Why do snooker players wear a glove during summer as former world champion Stuart Bingham joins He Guoqiang in qualifying for British Open?
Published 26/06/2025 at 21:18 GMT+1
Some snooker players opt to wear a glove during some tournaments in Asia due to hot and humid playing conditions, but the sight of elite professionals gloved up in the UK tends to be a rarer choice. With the 2025/26 season up and running in Leicester, some players have opted to sport a glove to boost their prospects, with He Guoqiang and Stuart Bingham qualifying for the British Open.
Bingham doubles in green to wrap up win against Williams
Video credit: TNT Sports
Most professional golfers like to wear a glove to give themselves a better grip on the club when they are hammering a driver off the tee or an iron down a fairway, but snooker players dig out a glove for slightly different reasons.
It was a case of hand in glove for China's former Under-18 world champion He Guoqiang in the British Open qualifiers on Thursday as the world No. 45 won a dramatic black-ball decider in the opening frame of his 4-0 whitewash win over Farakh Ajaib.
The purpose of wearing a glove on the bridge hand, either left or right - which covers thumb, index and middle finger - is to enable a player to deliver the shot properly and negate the chance for sweat to impact a player's technique on a shot.
Wearing a glove is a familiar sight on the elite nine-ball pool circuit, with players requiring a glove to help them avoid sweat when performing quickfire, pivotal pots.
Former Crucible qualifier Nigel Gilbert famously wore a solitary white glove during his matches in the 1980s and 1990s. And it remains in fashion when temperatures rise.
He has booked a trip to Cheltenham in September, in an event familiar to former world champion Kyren Wilson, who opted to wear a glove in a 4-0 win over Mark Allen at the British Open two years ago.
World No. 1 Judd Trump explained to TNT Sports why there is a temptation for players to don a glove in summer.
"The tables play so much nicer when it gets to the winter period, and you’ve got a bit of heating on," Trump said during the English Open in 2023.
"When the temperature is hot outside, and you have air con on, the table is wet and not nice.
"For me, the best tournament is the Masters. I think the conditions are perfect there."
Elsewhere, 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham, who lost 5-2 to Liam Highfield in Wuhan Open qualifying, sealed his first win of the campaign with a 4-2 victory over Ryan Day.
Bingham produced a break of 102 in the second frame, but Day took a 2-1 lead with runs of 59 and 74.
World No. 22 Bingham then reeled off three straight frames, closing with 56 and 75 to reach the last 64.
Qualifying for the British Open runs through until Saturday in Leicester, with the main tournament then staged in Cheltenham between September 22-28.
All the matches involving the world's top 16 have been held over to September.
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Latest British Open qualifying results
- Gao Yang 4-2 Fergal Quinn
- Sunny Akani 4-0 Steven Hallworth
- He Guoqiang 4-0 Farakh Ajaib
- Xu Si 4-0 Florian Nuble
- Chang Bingyu 4-2 Kreishh Gurbaxani
- Liu Hongyu 4-0 Ng On-yee
- Stuart Bingham 4-2 Ryan Day
- Ben Mertens 4-3 Liam Pullen
- Umut Dikme 4-3 Michal Szubarczyk
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