This weekend sees the next phase of the oldest snooker competition in the world and the most important event in the English Association of Snooker and Billiards (EASB) calendar, the English Amateur Championship.
170 of England’s finest amateur snooker players entered this year’s event. A number of regional qualifying events were held across the country and a system of proportional representation whittled them down to 16 in the North and 16 in the South.These two events, the Northern Last 16 at the Northern Snooker Centre and the Southern Last 16 at the South West Snooker Academy, will further reduce the hopefuls to just 4.
These 4 will then compete in their respective finals at the EASB Finals Weekend, again at the South West Snooker Academy, in June. The winners of those will then battle it out for the right to have their name on this magnificent trophy alongside some very famous names.
Last year’s winner, Billy Castle, had already turned pro before the final due to his success at Q School. Among the 16 in the South is Harvey Chandler who is hoping to do the same after earning his pro tour card at the European Championships recently.
See the full list of winners here on the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Amateur_Championship where it is also noted that five winners of the tournament later went on to become world champions including John Pulman, Ray Reardon, John Spencer, Terry Griffiths and Stuart Bingham.
