Players Prepare For World Snooker China Open
32 of the world’s most prestigious snooker players will be battling it out for the Honghe Industrial 2008 World Snooker China Open next week. The yearly event, which has been a success since 1999, will commence on 24th- 30th March at the Beijing Students University Gymnasium.
The long-awaited tournament will feature the world’s top 16 players and the top 16 qualifiers. All the matches leading up to the quarter finals will determine the winner with the best out of nine frames. The semi-finals will be the best of 11 frames and the significant winner will have to prove themselves by winning the best of 19 frames. Graeme Dott, now provisionally ranked 11th, won the Championship last year by defeating Jamie Cope in the final and both players will be in Beijing this Monday to compete for the title once again.
Honghe Industrial sponsored the China Open last year and because of its wide coverage and attention they are pleased to be the official sponsors of 2008.
The event will be officially opened by a ceremony which will take place next to the Water Cube. The Water Cube is a landmark of the 2008 Olympics and even though snooker is a non-Olympic event, the Beijing Municipal Government and Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association will be in attendance to celebrate the grand opening.
Previous winners of the China Open are Ronnie O’ Sullivan, who is twice Champion as well as Mark Williams and Ding Junhui and last years winner Graeme Dott have each won the coveted title once.
If you want to witness the China Open then Eurosport will be showing live coverage from the 24th March 2008.
The Matches are as follows…
Graeme Dott V Barry Pinches or Zhang An’Da
Stephen Maguire V Fergal O’ Brien or Cao Xinlong
Mark Williams V Marcus Campbell or Ah Bulajiang
Stephen Hendry V Barry Hawkins
Stephen Lee V Nigel Bond
Peter Ebdon V Jamie Cope
Ryan Day V Matthew Stevens
Ding Junhui V Joe Perry
Allister Carter V Stuart Bingham
Shaun Murphy V Dave Harold or Jim Long
Neil Robertson V Mark Allen or Li Hang
Ken Doherty V Mike Dunn or Yang Qingtian
Ronnie O’ Sullivan V Marco Fu or Li Yuan
Mark Selby V Ricky Walden or Yu Dela
Steve Davis V Mark King
John Higgins V Joe Swail