Grove Leisure » Michael Holt

Mark Selby wins the 2023 WST Classic

monique — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 08:39:31 +0000

All Grove players were involved in the 2023 WST Classic. The tournament took place at the Morningside Arena in Leicester from 16 to 22 March 2023. It was a late replacement for the canceled 2023 Turkish Masters and was played without spectators, except on the final’s day. Mark Selby, the local man won the title.

All detailed results are available on snooker.org

This was Mark Selby’s second ranking title of the season and the 22nd of his career. He beat Pang Junxu 6-2 in the final. He made three centuries during that match.

Here is what Mark had to say to World Snooker after the Final:

“I played well all day, against John Higgins in the quarter-finals and Ali in the semis, then continued that in the final. I was just gutted at the end not to make a fourth century! I have been striking the ball well in practice and it was nice to take that to the match table. Even when I won the English Open in December I wasn’t hitting the ball as well as I was this week. Hopefully, I can carry that into the Tour Championship and then the World Championship. I’ll be going to Sheffield confident

The 2023 Shoot-out

monique — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 12:48:45 +0000

For once all Grove players participated in an event… the 2023 Shoot Out. the one frame shoot out event was played in Leicester from 25 to 28 January 2023. The event was won by Chris Wakelin.
From the Grove team, it was Michael Holt who got the best result: a quarter-final. Michael, of course, is a former winner of this event.
All results are available on snooker.org

2022 European Masters

monique — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 14:36:05 +0000

The 2022 European Masters was played in the Stadthalle Fürth, in Germany, from 16 to 21 August 2022. It was the first “knockout” ranking event of the 2022/23 season. Fan Zhengyi was the defending champion. The event was won by Kyren Wilson who beat Barry Hawkins by 9-3 in the final.

Four Grove players were involved. Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui didn’t enter.

Michael Holt and Mark Selby were beaten in the first round (qualifying round).

Judd Trump could have regained the World number one spot had he reached the final. It wasn’t to be: he was beaten by Barry Hawkins (5-3) in the QFs. Ali Carter reached the semi-finals, where he was beaten in a deciding frame (6-5) by the eventual winner, Kyren Wilson.

All the detailed results are available on snooker.org

2022 Championship League Snooker – Ranking Event

monique — Sat, 06 Aug 2022 11:49:39 +0000

The 2022 Ranking Championship League was the first event of the 2022/23 season. I started on 28 June and finished on 29 July 2022. It was played at the Morningside Arena in Leicester. There were no spectators. The tournament was won by Luca Brecel, who beat Lu Ning by 3-1 in the Final. Remarkably, there were 5 Chinese players in the last 8.

You will find all detailed results on snooker.org

The following Grove players were involved: Ali Carter, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, and Michael Holt, playing as an amateur this season. Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson didn’t enter.

Only Ali Carter managed to reach stage two, having won Group 17 in stage one. He came last in Group A in the second stage.
Judd Trump was the top seed in Stage 1 Group 2 but came second to Jamie Clarke. Mark Selby was the top seed in Stage 1 Group 3 but came second to Ben Woollaston. Michael Holt came third in Stage 1 Group 4, a group dominated by Zhao Xintong.

The 2022 Gibraltar Open

monique — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 06:55:30 +0000

Other than Mark Selby, all Grove players were involved in the 2022 Gibraltar Open, played from 24 to 26 of March 2022 in … Gibraltar. Judd Trump was the defending champion but was beaten at the last 16 stages. Ding was the most successful Grove player, reaching the QFs.

All the detailed results are on snooker.org

Judd Trump wins the inaugural Turkish Masters

monique — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 14:14:07 +0000

Judd Trump won his first ranking tournament of the season when he beat Matthew Selt by 10-4 to win the 2022 Turkish Masters. This brought Judd’s tally of ranking titles to 23. The event was played in Antalya from March, 7 to March 13, 2022. It was the first time that a ranking professional snooker tournament was played in Turkey.

The event was well supported by the enthusiast Turkish fans, and Judd rewarded them with a wonderful 147, his sixth, in the 10th frame of the final.

Judd, who had struggled for most of the season was over the moon. This is what he had to say (source: WST):

“It was the first time I have really enjoyed my snooker this season, I managed to find a bit of form in my semi-final last night. To come out of the first session today 5-3 up was a big relief as it gave me a bit of a cushion.

