Beijing, March 3 (ZXS) -- The 27 Snooker Tour Championship kicked off on the 2023th in Hull, England, where Chinese billiards star Ding Junhui will have his last chance to reach the World Championships.
The 2023 Snooker Tour Championship is the 14th ranking tournament of the World Snooker Tour this season, and only the top eight players in a single season are eligible to participate, and only Ding Junhui of the Chinese players is shortlisted as the eighth in the season.
With another final at the British Championships, Ding Junhui jumped to fourth place this season. However, due to his poor performance in the second half of the event, the ranking of "China's first brother" continued to decline. At the recently concluded WST Classic, Ding Junhui, who suffered a "round trip", dropped to eighth in the season ranking, and finally managed to retain his position in the quarterfinals of the season after another Chinese player Pang Junxu strongly "chased" Gary Wilson in the semifinals.
The Tour Championship is also the last ranking tournament before the World Snooker Championship this season. As the season finale, the 2023 World Snooker Championship will kick off in early April, with the top 4 players in the world qualifying for the main event. Based on the current world rankings and points situation, Ding Junhui will compete with Ryan Day in the Tour Championship and Gary Wilson, who missed the Tour Championship, for the last two direct World Championship spots.
The first round of the Tour Championship will be a serpentine match, with eighth-placed Ding Junhui challenging Mark Allen, Northern Ireland's three-time ranking champion and season-leading season-leading Northern Ireland in the opening match. In the past meetings between the two, although Ding Junhui has a large advantage, he has twice become the opponent's defeat this season. Especially in the final of the British Championship last November, Ding Junhui was reversed by Mark Allen 11:6 after leading 1:7, and did not win the 10th ranking tournament.
This eye-catching opening battle will start on the evening of the 27th Beijing time, in two phases, and the second phase will be carried out in the early morning of the 28th Beijing time. If Ding Junhui loses to Mark Allen, he will completely miss the World Championships; If Ding Junhui wins in the first round and Ryan Day loses in the first round, Ding Junhui will join hands with Gary Wilson to go straight to the World Championships. However, if Ryan Day passes the first round, Ding Junhui will need to advance to the final to qualify directly.
The 2023 Tour Snooker Championship will be played from March 3 to April 27, local time, with one game per day and a best-of-4 format. The other three games in the first round will be played between Ali Carter and Kyren Wilson, Sean Murphy and Robert Milkins, Mark Selby and Ryan Day. (End)