# 2021–22 snooker season

The 2021–22 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played from July 2021 to May 2022, including the professional World Snooker Tour but also featuring events for female, senior, and Q School players. The season saw a record five players claim their first professional ranking titles: David Gilbert, Zhao Xintong, Hossein Vafaei, Fan Zhengyi, and Robert Milkins. Nutcharut Wongharuthai won her first World Women's Snooker Championship, becoming the only player besides Reanne Evans and Ng On-yee to win the women's world title in 19 years. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the World Snooker Championship, equalling Stephen Hendry's modern era record of seven world titles and becoming the oldest world champion in snooker history at the age of 46 years and 148 days. Lee Walker won his first World Seniors Championship.
Neil Robertson, who won four tournaments during the season, was named Player of the Year at the World Snooker Tour Awards. O'Sullivan was named the Snooker Journalists' Player of the Year, while Zhao was the Fans' Player of the Year. O'Sullivan won Performance of the Year for capturing his seventh world title, while Robertson won Magic Moment of the Year for making a maximum break at the Crucible. Evans and Allison Fisher were entered into the Snooker Hall of Fame for outstanding contributions to the growth of snooker.

## Players

The World Snooker Tour in the 2021–22 season consists of a field of 122 professional players. The top 64 players from the prize money rankings after the 2021 World Championship, and 27 of the players who earned a two-year tour card the previous year automatically qualified for the season. Next, eight places were allocated to the top eight on the One Year Ranking List who had not already qualified for the Main Tour. Another four players came from the CBSA China Tour, and a further 14 places were eligible through the 2021 Q School, four from each of the three events and an additional two from the Order of Merit). Two players from the World Women's Snooker Tour were given tour cards. Andrew Pagett, who won the 2020 EBSA European Championship, had his tour card deferred to this season and was subsequently given a tour card. The last two tour cards were invitational tour cards, given to Marco Fu and Jimmy White.

### New professional players

All players listed below received a tour card for two seasons.

### Top-up players

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic restricting the number of amateur qualification tournaments that could be run and thus the total size of the Main Tour for this season, World Snooker Tour announced that the following six players are guaranteed an invite to all eligible snooker events this season, alongside amateurs appointed by local governing bodies for the Home Nations Series. This was due to their ranking on the Q School Order of Merit:
* Sanderson Lam
* Michael Georgiou
* Si Jiahui
* Soheil Vahedi
* Michael White
* David Lilley

## Calendar

The following tables outline the dates and results for all the World Snooker Tour, World Women's Snooker Tour, World Seniors Tour, Q Tour, and other events in the season.

### World Snooker Tour

| Start | Finish | Tournament | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| 18 Jul | 13 Aug | Championship League | Morningside Arena in Leicester, England | David Gilbert (ENG) | 3‍–‍1 | Mark Allen (NIR) |
| 16 Aug | 22 Aug | British Open | Morningside Arena in Leicester, England | Mark Williams (WAL) | 6‍–‍4 | Gary Wilson (ENG) |
| 9 Oct | 17 Oct | Northern Ireland Open | Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland | Mark Allen (NIR) | 9‍–‍8 | John Higgins (SCO) |
| 1 Nov | 7 Nov | English Open | Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 9‍–‍8 | John Higgins (SCO) |
| 15 Nov | 21 Nov | Champion of Champions$^†$ | Bolton Whites Hotel in Bolton, England | Judd Trump (ENG) | 10‍–‍4 | John Higgins (SCO) |
| 23 Nov | 5 Dec | UK Championship | York Barbican in York, England | Zhao Xintong (CHN) | 10‍–‍5 | Luca Brecel (BEL) |
| 6 Dec | 12 Dec | Scottish Open | Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales | Luca Brecel (BEL) | 9‍–‍5 | John Higgins (SCO) |
| 13 Dec | 19 Dec | World Grand Prix | Coventry Building Society Arena in Coventry, England | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) | 10‍–‍8 | Neil Robertson (AUS) |
| 9 Jan | 16 Jan | Masters$^†$ | Alexandra Palace in London, England | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 10‍–‍4 | Barry Hawkins (ENG) |
| 20 Jan | 23 Jan | Shoot Out | Morningside Arena in Leicester, England | Hossein Vafaei (IRN) | 1‍–‍0 | Mark Williams (WAL) |
| 26 Jan | 30 Jan | German Masters | Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany | Zhao Xintong (CHN) | 9‍–‍0 | Yan Bingtao (CHN) |
| 20 Dec | 4 Feb | Championship League$^†$ | Morningside Arena in Leicester, England | John Higgins (SCO) | 3‍–‍2 | Stuart Bingham (ENG) |
| 7 Feb | 13 Feb | Players Championship | Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton, England | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 10‍–‍5 | Barry Hawkins (ENG) |
| 21 Feb | 27 Feb | European Masters | Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England | Fan Zhengyi (CHN) | 10‍–‍9 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) |
| 28 Feb | 6 Mar | Welsh Open | ICC Wales, Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales | Joe Perry (ENG) | 9‍–‍5 | Judd Trump (ENG) |
| 7 Mar | 13 Mar | Turkish Masters | Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel in Antalya, Turkey | Judd Trump (ENG) | 10‍–‍4 | Matthew Selt (ENG) |
| 24 Mar | 26 Mar | Gibraltar Open | Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar, Gibraltar | Robert Milkins (ENG) | 4‍–‍2 | Kyren Wilson (ENG) |
| 28 Mar | 3 Apr | Tour Championship | Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales | Neil Robertson (AUS) | 10‍–‍9 | John Higgins (SCO) |
| 16 Apr | 2 May | World Championship | Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) | 18‍–‍13 | Judd Trump (ENG) |
* Ranking event
* $^†$ Non-ranking event

