The 2017–18 snooker season was a series of professional snooker tournaments played between 4 May 2017 and 7 May 2018. The season began with the pro–am Vienna Snooker Open in May 2017 and ended with the 2018 World Snooker Championship in April the following year. Ronnie O'Sullivan earned a joint-record five ranking titles in the season. He joined Stephen Hendry (1990/1991), Ding Junhui (2013/2014), and Mark Selby (2016/2017) in winning five ranking titles in the same season.

The China Championship became a ranking event and was brought forward to a mid-August date, ahead of the Paul Hunter Classic. The Shanghai Masters was initially withdrawn from the season calendar, but was later rescheduled for November 2017. The biennial World Cup team event was played in July 2017. Another event not held every year returning in 2017 was the 2017 IWGA World Games. The Snooker Shoot Out was brought forward to the start of February, ahead of both the World Grand Prix and Welsh Open.

The second edition of the Home Nations Series was being held in this season with the English Open, Northern Ireland Open, Scottish Open and Welsh Open tournaments. For a single winner of all four tournaments would earn a bonus of £1 million. 13 different countries and/or regions have held at least one tournament on the main tour during the season, making it one of the most diverse season calendars since the takeover of World Snooker by Matchroom Sport.

A new World Seniors Tour was formed by Snooker Legends for players over 40 years of age, comprising four events, including the World Seniors Championship which has returned to Scunthorpe in 2018.

Ronnie O'Sullivan won five ranking events during the season, with Mark Williams winning three times and Ryan Day, John Higgins and Mark Selby each winning twice. Shaun Murphy reached four ranking event finals during the season but lost them all.

Players

The top 64 players from the prize money rankings after the 2017 World Championship, and the 31 players earning a two-year card the previous year automatically qualified for the season (Rouzi Maimaiti has resigned his membership). Next, eight places were allocated to the top 8 on the One Year Ranking List who have not already qualified for the Main Tour. Another two players came from the EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs, and a further places were available through the 2017 Q School, four from each of the two events and the four best-ranked players in the Order of Merit. The rest of the places on to the tour came from amateur events and national governing body (NGB) nominations. Hamza Akbar received a tour card as a special dispensation in place of America's nomination.

The list of all professional players in the 2017/2018 season consist of 131 players, including the standard field of the 128 players and three invitational tour cards (James Wattana has second year of a two-year invitational tour card while Jimmy White and Ken Doherty were awarded the new two-year permission). Beginning from this season, players with invitational tour cards are eligible to compete in any ranking event. These players are seeded after main tour professionals, but above amateur top ups taken from the Q School ranking list.

New professional players All players listed below received a tour card for two seasons.

International champions IBSF World Championship winner: IBSF World Under-21 Championship winner: EBSA European Championship winner:

ACBS Asian Championship winner: ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship winner: ABSF African Championships winner: Oceania Championship winner:

One Year Ranking List

EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs

Q School

Event 1

Event 2

Order of Merit

CBSA China Tour

Calendar The following tables outline the dates and results of all events of the World Snooker Tour, World Women's Snooker, the World Seniors Tour, and other events.

World Snooker Tour Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Runner-up 23 Jun 25 Jun Riga Masters Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia 52 3 Jul 9 Jul World Cup Wuxi City Sports Park Stadium in Wuxi, China China A 43 England 20 Jul 23 Jul Hong Kong Masters Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Bowrington, Hong Kong 63 28 Jul 29 Jul CVB Challenge Nanshan Culture & Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China 269 16 Aug 22 Aug China Championship Guangzhou Sport University in Guangzhou, China 105 22 Aug 27 Aug Paul Hunter Classic Stadthalle in Fürth, Germany 42 4 Sep 9 Sep Six-red World Championship Bangkok Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand 82 12 Sep 16 Sep Indian Open Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach in Vishakhapatnam, India 51 World Open Yushan Number One Middle School in Yushan, China 103 2 Oct 8 Oct European Masters De Soeverein in Lommel, Belgium 97 16 Oct 22 Oct English Open Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England 92 29 Oct 5 Nov International Championship Baihu Media Broadcasting Centre in Daqing, China 107 6 Nov 12 Nov Champion of Champions Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England 108 13 Nov 18 Nov Shanghai Masters Shanghai Grand Stage in Shanghai, China 103 20 Nov 26 Nov Northern Ireland Open Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland 98 28 Nov 10 Dec UK Championship Barbican Centre in York, England 105 11 Dec 17 Dec Scottish Open Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland 98 14 Jan 21 Jan Masters Alexandra Palace in London, England 107 31 Jan 4 Feb German Masters Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany 91 8 Feb 11 Feb Shoot Out Watford Colosseum in Watford, England 10 19 Feb 25 Feb World Grand Prix Preston Guild Hall in Preston, England 103 26 Feb 4 Mar Welsh Open Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales 97 7 Mar 11 Mar Gibraltar Open Tercentenary Sports Hall, Victoria Stadium in Gibraltar, Gibraltar 40 14 Mar 18 Mar Romanian Masters Bucharest Metropolitan Circus in Bucharest, Romania 108 19 Mar 25 Mar Players Championship Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales 104 2 Jan 29 Mar Championship League Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England 32 2 Apr 8 Apr China Open Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Beijing, China 113 21 Apr 7 May World Championship Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England 1816 Ranking event Non-ranking event

