Andres Petrov got his 2024/25 Q Tour season off to a perfect start after emerging triumphantly from Event 1 in Leeds on Sunday.
The Estonian dropped off the main tour at the end of the last campaign after failing to break into the top 64 of the world rankings.
But he has taken immediate steps to regain his status as a professional player with a confident opening on the feeder amateur circuit.
It would be fair to say that Petrov, the 2022 EBSA European amateur champion, was made to work for his victory at the Northern Snooker Centre.
The 27 year-old reached the quarter-finals with wins against Rodion Judin, Halim Hussain, and Hamim Hussain.
From then on, Petrov won all of his remaining fixtures in deciding-frame thrillers.
He twice fought back from 3-1 down, first in the quarter-finals where he denied Simon Bedford and again in the last four when he pipped Simon Blackwell.
Petrov faced Ryan Thomerson in the final – a player who similarly lost his professional tour card at the end of the last term.
On this occasion, Petrov was the one being chased after orchestrating a rapid 3-0 advantage only to be pegged back.
A high-scoring affair that boasted eight breaks above 50 concluded with Petrov scoring an excellent 119 century break – his second ton of the final – in the last frame to complete the success.
“Played exactly 12 hours today,” Andres Petrov wrote on social media platform X afterwards.
“[I] can’t handle what’s going on inside. I brought my best game into the final, purely ridiculous.”
“Ryan put me under all sorts of pressure coming back, really great effort from him, wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”
Australia’s Thomerson had reached the final with defeats of Steven Hallworth and Ryan Davies but ultimately came up just short.
Victory and the £3,000 champion’s cheque takes Petrov to the top of the European Q Tour order of merit.
The top-ranked competitor at the end of the season will gain automatic promotion to the main tour and a new two-year card.
The following 16 players in the rankings will enter a Global Playoff competition where, competing alongside qualifiers from other Q Tour tournaments being held outside of Europe, further pro tickets will be up for grabs.
Q Tour Event 2 on the European series will be staged from September 22-24 at the Bulgarian Snooker Academy in Sofia.
European Q Tour 1
Selected Results
Last 16
Andres Petrov 4-1 Hamim Hussain
Simon Bedford 4-1 Alex Clenshaw
Mark Joyce 4-0 Peter Lines
Simon Blackwell 4-0 Alex Millington
Iulian Boiko 4-2 Liam Highfield
Ryan Davies 4-2 Florian Nuessle
Ryan Thomerson 4-2 Umut Dikme
Steven Hallworth 4-2 Connor Benzey
Quarter-Finals
Andres Petrov 4-3 Simon Bedford
Simon Blackwell 4-3 Mark Joyce
Ryan Davies 4-2 Iulian Boiko
Ryan Thomerson 4-3 Steven Hallworth
Semi-Finals
Andres Petrov 4-3 Simon Blackwell
Ryan Thomerson 4-1 Ryan Davies
Final
Andres Petrov 4-3 Ryan Thomerson
Featured photo credit: WPBSA
