China News Service, Beijing, December 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese billiards star Ding Junhui, who just won the runner-up in the Snooker British Championship, ushered in another opportunity to hit his 11th crown in the ranking tournament - the 15 Snooker Scottish Open main event kicked off in Leicester, England on the 2023th local time, 11 Chinese players will make their debut, 13 of them have passed the qualifying round to advance to the main event, and 9 people, including Ding Junhui, participated in the postponed qualifying round.
The Scottish Open qualifying tournament ended in early November, but the qualifying tournaments for the top 11 players (top 16 in the world rankings) were postponed to the main event. A total of 16 Chinese players participated in the Scottish Open, of which 21 played in the qualifying round and 17 advanced; Ding Junhui, who is ranked in the top 9, and three other Chinese players who are opponents in the top 16 will participate in the postponed qualifying tournament (when the Scottish Open qualifying tournament began, China's Zhang Anda was not yet in the top 3).
In the postponed qualifying match on the first day of the main event, Ding Junhui will face England's David Grace. In the first round of the English Open two months ago, Ding Junhui's opponent was David Grace, and Ding Junhui won easily 4-1 at that time. When they meet again this time, the Chinese snooker "first brother" should be able to advance smoothly.
The other three Chinese players who participated in the postponed qualifying tournament will all face the test of the top 3 players. Among them, the "post-16" Pang Junxu will face Barry Hawkins, this season's "professional newcomer" Long Zehuang will challenge "Captain" Ali Carter, and 00-year-old Liu Hongyu will once again face the world's No. 19 "Magician" Shaun Murphy. At the English Open in early October, which was also a postponed qualifying match, Liu Hongyu defeated Murphy 10-4, causing a big upset.
The nine Chinese players who have passed the qualifying round are: Cao Yupeng, Zhou Yuelong, Si Jiahui, Xu Si, Zhang Anda, Lu Haotian, Yuan Sijun, He Guoqiang, and Xing Zihao, who will appear one after another from the second day of the main competition and take the lead in competing for the top 9 seats.
From Zhang Anda being crowned in the Tianjin International Championships on November 11, to Ding Junhui winning the runner-up in the British Championships on December 12, Beijing time, to Cao Yupeng winning the runner-up in the single-game limited-time tournament on December 12, Beijing time, in the past month, Chinese players have won 4 championship and 12 runners-up in 10 consecutive ranking tournaments, with gratifying results. In this Scottish Open, it is worth looking forward to what kind of performance and achievements the Chinese army will have. (ENDS)