The 2019 International 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 4 to 11 August 2019 at the Baihu Media Broadcasting Centre in

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. It was the second

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

event of the 2019/2020 season and the eighth iteration of 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 ...

first held in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Northern Irish cueist

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 ...

was the defending champion, after defeating Australian

Neil Robertson Neil Alexander Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and former List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He ...

in the previous year's final. Allen, however, lost 9–6 to England's

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 ...

in the semi-finals. Reigning world champion

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 ...

won the event and his 12th ranking championship with a 10–3 win over Murphy in the final. In winning the event, Trump returned to the world number one position, that he had last held in 2013. Trump and Allen tied for the highest during the televised stages, both scoring 141, with Trump also making 12 throughout the tournament. Qualifying for the event took place 14–17 June 2019 in

Ponds Forge International Sports Centre Ponds Forge International Sports Centre is a leisure complex in Sheffield, England. It has an Olympic-sized swimming pool with 2,600 seating capacity, a family and children's pools (50 m Competition pool and 25 metre diving pit ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England.

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 ...

made the highest break of qualifying, with a

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a onefourseven) is the highest possible in snooker in normal circumstances and is a special type of . A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, fo ...

, the fourth of his career, in his 6–1 win in qualifying over

Fraser Patrick Fraser Patrick (born 8 November 1985) is a Scottish former professional snooker player from Glasgow. Career Patrick started his professional career in 2002 by playing Challenge Tour, where he spent three seasons without success. In 2007 Patric ...

Format

The event was the eighth iteration of the

, having been first held in

. The event took place from 4–11 August 2019 at the Baihu Media Broadcasting Centre in

. The event was the second ranking tournament of the 2019/20 snooker season after the

2019 Riga Masters The 2019 Riga Masters (also known as the 2019 Kaspersky Riga Masters due to sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament held from 26 to 28 July 2019 at the Arēna Rīga in Riga, Latvia. It was the sixth Riga Masters event, wit ...

won by

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 ...

. Qualifying for the event was held from 14 to 17 June 2019 at the

, England, featuring one first round match. Matches were played as best-of-11- until the semi-finals, which were played as best-of-17-frames, whilst the final was played as a best-of-19-frames.

Prize fund

The championship total fund was higher than that of the previous year's event, with a total of £802,000 (up from £775,000). The winner of the event received the same prize money as in previous years, at £175,000. The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below: * Winner: £175,000 * Runner-up: £75,000 * Semi-final: £32,000 * Quarter-final: £21,500 * Last 16: £13,500 * Last 32: £8,500 * Last 64: £4,750 * Highest break: £6,000 * Total: £802,000

Tournament summary

The championship began on 4 August 2019, with the first round alongside held over qualifier matches. Two matches in the heldover qualifier rounds were decided on a deciding frame.

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 ...

defeated

Simon Lichtenberg Simon Lichtenberg (born 15 December 1997) is a German former professional snooker player. Career From Berlin, the son of British-German parents, Lichtenberg captained the league team of the Snookerfabrik (snooker factory) in Berlin. He was the ...

despite being 5–3 behind, whilst four-time world champion

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 ...

defeated amateur under 21 world champion Wu Yize despite being 4–3 behind to the 15 year old.

in his first tournament after winning the

2019 World Snooker Championship The 2019 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2019 Betfred World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2019 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 4 ...

scored three in his qualifier to defeat Jordan Brown 6–1.

Early rounds (first round–quarter-finals)

Two top-16 ranked players were defeated in first round; Mark Williams lost to

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 ...

and

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, ...

to Daniel Wells both 6–2. Ding Junhui defeated three fellow Chinese players in the first three rounds, overcoming

Zhao Xintong Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player and the reigning World Snooker Champion. He first turned professional in the 2016–17 season, aged 19, having previously recorded wins against a number of top p ...

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 ...

and

Liang Wenbo Liang Wenbo ( zh, s=梁文博; born 5 March 1987) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. During his playing career, he won one ranking title at the 2016 English Open, twice won the World Cup for China in 2011 and 2017 with teammate ...

to reach the quarter-finals. Defending champion Mark Allen conceded just four frames to draw Ding, having defeated

Sam Craigie Sam Craigie (born 29 December 1993) is an English professional snooker player from Newcastle. He enjoyed a successful junior career before turning professional in 2011. Career Early career Craigie qualified for the 2011/2012 Main Tour after ...

