Oliver Sykes (snooker player)

Oliver Sykes
Born (2005-12-12) 12 December 2005[1]
Sport country England
Professional2026–present
Highest ranking112 (August 2026)
Current ranking 112 (as of 17 August 2026)

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]

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
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 Heldmeans an event was not held
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event
  1. ↑ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. 1 2 3 4 He was an amateur
  3. ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ↑ The event was called the Xi'an Grand Prix (2024/2025–2025/2026)

Career finals

Amateur finals: 19 (9 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2020 English Under-16 Championship England Paul Deaville 3–6
Runner-up 2. 2020 English Under-18 Championship England Sean Maddocks 5–7
Runner-up 3. 2022 English Under-21 Championship England Callum Beresford 2–8
Runner-up 4. 2023 EPSB Open Series - Crucible - Event 3 India Dharminder Singh Lilly 2–3
Winner 1. 2023 EPSB Open Series - Crucible - Event 4 England Wayne Townsend 3–2
Runner-up 5. 2023 English Under-18 Championship England Liam Pullen 2–4
Winner 2. 2023 English Junior Tour - Event 1 England Jake Crofts 3–1
Winner 3. 2023 English Junior Tour - Event 2 England Aidan Murphy 3–0
Winner 4. 2023 EPSB Open Series - Woking - Event 1 England Labeeb Ahmed 3–1
Winner 5. 2023 English Junior Tour - Event 3 England Paul Deaville 3–1
Winner 6. 2024 English Junior Tour - Event 5 England Paul Deaville 3–0
Winner 7. 2024 EPSB Open Series - Woking - Event 5 England Peter Devlin 3–2
Winner 8. 2024 English Junior Tour - Event 1 Moldova Vladislav Gradinari 3–0
Runner-up 6. 2024 English Junior Tour - Event 3 England Ethan Llewellyn 1–3
Runner-up 7. 2025 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championship Ukraine Iulian Boiko 4–5
Runner-up 8. 2025 English Under-21 Championship England Liam Pullen 0–5
Runner-up 9. 2025 English Junior Tour - Event 2 Moldova Vladislav Gradinari 2–3
Winner 9. 2025 English Junior Tour - Event 4 Moldova Vladislav Gradinari 3–2
Runner-up 10. 2026 EBSA European Snooker Championship Ukraine Anton Kazakov 4–5

References

  1. ↑ "Oliver Sykes". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "11-year-old Oliver 'retires' - after five snooker title wins!". Daily Echo. 16 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Dunkley, Tim (19 April 2022). "Oliver Sykes is the Chandlers Ford SC champion". Cue Stars. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Gaynor, Chris (25 August 2021). "Teenager Oliver Sykes is one of two youngsters to have been invited to this season's professional event, the BetVictor English Open by the English Partnership of Snooker and Billiards". Snooker Zone. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Sykes Secures Back-to-Back Junior Tour Successes". EPSB. 16 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "WPBSA QUALIFIERS ANNOUNCED FOR MRQ UK CHAMPIONSHIP". wst.tv. 3 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.~
  7. ↑ Caulfield, David (18 November 2023). "UK Championship qualifiers: 2023 draw, schedule, results, how to watch". Snooker HQ. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Sky's the limit for Sykes". Wst.tv. 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "SHAUN LIU, 13, SETS NEW RECORD AS YOUNGEST WINNER". WST. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "HUNGARY FOR SUCCESS! REVESZ WINS JUNIOR TITLE". wst.tv. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  11. ↑ Caulfield, David (2 February 2024). "Hungarian teenager Bulcsú Révész wins tour card". SnookerHQ. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  12. ↑ "WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP: FERGAL O'BRIEN BRINGS CURTAIN DOWN ON 33-YEAR CAREER AFTER DEFEAT IN CRUCIBLE QUALIFIER". Eurosport. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  13. ↑ "English under-21 championship results". snookerscores.net. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  14. ↑ "BOIKO SEEKS IMPROVEMENT WITH DOHERTY'S HELP". wst.tv. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  15. ↑ "BetVictor English Open - Saturday round-up". World Snooker Tour. 14 September 2024. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  16. ↑ "TWELVE REMAIN AFTER OPENING DAY OF Q TOUR GLOBAL PLAY-OFFS". wst.tv. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  17. ↑ "BOIKO REGAINS TOUR CARD". wst.tv. 17 March 2025. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  18. ↑ "WPBSA Q TOUR EUROPE – THE RACE TO THE PLAY-OFFS". wst.tv. 15 October 2025. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  19. ↑ "SYKES AND MURPHY HANDED WILD CARDS". wst.tv. 20 August 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  20. ↑ "Robbie McGuigan gets over first hurdle in bid to qualify for Victorian Plumbing UK Championship". Irish News. 23 November 2025. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  21. ↑ "WPBSA Q TOUR GLOBAL PLAY-OFFS 2026 - DRAW & PREVIEW". wpbsa.com. 12 March 2026. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  22. ↑ "SYKES EARNS TOUR CARD AS KAZAKOV COMPLETES EUROPEAN DOUBLE". wst.tv. 14 March 2026. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  23. ↑ Caulfield, David (8 April 2026). "Did Ken Doherty just play his last match as a snooker professional?". Snookerhq. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  24. ↑ "HALO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING DAY FIVE: AS IT HAPPENED". wst.tv. 10 April 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  25. ↑ Day, Michael (10 April 2026). "Young English snooker star completes feat rarer than a 147 break at world championship qualifying". TotallySnookered.com. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "HALO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING DAY EIGHT: AS IT HAPPENED". wst.tv. 13 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "CHINA OPEN QUALIFIERS - DAY ONE". Wst. 10 June 2026. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  28. ↑ "WUHAN OPEN QUALIFIERS DAY TWO". wst.tv. 16 June 2026.
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