Wednesday 08 December

The Ultimate Pool Challenger Series Class of 2021

Craig Waddingham, Dan Eaton-Lees, Eddie Barker, Adam Bassoo, Liam White, Hiten Patel, Chris Day and Luke Gilbert are all set to be Ultimate Pool professionals for the upcoming 2022 season.

That’s because they finished inside the top eight of the 2021 Challenger Series rankings following the conclusion of Events 7 and 8 last weekend at the Players Pool & Snooker Lounge.

Despite playing in only four of the eight events, Waddingham is the 2021 Challenger Series Number One Ranked Player having won two events and reached the semi-finals of the other two.

Going into the final event, youngster Gilbert was in eighth position on 3000 points, but an opening round defeat meant destiny was no longer in his own hands. He needed a previous event winner to lift another trophy and a few players below him not to go very deep in the event.

That is exactly what happened, and the current world under-23 champion will now test himself in the ruthless professional ranks.

All eight players have accepted professional status and will start on the top tier of Ultimate Pool later this month during the preliminary round of the Professional Cup which takes place on Boxing Day.

Next season’s Challenger Series is set to feature 256 players and a prize fund of over £200,000 throughout the season, with £7,000 going to an event winner.

Below are the top 35 ranked players from the 2021 Ultimate Pool Challenger Series.

For details on how the rankings worked - including how tied positions are determined - please visit here.

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