“Tonight I was back to the game I have had in the last two or three seasons so it was nice to get that feeling back. The clearance to go 6-3 up settled me down and after that, I felt relaxed. My goal for the rest of the season is just to play like I did tonight.

“It has always been a dream of mine to travel the world and play snooker in different countries. Putting on a good show tonight and making a maximum in the final will hopefully inspire Turkish players to pick up a cue and a few kids to start playing. Maybe in the future, there will be a top Turkish player.

Ding Junhui had a good run as well: he was narrowly beaten (6-5) by Matthew Selt in the semi-finals.
Ali Carter had lost to Judd Trump in the QFs (5-3)
Michael Holt reached the last 32 stage where he lost to John Higgins.

Neil Robertson and Mark Selby withdrew before the start of the event.

All detailed results are available on snooker.org.

The 2022 Welsh Open

monique — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 13:46:55 +0000

The 2022 Welsh Open was played from 28 February to 6 March 2022, in Celtic Manor, Newport, Wales. Jordan Brown was the defending champion.
The event was won by Joe Perry, who beat Judd Trump by 9-5 in the final.

This was obviously disappointing for Judd but also encouraging as this was the first time this season that he progressed past the QFs in a ranking event. He was gracious in defeat as he declared: “Joe put me under pressure from the start. He potted some cracking long balls, scored the heavier and at the crucial times he was potting the crucial balls. It was a little bit of an off day for me but Joe was the best player of the whole week and thoroughly deserved the win.” (source:WST)

All Grove players won their opening match, but Mark Selby and Michael Holt lost in the last 64. Mark, who had previously spoken openly about his mental health issues, subsequently decided to take a break from snooker. He intends to come back to defend his World title at the Crucible.

Ding lost in the last 32 round, beaten 4-2 by Ronnie O’Sullivan. Both Neil Robertson and Ali Carter reached the QFs, beaten by Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski respectively.

All detailed results are available on snooker.org

The 2022 European Masters

monique — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 08:24:41 +0000

The 2022 European Masters was initially scheduled to be played in Fürth, Germany, but was eventually held in Milton Keynes, England because of covid-related travel restrictions. It ran from 21 to 27 February 2022. The event was won by Fan Zhengyi who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan by 10-9 in the final.

All detailed results are available here.

Michael Holt hadn’t qualified for the television stages.
Ding didn’t enter the event.
Mark Selby, who continues to battle depression, lost by 5-3 to Jordan Brown in the last 64 round.
Judd Trump went out in the last 32, beaten by Kurt Maflin (5-3). Ali Carter and Neil Robertson also lost in that round, beaten by Ashley Hugill (5-1) and Pang Junxu (5-4) respectively.

The 2021 Scottish Open

monique — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 16:15:23 +0000

The 2021 Scottish Open was played … in Llandudno, North Wales, from December 6 to December 12, 2021. The tournament was won By Luv=ca Brecel, who defeated John Higgins by 9-5 in the final.

It wasn’t a great event for the Grove players.

Neil Robertson was suffering from tinnitus and withdrew from the tournament.
Ali Carter and Ding Junhui fell at the first hurdle, losing by 4-3 to Kan Doherty and Zhang Anda respectively.
Michael Holt had qualified for the main event back in September by was forced to withdraw after returning a positive test to covid-19.
Judd Trump was the last man standing; he reached the last 16 where he lost
by 4-3 to David Gilbert.

All detailed results are available on snooker.org

The 2021 UK Championship

monique — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 18:16:02 +0000

The 2021 Uk Championship was played at the York Barbican from 23 November to 5 December 2021. Luca Brecel reached the final but was beaten by Zhao Xintong by 10-5. For the first time, neither of the finalists was ranked inside the top 16 at the start of the tournament and neither was from the UK or Ireland. It was also the first time since 2011 that the final was played between two played aged under 30.

This win put Luca on the verge of the top 16… narrowly missing on a spot in the 2022 Masters.

Neil Robertson was the defending champion but he was beaten by John Astley (6-2) in the first round.

Ali Carter exited the tournament in round 2 (last 64) losing to Noppon Saengkham (6-3) whilst Ding Junhui lost to Sam Craigie in the same round by the same score. Michael Holt also went out at that stage, beaten in a deciding frame by Andy Hicks.
Judd Trump went out in the last 32, losing by 6-3 to Matthew Selt.

All detailed results are available on snooker.org