2023 Snooker Shoot Out (2022–23 season)
The 2023 Snooker Shoot Out (officially the 2023 BetVictor Snooker Shoot Out) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 25 to 28 January 2023 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England. Played under a variation of the standard rules of snooker, with every match contested over a single frame, the tournament was the ninth ranking event of the 2022–23 snooker season and the sixth of eight events in the 2023 European Series. Sponsored by BetVictor, the event was broadcast by Eurosport in Europe and by multiple other broadcasters internationally. The winner received £50,000 from a total prize fund of £171,000.
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | 25–28 January 2023 |
Venue | Morningside Arena |
City | Leicester |
Country | England |
Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
Format | Ranking event |
Total prize fund | £171,000 |
Winner's share | £50,000 |
Highest break | Chris Wakelin (ENG) (119) |
Final | |
Champion | Chris Wakelin (ENG) |
Runner-up | Julien Leclercq (BEL) |
Score | 119–0 (one frame) |
← 2022 |
Hossein Vafaei was the defending champion, having defeated Mark Williams 71–0 in the 2022 final. However, Vafaei lost 9–33 to Shaun Murphy in the first round. Aged 14 years and three months, Vladislav Gradinari became the youngest player to win a televised match at a ranking event when he defeated Ng On-yee in the first round. Reanne Evans became the first woman to win a match in a Snooker Shoot Out event, as well as the first woman to win a televised match at any ranking event, when she defeated Stuart Bingham in the first round.
In the final of the event, Chris Wakelin faced Belgian teenager Julien Leclercq, who had turned professional at the beginning of the season. Both players contested their first ranking final. Wakelin won the event with a 119 break, the highest of the four century breaks made in the tournament, to capture the first ranking title of his ten-year professional career.