Three snooker pros face 22-frame marathon at Nanjing event

Three professional snooker players will attempt to play two full matches in a single day during the opening of the International Championship in Nanjing, China. Steven Hallworth, Michal Szubarczyk, and Liu Wenwei are scheduled to compete in a preliminary round on Saturday morning, October 31, followed immediately by first-round matches that evening.

The tournament format requires these three athletes to win a best-of-11 preliminary game against local wildcards before qualifying for the main draw. If successful, they will return to the table hours later for another best-of-11 contest. This schedule means a player could play up to 22 frames in one 24-hour period. The preliminary round exists because the Chinese promoters included local wildcards in the event.

Hallworth described the logistics on the WST Snooker Club podcast. He explained that the Chinese promoters added wildcards and filtered them into a pre-qualifier round. He said, “It’s probably going to be a busy day, I’ll play first session because it is the pre-qualifier. If I win that best-of-11, I’ll play again that night in another best-of-11.”

The specific matchups for Saturday morning see Hallworth facing Li Jun, Szubarczyk playing Chen Qi’en, and Liu Wenwei taking on Dong Zihao. Hallworth will face Fan Zhengyi in the evening session if he advances. Szubarczyk will play Jackson Page, while Liu will challenge Judd Trump.

Former world champion Neil Robertson criticized the scheduling arrangement. He told Metro that playing two matches of that length on the same day is not fair. Robertson stated, “That just flat out shouldn’t be allowed to happen.” He argued that the situation differs from playing a single session at the World Championship, which is typically eight frames. He noted that players struggle with jet lag and must recover between the morning and nighttime sessions.

Hallworth emphasized that local wildcards are no longer easy opponents. He recalled that 14-year-old Wang Xinzhong defeated Bai Yulu in the preliminary round of last year’s event. Wang, now 15, is entering this week’s tournament again but enters at round one, bypassing the preliminary stage. Hallworth said, “Gone are the years of drawing these wildcard players and thinking it’s a bit of a walkover.”

The International Championship runs from Saturday, October 31, to Saturday, November 7. The winner of the final will receive a top prize of 175,000 pounds. Defending champion Wu Yize, who defeated John Higgins last year, is aiming to retain his title. Wu told the World Snooker Tour that winning in Nanjing was his first major breakthrough and that he looks forward to returning to the venue.

The World Snooker Tour has been approached for comment regarding the scheduling of the preliminary round and the subsequent first-round matches.