Michael Holt wins 2020 Snooker Shoot Out

Michael Holt has won the 2020 Snooker Shout Out, the Nottingham player’s maiden ranking title.

He defeated Zhou Yuelong with a competition 64-1 score line, after repeating a fantastic run to the final.

Last year, he was crushed by Thepchaiya Un-Nooh by 74-0, but the defending champion was ousted by Peter Lines in the second round.

It was an excellent run of snooker to put Holt in the final, and he benefitted from a major mistake made my Amine Amiri in the first round – his opponent misunderstood the rules, and it cost the Moroccan an early victory against Holt.

In the final, Holt made a 42, but his opponent was unable to properly respond, winning only a single point – Holt then returned to the table and made a 22 break to secure the victory.

After the match, Holt said: “I’m just really lucky. I enjoy the format. It actually helps me because I’ve always stopped myself playing by thinking and it doesn’t give me time to think. So I can just play on my instinct and then play my best.

“I have always felt I have had the ability but I have not had the composure and not quite had it mentally at times. I have been inconsistent.

“I am chuffed to finally get my hands on a trophy. It was wonderful feeling. If I can use that I might play a bit better.”

Holt’s success means he will pick up a £50,000 champion’s cheque. He also moves in the top 16 on the one-year ranking list – that could earn him a lucrative spot in next week’s Players Championship at the expense of defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, and it might also result in an invitation to the Champion of Champions.

As with every year, the Snooker Shoot Out has divided popular opinion. Fans enjoy the fun variation on the game’s rules, and the World Snooker Tour is certainly appreciative of the interest and money generated.

Purists dislike the format, and criticise both the tournament’s presence on the calendar and its status as a ranking event, given its radical difference from other such fixtures.