table outlines the dates and results for all the ranking events of the World Snooker Tour, major invitational events, the Q Tour, and World Seniors Tour.[16]

Since the pandemic is a fluid and dynamically changing global event, all locations that aren't Milton Keynes in the following table are subject to change, based on lockdowns and country-wide infection rates.

Start Finish Country Rank Tournament name Venue City Winner Runner-up Score Ref.
21 Sep 27 Sep  ENG WR European Masters Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Mark Selby (ENG)  Martin Gould (ENG) 9–8 [17]
12 Oct 18 Oct  ENG WR English Open Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Judd Trump (ENG)  Neil Robertson (AUS) 9–8 [18]
13 Sep 30 Oct  ENG WR Championship League Ballroom, Stadium MK Milton Keynes  Kyren Wilson (ENG)  Judd Trump (ENG) 3–1 [19]
2 Nov 8 Nov  ENG NR Champion of Champions Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Mark Allen (NIR)  Neil Robertson (AUS) 10–6 [20]
16 Nov 22 Nov  ENG WR Northern Ireland Open Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Judd Trump (ENG)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 9–7 [21]
23 Nov 6 Dec  ENG WR UK Championship Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Neil Robertson (AUS)  Judd Trump (ENG) 10–9 [22]
7 Dec 13 Dec  ENG WR Scottish Open Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Mark Selby (ENG)  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 9–3 [23]
14 Dec 20 Dec  ENG WR World Grand Prix Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Judd Trump (ENG)  Jack Lisowski (ENG) 10–7 [24]
10 Jan 10 Jan  ENG WST World Seniors Super Seniors 1 Frames Coulsdon  Gary Filtness (ENG)  Ashley Beal (ENG) 4–0
10 Jan 17 Jan  ENG NR Masters Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Yan Bingtao (CHN)  John Higgins (SCO) 10–8 [25]
27 Jan 31 Jan  ENG WR German Masters Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Judd Trump (ENG)  Jack Lisowski (ENG) 9–2 [26]
4 Feb 7 Feb  ENG WR Shoot Out Marshall Arena Milton Keynes  Ryan Day (WAL)  Mark Selby (ENG) 1–0 [27]
15 Feb 21 Feb  WAL WR Welsh Open Celtic Manor Resort Newport
22 Feb 28 Feb TBC WR Players Championship
1 Mar 7 Mar TBC WR Gibraltar Open
18 Jan 21 Mar  ENG WR WST Pro Series Ballroom, Stadium MK Milton Keynes
22 Mar 28 Mar TBC WR Tour Championship
4 Jan 1 Apr  ENG NR Championship League Ballroom, Stadium MK Milton Keynes
17 Apr 3 May  ENG WR World Championship Crucible Theatre Sheffield
6 May 9 May  ENG WST World Seniors Championship Crucible Theatre Sheffield
WR = World ranking event
NR = Non-ranking event
WST = World Seniors Tour

World ranking points
Main articles: Snooker world rankings 2020/2021 and Snooker world ranking points 2020/2021

The 2020–21 snooker season featured the following points distribution for world ranking events:

Round
Tournament
 R144 R128 R112 R96 R80 R64 R48 R32 R24 R16 QF R6 SF F W
European Masters N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 3,000 N/A 4,000 N/A 6,000 11,000 N/A 17,500 35,000 80,000
English Open N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 3,000 N/A 4,000 N/A 7,500 10,000 N/A 20,000 30,000 70,000
Championship League N/A 0
[note 1]		 N/A 1,000
[note 2]		 N/A 2,000
[note 3]		 N/A 4,000
[note 4]		 5,000
[note 5]		 6,000
[note 6]		 8,000
[note 7]		 9,000
[note 8]		 11,000
[note 9]		 23,000 33,000
Northern Ireland Open N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 3,000 N/A 4,000 N/A 7,500 10,000 N/A 20,000 30,000 70,000
UK Championship N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 6,500 N/A 12,000 N/A 17,000 24,500 N/A 40,000 80,000 200,000
Scottish Open N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 3,000 N/A 4,000 N/A 7,500 10,000 N/A 20,000 30,000 70,000
World Grand Prix N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 N/A 7,500 12,500 N/A 20,000 40,000 100,000
German Masters N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 3,000 N/A 4,000 N/A 5,000 10,000 N/A 20,000 35,000 80,000
Shoot Out N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 500 N/A 1,000 N/A 2,000 4,000 N/A 8,000 20,000 50,000
Welsh Open N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 3,000 N/A 4,000 N/A 7,500 10,000 N/A 20,000 30,000 70,000
Players Championship N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 15,000 N/A 30,000 50,000 125,000
Tour Championship N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0 N/A 40,000 60,000 150,000