, Mark Davis (both 6–1) and

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been a World Championship finalist, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won six ranking titles and briefly reached number t ...

(6–2). Allen defeated Ding 6–3 to reach the semi-finals.

Graeme Dott Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001. He has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship ...

qualified to play

in the second quarter-final. Dott defeated Michael White before defeating two world champions in

Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his pro ...

and John Higgins to reach the quarter-final. Murphy, who had reached only the Scottish Open final in the previous season 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 ...

6–5 and Riga Masters champion Yan Bingtao 6–4 before drawing a rematch of the second round match at the 2019 World Championships against

. Murphy defeated Robertson on a deciding frame 6–5. Murphy defeated Dott 6–4 to draw Allen in the semi-final. Three-time world champion

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 ...

reached the second semi-final, after defeating

Liam Highfield Liam Highfield (born 1 December 1990) is an English professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2010 after finishing second in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He plays left-handed. Career Amateur years In the 2007/2008 season, Highfi ...

and

Ben Woollaston Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Event 3, third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. W ...

(both 6–3), before playing World Championship semi-finalists David Gilbert and Gary Wilson, defeating both on a deciding frame 6–5. World champion Judd Trump reached the semi-finals defeating

Zhang Anda Zhang Anda (; born 25 December 1991) is a Chinese professional snooker player, who made his debut on the Main Tour for the 2009–10 season. He qualified by winning the ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship. In November 2023 he won his first world ...

Scott Donaldson Scott Donaldson (born 19 March 1994) is a Scottish professional snooker player. Donaldson turned professional in 2012 after winning the 2012 EBSA European Snooker Championship and gained a two-year tour card for the 2012–13 and 2013–14 ...

, Joe Perry and

Semi-final–final

The first semi-final took place on 9 August 2019, between Selby and Trump. In reaching the semi-finals, Trump was guaranteed to return to world number one after the tournament for the first time since 2013. Selby won three of the first four frames to lead 3–1. However, Trump won the next four frames to lead 5–3 after the first session with breaks of 97, 108, 97 and 116. In the second session, Trump won the first three frames to lead 8–3 including two more 90+ breaks. Selby took frame 12 before Trump won the match in frame 13 with a break of 72. After the match, Trump commented "It was probably somewhere near how I was playing to win the World Championship," describing his form within the match. The second semi-final was a rematch of the 2019 Scottish Masters final between Murphy and Allen. Murphy won the first five frames of the match, with Allen not scoring a single point until frame four. Allen fought back to trail 3–6 after the first session. Murphy won the first frame of the second session, before Allen won the next two. Murphy won frame 13 to need just one more frame for victory. Allen won the next two frames to push the match into the interval. Murphy however won frame 15 to win the match 9–6 with a break of 66. The final was played as a best-of-19-frames match held over two sessions on 11 August 2019, refereed by Lyu Xilin. Trump won the first five frames of the match making a century break in frame three. Murphy, however won three of the remaining four frames of the session to trail 3–6. On the resume of the match, Trump dominated the remaining frames, winning the next four frames to win the match 10–3, completing eight half-centuries in the match. The victory was Trump's twelfth ranking event title, twelfth match unbeaten in a row, and had scored twelve centuries during the event. The win was the first time a reigning world champion won the first championship in which they had competed in after the event, since Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2008. In losing the event, Murphy commented that he was "disappointed" and that had not played well: "Judd swamped me, that was how it felt."

Main draw

Players in bold denote match winners.

Final

Qualifying

Matches were played between 14 and 17 June 2019 at the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Matches involving Mark Allen, Sam Craigie, Ding Junhui, John Higgins, Yan Bingtao, Sunny Akani, Anthony McGill and Judd Trump, were played in Daqing. All matches were the best-of-11-frames.

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

A total of 63 century breaks were made during the televised stages of the tournament. Judd Trump and Mark Allen shared the highest break of the tournament, with both players making a break of 141. In addition, Trump made a total of 12 centuries, eight more than any other player. Four Centuries were made in held over matches, Three by Trump and one by

. * 141, 131, 116, 113, 111, 108, 102, 104, 102, 101, 100, 100

* 141, 119, 117, 101

* 137

* 136 Joe Perry * 133

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 ...