### World Women's Snooker

| Start | Finish | Tournament | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| 4 Sep | 5 Sep | UK Women's Championship | Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 4‍–‍0 | Rebecca Kenna (ENG) |
| 27 Nov | 28 Nov | Eden Women's Masters | Frames Sports Bar in London, England | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 4‍–‍3 | Reanne Evans (ENG) |
| 15 Jan | 16 Jan | Women's British Open | The Winchester in Leicester, England | Nutcharut Wongharuthai (THA) | 4‍–‍3 | Reanne Evans (ENG) |
| 11 Feb | 14 Feb | World Women's Championship | Ding Junhui Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England | Nutcharut Wongharuthai (THA) | 6‍–‍5 | Wendy Jans (BEL) |
| 2 Apr | 3 Apr | Winchester Women's Open | The Winchester in Leicester, England | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 4‍–‍0 | Nutcharut Wongharuthai (THA) |

### World Seniors Tour

| Start | Finish | Tournament | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Ref. |
| 4 Jan | 7 Jan | UK Seniors Championship | Bonus Arena in Hull, England | Peter Lines (ENG) | 4‍–‍1 | David Lilley (ENG) | |
| 4 May | 8 May | World Seniors Championship | Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England | Lee Walker (WAL) | 5‍–‍4 | Jimmy White (ENG) | |

### Q Tour

| Start | Finish | Tournament | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| 19 Nov | 21 Nov | Q Tour 1 | Castle Snooker Club in Brighton, England | David Lilley (ENG) | 5‍–‍1 | Si Jiahui (CHN) |
| 10 Dec | 12 Dec | Q Tour 2 | Terry Griffiths Matchroom in Llanelli, Wales | Si Jiahui (CHN) | 5‍–‍4 | Michael White (WAL) |
| 28 Jan | 30 Jan | Q Tour 3 | The Winchester in Leicester, England | Sean O'Sullivan (ENG) | 5‍–‍2 | Julien Leclercq (BEL) |
| 18 Mar | 20 Mar | Q Tour 4 | Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England | Robbie McGuigan (NIR) | 5‍–‍3 | Michael Collumb (SCO) |
| 10 May | 11 May | Q Tour Playoff | Q House Snooker Academy in Darlington, England | Julien Leclercq (BEL) | 5‍–‍2 | Alex Clenshaw (ENG) |

### Other events

| Start | Finish | Tournament | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Ref. |
| 25 Sep | 29 Sep | Haining Open | Haining Sports Center in Haining, China | He Guoqiang (CHN) | 5‍–‍0 | Huang Jiahao (CHN) | |

## World ranking points

The 2021–22 snooker season will feature the following points distribution for World Snooker Tour ranking events:
| RoundTournament | R144 | R128 | R112 | R96 | R80 | R64 | R48 | R32 | R24 | R16 | QF | R6 | SF | F | W |
| Championship League | — | 0 | — | 1,000 | — | 2,000 | — | 4,000 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 | 11,000 | 23,000 | 33,000 |
| British Open | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,000 | — | 5,000 | — | 7,000 | 12,000 | — | 20,000 | 45,000 | 100,000 |
| Northern Ireland Open | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,000 | — | 4,000 | — | 7,500 | 10,000 | — | 20,000 | 30,000 | 70,000 |
| English Open | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,000 | — | 4,000 | — | 7,500 | 10,000 | — | 20,000 | 30,000 | 70,000 |
| UK Championship | — | 0 | — | — | — | 6,500 | — | 12,000 | — | 17,000 | 24,500 | — | 40,000 | 80,000 | 200,000 |
| Scottish Open | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,000 | — | 4,000 | — | 7,500 | 10,000 | — | 20,000 | 30,000 | 70,000 |
| World Grand Prix | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5,000 | — | 7,500 | 12,000 | — | 20,000 | 40,000 | 100,000 |
| Shoot Out | — | 0 | — | — | — | 500 | — | 1,000 | — | 2,000 | 4,000 | — | 8,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 |
| German Masters | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,000 | — | 4,000 | — | 5,000 | 10,000 | — | 20,000 | 35,000 | 80,000 |
| Players Championship | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10,000 | 15,000 | — | 30,000 | 50,000 | 125,000 |
| European Masters | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,000 | — | 4,000 | — | 6,000 | 11,000 | — | 17,500 | 35,000 | 80,000 |
| Welsh Open | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,000 | — | 4,000 | — | 7,500 | 10,000 | — | 20,000 | 30,000 | 70,000 |
| Turkish Masters | — | 0 | — | — | — | 3,500 | — | 5,500 | — | 7,500 | 12,500 | — | 20,000 | 45,000 | 100,000 |
| Gibraltar Open | — | 0 | — | — | — | 2,000 | — | 3,000 | — | 4,000 | 5,000 | — | 6,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 |
| Tour Championship | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 20,000 | — | 40,000 | 60,000 | 150,000 |
| World Championship | 0 | — | 5,000 | — | 10,000 | — | 15,000 | 20,000 | — | 30,000 | 50,000 | — | 100,000 | 200,000 | 500,000 |