Neil made a great start to the season 2014/2015. He won the Wuxi Classic in China, and followed up with a run to the final in Bendigo. That saw him go back at the top of the ranking list. Neil had been very disappointed to end last season as n°3 after being the n°1 for most of it. He did put that right really quick! Congratulations Neil!
He said:
After winning Wuxi I knew there was a slim chance I could get back to world number one by getting to the final …

Neil, Judd and Wenbo are all in Bendigo for the Australian Open 2014 (June 30 – July 6, 2014). Neil fresh from his Wuxi success and a finalist last year, will try to get one better and lift the trophy in his home country. Wenbo lost to Robert Milkins in L32. Judd and Neil are through to the Final. Neil is now certain to be n°1 again after this tournament.

The Wuxi Classic is the first tournament of the new season and is scheduled from 23 to 29 June, 2014 in Wuxi, China. Neil is the defending champion. Five Grove players are competing: Neil, Judd, Yu Delu, Liang Wenbo, Cao Yupeng and Lyu Chenwei. Yu had a wilcard to play first but lost. Wenbo had a great win over Mark Selby in the last 32. Judd, Cao and Wenbo lost in the last 16. Neil beat Joe Perry by 10-9 in the Final and it clearly meant a lot …

The new season starts already with the Wuxi Classic Qualifiers, played at The Capital Venue in Gloucester fro May 24 to May 28, 2014. All Grove players, except Zhang Anda are involved. Neil is the defending champion. Neil, Judd, Yu Delu, Lyu Chenwei and Wenbo qualified and will be in Wuxi.

The annual WSA awards ceremony was held at the Lancaster Hotel in London on Thursday, May 8, 2014 and Neil got a special trophy for his century of centuries… Well done Neil!

The Crucible Theatre is the home of snooker once again as the World Championship unfolds, from April 19 to May 5, 2014. Only Judd and Neil are involved and they are in the same half of the draw. Neil beat Judd by 13-11 in the quarter finals. Neil lost by 17-15 to Mark Selby in what was one of the best semi finals at the Crucible.
Neil finally made the ton of tons in frame 22 of the quarters!

The China Open television stages were held in Beijing from March 31 to April 6, 2014 and features 64 players plus 4 wildcards. Neil was the defending champion. Li Hang lost in the last 64, Judd in the last 32 and Yu Delu in the last 16. Neil was unwell all week and had a few very difficult days, but still managed to reach the final where he lost 10-5 to Ding. Very well done Neil, under the circumstances, and congratulations to Ding for his 5th ranking title of …

The Player Championship Grand Final concludes the Players Tour season with 32 players competing for the £100 000 winners prize.
Neil, Judd, Wenbo and Yu Delu have qualified. Neil and Wenbo fell at the first hurdle. In the last 16, Yu Delu played an excellent match to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-3 and Judd beat Shaun Murphy 4-0 in no time. Judd won another very high quality match, beating Joe Perry 4-2 to book his spot in the semi finals, but Yu Delu lost to Barry Hawkins. And Barry beat Judd …

The television stage of the Haikou World Open, features 64 players and runs from March 10 to March 15, 2014. Neil, Judd, Wenbo, Li Yan and Yu Delu have qualified. Neil is the first to book his last 32 spot with a 5-1 win over Jamie Jones. Judd and Wenbo joined him on day 2. All three won on day 3 and reached the last 16, where unfortunately they all lost.

The Championship League Snooker is invitational and Judd, Neil and Wenbo entered it in 2014. It’s played in 7 groups of 7 players, with the winner progressing to the “Winners group”, 4 players moving to the next group and the last 2 being eliminated. Each Group is played over 2 days and starts with a league phase – played over best of 5 – and play-off, semi finals and final, played by the 4 players at the top of the league table.. The Winners Group then follows a similar format …