China News Service, Jiangxi Yushan, March 25th. The 2024 "Huading Nylon" Snooker World Open ended in Yushan, Jiangxi on the evening of the 24th. Trump, the defending champion and season leader, defeated China 10-4 in the final. Snooker’s “big brother” Ding Junhui won his fifth ranking championship this season.
England's Trump won his fifth ranking title of the season at the Snooker World Open. Photo provided by the organizer
The World Open is one of the oldest world snooker professional ranking tournaments besides the World Championships. It settled in Yushan, Jiangxi in 2016. This time it returns after a lapse of five years.
This competition attracted seven-time World Championship champion and current world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan, 2019 World Championship champion and defending champion Trump, 2023 World Championship champion Luca Brecher, four-time World Championship champion Mark Selby and other star players participated, and 19 Chinese players including Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda, ranked among the top 16, played at home.
Ding Junhui in the game. Photo provided by the organizer
During the seven-day event, all the players went all out and achieved many breakthroughs. England's Zach Schulti shot his first 147 on the first day, also rewriting the 12-year history of this tournament without a perfect score of 147. Welsh "post-2000" rising star Jackson Paige reached the semi-finals of the world championship, creating the best result in his career in ranking competitions.
The number of spectators and communication influence of this World Open far exceeds that of previous editions. According to incomplete statistics, the number of spectators at this competition and the highest number of spectators in a single game both set the highest record for a world snooker professional event this season, and the total box office far exceeded the previous one (2019). Content related to the event has been on hot searches many times, setting off a new Bosnok craze.
The 2024 Snooker World Open attracted many spectators to watch the game. Photo provided by the organizer
Simon Brownell, CEO of World Snooker Limited, said the World Open takes snooker to a whole new level. Many stars lamented the popularity of snooker in China and thought the billiards atmosphere in Yushan was very good.
Today, Yushan in Jiangxi Province has become a veritable "Billiards Capital of China and a Famous Billiards City in the World". Before the World Open, the World Billiards Museum and the World Billiards Hall of Fame, which took ten years to build, were officially unveiled. Seven outstanding figures including Ding Junhui and O'Sullivan became the first celebrities inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"Rocket" O'Sullivan, currently ranked No. 1 in the world and selected into the first World Billiards Hall of Fame, visited the World Billiards Museum. Photo provided by the organizer
After visiting the World Billiards Museum, O'Sullivan said: "I am very happy to learn the history of billiards at the World Billiards Museum. I am very grateful to Yushan and Xingpai for bringing such amazing facilities. All snooker fans around the world should Come here and take a look.”
The taking root of billiards in Yushan has profoundly changed billiards in China and the world. It has also greatly promoted the comprehensive development of Yushan's tourism, catering, service and other industries, giving Yushan County, the "Eastern Gate" of Jiangxi, a new look. (over)