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2023 International Championship

November 2023 Snooker event, held in China From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2023 International Championship
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The 2023 International Championship (officially the 2023 Du Xiaoman International Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 5 to 12 November 2023 at the Tianjin People's Stadium [zh] in Tianjin, China.[1][2] It was the ninth iteration of the International Championship first held in 2012, a return of the event to the tour after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time the event had been held in Tianjin, introducing it as a new host city for World Snooker Tour tournaments.

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Judd Trump was the defending champion, after defeating Shaun Murphy 10–3 in the previous final, but he lost 3–6 to Stephen Maguire in the last 32.

Chinese player Zhang Anda won his first ranking title, by defeating England's Tom Ford 10–6 in the final, and made a maximum break in the third frame. Ryan Day made the highest break in qualifying with a maximum break, the fourth in his career, in his 6–1 win against Mink Nutcharut.

By winning the event, Zhang advanced to within the top 16 for the first time in his career, received £175,000 from a total prize fund of £825,000, and secured a place in the 2023 Champion of Champions invitational event which started on the day following the end of this event.

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Format

The event was the ninth iteration of the International Championship, first held in 2012. The event took place from 5 to 12 November 2023 in Tianjin, China.

Qualifying for the event was held from 18 to 23 September 2023 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England.[3] Matches were best of 11 frames until the semi-finals, which were best of 17 frames, and the final was a best-of-19-frames match.[4][5]

The event was broadcast domestically in China by CCTV-5, Migu, Youku, and Huya Live; in Thailand on True Sports; in Hong Kong on Now TV; and in Europe (including the UK) by Eurosport and Discovery+. It was available from Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[6]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:[4]

  • Winner: £175,000
  • Runner-up: £75,000
  • Semi-final: £33,000
  • Quarter-final: £22,000
  • Last 16: £14,000
  • Last 32: £9,000
  • Last 64: £5,000
  • Highest break: £5,000
  • Total: £825,000
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Summary

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Qualifying round

Ryan Day made his fourth professional maximum break in his qualifying match against Mink Nutcharut, which Day won 6–1.[7][8]

The 12th seed, Robert Milkins was beaten 4–6 by Marco Fu,[9] and the 24th seed, Joe Perry was beaten 3–6 by Dylan Emery.[10]

Mark Williams made his 600th career century break in his whitewash win over Rebecca Kenna.[5]

Early rounds

Held-over matches

The held-over qualifying matches were played on 5 November.[11] Top seed Trump extended his winning streak to 21 matches with a 6–0 whitewash defeat of 12-year-old Chinese wildcard Wang Xinzhong, who previously prevailed over another wildcard Gong Chenzhi by 6–5 on the same day.[12] Second seed Luca Brecel had a 6–2 win over Daniel Womersley. Third seed Ronnie O'Sullivan scored a 6–1 win over Ken Doherty.[13]

Last 64

The last-64 matches were played on 5 and 6 November.[11] Fourth seed Mark Allen came from 1–3 down to beat Oliver Lines 6–3.[13] Brecel was defeated 3–6 by Mark Davis, and tenth seed Mark Williams was beaten by Zhang Anda by the same scoreline. O'Sullivan defeated Mark Joyce 6–3, Daniel Wells beat sixth seed Neil Robertson 6–1, and Dominic Dale beat seventh seed Murphy 6–3.[14][15]

Last 32

Thumb
The defending champion Judd Trump (pictured) was beaten 6–3 by Stephen Maguire in the last-32.

The last-32 matches were played on 7 November.[11] Thepchaiya Un-Nooh defeated fourth seed Allen 6–3, and Jordan Brown beat eighth seed Kyren Wilson 6–4.

