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World Snooker Tour out of reach for Ng On-yee as she loses to Bai Yulu at British Women’s Open

  • Hongkonger bows out in quarter-finals in final event of season, losing to teenager Bai Yulu of China
  • Defeat denies Ng the chance to earn two more years on the World Snooker Tour, with Reanne Evans remaining ahead of her in the rankings to take the final berth

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The British Women’s Open gave Ng On-yee a final chance to win a tour card for next season. Photo: Dickson Lee

Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee missed the chance to extend her stint at snooker’s top tables as she lost in the quarter-finals of the British Women’s Open.

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World No 3 Ng needed to win the tournament, the final event of the season, or progress two rounds further than Reanne Evans of England to overtake her into second in the rankings. That would have given Ng the women’s circuit’s second of two automatic places on the elite World Snooker Tour alongside the best men’s players for the next two seasons.

The Hongkonger previously earned a two-year tour card in 2021, as did Evans, but as it stands Ng will not have a place next season, having been beaten 3-2 by eventual champion Bai Yulu of China in the last eight in Walsall on Sunday.

Instead, it was Evans who survived the round, defeating Maria Catalano 3-0 and securing her own continued presence on the tour after Thailand’s Baipat Siripaporn took the other spot by winning her maiden world title in March.

Baipat’s compatriot and world No 1 Mink Nutcharut also already has a card, gaining one last year along with Rebecca Kenna of England, the world No 4.

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