Competitions Update – June 2021

Following the announcement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, we have had to make a few amendments to our calendar for the remaining events of the 2019/20 season.

After discussions and confirmation with the venues involved, the new calendar for these events is below.

We can now also confirm that the last 16 north and south junior events have been scheduled. The under 14 and under 18 championships will be completed on the Saturday, while the under 16 and under 21 championships will be completed on the Sunday. The winners of these regions then qualify for Finals Weekend the following week.

24th-25th July

Junior Playoffs (this has remained the same)

Cueball Derby, Derby

31st July

English Under 14 Championship North Finals

Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds

31st July

English Under 14 Championship South Finals

Crucible Sports and Social Club, Reading

31st July

English Under 18 Championship North Finals

Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds

31st July

English Under 18 Championship South Finals

Crucible Sports and Social Club, Reading

1st August

English Under 16 Championship North Finals

Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds

1st August

English Under 16 Championship South Finals

Crucible Sports and Social Club, Reading

1st August

English Under 21 Championship North Finals

Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds

1st August

English Under 21 Championship South Finals

Crucible Sports and Social Club, Reading

7th – 8th August

Finals Weekend (Under 14/16/18/21 and Over 55)

Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds

7th – 8th August

EPSB Women’s Open

Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds

The EPSB plans to conduct the draws and publish a match schedule soon, so if you are unable to make any of the above events and wish to withdraw, please contact us as soon as possible.

Following the completion of the North and South Finals, we will create a schedule for Finals Weekend. This hasn’t been done yet because a player may qualify for more than one final.

Competition Formats

After discussion with the tournament team, the formats for each of the events are below:

Junior Playoffs

There are due to be 20 players at the Junior Playoffs playing for nine promotion places onto next season’s Under-21 Premier Development Tour.

As published previously, these players are:

Lewis George Harper, Ish Ishtiaq, Mickey Joyce, Bradley Cowdroy, Michael Roberts, Aidan Gallagher, Samuel Lee Stevens, Adam Williams, Dylan Kemp, Brandon Garside, Ryan Roberts, Westley Cooper, Edward Jones, Edward Taylor, Joe Woodhouse, Ryan Hughes, Lee Whaley, Ronnie Sullivan, Simon Bubb, Samuel Laxton

(Players may be replaced should anyone above withdraw)

On the Saturday, players will be split into four round robin groups of five. All matches are the best of 5 frames and the top three from each group will go through to Sunday.

On the Sunday, the 12 remaining players will be split into three round robin groups of four. All matches are the best of 5 frames and the top three from each group will earn promotion to the U21 PDT.

As released last month, the Playoffs will have attached an Order of Merit for those who do not earn promotion. Should an Under 21 Premier Development Tour event not reach full 30-player capacity, players from this Order of Merit will be invited to top up the field, working down the list until the event is full.

We will release more information on this Order of Merit concept closer to the time.

National Championships

All remaining stages of the national championships from the 2019/20 season are now knockout. The length of matches is as follows:

English Under 14 Championship (group winners from Stage Two will be seeded)

Last 16 and Quarter-Finals: best of 5

Semi-Finals (Regional Final): best of 7

Grand Final (at Finals Weekend): best of 9 – mid-session interval after 4 frames

English Under 16 Championship

Last 16 and Quarter-Finals: best of 5

Semi-Finals (Regional Final): best of 7

Grand Final (at Finals Weekend): best of 11 – mid-session interval after 5 frames

English Under 18 Championship

Last 16, Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals (Regional Final): best of 7

Grand Final (at Finals Weekend): best of 13 – two sessions of 6 and 7 frames

English Under 21 Championship

Last 16, Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals (Regional Final): best of 7

Grand Final (at Finals Weekend): best of 15 – two sessions of 7 and 8 frames

Over 55 Championship

Grand Final (at Finals Weekend): best of 9 – mid-session interval after 4 frames

All the new competition dates are on snookerscores.net and on the website calendar. Once the draw and schedule has been conducted these will be on snookerscores.net.