The last 128 qualifying round for the International Championship 2016 was played in Preston from 26 to 29 September, 2016. All Grove players entered. Neil, Judd, Luca, Oliver and Li Hang won their match and will be in Daqing at the end of October

The last 128 and last 64 rounds of the European Masters 2016 were played in Preston, from 26 to 28 September 2016. The European Masters is a new event and the final stages will be played in Bucharest next week. All Grove players were involved but only Judd, Neil and Luca managed to book their place in Bucharest. It was unfortunate that Oliver Lines and Neil had to clash in the last 64.
All detailed results are on Cuetracker as usual

The Shanghai Masters 2016, main event, was played from September 19 to September 25, 2016, in Shanghai, China. Judd and Neil were the only Grove players involved and none of them had a deep run. Neil was beaten in the last 32, by Ryan Day and Judd lost in the last 16 to Michael White. The conditions were tough and they were not alone in their fate: only 2 of the top 10 seeds reached the QF …

Yushan, China – 25-31 July, 2016. It proved to be a bit of a strange tournament with a lot of top players going out as early as the last 64 or 32, one of them being Judd who was outplayed by former Grove player Zhang Anda. Neil was the only Grove player who had a deep run in the tournament: he reached the semi finals where he lost by 5-2 to an exceptionally brilliant Joe Perry.
The tournament was won by Ali Carter, his first ranking win since he beat cancer …

Neil, Judd, James Cahill and Li Hang were competing in the Riga Masters, from 22 to 24 June 2016. Chen Zhe had qualified as well but visa issues forced him to withdraw. Neil won the event, beating Michael Holt by 5-2 in the final. The event, that was part of the European Tour in previous seasons, is now a full ranking event … and Neil 12th ranking title.

The Preston Guid Hall hosted a full week of qualifiers from May 28 to June 4, 2016: the first rounds (last 128) of the Indian Open, the World Open (to be played in China) and the Riga Masters saw most players kick-off their season.
Only Oliver Lines qualified for the Indian Open main event. Neil and Judd didn’t enter.
Cao Yupeng, Neil, Yu Delu, Judd, Oliver Lines and James Cahill qualified for the World Open main event.
James Cahill, Neil, Judd, Li Hang and Chen Zhe qualified for the Riga Masters main …

Judd and Neil were in Romania with Mark Selby for a snooker gala, the “Best of Snooker”
Ramona Dragomir, respected Romanian blogger and HUGE snooker fan was there, so here is her report.
Thank you Ramona for allowing us to share your post!

Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 16 April – 2 May, 2016
It was a tournament to forget for the Grove team. After the last 32 round, Judd wass the only Grove player still in the tournament. He had to come back from 6-3 and 7-4 down to beat Liang Wenbo by 10-8, but that’s as far as he went, going out to Ding Junhui by 13-10 in the last 16. Neil, seen by many as a title favourite, lost 10-6 to Michael Holt, and Anda went out by 10-5 to Barry Hawkins.

Beijing, China – 28 March – 3 April 2016.
Judd won the China Open for the second time this week-end, beating Ricky Walden by 10-4 in the Final. Congratulations Judd! And Ricky too who played in his second final in just over a week …
Only Judd Trump had survived the first two days of the China Open television stage in Beijing and in fact he didn’t even play: his opponent, Stuart Carrington had to withdraw with ill-health. Neil, Cao Yupeng (who’s first round match was held over), Li hang and …

Judd and Neil qualified for the World Grand Prix 2016, played in Llandudno, from 8 to 13 March 2016. This wass the second instance of the event – under this format – and this time it was ranking. It wasn’t to be for Neil who lost by 4-3 to Peter Ebdon in round 1 (last 32). Judd wass the defending champion, He beat local favourite Mark Williams in the last 32., but lost to Stuart Bingham in the last 16. He was playing despite sickness, all credits.