World Snooker Tour returns to China after four-year gap
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The World Snooker Tour will return to China in 2023 for the first time in four years.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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LONDON – Top-level snooker tournaments will return to China for the first time in four years with three events to be staged in 2023, the World Snooker Tour (WST) announced on Saturday.
The last ranking tournament held in China was in 2019, after which the Covid-19 pandemic took the nation off the WST calendar.
“This is a momentous announcement for our sport as we ramp up our return to staging events in Asia,” WST chairman Steve Dawson said in a statement.
“Throughout the pandemic we maintained dialogue and relationships with the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association as well as our key partners and promoters across China.
“This has allowed us to make a fast return to staging key events now that travel restrictions have lifted.”
The three tournaments, with a combined prize fund in excess of £2 million (S$3.3 million), will be the Shanghai Masters from Sept 11-17, the Oct 9-15 Wuhan Open and the International Championship from Nov 5-12 in a city still to be confirmed.
“We promised our players that this was top of our agenda and we have delivered on that promise, adding more than £2 million in prize money to the tour,” Dawson added.
“We will continue to explore opportunities to stage further events in China and beyond.”
While the news is positive for both snooker and China, there remains a cloud hanging over the sport in the country due to an alleged match-fixing scandal.
Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao and eight other Chinese players are suspended until the end of the season and are not competing in the ongoing World Snooker Championship as they await the outcome of a disciplinary hearing, the governing World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association said in March.
The hearing would start next Monday, clashing with the April 15-May 1 tournament at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Zhao, who won the 2021 UK Championship, is ranked ninth in the world while former Masters champion Yan is 19th.
“The players will remain suspended until the outcome of the independent disciplinary hearing is published,” the WPBSA said. “They will therefore not participate in any remaining World Snooker Tour events during the 2022-23 season, including the 2023 World Snooker Championship.”
Zhao, 26, faces charges of “being concerned in fixing matches” and betting on snooker, while 23-year-old Yan has been charged with fixing matches and betting on snooker.
Liang Wenbo, Li Hang, Lu Ning, Zhang Jiankang, Chen Zifan and Chang Bingyu are among the other players who have been charged. REUTERS