The defending champion and top seed Trump was beaten by Maguire 6–3, ending his winning streak of 22 consecutive ranking matches.[16][17][18]

Last 16

The last-16 matches were played on 8 November.[11] Jordan Brown defeated ninth seed John Higgins 6–3, and Tom Ford beat fifth seed Mark Selby by the same scoreline.[19][20] Both O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui won their last-16 matches by 6–2, beating Anthony McGill and Pang Junxu respectively.[19][21]

Later rounds

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 9 November.[11] In the afternoon session Ford defeated Barry Hawkins 6–4, and Brown beat Maguire 6–5. Maguire's century (115) in the tenth frame was his 500th as a professional.[22][23] In the evening session O'Sullivan defeated Ali Carter 6–4, and Zhang beat Ding 6–3.[24][25]

Semi-finals

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Tom Ford (pictured) defeated Jordan Brown 9–6 in the first semi-final to reach his third career ranking final, but lost to Zhang Anda.

The semi-finals were played as the best of 17 frames over two sessions on 10 and 11 November.[11]

Ford played Brown on 10 November, and the afternoon session ended at 4–4 with both players making a century.[26][27] In the evening session, Brown made a century of 134 in the ninth frame and went on to establish a 6–5 lead. Ford then made three centuries in a row to lead by 8–6, and won the match 9–6 with a break of 57 in the last frame. Ford said: "I don't feel as though I'm going to fall apart this week. It doesn't matter who I play, I feel like I can get in the balls and play as well as anybody." Brown said: "I was disappointed with the way I played to be honest. I don't want to take anything away from Tom. I thought he finished off the match very well. I think I just ran out of gas in the end."[28][29][30]

O'Sullivan played Zhang on 11 November, with the afternoon session ending all square at 4–4.[31][32] In the evening session, Zhang won the match 9–6, taking all of the last five frames with a century (114) in the 13th frame. Zhang said: "I personally like to play the long matches, because my performance in these matches is quite good. It makes it easier for me to feel involved, and it will slowly get me into the rhythm of the game." O'Sullivan said: "He played well and deserved to win. He was the better player on the day, so fair play to him. I expected him to be like that as I've played him a few times, he was solid. He is a fantastic player, I don't know where he has been for the last ten years."[33][34][35]

Final

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Zhang Anda (pictured) won his first ranking title by defeating Tom Ford 10–6 in the final.

The final was played as the best of 19 frames over two sessions between Ford and Zhang on 12 November. It is the first ranking event final since the 2022 Scottish Open to feature two players who have not won a ranking title before.[11]

In the afternoon session Zhang made a 147 break in the third frame, his second as a professional.[36][37] The session ended with Zhang leading Ford 5–4, with Zhang making a 101 break in the ninth frame.[38] In the evening session, Ford made a 91 break to even the score at 5–5. Zhang won four consecutive frames to lead by 9–5, making a 108 break in the 13th frame, and won the final 10–6. Zhang said: "I'm feeling extremely excited. During the pandemic, I had considered retiring and giving up. But later on, I couldn't bear it and chose to return to the arena. I have been doing quite well in the past two or three years." Ford said: "I am gutted I got beat. Zhang was the better player so hats off to him. He deserved to win. It has been an amazing week. A nice arena and a big crowd. It is always good to come to China."[39][40][41][42]

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Main draw

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The draw for the tournament is shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, whilst players in bold denote match winners.[43]

Top half

 
Last 64
Best of 11 frames		Last 32
Best of 11 frames		Last 16
Best of 11 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 17 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 Judd Trump (ENG) (1) 6
 
 
 
 Michael White (WAL) 0
 
 Judd Trump (ENG) (1) 3
 
 
 
 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (32) 6
 
 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (32) 6
 
 
 
 Joe O'Connor (ENG) 4
 
 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (32) 6
 
 
 
 Ryan Day (WAL) (16) 4
 
 Ryan Day (WAL) (16) 6
 
 
 
 Jackson Page (WAL) 5
 
 Ryan Day (WAL) (16) 6
 
 
 
 Ross Muir (SCO) 1
 
 Hossein Vafaei (IRN) (17) 5
 
 
 
