The 2016–17 snooker season was a series of professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

tournaments played between 5 May 2016 and 1 May 2017. The number of ranking events was increased in 2016/17, with a target of 20 ranking events for 2017/18. According to the

World Snooker The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...

chairman

Barry Hearn Barry Maurice William Hearn (born 19 June 1948) is an English sporting events promoter and the founder and President of promotions company Matchroom Sport. Through Matchroom, Hearn is also involved in many sports including snooker, darts, pool ...

, total prize money for the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...

in 2016/17 hit £10 million for the first time ever. The trophy for the Masters was renamed the

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

trophy in perpetuity, in memory of the three-time Masters champion who died in 2006. The

Snooker Shoot Out The Snooker Shoot Out is a professional ranking snooker tournament played under a variation of the standard rules. The 2017 event was the first time the tournament was staged as a ranking event. Hossein Vafaei is the current champion. History ...

became a ranking event for the first time. The

Australian Goldfields Open The Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament. The final champion was John Higgins in 2015. History Australia had previously hosted the 1971 and 1975 World Snooker Championships, as well as several other high-pr ...

has been cancelled. The Players Championship featured the top-16 players on the one year ranking list, as the

Players Tour Championship The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Grand Final, where qualification ...

has been cancelled and no order of merit was issued. The new

Home Nations Series The Home Nations Series is a snooker tournament series in the four home nations of the United Kingdom. It began in the 2016–17 snooker season, combining two existing tournaments, the Scottish Open and Welsh Open, with two newly created tourname ...

was introduced in this season with the

English Open The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 20 ...

, Northern Ireland Open, Scottish Open and Welsh Open tournaments. The winner of all four tournaments could earn a massive £1 million bonus prize.

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...

won five ranking events during the season with

Anthony McGill Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus. McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He wo ...

and

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...

each winning twice. Trump appeared in five ranking event finals during the season.

Players

Countries: * * * * * * * * * * * The top 64 players from the prize money rankings after the 2016 World Championship, and the 30 players earning a two-year card the previous year automatically qualified for the season (

Vinnie Calabrese Vincent "Vinnie" Calabrese (born 7 October 1987) is a former Australian professional snooker player from Campbelltown, New South Wales. He was based in Cambridge together with his compatriot Neil Robertson, although he has since moved back to ...

has resigned his membership). The top eight players from the

European Tour Order of Merit The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

and top two players from the Asian Tour Order of Merit, who have not already qualified for the Main Tour, also qualify. Another two players come from the EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs, and a further twelve places were available through the Q School. The rest of the places on to the tour come from the amateur events and national governing body nominations.

Yan Bingtao Yan Bingtao (, born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the youngest player to win the Amateur World Snooker Championship after defeating Muhammad Sajjad 8–7. Having qualified to compete on the main tour for ...

's two-year tour card will commence this season. Also, since

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

and

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

have both retired from professional play, only

James Wattana James Wattana (; born January 17, 1970, as วัฒนา ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm'', then renamed รัชพล ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm'' in 2003) is a Thai former professional snooker pl ...

was offered an Invitational Tour Card. The list of all professional players in the 2016/2017 season includes 129 players.

New professional players

All players listed below received a tour card for two seasons. ; # # # EBSA European Championship winner: Jak Jones # EBSA European Under-21 Championship winner:

Josh Boileau Josh Boileau (born 2 July 1995 in Newbridge, County Kildare) is a former Irish professional snooker player. He is the 2016 Under-21 European Snooker Champion. Career In 2014 Boileau entered the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships in B ...

# ACBS Asian Championship winner:

Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (; born 16 December 1988 in Bangkok, Thailand) is a Thai snooker player. He was the Asian Snooker Champion in 2016. Career At the 2014 Six-red World Championship Lertsattayathorn defeated defending champion Mark Davi ...

# ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship winner: Wang Yuchen #Oceania Championship winner:

Kurt Dunham Kurt Dunham (born 6 December 1991 in Somerset, Tasmania) is a former Australian professional snooker player. Career Dunham turned professional in 2016 as the Oceania nomination for the 2016–17 season. His two match wins during his first sea ...

2015/16 Tour Qualification: Making 128 (ish)
/ref> ;European Tour Order of Merit ;Asian Tour Order of Merit ;EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs ; Q School ;Event 1 ;Event 2 ;Order of Merit ;CBSA China Tour ;Invitational Tour Card ;Deferred Tour Card

Calendar

The following tables outline the dates and results of all events of the

World Women's Snooker World Women's Snooker, founded as the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (WLBSA) in 1981, and known as World Ladies Billiards and Snooker (WLBS) from 2015 to 2018, is a subsidiary company of the World Professional Billiards and Snoo ...

, the

World Seniors Tour The World Seniors Tour is the professional snooker tour for senior players aged 40 and over, running in parallel to the main World Snooker Tour. Founded in 2017 by Snooker Legends, it has been run since 2018 by World Seniors Snooker, a subsidiary ...

, and other events.http://www.worldsnooker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Click-here-for-the-calendar.pdf

World Snooker Tour

World Ladies Billiards and Snooker

Seniors events

Other events

Points distribution

2016/2017 points distribution for

ranking events:

Notes

References

External links

Snooker season 2016/2017
at Snooker.org {{Snooker seasons

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

*Season 2016 *Season 2017