2021 WST Pro Series
The 2021 WST Pro Series was a professional ranking snooker tournament, taking place from 18 January to 21 March 2021 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The event featured 128 players, and is played over three stages of round-robin groups of eight players, with the Final Group winner as the tournament champion. Seven-time World Champion, Stephen Hendry, was due to make his return to the professional snooker tour, having initially retired in 2012. However, he withdrew before the tournament began. Gary Wilson made his third career maximum break in the second frame  of his Group G match with Liam Highfield. Mark Williams won the inaugural event, winning the 23rd ranking title of his career on his 46th birthday, becoming the third oldest ranking event winner behind Welsh compatriots Doug Mountjoy who was 46 in 1989 and Ray Reardon who was 50 in 1982. Tournament format. There were 128 players taking part in the event. In the tournament's first stage players were divided into 16 groups of each eight players, with the top two players of each group advancing to the second group stage. The tournament draw was conducted on 8 January  2021. The second group stage consisted of four groups, also of each eight players, with the top two players of each group advancing to the final group. The winner of the final group were crowned as tournament champion. All matches were played as best of three frames, and players were ranked, using the following criteria: Prize fund. The breakdown of prize money for the tournament is shown below. First group stage. The first group stage consisted of 16 groups, each containing eight players, with the top two of each group advancing to the second group stage. Group A. Group A  was played on 23 January 2021. Shaun Murphy and Louis Heathcote qualified for the Second Group stage. Group B. Group B was played on 19 January 2021. Kyren Wilson and Sunny Akani qualified for stage two. Table. "Aaron Hill was initially due to take part in Group B, but he withdrew and was replaced by Dean Young." Group C. Group C was played on 21 January 2021. Stuart Bingham and Sam Craigie qualified for the Second Group stage. Group D. Group D was played on 12 March 2021. Barry Hawkins and Ricky Walden qualified for the Second Group stage. Group  E. Group E was played on 14 March 2021. Mark Selby and Stuart Carrington qualified for the Second Group stage. Group F. Group F was played on 11 March 2021. Ben Woollaston and Fergal O'Brien qualified for the Second Group stage. Table. "Mark Allen was initially due to take part in Group F, but he withdrew and was replaced by Robbie McGuigan." Group G. Group G was played on 20 January 2021. Lu Ning and Martin O'Donnell qualified for the Second Group stage. Table. "Stephen Hendry was initially due to take part in Group G, but he withdrew and was  replaced by John Astley. Group H. Group H was played on 10 March 2021. Ali Carter and Mark Davis qualified for the second Group stage. Table. "Yan Bingtao and Amine Amiri were initially due to take part in Group H, but they withdrew and were replaced by Hamim Hussain and Dylan Emery respectively. Group I. Group I was played on 15 March 2021. Ben Hancorn and Lyu Haotian qualified for the Second Group stage. Group J. Group J was played on 9 March 2021. Oliver Lines and James Cahill qualified for the Second Group stage. Group K. Group K was  played on 22 January 2021. Zhao Xintong and Dominic Dale qualified for the Second Group stage. Group L. Group L was played on 24 January 2021. Luo Honghao and Zhou Yuelong qualified for the Second Group stage. Group M. Group M was played on 18 January 2021. Joe Perry and Xiao Guodong qualified for the Second Group stage. Group N. Group N was played on 25 January 2021. Jack Lisowski and Luca Brecel qualified for the Second Group stage. Group O. Group O was played on 16 March 2021. Judd Trump and Ryan Day qualified for the Second Group stage . Group P. Group P was played on 13 March 2021. Mark Williams and Robert Milkins qualified for the Second Group stage. Table. "Kurt Maflin and Alex Borg were initially due to take part in Group P, but they withdrew and were replaced by Alex Clenshaw and Florian Nüßle respectively." Second group stage. The second group stage consisted of four groups, each containing eight players, with the top two of each group advancing to the final group. Group 1. Group 1 was played on 17 March 2021. Ali Carter and Mark Williams qualified for the Final Group Stage. Group 2. Group  2 was played on 18 March 2021. Kyren Wilson and Xiao Guodong qualified for the Final Group Stage. Group 3. Group 3 was played on 19 March 2021. Sam Craigie and Jack Lisowski qualified for the final Group stage. Group 4. Group 4 was played on 20 March 2021. Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham qualified for the final Group stage. Final group stage. The final group stage also consisted of eight players, and took place on 21 March 2021, with the group winner as the tournament champion. Mark Williams finished top and won the title, with Ali Carter finishing as  runner-up and Sam Craigie in third place. Matches. Table. Key:P=Matchesplayed; W=Matcheswon; L=Matcheslost; FW=Frameswon; FL=Frameslost; FD=Framedifference Century breaks. A total of 146 century breaks were made during the tournament.