 Ross Muir (SCO) 6
 
 Stephen Maguire (SCO) (32) 5
 
 
 
 Jordan Brown (NIR) 6
 
 Wang Xinbo (CHN) 4
 
 
 
 Dylan Emery (WAL) 6
 
 Dylan Emery (WAL) 1
 
 
 
 John Higgins (SCO) (9) 6
 
 David Grace (ENG) 1
 
 
 
 John Higgins (SCO) (9) 6
 
 John Higgins (SCO) (9) 3
 
 
 
 Jordan Brown (NIR) 6
 
 Jordan Brown (NIR) 6
 
 
 
 David Gilbert (ENG) (25) 3
 
 Jordan Brown (NIR) 6
 
 
 
 Kyren Wilson (ENG) (8) 4
 
 Elliot Slessor (ENG) 2
 
 
 
 Kyren Wilson (ENG) (8) 6
 
 Jordan Brown (NIR) 6
 
 
 
 Tom Ford (ENG) (21) 9
 
 Mark Selby (ENG) (5) 6
 
 
 
 Stuart Carrington (ENG) 2
 
 Mark Selby (ENG) (5) 6
 
 
 
 Xiao Guodong (CHN) 2
 
 Jimmy Robertson (ENG) (28) 3
 
 
 
 Xiao Guodong (CHN) 6
 
 Mark Selby (ENG) (5) 3
 
 
 
 Tom Ford (ENG) (21) 6
 
 Marco Fu (HKG) 6
 
 
 
 Sanderson Lam (ENG) 0
 
 Marco Fu (HKG) 3
 
 
 
 Tom Ford (ENG) (21) 6
 
 Tom Ford (ENG) (21) 6
 
 
 
 Cao Yupeng (CHN) 0
 
 Tom Ford (ENG) (21) 6
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) (13) 4
 
 Jamie Jones (WAL) 3
 
 
 
 Ricky Walden (ENG) (20) 6
 
 Ricky Walden (ENG) (20) 4
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) (13) 6
 
 Tian Pengfei (CHN) 0
 
 
 
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) (13) 6
 
 Barry Hawkins (ENG) (13) 6
 
 
 
 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) 5
 
 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) 6
 
 
 
 Matthew Selt (ENG) (29) 5
 
 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (THA) 6
 
 
 
 Mark Allen (NIR) (4) 3
 
 Oliver Lines (ENG) 3
 
 
 Mark Allen (NIR) (4) 6
 

Bottom half

 
Last 64
Best of 11 frames		Last 32
Best of 11 frames		Last 16
Best of 11 frames		Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames		Semi-finals
Best of 17 frames
 
                  
 
 
 
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 6
 
 
 
 Mark Joyce (ENG) 3
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 6
 
 
 
 Jak Jones (WAL) 4
 
 Si Jiahui (CHN) (30) 4
 
 
 
 Jak Jones (WAL) 6
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 6
 
 
 
 Anthony McGill (SCO) (19) 2
 
 Jack Lisowski (ENG) (14) 6
 
 
 
 Scott Donaldson (SCO) 4
 
 Jack Lisowski (ENG) (14) 2
 
 
 
 Anthony McGill (SCO) (19) 6
 
 Anthony McGill (SCO) (19) 6
 
 
 
 Sam Craigie (ENG) 3
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 6
 
 
 
 Ali Carter (ENG) (11) 4
 
 Matthew Stevens (WAL) 5
 
 
 
 Stuart Bingham (ENG) (22) 6
 
 Stuart Bingham (ENG) (22) 4
 
 
 
 Ali Carter (ENG) (11) 6
 
 John Astley (ENG) 5
 
 
 
 Ali Carter (ENG) (11) 6
 
 Ali Carter (ENG) (11) 6
 
 
 
 Daniel Wells (WAL) 1
 
 Anthony Hamilton (ENG) 0
 
 
 
 Zhou Yuelong (CHN) (27) 6
 
 Zhou Yuelong (CHN) (27) 1
 
 
 
