Xiao Guodong grew to become the primary participant from China to achieve a Champion of Champions closing along with his 6-3 defeat of Mark Allen on Friday in Bolton.
The 35 year-old adopted up his very good triumphs over Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby a day earlier with one other fantastic show towards the reigning champion.
It prolongs a really sturdy interval for Chinese language snooker gamers, the big contingent on the primary tour combining to often break new floor of late.
This has been underlined by the very fact there are actually 4 Chinese language snooker gamers ranked inside the highest 16 of the world rankings checklist for the primary time within the sport’s historical past.
Xiao joined the elite bracket of the official two-year checklist following his run to the semi-finals of final week’s Worldwide Championship.
That effort rapidly adopted his profession breakthrough on the Wuhan Open the place he landed a maiden rating crown and secured an invite to this week’s prestigious occasion.
However Xiao actually hasn’t been alone by way of Chinese language snooker gamers having fun with success inside the recreation during the last 18-month spell.
Si Jiahui, the participant Xiao beat to seize glory in Wuhan, additionally broke into the world’s high 16 for the primary time earlier this yr.
Xiao and Si be a part of Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda within the elite bracket of the standings, which means 1 / 4 of the highest 16 now includes Chinese language snooker gamers for the primary time ever.
Ding, who returned to profitable methods in Nanjing final weekend, grew to become the primary participant from mainland China to earn the coveted standing manner again in 2007.
By then, he had already made a reputation for himself by triumphing as a youngster on the 2005 China Open in Beijing – igniting an explosion of recognition for the sport within the nation.
A number of months later, Ding beat all-time nice Steve Davis to raise the UK Championship trophy and duly regarded set to develop into the game’s dominant power.
It didn’t fairly work out that manner, however the 37 year-old has nonetheless carved out a profitable profession for himself and stays an inspiration to many up-and-coming skills in his homeland.
In the direction of the top of the last decade, there was an enormous inflow of gamers from China graduating to compete on the primary tour – every hoping to emulate Ding’s quick success.
Amongst them had been Liang Wenbo and Li Hold, whose names had been tarnished final yr amid the match-fixing scandal involving ten Chinese language snooker gamers that rocked the game.
Li and Former English Open champion Liang had been handed lifetime bans for his or her roles within the betting ring, and it led many to surprise if the recognition of snooker in China would endure because of this.
The result of the investigation, which additionally noticed former Masters champion Yan Bingtao and former UK champion Zhao Xintong handed bans, got here simply as Chinese language snooker was reopening following years of inactivity on account of the worldwide pandemic.
But because it has turned out, the final yr and a half have confirmed to be fruitful for each the tournaments staged in China and the gamers from the cue-sports-loving nation who’re nonetheless competing on the skilled circuit.
Whereas it was commonplace to see empty arenas at quite a lot of the Chinese language rating occasions earlier than 2020, since doorways have reopened the general public has flocked again to observe their favorite stars.
Play for Ronnie O’Sullivan’s encounter with Mink Nutcharut eventually week’s Worldwide Championship needed to be delayed as a consequence of crowd management.
The elevated attendances have occurred towards a backdrop of Chinese language snooker gamers turning into extra frequent presences on the enterprise of rating occasions.
Zhang, who regardless of being a professional for greater than a decade, had by no means been ranked contained in the world’s high 64 till 2023 however ended final season as a three-time rating occasion finalist and an Worldwide Championship winner.
Si launched into a memorable run to the semi-finals of the 2023 World Championship earlier than reaching his maiden rating closing on the flip of this yr.
He narrowly missed out on his first piece of silverware after being defeated by Judd Trump within the title-deciding contest of the German Masters, however Si is extensively considered essentially the most thrilling younger participant within the recreation for the time being.
The 22 year-old’s latest Wuhan Open showdown with Xiao represented solely the third time {that a} rating occasion concluded with an all-Chinese language closing.
Certainly, three of the 4 semi-finalists in Wuhan had been Chinese language, one thing that was instantly repeated on the 2024 Worldwide Championship earlier this month.
Along with Ding, Zhang, Si, and Xiao, there are one other eight Chinese language snooker gamers ranked contained in the world’s high 50 at current.
That features Wu Yize, who has risen to a career-high of quantity 29 on the earth on the again of reaching the English Open closing in September.
Zhao Xintong, in the meantime, who had been ranked as excessive as quantity six previous to his ban, has already begun his journey again to the primary tour and has been tearing it up on the feeder Q Tour within the final couple of months.
Years in the past, when Ding led the preliminary incursion of Chinese language gamers, there was a way that snooker might be taken over there and the standard hub of the UK left behind.
That didn’t materialise, not as rapidly as anticipated anyway, with gamers from the UK persevering with to make up nearly all of the world’s high 16 and China nonetheless ready for its first world champion.
However regardless of the setbacks and controversies, wave upon wave of expertise from China continues to emerge onto the skilled scene.
That has been highlighted in latest occasions by sturdy performances from the likes of Pang Junxu, Xu Si, He Guoqiang, and Lengthy Zehuang – to call only a few of the youthful crop who’re getting optimistic outcomes.
As Shaun Murphy identified within the newest episode of his podcast, threats to snooker’s long-term reputation from different growing cue sports activities in China exist.
Nevertheless, proper now Chinese language snooker is arguably having fun with its biggest sustained interval of success – each by way of triumphs on the desk and the additional curiosity that can consequently encourage off of it.
“In 5 years time, half of the highest 16 might be Chinese language,” was uttered so usually by pundits prior to now that it grew to become a prediction of ridicule, a cliché.
With Chinese language snooker gamers that includes extra prominently on the enterprise finish of occasions than ever earlier than, although, that assertion may really now be true.
Featured picture credit score: WST
