The 2019 China Championship (officially the 2019 Evergrande China Championship) was a professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

tournament that took place from 23 to 29 September 2019. The event was held at the Guangzhou Tianhe Sports Centre in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China. Qualifying for the event took place from 15 to 18 August 2019 at the

Barnsley Metrodome The Barnsley Metrodome (Metrodome Leisure Complex) is a sports and leisure facility that was opened in 1989 by Neil Kinnock. The facility is 5 minutes from the Barnsley Interchange and close to Junction 37 off the M1. It is located along Queen ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

, England. The tournament was the fourth edition of the China Championship and the third ranking event of the 2019/2020 season.

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player. Ranked List of world number one snooker players, world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 24 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the all ...

was the defending champion, having defeated

John Higgins John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...

in the previous year's final 10–9. Selby reached the semi-finals, before losing 6–3 to

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship and has completed the Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murp ...

. Murphy reached his third consecutive final, having done so at the two prior events Shanghai Masters and the

International Championship The International Championship is a professional Snooker world rankings, ranking snooker tournament. The reigning champion is Ding Junhui. History The event was introduced in the 2012–13 snooker season, 2012/2013 season. It was named as the ...

. Murphy played Mark Williams in the final, winning his 8th ranking title with a 10–9 in the final. The highest of the event was a 145 made by

Mark Allen Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

in the first round win over Anthony Hamilton.

Tournament format

The 2019 China Championship was the fourth edition of the China Championship, first held in 2016. The event featured 64 players with a wildcard and qualifying round. Matches were played as best-of-9- until the semi-finals. At the semi-final stage, both matches were played as best-of-11-frames, and the two session final as best-of-19-frames.

Prize fund

The event featured a total prize fund of £751,000, with the winner receiving £150,000. This was slightly higher than the 2018 prize fund of £725,000 with the same denomination for the winner. A breakdown of prize money at the event is shown below: * Winner: £150,000 * Runner-up: £75,000 * Semi-final: £32,000 * Quarter-final: £20,000 * Last 16: £13,000 * Last 32: £7,500 * Last 64: £4,750 * Highest break: £6,000 * Total: £751,000

Tournament summary

Qualifying for the event was played over one round, and a pre-qualifier wildcard round. Qualifying took place between 15 and 18 August 2019 at the

, England featuring 64 matches. Participants included players on the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of about 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. It is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, ...

and invited amateur players.

Early rounds (first–fourth round)

Defending champion Mark Selby won his opening first round match, defeating Chen Feilong. Selby trailed 1–2, before Selby won three of the next four to win the match 5–3. Selby defeated Martin Gould, and then

Chris Wakelin Chris Wakelin (born 16 March 1992) is an English professional snooker player from Rugby, Warwickshire. He turned professional in 2013 and won his first ranking title at the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out. Career Early career Wakelin started playing s ...

both 5–2 to reach the quarter-finals. Three-time world champion Mark Williams defeated Kishan Hirani in an all Welsh opening round match 5–1. Williams defeated Luo Honghao and Luca Brecel to reach the quarter-finals. Former world champion Graeme Dott lost on a to Norwegian Kurt Maflin during the first round 5–4. Maflin then defeated Jordan Brown to play four-time world champion

. Four-time world champion Higgins led their match 3–0, before Maflin won five frames in-a-row to win the match, and reach the quarter-finals. Having amassed a 15-match winning streak,

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and the current List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He is currently in ...

lost in the third round to Joe Perry 5–2. Trump had not lost a match since April, and won the prior two tournaments that he played in, the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

and the

. The

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

world champion

also reached the quarter-finals. He defeated

Yuan Sijun Yuan Sijun (; born 29 May 2000) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Career Yuan started to play snooker at the age of 10 and played as a wildcard in many professional tournaments between ages of 13 and 16. Yuan first drew attention in 201 ...

, Ryan Day, and

Matthew Selt Matthew Selt (born 7 March 1985) is an English professional snooker player. He qualified for the professional tour by finishing seventh in the Pontin's International Open Series in 2006/2007. Selt played in his first professional final in 2014 ...

all 5–3.

Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship, ...

defeated Liam Highfield, Mitchell Mann and Zhao Xintong to reach the last-8. Iranian Hossein Vafaei defeated

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...

Kyren Wilson Kyren James Wilson (; born 23 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Kettering. He has won 10 ranking titles. Wilson made his professional tour debut in the 2010–11 snooker season, 2010–11 season after finishing fif ...

and

Anthony McGill Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus. McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He ...

to reach the quarter-finals. Former world number one

Ding Junhui Ding Junhui (; born 1 April 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is the most successful Asian player in the history of the sport. Throughout his career, he has won 15 major ranking titles, including three UK Championships (2005 ...

also lost his opening match where he lost 5–3 to Zhao Xintong.

won his opening match against Anthony Hamilton 5–3, also making the highest break of the tournament, a 145. Allen subsequently lost in the second round to

Noppon Saengkham Noppon Saengkham (; born 15 July 1992) is a Thai professional snooker player. Since turning professional in 2010, he has reached one ranking final (the 2023 Scottish Open) in which he finished as runner-up to Gary Wilson. Career Early years I ...

5–4. Saengkham lost the third round to David Gilbert.

Later rounds (quarter-final–final)

The quarter-finals were played on 27 September. Defending champion Selby played Hawkins in the first quarter-final. The pair were always within one frame between scores, and were tied at 4–4. Selby made match's highest break of 98 in the deciding frame to claim a 5–4 victory. Shaun Murphy drew Kurt Maflin, Murphy lead the match throughout and won 5–2. Having defeated the reigning world champion in the round prior, Joe Perry was defeated by Hossein Vafaei. In winning the match, Vafaei reached only his third ranking semi-final. In the last quarter-final match, Mark Williams defeated David Gilbert 5–1. The semi-finals were played on 28 September, as best-of-11-frames matches. The first match had Murphy defeat Selby. Murphy won the first three frames of the match, before Selby won three of the next four with breaks of 100, and 101. Murphy won the next two frames to win the match 6–3. The second semi-final was contested between Vafaei and Williams. Vafaei had never played in a ranking event final, but reached this stage at the 2017 China Open, and the 2019 Welsh Open. Williams had lost only six frames in the prior five matches. Williams won the first three frames, and four of the first five to lead 4–1, before Vafaei made a 134 break to trail 4–2. Williams won frame seven, to be one away from victory, but Vafaei won three frames in-a-row to take the match to a deciding frame. Williams made a , and made a 96 break to win the match. He later commented, " ecould play that another 20 times and ewouldn't get it". Shaun Murphy PHC 2015-1

The final was played on 29 September, a best-of-19-frames match played over two . The final was contested between Shaun Murphy (who had defeated Yuan Sijun, Ryan Day, Matthew Selt, Kurt Maflin and Mark Selby to reach the final), and Mark Williams (who defeated Kishan Hirani, Luo Honghao, Luca Brecel, David Gilbert, and Hossein Vafaei). This was Williams' 35th ranking event final, event final and Murphy's 20th. Murphy had reached the final of both of the prior two tournaments, the

and the Shanghai Masters, but had not won any of his prior five tournament finals. Williams, in comparison, had won all of his last five finals. The first session ended 5–4 in favour of Murphy, with Williams tying the match in frame 10. Murphy made breaks of 75, 76, 103 and 79 in four consecutive frames to lead 9–5. With his opponent one frame from winning the event, Williams won the next four frames, including a break of 132 in frame 18 to force a deciding frame. Murphy was the first player to get a chance in the frame, scoring 69, enough to force Williams to require a . Williams made a break of 30, and attempted to play a snooker. However, Murphy potted the last remaining to win the frame and match. After his win, he would comment that the break in the deciding frame was "one of the best breaks of islife". Murphy's last victory was over 18 months prior, and had struggled during the 2018/19 season, which he called the "worst run" of his career.

Main draw

The main draw of the event featured 64 players. Players in bold denote match winners.

