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

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

tournament that took place from 23 to 29 September 2019. The event was held at the Guangzhou Tianhe Sports Centre in Guangzhou, China. Qualifying for the event took place from 15 to 18 August 2019 at the Barnsley Metrodome in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, England. The tournament was the fourth edition of the China Championship and the third

ranking event The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. The ranking lists are maintained by the sport's governing body, ...

of the 2019/2020 season. Mark Selby was the defending champion, having defeated John Higgins in the previous year's final 10–9. Selby reached the semi-finals, before losing 6–3 to Shaun Murphy. 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 ranking snooker tournament. The reigning champion is Judd Trump. History The event was introduced in the 2012/2013 season. It was named as the "first overseas 'major'", because the tournament ha ...

. 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: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

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 Barnsley Metrodome in

, England featuring 64 matches. Participants included players on the World Snooker Tour and invited amateur players.

Early rounds (first–fourth round)

Defending champion Mark Selby won his opening first round match, defeating

Chen Feilong Chen Feilong (born 4 September 1982) is a former professional Chinese snooker player, playing on the World Snooker Tour from the 2018–19 season. Career He has been awarded a two-year professional tour card following his performances on the C ...

. 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 both 5–2 to reach the quarter-finals. Three-time world champion Mark Williams defeated

Kishan Hirani Kishan H. Hirani (born 2 June 1992) is a Welsh former professional snooker player. Career Hirani qualified for his first professional tournament in the 2017 Paul Hunter Classic, winning three matches. He played Chris Wakelin in the first roun ...

in an all Welsh opening round match 5–1. Williams defeated Luo Honghao and

Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made hi ...

to reach the quarter-finals. Former world champion Graeme Dott lost on a to Norwegian

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 competitio ...

during the first round 5–4. Maflin then defeated Jordan Brown to play four-time world champion John Higgins. 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 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 and the

. The

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

world champion Shaun Murphy also reached the quarter-finals. He defeated

Yuan Sijun Yuan Sijun (Chinese: 袁思俊; 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 ...

, Ryan Day, and Matthew Selt all 5–3. Barry Hawkins defeated Liam Highfield, Mitchell Mann and

Zhao Xintong Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Long considered one of the brightest talents in the game, he won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Championship, defeating Luc ...

to reach the last-8. Iranian Hossein Vafaei defeated Tom Ford, Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill to reach the quarter-finals. Former world number one Ding Junhui also lost his opening match where he lost 5–3 to

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 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, Mark Selby and

, Yan Bingtao and

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– ...

, Ding Junhui and

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 ...

, Ken Doherty, Tom Ford, Judd Trump and James Wattana, 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 Mark Selby and one by Judd Trump. * 145, 117

* 143, 132 Mark Williams * 140 Noppon Saengkham * 139, 103 Barry Hawkins * 138 Mark King * 137, 121, 121, 108, 101, 100 Mark Selby * 137, 134, 123, 104 Hossein Vafaei * 137

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 ...

* 135, 116, 101 Kyren Wilson * 134, 101 Joe Perry * 133, 129, 103, 100 Shaun Murphy * 133 Marco Fu * 131, 124 Stephen Maguire * 130, 120, 113 Luo Honghao * 127

* 126, 126 David Gilbert * 126, 101 Yan Bingtao * 122, 121, 109, 102 Judd Trump * 120, 116, 109 Chris Wakelin * 119 Ryan Day * 117 Joe O'Connor * 108 Li Hang * 106 John Higgins * 105, 103 Ricky Walden * 104, 103

* 104

Tian Pengfei Tian Pengfei (, born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese 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 on the Wo ...

* 104 Xiao Guodong * 101 Anthony Hamilton

Qualifying stage centuries

There were a total of 28 century breaks made during the qualifying matches preceding the event. * 143

* 141, 101 Shaun Murphy * 138 Sam Baird * 134 Chris Wakelin * 132 Michael Georgiou * 132 Stephen Maguire * 131 David Gilbert * 123

Jak Jones Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player. Jones was born in Cwmbran, Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16, by winning the 2010 European Under 19 Snooker Championship in Malta. Career Professio ...

* 122 Zhou Yuelong * 120 Mark Joyce * 120 Sunny Akani * 118 Anthony Hamilton * 112 Ashley Carty * 112 Barry Hawkins * 110 Mark Williams * 108 Kyren Wilson * 107 Ryan Day * 107 Marco Fu * 106 John Higgins * 105 Noppon Saengkham * 104

Chen Zifan Chen Zifan (, born 17 September 1995) is a Chinese professional snooker player who, in 2023, received a five-year ban from professional competition after committing match-fixing offences. In December 2022, Chen was suspended from the professi ...

* 104 Andy Hicks * 102

Lyu Haotian Lyu Haotian (, born 29 November 1997) is a snooker player from the People's Republic of China, 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 ...

* 102

Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998. Milkins ...

* 101

* 100 Liam Highfield * 100

Hammad Miah Hammad Miah ( bn, হাম্মাদ মিঞা; born 6 July 1993) is a British professional snooker player of Bangladeshi-origin. In May 2013, Miah qualified for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 professional Main Tour as one of four semi- ...

References

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