 Daniel Wells (WAL) 6
 
 Daniel Wells (WAL) 6
 
 
 
 Neil Robertson (AUS) (6) 1
 
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (3) 6
 
 
 
 Zhang Anda (CHN) 9
 
 Shaun Murphy (ENG) (7) 3
 
 
 
 Dominic Dale (WAL) 6
 
 Dominic Dale (WAL) 3
 
 
 
 Lyu Haotian (CHN) 6
 
 Chris Wakelin (ENG) (26) 1
 
 
 
 Lyu Haotian (CHN) 6
 
 Lyu Haotian (CHN) 3
 
 
 
 Zhang Anda (CHN) 6
 
 Mark Williams (WAL) (10) 3
 
 
 
 Zhang Anda (CHN) 6
 
 Zhang Anda (CHN) 6
 
 
 
 Liam Pullen (ENG) 3
 
 Noppon Saengkham (THA) (23) 5
 
 
 
 Liam Pullen (ENG) 6
 
 Zhang Anda (CHN) 6
 
 
 
 Ding Junhui (CHN) (15) 3
 
 Robbie Williams (ENG) 4
 
 
 
 Gary Wilson (ENG) (18) 6
 
 Gary Wilson (ENG) (18) 5
 
 
 
 Ding Junhui (CHN) (15) 6
 
 Long Zehuang (CHN) 4
 
 
 
 Ding Junhui (CHN) (15) 6
 
 Ding Junhui (CHN) (15) 6
 
 
 
 Pang Junxu (CHN) 2
 
 Pang Junxu (CHN) 6
 
 
 
 Fan Zhengyi (CHN) (31) 5
 
 Pang Junxu (CHN) 6
 
 
 
 Mark Davis (ENG) 3
 
 Mark Davis (ENG) 6
 
 
 Luca Brecel (BEL) (2) 3
 

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Lyu Xilin
Tianjin People's Stadium [zh], Tianjin, China, 12 November 2023
Tom Ford (21)
 England		 6–10 Zhang Anda
 China
Afternoon: 74–24, 0–74, 0–147 (147), 94–29, 14–57, 73–17, 51–50, 5–113, 0–101 (101)
Evening: 121–5, 36–100, 0–110, 6–125 (108), 36–70, 76–1, 51–70
(frame 4) 93 Highest break 147 (frame 3)
0 Century breaks 3
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Qualifying

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Qualification for the tournament took place from 18 to 23 September 2023 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England.[3] Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, whilst players in bold denote match winners.[4][5]

Tianjin

Qualifying matches featuring the defending champion (Judd Trump), the top two players in the world rankings (Ronnie O'Sullivan and Luca Brecel), the two highest ranked Chinese players (Ding Junhui and Zhou Yuelong), and four Chinese wildcards (Gong Chenzhi, Bai Yulu, Wang Xinbo, and Wang Xinzhong) were held over to be played in Tianjin.[44] The results of the held over matches played in Tianjin on 5 November were as follows:[5]

Morning session

Afternoon session

Evening session

Sheffield

The results of the qualifying matches played in Sheffield were as follows:[5][46]

18 September

19 September

20 September

21 September

22 September

23 September

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Century breaks

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Main stage centuries

A total of 112 century breaks were made during the main stage of the tournament.[49]

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 43 century breaks were made during the qualifying stage of the tournament.[49]

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Notes

  1. Pre-qualifying match played in the morning session on 5 November between two of the Chinese wildcards (Gong Chenzhi and Wang Xinzhong) to determine who would face Judd Trump later that day.
  2. Ahmed Aly Elsayed withdrew and was replaced by Daniel Womersley.[45]
  3. In the qualifying match between Barry Hawkins and Andrew Pagett Pagett lost the fifth frame on the three-miss-rule.[5][47]
  4. In the qualifying match between Liam Pullen and Graeme Dott, Dott lost the first frame on the three-miss-rule.[5][48]
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References

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