The Snooker Champions League (Ranking Tournament) kicked off with 20 Chinese players competing for the first championship of the new season
China News Agency, Beijing, June 26th. The 2023 Snooker Champions League (ranking match) kicked off in the UK on the 26th local time. This is the first game of the 2023-2024 season of snooker. 20 Chinese players will play in this competition to compete for the first ranking championship of the new season.
The Champions League is a famous short game of snooker, with one ranking match and one invitational match every season. The 2023 Snooker Champions League (Ranking Tournament) will be held from June 26th to July 21st, local time. The competition is divided into 3 stages: 128 players in the first stage are divided into 32 groups for a single round-robin match. The 32 players in the second stage are divided into 8 groups, and the first in each group advances to the top 8; the 8 players in the third stage are divided into two groups, and the top players in the group advance to the final. The final adopts a 5-game 3-win system.
Including Fu Jiajun and Li Junwei, players from Hong Kong, China, a total of 20 Chinese players played in this Champions League. Fu Jiajun, who was on the verge of relegation due to his poor record last season, received an official invitation card from the World Snooker Tournament in May this year. This wild card allows him to continue to compete in the world snooker profession for at least the next two seasons race.
Although Ding Junhui, the “big brother” of Chinese billiards, did not sign up to participate in this Champions League, among the Chinese players participating this time, there are regulars in professional snooker events such as Cao Yupeng, Tian Pengfei, and Lu Haotian, as well as Fan Zhengyi, Si Jiahui, Pang Junxu, Peng Yisong, Wu Yize and other rising new-generation players, as well as Jiang Jun, Long Zehuang, Xing Zihao, Liu Hongyu and other new faces who are making their career debuts. Among them, Jiang Jun was born in 2005, Xing Zihao and Liu Hongyu were both born in 2004.
The competition also attracted TOP16 (top 16 in the world) players including O’Sullivan, Trump, Neil Robertson, Murphy, Karen Wilson, Bingham, Mark Williams and others. According to the schedule, the first stage of the group stage will be from June 26th to July 14th, local time. The first Chinese player to appear is 18-year-old Jiang Jun. He will dedicate his career in professional competitions on the 28th local time. In his first show, his opponents in this group are TOP16 star Ryan Day, as well as Michael White and Himanshu Jain.
In the Champions League (ranking match) last season, Chinese players performed amazingly, 5 players entered the top 8, and finally Lu Ning won the runner-up. Regrettably, due to being accused of manipulating the game for the purpose of gambling, Lu Ning and 9 other Chinese players were banned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association in the first half of this month. Among them, Lu Ning was suspended for 5 years and 4 months. (over)
Source: China News Network Back to Sohu, see more
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