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 …

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.

Ponds Forge, Sheffield, 6-13 April 2016.
Every player outside the top 16 had to win three matches to qualify for the television stage of the World Championship 2016. This means that, of course, Judd and Neil qualified automatically, but all other Grove players had to compete in Ponds Forge. Only Zhang Anda managed to win his three matches and will play at the Crucible as a qualifier. The players don’t know their opponents yet, the draw will be made today.

All detailed results are on cuetracker.net as usual

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 beat Ronnie O’Sullivan by 3-2 in the final of the Championship League Snooker 2016, winning it for the third time. He’s the only multiple winner of the event, now in its seventh year. Judd had qualified for the Winners Group by winning Group 2, back in January.

The Gdynia Open 2016 was the last of the European Tour events and a very important one for some players who were trying to secure their tour card via the ET Order of Merit or those in the balance for the World Grand Prix or the Players Tour Championship. But a number of big boys weren’t that interested and Judd and Neil were among those who didn’t make the trip, despite the fact that Neil was the defending champion. It wasn’t a great tournament from Grove’s point of view: only …

Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales – 15-21 February 2016
Neil made it to the final of the tournament but lost by 9-5 to Ronnie O’Sullivan. Judd and Yu Delu progressed to the last 16, losing to Joe Perry and Ronnie O’Sullivan respectively. None of the other Grove players went past the last 64.

The fast and furious event was held in the Hexagon, in Reading on the 12,13 and 14 February 2016. The top 64 players qualify automatically for it but a number of top players declined, among them, Neil Robertson. Oliver Lines, Yu Delu, Li Hang, Cao Yupeng and Judd Trump competed. Only Judd won a match but he lost in the next round, the last 32, to the eventual winner, Robin Hull.