China Open (snooker)
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Riverside Sports Centre |
| Location | Taiyuan |
| Country | China |
| Established | 1985 |
| Organisation(s) | World Snooker Tour CBSA |
| Format | Ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £1,200,000 |
| Winner's share | £250,000 |
| Current champion |  Neil Robertson |
The China Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament held by the World Snooker Tour and the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA), being first held in 1985 as the China Masters and has since been hosted in various locations in China. The current champion is Neil Robertson, who won the event in 2019.
During the 2019-20 snooker season, it was cancelled as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is due to return to the calendar from the 2026-27 snooker season. Unlike previous editions which were held in Beijing, the event will be hosted in Taiyuan.
History
[edit]The first international snooker tournament in China was the China Masters which has staged on three occasions in 1985, 1986 and 1996. The inaugural 1985 edition, held in Guangzhou, was the first professional tournament to be played in China, and featured the two 1985 World Snooker Championship finalists Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor, with Davis winning the final 2–1.[1] The following season Davis again won the competition, this time defeating Terry Griffiths 3–0 in the final.[2] A third tournament was held in 1996 for lower-ranked players; Rod Lawler won this tournament defeating Shokat Ali 6–3 in the final.[3]
The event rebranded as 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.[4]
The event was revived for the 2004-05 snooker 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.[4]
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 did not get restored to the calendar, with new events in Wuhan and Xi'an being staged in its place.
During the 2026 World Snooker Championship, after several months of rumours and speculation, it was confirmed that the event will be returning to the tour from the 2026-27 snooker season and is expected to run until at least 2028.[5][6] Rather than being played directly before the World Championship, it will be played in mid-August and will utilise a new format that directly copies the format of the ranking Triple Crown events, whereby the Top 16 will be seeded through to the venue and 144 players (which includes wildcards and other invited non-professional players) playing in qualifiers to reach the venue.
Winners
[edit]
Records
[edit]Finalists
[edit]| Rank | Name | Nationality | Winner | Runner-up | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Williams |  Wales
|
3 | 2 | 5 |
| Mark Selby |  England
|
3 | 2 | 5 | |
| 3 | Ding Junhui |  China
|
2 | 1 | 3 |
| Neil Robertson | Australia
|
2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 5 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | England
|
2 | 0 | 2 |
| Peter Ebdon | England
|
2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Judd Trump | England
|
2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 8 | Stephen Maguire |  Scotland
|
1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Graeme Dott | Scotland
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | John Higgins | Scotland
|
0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Stephen Lee | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Anthony Hamilton | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Stephen Hendry | Scotland
|
0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Jamie Cope | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Shaun Murphy | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Gary Wilson | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ricky Walden | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Barry Hawkins | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Lisowski | England
|
0 | 1 | 1 |
Maximum breaks
[edit]
James Wattana (1997)- Stephen Maguire (2008)
- Neil Robertson (2010)
- Judd Trump (2017)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (2018)
- Stuart Bingham (2018, 2019)
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Steve's king of the Orient". Aberdeen Evening Express. 10 September 1985. p. 15.
- ^ "1986 China Masters Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
- ^ Hayton, Eric. Cuesport Book of Professional Snooker. p. 169.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "中国台球协会关于世界斯诺克巡回赛中国公开赛承办单位的公示". CBSA. 2025-12-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "官宣！落户太原，2026世界斯诺克巡回赛中国公开赛8月重磅回归". World Snooker Tour on Weibo. 2026-04-22.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
- ^ "China Open scores and schedule". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ^ "Bank of Beijing China Open (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "China Open (2014)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Baic Motor China Open (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ^ "Baic Motor China Open (2016)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ "Bank of Beijing China Open (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ "Fuhua Group China Open (2018)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ "XingPai China Open (2019)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
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