China Open (snooker)

The China Open was a professional snooker tournament. It was one of a number of ranking tournaments and began in 1997. The final champion is Neil Robertson, who won the event in 2019.

China Open
Tournament information
LocationBeijing
CountryChina
Established1997
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatRanking event
Total prize fund£1,000,000
Final year2019
Final championAustralia Neil Robertson

History edit

The first international snooker tournament in China was the China International in September 1997, a non-ranking tournament for the top 16 players and local players. The following season the tournament became ranking and was held in March. Then the name of the event was changed to China Open and was held in December, so there were two events in 1999. After the 2002 tournament the event was abandoned.[1]

The event was revived for the 2004/05 season. Local wild-card players were invited to play against the qualifiers. The three Chinese players on the tour were invited to play as wild-cards, rather than qualify the usual way. Ding Junhui was one of them, and he won the tournament, but as he entered as a wild-card, he received no prize money nor ranking points.[1]

The last edition of the tournament in 2019 took place at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Chaoyang District, Beijing in early April, and it was usually the last ranking event before the World Championship. The 2020 edition was scheduled to take place, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled: the subsequent restrictions meant it was not staged through 2021, 2022 and 2023. Despite the COVID restrictions ending in China, the tournament has not been restored to the calendar, with new events in Wuhan and Xi'an being staged in its place.

Winners edit

[1][2]

YearWinnerRunner-upFinal scoreHost citySeason
China International (non-ranking)
1997 Steve Davis Jimmy White7–4Beijing1997/98
China International (ranking)
1999 John Higgins Billy Snaddon9–3Shanghai1998/99
China Open (ranking)
1999 Ronnie O'Sullivan Stephen Lee9–2Shanghai1999/00
2000 Ronnie O'Sullivan Mark Williams9–3Shenzhen2000/01
2002 Mark Williams Anthony Hamilton9–8Shanghai2001/02
2005 Ding Junhui Stephen Hendry9–5Beijing2004/05
2006 Mark Williams John Higgins9–82005/06
2007 Graeme Dott Jamie Cope9–52006/07
2008 Stephen Maguire Shaun Murphy10–92007/08
2009 Peter Ebdon John Higgins10–82008/09
2010 Mark Williams Ding Junhui10–62009/10
2011 Judd Trump Mark Selby10–82010/11
2012[3] Peter Ebdon Stephen Maguire10–92011/12
2013[4] Neil Robertson Mark Selby10–62012/13
2014[5] Ding Junhui Neil Robertson10–52013/14
2015[6] Mark Selby Gary Wilson10–22014/15
2016[7] Judd Trump Ricky Walden10–42015/16
2017[8] Mark Selby Mark Williams10–82016/17
2018[9] Mark Selby Barry Hawkins11–32017/18
2019[10] Neil Robertson Jack Lisowski11–42018/19
2020Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2019/20

Records edit

Statistics edit

Finalists edit

RankNameNationalityWinnerRunner-upFinals
1Mark Williams  Wales325
Mark Selby  England325
3Ding Junhui  China213
Neil Robertson  Australia213
5Ronnie O'Sullivan  England202
Peter Ebdon  England202
Judd Trump  England202
8Stephen Maguire  Scotland112
9Graeme Dott  Scotland101
10John Higgins  Scotland022
11Stephen Lee  England011
Anthony Hamilton  England011
Stephen Hendry  Scotland011
Jamie Cope  England011
Shaun Murphy  England011
Gary Wilson  England011
Ricky Walden  England011
Barry Hawkins  England011
Jack Lisowski  England011

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Turner, Chris. "China International, China Open, Shanghai Masters, Jiangsu/Wuxi Classic". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  3. ^ "China Open scores and schedule". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  4. ^ "Bank of Beijing China Open (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  5. ^ "China Open (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Baic Motor China Open (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Baic Motor China Open (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Bank of Beijing China Open (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Fuhua Group China Open (2018)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  10. ^ "XingPai China Open (2019)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 April 2019.