* 132, 126, 100 Gary Wilson * 132

* 131, 126, 104, 101

* 131

* 128, 108

Louis Heathcote Louis Heathcote (born 3 July 1997) is an English people, English professional snooker player. Career In May 2019, Heathcote came through Q School 2019 - Event 2, Q-School - Event 2 by winning six matches to earn a two-year card on the World Snoo ...

* 127, 103

* 124, 104

* 123, 105

* 121 Jimmy Robertson * 120, 105

* 119, 103, 102, 100

* 118

* 116 Daniel Wells * 115, 103

* 115

* 111, 102

Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (; born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. A four-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, Brecel is a former World Snooker Championship, World Snooker Champion, having won the 2023 World Snooker Champ ...

* 110

Elliot Slessor Elliot Slessor (born 4 August 1994) is an English professional snooker player. In May 2013, Slessor qualified for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 professional Main Tour as one of four semi-finalists from the first Q School event. Career Sles ...

* 109, 102, 101 David Gilbert * 107, 104

Kurt Maflin Kurt Graham Maflin (born 8 August 1983) is an English-Norwegian former professional snooker player. A strong break-builder, Maflin has compiled more than 200 century breaks during his career and has made two 147 breaks in professional competit ...

* 106, 103

* 105

* 102

Zhou Yuelong Zhou Yuelong (; born 24 January 1998) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He has been runner-up at three ranking events, the January 2020 European Masters, the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and the 2022 Northern Ireland Open. Career Between 2 ...

* 100

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 ...

* 100

Mark Joyce Mark Joyce (born 11 August 1983) is an English former professional snooker player who lives in Walsall. He began his professional career by playing on the Challenge Tour in 2003. Joyce enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, winning the Europea ...

Qualifying stage centuries

A total of 42 century breaks were made during the qualifying tournament preceding the event, including a maximum break from Tom Ford. *

147 147 may refer to: * 147 (number), a natural number * AD 147, a year of the Julian calendar, in the second century * 147 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 147 AH, a year in the Islamic calendar that corresponds to 764 – 765 CE M ...

* 139, 100

Luo Honghao Luo Honghao (; born 31 January 2000) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. Career Amateur In July 2017, he reached the final of 2017 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship where he lost the final 7–6 to Fan Zhengyi. Later ...

* 137, 116 Joe Perry * 135

* 134, 103

* 134, 124

* 133

* 132, 126

Lyu Haotian Lyu Haotian (; born 29 November 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player, notable for being one of the youngest snooker players to have played in professional tournaments, aged only 14. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 Internatio ...

* 129, 108

* 127, 115, 112

* 126, 112

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 ...

* 123, 104 Michael Holt * 120

* 118, 102

* 118

Bai Langning Bai Langning (, born 17 April 2002) is a Chinese former professional snooker player who, in 2023, received a ban of two years and eight months from professional competition after committing match-fixing offences. In December 2022, Bai was suspe ...

* 115

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 ...

* 115

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 ...

* 115

* 111

Chang Bingyu Chang Bingyu (; born 8 August 2002) is a Chinese professional snooker player who, in 2023, received a two-year ban from professional competition after committing match-fixing offences. In December 2022, Chang was suspended from the professional ...

* 111 Gary Wilson * 111 Ryan Day * 108

Eden Sharav Eden Sharav (; born 30 April 1992) is an Israeli-Scottish former professional snooker player. He was born in Israel to an Israeli father and a Scottish-born mother. Career Amateur In 2010 Sharav reached the final of the Scottish amateur champio ...

* 108

* 107

Brandon Sargeant Brandon Sargeant (born 28 June 1997) is an English former professional snooker player. Career Sargeant earned his place on the main tour after finishing top of the Challenge Tour 2018/2019 ranking list, earning him a two-year card for the 201 ...

* 107

* 106

* 105 Anthony Hamilton * 103

* 101 Jamie Clarke * 101

Mei Xiwen Mei Xiwen (; born October 8, 1982) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. Career Mei made his debut on the Main Tour in the 2009/2010 season, as the ACBS Asian nomination, playing his first match at the 2009 Grand Prix. He lost 5� ...

* 100

Hossein Vafaei Hossein Vafaei (; born 15 October 1994) is an Iranian professional snooker player. He is the first professional player from Iran. He won his first ranking title at the 2022 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Mark Williams 1–0 (71–0) in the final. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:International Championship, 2019

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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