Finalists in ranking tournaments

Below is a list of players who have reached a final of a ranking event in the 2020–21 season.[28]

Rank Name Nationality Winner Runner-up Finals Winning tournaments
1 Judd Trump  England 4 2 6 2020 English Open
2020 Northern Ireland Open
2020 World Grand Prix
2021 German Masters
2 Mark Selby  England 2 1 3 2020 European Masters
2020 Scottish Open
3 Neil Robertson  Australia 1 1 2 2020 UK Championship
4 Kyren Wilson  England 1 0 1 2020 Championship League
Ryan Day  Wales 1 0 1 2021 Snooker Shoot Out
6 Jack Lisowski  England 0 2 2
Ronnie O'Sullivan  England 0 2 2
7 Martin Gould  England 0 1 1
Total99189 of 15 tournaments completed

Notes
  1. First stage fourth-placed
  2. First stage third-placed
  3. First stage runner-up
  4. Second stage fourth-placed
  5. Second stage third-placed
  6. Second stage runner-up
  7. Third stage fourth-placed
  8. Third stage third-placed
  9. Third stage runner-up

References
  1. "Milton Keynes To Host Season Opening Events". World Snooker. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  2. "UK Championship: Entire event to be played in Milton Keynes". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  3. "New WST Pro Series Added to Snooker Calendar". World Snooker. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  4. "Masters to be staged at Milton Keynes". World Snooker. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  5. "Tour Nationalities 2020/21". wst.tv. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  6. "Snooker Continues To Lead Sport's Return With Tour Structure Plans". Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  7. "Clarke And Brown Book Crucible Spots". World Snooker. 28 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  8. "Andrew Pagett is the 2020 European Snooker Champion". EBSA. 19 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  9. "Andrew Pagett Tour Card Deferral". World Snooker. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  10. "Aaron Hill wins U21 European Snooker Championship". Sports Matters. 14 March 2020. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  11. "Ashley Hugill Triumphs in WSF Open". SnookerHQ. 18 January 2020. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  12. "2019/2020 Season Points". Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  13. "Snooker Continues To Lead Sport's Return With Tour Structure Plans". World Snooker. 8 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  14. https://wst.tv/doherty-awarded-invitational-tour-card/
  15. "King of the Crucible Hendry returns". World Snooker Tour. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  16. "2021 WST Calendar Announced". World Snooker. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  17. "Selby Edges Gould In Thriller". World Snooker Tour. 27 September 2020.
  18. "Trump Beats Robertson In Fantastic Final". World Snooker Tour. 18 October 2020.
  19. "Wilson Claims Championship League Crown". World Snooker Tour. 30 October 2020.
  20. "Allen Crowned Champion Of Champions". World Snooker Tour. 8 November 2020.
  21. "Trump Completes Northern Ireland Treble". World Snooker Tour. 22 November 2020.
  22. "Robertson Edges Trump In Thrilling UK Final". World Snooker Tour. 7 December 2020.
  23. "Selby Storms to Scottish Open Title". World Snooker Tour. 13 December 2020.
  24. "Trump Beats Lisowski To Win 20th Ranking Title". World Snooker Tour. 20 December 2020.
  25. "Yan Secures Thrilling Masters Victory". World Snooker Tour. 18 January 2021.
  26. "Trump Defends German Masters Title". World Snooker Tour. 31 January 2021.
  27. "Shoot Out Triumph Makes Ryan's Day". World Snooker Tour. 7 February 2021.
  28. Årdalen, Hermund. "Finals 2019/2020 - snooker.org". snooker.org. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
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