Cheung Ka Wai will probably be an expert participant subsequent season after triumphing on the 2024 WSF Championship in Albania.
The 24 year-old from Hong Kong thrashed Gao Yang 5-0 within the World Snooker Federation closing on the Grand Blue Fafa Resort in Golem.
Cheung’s victory within the prestigious worldwide beginner event will see him earn a two-year card to compete on the World Snooker Tour.
After rising from the preliminary round-robin stage with a 100% profitable document, Cheung proceeded to dominate most of his knockout fixtures.
Certainly, a formidable run of kind noticed him lose solely 4 frames throughout the ten matches he performed within the competitors.
Cheung whitewashed Oskar Charlesworth within the spherical of 64 earlier than respective 4-1 and 4-0 defeats of Luke Pinches and Harvey Chandler helped him to achieve the final eight.
Oliver Sykes then offered the sternest check, the Englishman representing the one participant to take two frames off Cheung all through the week’s motion.
However with Sykes safely accounted for, Cheung by no means seemed again and he produced a tremendous show within the semi-finals to eclipse Iulian Boiko.
A tournament-high break of 138 was adopted by contributions of 111 and 65 as he dominated the proficient younger Ukrainian.
Breaks have been more durable to come back by within the closing as each Cheung and Gao, the 2020 WSF junior champion, struggled with the nerves of the event.
However the former held himself collectively the strongest, and after establishing a 3-0 lead he gained an important fourth body on the black to all however finish the hopes of his Chinese language opponent.
A run of 60 within the fifth body proved sufficient to finish the demolition job, with Cheung now assured a spot on the professional circuit through the 2024/25 and 2025/26 campaigns.
“It’s each participant’s dream to hitch the World Snooker Tour,” Cheung Ka Wai mentioned, as quoted by the WPBSA.
“I simply really feel very glad and stunned with my efficiency, particularly within the semi-finals with back-to-back centuries.”
“I performed my very own sport and tried to play prefer it was apply, which isn’t simple, however my efficiency gave me lots of confidence for the ultimate.
“Within the closing, the fourth body was massive as I already thought it was 3-1 on the mid-session interval however I attempted to play the shot I assumed was proper and the consequence got here.”
“That is the largest achievement in my snooker life, I feel. I’ve all the time wished to be an expert participant, so I’m actually glad to make this occur.
“It’s also a big consequence for our sport and I hope that the Hong Kong authorities will think about to maintain Billiard Sports activities within the Hong Kong Sport Institute as a substitute of asking us to go away in 2025.
“I’ve been part of the Hong Kong Sports activities Institute (HKSI) for round 7-8 years as a full-time athlete and even once I was youthful, I used to be a part-time junior athlete.
“Each event, each competitors I get assist from the HKSI and HKSBCC.
“I’ve all the time had lots of assist and encouragement from folks in Hong Kong to play extra and to chase my aim to earn a [World Snooker] Tour ticket.
“I’m grateful to the HKSI as a result of we get lots of assist to go to all of the locations to get expertise and to play competitions and apply with excessive normal gamers.
“I hope this will stay unchanged sooner or later in order that I can have a better technique to do nicely within the World Snooker Tour.”
Final week, Bulscú Révész gained the 2024 WSF Junior Championship to turn out to be the primary ever participant from Hungary to earn an expert tour card.
2024 WSF Championship
Chosen Outcomes
Final 16
Oliver Sykes 4-3 Hayden Staniland
Cheung Ka Wai 4-0 Harvey Chandler
Wang Yuchen 4-3 Ryan Davies
Iulian Boiko 4-2 Florian Nüßle
Rodion Judin 4-2 Hamim Hussain
Daniel Womersley 4-1 Luke Simmonds
Nattanapong Chaikul 4-1 Steven Hallworth
Gao Yang 4-3 Kreish Gurbaxani
Quarter-Finals
Cheung Ka Wai 4-2 Oliver Sykes
Iulian Boiko 4-3 Wang Yuchen
Daniel Womersley 4-3 Rodion Judin
Gao Yang 4-2 Nattanapong Chaikuk
Semi-Finals
Cheung Ka Wai 4-0 Iulian Boiko
Gao Yang 4-3 Daniel Womersley
Remaining
Cheung Ka Wai 5-0 Gao Yang
Featured photograph credit score: WSF
