The WPBSA and WST have today jointly announced the provisional tour structure for the 2021/22 World Snooker Tour.
As in previous seasons, the top 64 players on the official world ranking list following the Betfred World Championship will retain their tour cards.
They will be joined by players who are currently on the first year of a two-year tour card, as well as the top eight players on the one-year ranking list, not already qualified for next season.
We have seen today that Three-time ranking event winner Marco Fu will be offered an invitational tour card. FU will be offered an Invitational Tour Card due to his outstanding achievements in the sport. The Hong Kong player has missed a number of events over the past year due to travel restrictions.
The tour will be completed by players who are able to successfully qualify through recognised tour qualification pathways, including WST Q School, the World Women’s Snooker Tour, the CBSA China Tour and the Regional Federations recognised by the World Snooker Federation (WSF).
Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic which has meant that events such as the WSF Open and WPBSA Q Tour have not been staged this season, a minimum of two additional places will be added to Q School as an interim measure for next season.
Current European champion Andrew Pagett is also set to join the main tour after his tour card for the 2020/21 season was deferred on medical grounds.
WPBSA and WST has listed the full qualification list is set out below:
Top 64 from the two-year Prize Money World Rankings after the 2021 World Championship: 64
Players awarded a two-year Tour card for the 2020/2021 season (not already qualified): 28*
Top 8 players from 2020/2021 one-year ranking list following the 2021 World Championship (not already qualified)** 8
CBSA China Tour** 4
Q School** 14
World Women’s Snooker Qualifiers** 2
EBSA European Qualifiers** 2
APBSF Asia Pacific Qualifier** 1
PABSA Americas Qualifier** 1
ABSC Africas Qualifier** 1
Deferred Tour Place** 1
Invitational Tour Cards** up to 2
Total: 128 PLAYERS
*Final total subject to change if any of these players finish inside of the top 64 of the two-year prize money rankings after the 2021 World Championship
**Players will receive a two-year tour card
In addition to these confirmed places, any players who qualify for the final stages of the Betfred World Championship at the Crucible, who otherwise would not earn a new tour card, will also receive a two-year tour card, as was the case last season.
We look forward to further updates
