You generally hear a lot of talk relating to ‘tour cards’ in snooker and certain players earning/losing them, but what exactly does it mean in the context of the sport? Granted, this isn’t something you hear a lot of when you’re watching the top players, but rather the lower ranked players they often find themselves up against in the early stages of an event. So how does the tour card work?
Simply put, the tour card is what allows a snooker player to compete in the circuit/season. All players in the world rankings ‘technically’ have one, which they could have gained in a number of ways. The Top 64 players in the world rankings (i.e. the two year rolling list) automatically keep their tour cards to allow them to compete in the following season.
When a player earns a tour card it lasts for two years, so the only exception to the Top 64 rule is if the player is still on their first year of the tour card. So technically, if some cataclysmic disaster happened to Judd Trump and he fell out of the Top 64, he would have to requalify despite being in the upper end of the rankings for such a substantial period of time.
So how do those outside the Top 64 get their place on the tour? The remaining 64 places are filled in a number of ways, some at the discretion of WST in the form of wildcards. For example, Jimmy White, Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry have all been awarded wildcards for their services to the sport. Other wildcard places are offered through victories in amateur/junior tournaments across a variety of regions.
For the current 2020/21 season, the top 4 players on the one year ranking list for the prior season will be awarded a two year tour card. The formal way to earn a tour card is through Q-School, but the Challenge Tour offers an alternative opportunity for those unsuccessful in qualifying through the main route. Generally this would be enough to make up the 128 places on the tour but in the cases where it isn’t, that’s where the wildcards are granted an opportunity.
Having a tour card allows you to compete in every available tournament on the circuit but obviously, it’s rare that all 128 professionals actually compete in all events. This is where remaining places are made up from things like Order of Merit (those who played well but didn’t qualify for a tour card). Tour cards are given a two year expiration in order to give new professionals the time to build up their ranking position and retain their spots on the tour.
However, at the end of a season there can only be 64 and the ranking positions of those in and around that rank will find themselves in hot water as they struggle to maintain their standings. It is often the case that winning another match can provide the extra prize winning required to push past the person in 64th position, given how close earnings are at that position.
Like this Short? Click here to read: What Is The Snooker Challenge Tour?
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