Top half

Bottom half

Final

Qualifying

Qualifying for the event took place between 15 and 18 August 2019 at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. Matches involving four wildcard players,

and Chen Feilong,

Yan Bingtao Yan Bingtao (; born 16 February 2000) is a Chinese former professional snooker player who is currently serving a five-year ban from professional competition after committing a range of match-fixing offences. He rose to prominence by winning th ...

and Mei Xiwen,

and Brandon Sargeant,

Ken Doherty Kenneth Joseph Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player who also works as a commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. From Ranelagh in Dublin, he is the sport's only World Snooker Championship, wor ...

and

James Wattana James Wattana (; born January 17, 1970, as วัฒนา ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm'', then renamed รัชพล ภู่โอบอ้อม ''Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm'' in 2003) is a Thai former professional snooker pl ...

, were held over and played in Guangzhou. Matches were played as best-of-9-frames. Players in bold denote match winners.

Round 1

Round 2

Century breaks

Main stage centuries

There were a total of 58 century breaks made during the tournament. Mark Allen made the highest break of the event, a 145. The break was made in frame five of the first round win over Anthony Hamilton. Three centuries were made in held over matches, two by

and one by

. * 145, 117

* 143, 132 Mark Williams * 140

* 139, 103

* 138 Mark King * 137, 121, 121, 108, 101, 100

* 137, 134, 123, 104 Hossein Vafaei * 137 Scott Donaldson * 135, 116, 101

* 134, 101 Joe Perry * 133, 129, 103, 100

* 133

Marco Fu Marco Fu Ka-chun (; born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix (snooker), 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian Goldfie ...

* 131, 124

Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...

* 130, 120, 113 Luo Honghao * 127

* 126, 126 David Gilbert * 126, 101

* 122, 121, 109, 102

* 120, 116, 109

* 119 Ryan Day * 117 Joe O'Connor * 108 Li Hang * 106

* 105, 103

Ricky Walden Ricky Walden (born 11 November 1982) is an English professional snooker player from Chester. Walden turned professional in 2000 and it took him eight years to win his first ranking title at the Shanghai Masters. He has since won the 2012 Wuxi ...

* 104, 103 Kurt Maflin * 104 Luca Brecel * 104

Tian Pengfei Tian Pengfei (; born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed o ...

* 104

Xiao Guodong Xiao Guodong (; born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships. He won his first ranking event 17 years after first turning professional at the 202 ...

* 101 Anthony Hamilton

Qualifying stage centuries

There were a total of 28 century breaks made during the qualifying matches preceding the event. * 143 Zhao Xintong * 141, 101

* 138 Sam Baird * 134

* 132

Michael Georgiou Michael Georgiou (born 18 January 1988) is a British-Greek Cypriots, Cypriot former professional snooker player from Forest Hill, London, Forest Hill. He is a practice partner of Igor Figueiredo and Hammad Miah, who practises at Whetstone Snooke ...

* 132

* 131 David Gilbert * 123

Jak Jones Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player. He is from Cwmbran, Torfaen, in South Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16 after winning the 2010 European Under-19 Snooker Championship in Malta. As a ...

* 122 Zhou Yuelong * 120 Mark Joyce * 120 Sunny Akani * 118 Anthony Hamilton * 112

Ashley Carty Ashley Carty (born 17 July 1995) is an English professional snooker player. Career At age 17, he reached the final of the 2013 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championship, losing 0–6 to James Cahill. He won the 2014 English Under-21 Champi ...

* 112

* 110 Mark Williams * 108

* 107 Ryan Day * 107

* 106

* 105

* 104 Chen Zifan * 104 Andy Hicks * 102 Lyu Haotian * 102

Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player known for quick play. Milkins has been a member of snooker's main tour since regaining a tour card in 1998. Milkins reached a career high rank of 12 in 2014 and 2023, ...

* 101 Luca Brecel * 100 Liam Highfield * 100 Hammad Miah

References

{{good article China Championship (snooker) China Championship China Championship China Championship