The China Open last 128 qualifying round was played in Barnsley over the last four days (27-30 January 2018). With a prize pot of 1 million pounds, and £225000 for the winner, this event will likely be crucial when it comes to determine who will go to the Crucible by right and who will have to play 3 qualifying matches. No wonder, most top players entered, and all Grove players were involved. Ali, Jack, Luca and Neil won their match and are China bound come early April. Unfortunately Judd and …

The Masters 2018 was played in Alexandra Palace from 14 to 21 January 2018 and was won by Mark Allen, who beat Kyren Wilson by 10-7 in the final. Neil Robertson, although back in the top 16, missed it because he was out of it at the time of the cut-off. He was still involved as a pundit and commentator for Eurosport, which he enjoyed immensely.
Luca, Ali and Judd played in the event. Luca and Ali lost in the last 16. Judd reached the semi-finals where he lost to Kyren …

The UK Championship 2017 is still underway in York at the time of writing but it’s long over for the Grove players unfortunately. Judd, Neil and Luca lost in the last 32, Jack and Oliver in the last 64 whilst Ali fell at first hurdle; he lost to Jimmy White … Another forgettable tournament. Luca has since withdrawn from the Scottish Open 2017 because he’s still suffering from the shoulder injury that bothered him in Shanghai. Neil’s early exit means that he will no more be in the top …

The tournament was held at the Waterfront, Belfast,fro November 20th 2017 to November 26th 2017. It was won by Mark Williams.
It was a tournament to forget for the Grove players as none of the went past the last 32.
All detailed results are on Cuetracker as usual

The Shanghai Masters 2017 was played in the Grand Stage, Shanghai, from November 13 to November 18, 2017. Judd made it to the Final, but was beaten by 10-3 by Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Judd had a great tournament overall, reaching the semi finals without dropping a frame at the main venue. At that stage he met Jack who managed to stay with him up to 3-3, before Judd pulled away with a 6-3 victory. Judd was also responsible for putting Luca out of the tournament, with a 5-0 win in the QF. …

The Champion of Champions invitational event was played in the Ricoh Arena, Coventry from 6 to 12 November 2017 and was won by Shaun Murphy. Only winners of snooker events played during the previous year are invited and Grove had no less than three players in it: Judd, Players Championship and European Masters Champion, Neil, Hong Kong Masters Champion and Luca, China Championship Champion. Unfortunately for them Luca and Judd were in the same group, and met in the last 16. Luca prevailed by 4-0. He then went on to …

The International Championship 2017 was played in Daqing, China, from October 29th 2017 to November 5th 2017 and was won by Mark Selby.
It was a bit of a mixed bag for the Grove players. Ali and Judd reached the QF, Jack and Neil lost in the last 16 whilst Oliver was beaten in the last 32. Ali had a particularly hard draw as he beat Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy before losing to Martin Gould who reached the Final.
All detailed results are on Cuetracker.

The English Open 201 was played in Barnsley, from 16 to 22 October 2017, with all Grove players involved. Two of them, Jack and Neil reached the quarter finals. Neil lost by 5-3 to Anthony McGill whilst Jack was beaten 5-2 by Ronnie O’Sullivan, the eventual Champion. Jack had defeated Judd in the previous round in a deciding frame. Ali and Oliver were unfortunate to meet in the first round (last 128) and it’s Ali who prevailed. However Ali didn’t go past the next round where he lost to a …

All Grove players were in Wigan last week (11-13 October 2017) trying to qualify for the reborn Shanghai Masters 2017. Four of them won their last 128 match: Judd, Luca and Jack went through comfortably whilst Ali was pushed all the way by the young talent that is Sam Craigie. Oliver and Neil lost and won’t be in Shanghai. Oliver was beaten by Ian Preece in a deciding frame. Neil, who really could do with some results as he might miss the Masters come January, was extremely unlucky to suffer …

Congratulations to Judd Trump, your Europan Masters 2017 champion!
Judd conducted a succesful defence of his title, a rather rare achievement. Well done.
Here is the report on Worldsnooker:
Sunday 8 Oct 2017 09:24PM

Judd Trump has defended a ranking title for the first time in his career, winning the 888sport European Masters thanks to a thrilling 9-7 defeat of Stuart Bingham in Lommel.
Trump recorded a stunning 9-8 victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan to lift the title a year ago. 12 months later and the Ace in the Pack found himself in the final once …