World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Runner-up 24Aug 27Aug Paul Hunter Women's Classic Ballroom in Nuremberg, Germany 41 30 Sep 1 Oct UK Women's Championship Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England 41 28 Oct 29 Oct Eden Women's Masters South West Snooker Centre in Quedgeley, England 43 17 Feb 18 Feb Women's British Open Stourbridge Institute in Stourbridge, England 40 14 Mar 17 Mar World Women's Championship Dolmen Hall in St Paul's Bay, Malta 50 14 Apr World Women's 10-Red Championship Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England 41 15 Apr World Women's 6-Red Championship Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, England 43

World Seniors Tour Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Runner-up 24 Oct 26 Oct UK Seniors Championship Harlequin Theatre in Redhill, England 42 6 Jan 7 Jan Seniors Irish Masters Goffs in Kill, Ireland 40 21 Mar 24 Mar World Seniors Championship Baths Hall in Scunthorpe, England 43 12 Apr Seniors Masters Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England 21

Other events Start Finish Tournament Venue Winner Runner-up 4 May 7 May Vienna Open 15 Reds Köö Wien Snooker Club in Vienna, Austria 52 24May 27May Belgium Open Snooker Club Arena in Ghent, Belgium 65 7 Jun 11 Jun Pink Ribbon South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester, England 42 26 Jul 30 Jul World Games Wrocław Congress Center in Wrocław, Poland 31 19 Sep 21 Sep Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games – Six-red Billiard Sports Arena in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 51 22 Sep 24 Sep Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games – Team Billiard Sports Arena in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 30 24 Sep 26 Sep Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games – Singles Billiard Sports Arena in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 42 23 Oct 27 Oct Haining Open Haining Sports Center in Haining, China 51

Points distribution 2017/2018 points distribution for World Snooker Tour ranking events:

width=160 R144 R128 R80 R64 R48 R32 R16 QF SF F WRiga Masters — £0 — £1,000 — £2,000 £4,000 £6,000 £15,000 £25,000 £50,000China Championship — £0 — £4,000 — £7,000 £12,000 £18,000 £32,000 £75,000 Paul Hunter Classic — £0 — £600 — £1,000 £1,725 £3,000 £4,500 £10,000 £20,000Indian Open — £0 — £2,000 — £4,000 £6,000 £10,000 £15,000 £25,000 £50,000World Open — £0 — £4,000 — £7,000 £12,000 £18,000 £32,000 £75,000 £150,000European Masters — £0 — £2,000 — £4,000 £6,000 £11,000 £17,500 £35,000 £75,000English Open — £0 — £2,500 — £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000 — £0 — £4,000 — £8,500 £13,500 £21,500 £32,000 £75,000 Shanghai Masters — £0 — £4,000 — £7,000 £12,000 £18,000 £32,000 £75,000 Northern Ireland Open — £0 — £2,500 — £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000UK Championship — £0 — £5,000 — £10,000 £15,000 £22,500 £35,000 £75,000 £170,000Scottish Open — £0 — £2,500 — £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000German Masters — £0 — £2,000 — £4,000 £5,000 £10,000 £20,000 £35,000 £80,000Shoot Out — £0First round losers in the Shoot Out received £250 prize money which did not count towards the prize money rankings. — £500 — £1,000 £2,000 £4,000 £8,000 £16,000 £32,000World Grand Prix — — — — — £5,000 £7,500 £12,500 £20,000 £40,000 £100,000Welsh Open — £0 — £2,500 — £3,500 £6,000 £10,000 £20,000 £30,000 £70,000Gibraltar Open — £0 — £1,000 — £2,000 £3,000 £4,000 £6,000 £12,000 £25,000Players Championship — — — — — — £10,000 £15,000 £30,000 £50,000 £125,000China Open — £0 — £5,000 — £11,000 £18,000 £27,000 £45,000 £90,000 £225,000World Championship £0 — £9,000 — £13,500 £18,000Players who lose their first match receive no ranking points. £27,500 £42,500 £85,000 £180,000 £425,000

Notes

References

External links Snooker season 2017/2018 at Snooker.org