Oliver Sykes (snooker player)
English snooker player (born 2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oliver Sykes (born 12 December 2005) is an English snooker player from Eastleigh, Hampshire. He has a two-year tour card on the World Snooker Tour, starting from the 2026–27 snooker season.
Early life
A left-hander from Eastleigh, Hampshire, by the age of eleven years-old he had won five consecutive titles from his local Eastleigh & District under-13 league. That year, he also won the local Eastleigh & District under-19 league.[2] As a 16 year-old in 2022, he became the champion at Chandlers Ford Snooker Club in Hampshire.[3]
Career
Aged 15 years-old, Sykes was given a wildcard to the 2021 English Open in Milton Keynes where he faced Allan Taylor.[4]
2023-24 season
In September and October 2023, Sykes won the opening two events on the English Junior Snooker Tour placed him to the top of the national junior rankings.[5]
Given a wildcard to the 2023 UK Championship as the number one ranked junior player,[6] he faced Alfie Burden in the first qualifying round and beat his more experienced opponent 6-1. in the following round he was defeated 6-4 by Jamie Clarke.[7][8] In December 2023, he recorded a victory over experience professional Rod Lawler at the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out.[9]
At the WSF Junior Snooker Championship held in Albania in February 2024, he reached the semi-finals before he was defeated by eventual champion Bulcsú Révész.[10][11]
In April 2024, he played in the first round of qualifying for the 2024 World Snooker Championship, and lost to Louis Heathcote 10-6.[12] That month, he reached the semi-finals of the English under-21 championships.[13]
He entered Q School in May 2024, in the first event he was defeated by German Umut Dikme.[14]
2024-25
At the 2024 English Open in Brentwood, Essex in September 2024, he reached the second round with a win over Julien Leclercq.[15]
He defeated Sean O'Sullivan in the quarterfinals of the Q Tour Global Play-Offs in Antalya in March 2025.[16] That month, he reached the final of the 2025 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships, where he faced Ukrainian Iulian Boiko, losing on a decider 5-4.[17]
2025-26
He reached the final day of the first three events in the European Q Tour.[18] He was awarded a wildcard into the 2025 English Open with the number one ranking on the EPSB Junior Tour.[19] In the first round of qualifying at the 2025 UK Championship, he was defeated 6-1 by Irishman Robbie McGuigan.[20] In March 2026, he qualified for the WPBSA Q Tour Global Play-Offs.[21] He was granted a two-year tour card on the World Snooker Tour, starting from the 2026–27 snooker season after reaching the final of the EBSA European Snooker Championship in March 2026, his run including wins over Ashley Carty and Umut Dikme.[22] In April, he recorded a 10-4 win over Liam Graham in the first round of qualifying for the 2026 World Snooker Championship, before recording a rare break of 146 in his second round victory over Lyu Haotian, only the 28th player to achieve the feat in competition.[23][24][25] In the penultimate round of qualifying he was defeated by 10-3 by Zak Surety.[26]
2026-27
Sykes won his first match as a professional on 10 June 2026, competing in the qualifying rounds for the 2026 China Open, a 6-1 victory against Liu Wenwei.[27] That month, he also reached the penultimate round of qualifying for the 2026 Wuhan Open with a win against Ross Muir.[28] In September, he beat Zak Surety 4-3 to reach the main draw at the 2026 Northern Ireland Open.[29]
Performance and rankings timeline
| Tournament | 2021/ 22 |
2023/ 24 |
2024/ 25 |
2025/ 26 |
2026/ 27 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | ||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||
| Championship League | A | A | A | A | RR | ||||
| China Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | |||||||
| Wuhan Open | NH | A | A | A | LQ | ||||
| British Open | A | A | A | A | LQ | ||||
| English Open | LQ | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||
| Shenzhen Open[nb 4] | Not Held | A | A | LQ | |||||
| Northern Ireland Open | A | A | A | A | |||||
| International Championship | NH | A | A | A | |||||
| UK Championship | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||
| Shoot Out | A | 2R | A | A | |||||
| Scottish Open | A | A | A | A | LQ | ||||
| German Masters | A | A | A | A | |||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | A | A | |||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||
| World Open | NH | A | A | A | |||||
| Tour Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||
| World Championship | A | LQ | A | LQ | |||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | means an event was not held | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event | |||
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event | |||
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event | |||
Career finals
Amateur finals: 19 (9 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2020 | English Under-16 Championship |  Paul Deaville |
3–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2020 | English Under-18 Championship | Sean Maddocks |
5–7 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2022 | English Under-21 Championship | Callum Beresford |
2–8 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2023 | EPSB Open Series - Crucible - Event 3 |  Dharminder Singh Lilly |
2–3 |
| Winner | 1. | 2023 | EPSB Open Series - Crucible - Event 4 | Wayne Townsend |
3–2 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 2023 | English Under-18 Championship | Liam Pullen |
2–4 |
| Winner | 2. | 2023 | English Junior Tour - Event 1 | Jake Crofts |
3–1 |
| Winner | 3. | 2023 | English Junior Tour - Event 2 | Aidan Murphy |
3–0 |
| Winner | 4. | 2023 | EPSB Open Series - Woking - Event 1 | Labeeb Ahmed |
3–1 |
| Winner | 5. | 2023 | English Junior Tour - Event 3 | Paul Deaville |
3–1 |
| Winner | 6. | 2024 | English Junior Tour - Event 5 | Paul Deaville |
3–0 |
| Winner | 7. | 2024 | EPSB Open Series - Woking - Event 5 | Peter Devlin |
3–2 |
| Winner | 8. | 2024 | English Junior Tour - Event 1 |  Vladislav Gradinari |
3–0 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 2024 | English Junior Tour - Event 3 | Ethan Llewellyn |
1–3 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 2025 | EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championship |  Iulian Boiko |
4–5 |
| Runner-up | 8. | 2025 | English Under-21 Championship | Liam Pullen |
0–5 |
| Runner-up | 9. | 2025 | English Junior Tour - Event 2 | Vladislav Gradinari |
2–3 |
| Winner | 9. | 2025 | English Junior Tour - Event 4 | Vladislav Gradinari |
3–2 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 2026 | EBSA European Snooker Championship | Anton Kazakov |
4–5 |