SNOOKER – Bahrain's superstar cueist Habib Sabah will today begin his quest to earn a two-year pro card on the prestigious World Snooker Tour.
Sabah is one of 24 competitors in the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) Q Tour Global Playoff, which gets underway in Antalya, Türkiye.
The field has been split into three groups of eight players apiece. At the end of the three events, the victors of each will come away with professional status for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons in the WPBSA.
Sabah is in the second group of participants. He kick starts his campaign against English cueist Liam Highfield. The winner will move on to face the victor of the contest between Dhiones Moraes of Brazil and Harvey Chandler of England.
The other matches in this pool pits Iulian Boiko of Ukraine against Alex Clenshaw of England, and Vinnie Calabrese of Australia against Craig Steadman, also of England.
Each of the matches from this round is being played in best-of-nine frames. The final four will then be held in best-of-11 frames, and the final will be played best-of-19 frames.
Sabah earned his place in the Q Tour Global Playoff after topping the Middle East ranking, having won all but one of the events in the region.
Sabah is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Amir Sarkhosh of Iran and Mohammed Shehab of the UAE, who each earned professional status as qualifiers from the Middle East series last year.
The 24-player field also features competitors from WPBSA Q Tour events in Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific, as well as one nomination by the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association.
The first playoff group includes Dylan Emery of Wales, Ali Gharagozlou of Iran, Luo Honghao of China, and Connor Benzey, Mark Joyce, Steven Hallworth, Kuldesh Johal, and Ryan Davies, all from England.
Group three features Ryan Thomerson from Australia, Ehsan Heydari Nezhad of Iran, Florian Nuessle of Austria, Vito Puopolo of Canada, Andres Petrov of Estonia, and Josh Thomond, Sean O’Sullivan, and Oliver Sykes, all from England.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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