Now we move onto the third ranking event in China – the China Championship!
This event is fairly new – this is the third edition after John Higgins won the first title when it was a non-ranking event and Luca Brecel won his first ranking trophy by beating Shaun Murphy 10-5 in the final.
The draw is now slightly more open at the moment. Shanghai Masters champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is not in this event. The most in-form player this season Kyren Wilson withdrew from the tournament this year due the illness of his son, Finley. I’m sure I can speak for all of us that we wish him a full and healthy recovery.
Unfortunately I have withdrawn from the China championship. Finley was taken seriously unwell on Tuesday & although he’s making a speedy recovery I felt it was the right decision to be with him, Sincere Apologies to the sponsors promoters and fans!
— Kyren Wilson (@KyrenWilson) September 22, 2018
This means that there are prizes to be won for other people! Arguably, the players to watch out for are Barry Hawkins (World Open semi-finalist and Shanghai Masters finalist), Mark Williams (World Open winner and Shanghai Masters quarter-finalist) and Peter Ebdon (Paul Hunter Classic finalist). There will be more pressure on the top players doing well as there are Champion of Champions places up for grabs. Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Stuart Bingham and Hawkins are among the high-profile names yet qualified for that competition. The last quarter looks to be the quarter of death for me also!
However, others are looking towards a small Asian contingent of Ding Junhui, Marco Fu and Zhao Xintong to make an impact. With Ding Junhui unable to fret over the birth of his first child anymore and Marco Fu being able to see better, they are more than able to pull things out of the bag. This is also the perfect opportunity for rookies to flex their muscles too, with Ashley Carty and Luo Honghao qualifying for the event and battle with Barry Hawkins and Gary Wilson respectively. Tasty match-ups include Davis/Xiao, Bingham/Ebdon and hot prospects Alexander Ursenbacher and Yuan Sijun play each other as well.
THE DRAW!
Luca Brecel/Joe O’Connor vs. Martin O’Donnell
Tom Ford vs. Nigel Bond
Marco Fu vs. Zhang Anda
Liang Wenbo/Alfie Burden vs. John Astley
Mark Joyce vs. Joe Perry
Lyu Haotian w/o Kyren Wilson
Mark Davis vs. Xiao Guodong
Liam Highfield vs. Shaun Murphy
Quater-final Winner: Marco Fu vs. Shaun Murphy
Judd Trump vs. Rhys Clark
Anthony Hamilton vs. Jamie Jones
Stuart Bingham vs. Peter Ebdon
Yan Bingtao vs. Chris Wakelin
Kurt Maflin vs. Jack Lisowski
Scott Donaldson vs. Stephen Maguire
Mei Xiwen vs. Michael White
Allan Taylor vs. John Higgins
Quater-final Winner: Stuart Bingham vs. John Higgins
Mark Selby vs. Sunny Akani
Robert Milkins vs. Jimmy Robertson/Chang Bingyu
Ryan Day vs. Mike Dunn/Luo Zetao
David Gilbert vs. Hossein Vafaei
Sam Craigie vs. Mark King
Matthew Selt vs. Mark Allen
Alexander Ursenbacher vs. Yuan Sijun
Daniel Wells vs. Ding Junhui/Lee Walker
Quater-final Winner: Ryan Day vs. Mark Allen
Barry Hawkins vs. Ashley Carty
Xu Si vs. Noppon Saengkham
Neil Robertson vs. Gerard Greene
Graeme Dott/Bai Langning vs. Stuart Carrington/He Guoqiang
Fergal O’Brien vs. Ali Carter
Zhao Xintong vs. Anthony McGill
Gary Wilson vs. Luo Honghao
Ken Doherty vs. Mark Williams/Rod Lawler
Quater-final Winner: Barry Hawkins vs. Gary Wilson
China Championship 2018 Champion: Marco Fu vs. Barry Hawkins
