There’s plenty of snooker in September to look forward to as the 2019/20 campaign continues with a succession of tournaments in Asia.
August boasted just one ranking event, with Judd Trump underlining his claim to being the best player in the world at present by triumphing in the International Championship.
There were also wins for Jimmy White in the World Seniors Championship and Barry Hawkins in the revamped Paul Hunter Classic.
Events in Asia will dominate the schedule for this month as the players fight for one ranking event, one major invitational, and another World Championship.
Six Red World Championship (Sept 2-7)
It’s to the latter where we begin, with the annual Six Red World Championship set for Bangkok in Thailand next week.
Kyren Wilson returns as the defending champion, twelve months after he lifted the trophy for the first time with an 8-4 victory over Ding Junhui.
Ding is among a number of other former winners in the draw, alongside Mark Selby, Stephen Maguire, Mark Williams, and home favourite Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
With legends Jimmy White and Ken Doherty also in the mix, it’s sure to be an interesting few days at the BCC Hall.
Shanghai Masters (Sept 9-15)
Arguably the biggest tournament for snooker in September is the Shanghai Masters.
Once one of the staple ranking events on the calendar, the Shanghai Masters has been transformed into a mega-bucks prestigious invitational.
Last year’s edition was won by Ronnie O’Sullivan and it’s here where the “Rocket” will make his first bow of this new term.
The top 16 in the world rankings will all be invited to participate, alongside the next four best ranked Chinese competitors and an additional four local wildcards.
O’Sullivan and Trump are on the opposite sides of the draw so it’ll be fascinating to see if the English pair can produce the goods and potentially set up a mouthwatering clash against one another.
China Championship (Sept 23-29)
Towards the end of the month, there’s finally the third ranking event of this season with the China Championship in Guangzhou.
By the time it comes around, it will have been more than six weeks since the previous ranking event – a long time in this era of the sport.
Mark Selby bagged his one and only title of last season with a somewhat turgid 10-9 defeat of John Higgins in 2018.
Once again, all eyes will be on new world number one Trump, though, especially with O’Sullivan opting out of this one.
With £150,000 up for grabs, it’s another lucrative tournament for the field to sink their teeth into and it will signal the beginning of a busier stretch on the calendar.
What Else?
Snooker in September also sees action in a couple of the other tours.
The Challenge Tour gets going today and will see the season’s first champion crowned in Germany on September 1st.
The second event on the series for amateurs takes place in Newbury in the second half of the month (Sept 21-22).
Last but certainly not least is the UK Women’s Championship, which is back at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds on the weekend of September 14th and 15th.
I think it’s great we have a site like this that can tell us what’s on, but that’s all well and good but I want to know where I can watch it on tv, I’m constantly having to search the usual suspects like Eurosport the BBC and quest I just want to know which it is or if indeed it’s going to be televised.