China Open 2018 - £1 million prize money

[JimMalone]

http://www.worldsnooker.com/snookers...n-prize-money/

They have talked for a long time about a tournament in China becoming the second biggest event behind just the World Championship. And there it is. Qualifying is already at the end of this week from January 27th to January 30th.

I just wonder if in the next years (if the China Open stay that big, which I hope) they will move the date for this event, as it would be kinda strange having the two events that offer the most money and ranking points back to back.


Here's the Main Draw:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_C...ker)#Main_draw

[JimMalone]

Question at the moderators: Could you change the thread title to "China Open 2018 - £1 million prize money" please?
I can't edit it, but think this should be shown in the title on the general view of the forum as it is the most important message. And I wasn't aware that the system would cut the title that short.

Kind regards, Jim

[DeanH]

Question at the moderators: Could you change the thread title to "China Open 2018 - £1 million prize money" please?
I can't edit it, but think this should be shown in the title on the general view of the forum as it is the most important message. And I wasn't aware that the system would cut the title that short.

Kind regards, Jim

done
.....

[JimMalone]

done
.....

Thank you Dean, I appreciate it!

[jonny66]

Is this the one with the empty venue most days?

[magicman]

An awful lot of the Chinese events have half empty auditoriums as the cost for most Chinese fans is too prohibitive.

I've felt for some time that world snooker should have some sort of policy in place with Chinese venues and sponsors to remedy this, as a casual viewer tuning in to these events sees a sport that is poorly supported. Who wants to start following a sport lacking in interest? Unsold tickets could be state sponsored, filled with school children, college students, or better yet snooker academy wannabes.

[DeanH]

Often what I see is that the expensive seats at the front are empty but the cheaper seats at the back are full; whenever the cameras show the auditorium you can see many spectators up top.

[narl]

Often what I see is that the expensive seats at the front are empty but the cheaper seats at the back are full; whenever the cameras show the auditorium you can see many spectators up top.

Which is odd as it gives a bad impression of their events, you'd think they would bung everyone up to the front seats to show people are actually watching it. Half their events it looks like someone popped a massive fart in the front row and everyone's stampeding to the back of the room.

[DeanH]

Which is odd as it gives a bad impression of their events, you'd think they would bung everyone up to the front seats to show people are actually watching it. Half their events it looks like someone popped a massive fart in the front row and everyone's stampeding to the back of the room.

love that analogy
I think the Chinese are into their "clubs", "front seat club" vs "back of hall club"; one-upmanship is rampant over there. But as you say, it does not look good on TV

[narl]

love that analogy
I think the Chinese are into their "clubs", "front seat club" vs "back of hall club"; one-upmanship is rampant over there. But as you say, it does not look good on TV

Yup, when i first watched some of the tournaments it just seemed totally dead, which was weird considering how much we were told it was a "huge sport" over there. Think they need to work on their presentation to reflect its popularity, herding people to front seats could help a lot with that.

[Cyril]

Does anyone know the format for this event?

Such as,

1. How many players will take part at the final venue?
2. What frames duration are the matches?
3. How many tables in the playing arena?

They are all contributing factors to making an event BIG, not solely prize money. It is also why, in my opinion, the UK doesn't hold the same high standing in the game as it used to.

[DeanH]

Does anyone know the format for this event?

Such as,

1. How many players will take part at the final venue?
2. What frames duration are the matches?
3. How many tables in the playing arena?

They are all contributing factors to making an event BIG, not solely prize money. It is also why, in my opinion, the UK doesn't hold the same high standing in the game as it used to.

Apart from the final will now be 21 frames (up from 19) I cant find any other details yet.
Previously only the Last 64 went to main event. Previous 128 qualifiers in UK and some wildcard rounds heldover to China.

I think this is modern thinking (and Chinese thinking) that money = prestige

[JimMalone]

Apart from the final will now be 21 frames (up from 19) I cant find any other details yet.
Previously only the Last 64 went to main event. Previous 128 qualifiers in UK and some wildcard rounds heldover to China.

I think this is modern thinking (and Chinese thinking) that money = prestige

It said that every player has to win one match to qualify. So I assume it will be a draw with 64 players.

I also think there is more than just money and ranking points to the importance. It's also about the length of matches and tradition. But if the final is Best-of-21 it's definitely a (small) step into the right direction. Still, due to it's tradition I'd still regard the UK Championship as the second most important tournament this season.

[JimMalone]

Despite the qualifiers start on Saturday, there is still no draw for them...

[JimMalone]

Some of the more interesting qualifiers from today until tuesday:
Ryan Day - Lyu Haotian
Rory McLeod - Liam Highfield
Michael Holt - Sunny Akani
Luca Brecel - Zhao Xintong