China Open Snooker Championship

Snooker tournaments also took place in China, in particular, China International - but it was an unrated tournament. However, it recorded the only official maximum break made outside the British Isles - performed by James Wattana (for him it was the third official maximum). In 1999, the Chinese tournament became rated, and together with Thailand Masters, two tournaments were held in Asia for four seasons.

In 1999, China International was renamed China Open, the first winner of the China Open was Ronnie O'Sullivan , who won in the Welsh final - Mark Williams with a score of 9: 3.

Due to the loss of sponsors and the resulting outflow of funds, World Snooker management decided that they could no longer afford to hold tournaments in the East, and for the 2002/2003 season the tournament was removed from the schedule, but, fortunately, temporarily. Due to the increased popularity of snooker in Asia (many strong players have left this region in recent years, and their number is increasing every season), in the 2004/05 season , after a three-year break, Asia again received a ranking tournament, and it became China Open in Beijing . But it was in many ways a turning point in the modern development of snooker in China: 18-year-old wild card holder Ding Junhui went all the way to the finals, smashing Peter Ebdon and Ken Doherty on the path of former world champions, and met seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry in the finals and became the national hero of China, defeating the great Scots - 9: 5. Ironically, because of the status of the wild card, Dean received only the title of the winner of the rating tournament, but he did not get either rating points or prize money.

The tournament remained on the schedule in the following seasons: in the 2005/06 season, Mark Williams became his winner (this was his fifth title in Asia), winning in a tense match ending in a back game, Scottish John Higgins , 9: 8. In the 2006/07 season, the prize nevertheless went to Scotland in the hands of a native of Glasgow - Graham Dott , who won with a score of 9: 5 in the final qualifier - Jamie Cope .

The trophy also remained in Scotland for the new season: in 2008 , Stephen Maguire won it in a tense final, which was decided in the back game, having defeated the Englishman Sean Murphy with a score of 10: 9. The main prize went to England the following year: Peter Ebdon became its owner, having beaten John Higgins in the final with a score of 10: 8.

The tournament takes place in Beijing , in the hall of the University Students Gymnasium, in March-April. This is the last ranking tournament before the World Cup .

The tournament has already recorded 4 maximum breaks : 1997 - James Wattana (1/4 finals), 1998 - Mehmet Husnu (qualification), 2007 - Stephen Maguire (1/2 finals), 2010 - Neil Robertson (1/8 finals).

• China Open at top-snooker
• Chris Turner Snooker Archive