The 2019–20 Challenge Tour was a series of snooker tournaments that took place during the 2019–20 snooker season. The Challenge Tour was the second-tier tour for players not on the main World Snooker Tour. The top player in the final rankings earned a two-year card to the World Snooker Tour from the 2020–21 snooker season. The following eight players in the rankings progressed to a play-off event, with the winner of that event also receiving a two-year place on the World Snooker Tour. Two of the events were postponed: Event five was rearranged due to poor weather conditions, whilst the play-off was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Played between August and July, the series was contested over ten events. Ashley Hugill finished top of the rankings, winning two of the events. Hugill had already earned a place on the World Snooker Tour having won the 2020 WSF Open, so second placed Lukas Kleckers earned a tour card. Third ranked Andrew Pagett also received a place on the World Snooker Tour after his victory in the 2020 EBSA European Snooker Championship. Allan Taylor, who had finished seventh in the rankings, won the play-off tournament and a place on the World Snooker Tour.

Format The Challenge Tour is a series of ten snooker tournaments, featuring as a qualification route for the World Snooker Tour. Featuring 10 events across Europe, each tournament had 64 participants. The leading 56 players in the 2019 Q School Order of Merit who had not qualified for the main tour, as well as eight wildcards are eligible to play. If there are fewer than 64 entries, additional entries from the Q School Order of Merit could enter. All matches are for the original ten event were held as the best-of-five . The player with the most prize money from the ten events received participation for the World Snooker Tour for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 snooker season. A final event, the Challenge Tour play-off was held for the eight highest prize fund winners, who had not already received a tour card. The winner of the play-off, contested as the best-of-seven frames was also awarded a two-year tour card.

Prize fund Each event featured a prize fund of £10,000 with the winner receiving £2,000.

Winner: £2,000 Runner-up: £1,000 Semi-final: £700 Quarter-final: £500 Last 16: £200 Last 32: £125 Total: £10,000

Participants The leading 56 players in the 2019 Q School Order of Merit, excluding the 16 who qualified for the main tour, were automatically eligible to play.

Summary

The first event was won by Ka Wai Cheung, who defeated Oliver Brown 3–1 in the final in Nuremberg, Germany. Jake Nicholson defeated Welshman Andrew Pagett in the second event, in Berkshire, England. Paggett then won the third event, defeating Robbie McGuigan 3–0 in the final. At the fourth event in Bruges, Belgium, Ashley Hugill defeated Aaron Hill 3–1. Allan Taylor won the fifth event, defeating Scottish player Michael Collumb in the final. Brown won the sixth tournament, defeating Hugill in Budapest, Hungary. Scottish 17-year-old Dean Young overcame Paggett in Pelt, Belgium. Lukas Kleckers completed a 3–1 win over Tyler Rees in Tamworth, England in event 8. Hugill won his second title in event 9 in Llanelli, Wales after a 3–1 win over Sydney Wilson. The final event was won by Adam Duffy, who beat Kuldesh Johal in Leicester, England.

Hugill finished the season as the highest ranked player, but had won the 2020 WSF Open, which gave him a place on the World Snooker Tour for the following two seasons. As such, second placed Lukas Kleckers qualified from the Challenge Tour to the main tour for the next two seasons. Third placed Andrew Pagett also received a tour card, having won the 2020 EBSA European Snooker Championship. The next eight highest ranked players took part in the play-off in Sheffield in England for a final World Snooker Tour place for the following two seasons. The play-off was postponed until August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was won by Taylor, who completed a 4–0 whitewash victory over Duffy.

Results Below is the schedule for the eleven events. Date Country Tournament Venue City Field Winner Runner-up Score Ref. 31 Aug 1 Sep Event 1 Ballroom Nürnberg Nuremberg67 Ka Wai Cheung Oliver Brown 3–1 21 Sep 22 Sep Event 2 The Crucible Sports & Social Club Newbury64 Jake Nicholson Andrew Pagett 3–1 5 Oct 6 Oct Event 3 Northern Snooker Centre Leeds64 Andrew Pagett Robbie McGuigan 3–0 19 Oct 20 Oct Event 4 The Trickshot Bruges58 Ashley Hugill Aaron Hill 3–1 28 Feb 29 Feb Event 5 The Winchester Leicester64 Allan Taylor Michael Collumb 3–1 16 Nov 17 Nov Event 6 Hungary Snooker Academy Budapest62 Oliver Brown Ashley Hugill 3–1 14 Dec 15 Dec Event 7 De Maxx Pelt42 Dean Young Andrew Pagett 3–1 18 Jan 19 Jan Event 8 Tamworth Sports Bar Tamworth60 Lukas Kleckers Tyler Rees 3–1 15 Feb 16 Feb Event 9 Terry Griffiths Matchroom Llanelli52 Ashley Hugill Sydney Wilson 3–1 1 Mar 2 Mar Event 10 The Winchester Leicester61 Adam Duffy Kuldesh Johal 3–1 20 Jul 20 Jul Tour Playoff English Institute of Sport Sheffield8 Allan Taylor Adam Duffy 4–0

Rankings Below is the leading 20 players in the prize money rankings over the series. Rank Player Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6 Event 7 Event 8 Event 9 Event 10 Total (£)1 Ashley Hugill 125 125 500 2,000 125 1,000 700 0 2,000 125 6,7002 Lukas Kleckers 200 125 500 700 700 700 500 2,000 0 500 5,9253 Andrew Pagett 500 1,000 2,000 125 200 200 1,000 125 125 125 5,4004 Dean Young 200 0 0 700 125 125 2,000 200 200 700 4,2505 Adam Duffy – 500 125 200 0 500 125 500 0 2,000 3,9506 Oliver Brown 1,000 – – 0 0 2,000 0 0 125 125 3,2507 Allan Taylor – 700 125 – 2,000 – – 200 – 200 3,2258 Patrick Whelan 700 0 125 500 125 200 200 700 125 500 3,1759 Rory McLeod 125 500 0 500 700 500 125 500 200 – 3,15010 Ka Wai Cheung 2,000 – 200 0 – 200 500 0 200 0 3,10011 Jake Nicholson – 2,000 0 0 0 500 125 125 125 0 2,87512 Tyler Rees 200 0 – – 125 – – 1,000 700 500 2,52513 Michael Collumb 0 200 125 0 1,000 700 – 200 200 0 2,42514 Robbie McGuigan 125 500 1,000 125 0 0 125 0 500 0 2,37515 Zak Surety 500 125 700 125 500 – – 125 0 0 2,07516 George Pragnell 0 0 700 0 125 200 125 700 0 200 2,05017 Sanderson Lam 0 200 500 200 200 500 0 200 0 125 1,92518 Aaron Hill 500 125 125 1,000 0 0 125 – – – 1,87519 Paul Davison 0 0 125 500 0 125 200 200 500 200 1,85020 Daniel Womersley 125 125 500 200 125 0 125 125 200 125 1,650

Qualified for the main tour through other means Qualified for the play-offs Qualified for the main tour

Tour Playoff The final event, the Challenge Tour Playoff, was held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield on 20 July. The event was originally planned for March but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event saw the eight highest ranked players, excluding those already qualified for the main tour, compete for a further place on that tour. Ka Wai Cheung chose not to play and was replaced by Tyler Rees. All matches were over 7 frames. The draw was not seeded. The event was won by Allan Taylor, who completed a 4–0 whitewash victory over Adam Duffy.

Notes

References