Four players successfully emerged from Q School Event 1 with two-year tour cards on Monday in Leicester.
Having failed to break into the top 64 by the end of the last campaign, Liam Davies and Cheung Ka Wai managed to immediately bounce back.
Hong Kong cueist Cheung was a 4-1 winner against Jack Bradford, while Davies scored a 134 break in beating Dean Young 4-2.
Cheung lost in the final round of Asia-Oceania Q School in 2023, but he was not to be denied at the last hurdle on this occasion.
The 2024 WSF champion had some good results during his first stint as a professional but ultimately lacked the consistency to move up the rankings.
Welshman Davies, meanwhile, will also have a second crack at the big-time with the 19 year-old still regarded as one of the brightest young talents from the UK.
“It feels unbelievable,” Davies told the World Snooker Tour. “Some of the games this week, the way I was playing, I thought snooker might not be for me.”
“I managed to scrape through, and I played pretty well in the last two games.
“I never want to come back here. I will be honest with you. I managed to come through, so hopefully I can do a bit better over the next two seasons.”
Elsewhere, Sean O’Sullivan secured his return to the main circuit for the first time since 2024 with a 4-2 defeat of Joshua Thomond.
O’Sullivan first turned professional in 2012 , and he has been on and off the tour a bit like a yoyo ever since.
Indeed, this is the third time that the 32 year-old has been promoted through the Q School route.
The fourth and final spot from Q School Event 1, meanwhile, went to England’s Phil O’Kane.
After spending his entire snooker career on the peripheries, the 33 year-old finally realises his dream of becoming a professional for the first time.
In his maiden appearance at the last round of Q School, O’Kane seized his opportunity and beat Jamie O’Neill with a 4-1 scoreline.
“I’m overwhelmed. I was clearing up at the end whilst holding back tears, sweating, and shaking,” O’Kane told the World Snooker Tour.
“I was an emotional wreck, and it just means the world to me. I went to a pool tournament about eight weeks ago.”
“I said to the owner of my club that, after this, you will see me in the club seven days a week and working hard.
“He messaged me this morning and said that everything had paid off. It is all affirmation.”
Cheung, Davies, O’Sullivan, and O’Kane will boast professional status for the upcoming 2026/27 and 2027/28 snooker seasons.
They join Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon, Deng Haohui, Huang Jiahao, and Liu Yang who graduated from Asia-Oceania Q School earlier in May.
Q School Event 2 in Leicester will provide the last chance for players to gain promotion through this pathway.
Once again, there will be four main tour tickets up for grabs. The draw is on snooker.org.
Featured photo credit: WST
