The International Championship qualifiers concluded on Thursday with the likes of Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson, and Shaun Murphy all advancing in the draw.
Hosted at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, most of the field in this year’s International Championship were required to attend and contest their opening round-of-128 fixture in the competition.
Robertson became just the fourth player in snooker history to compile 1,000 century breaks when he added to his huge tally in a 6-1 defeat of Umut Dikime.
The Australian joins Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, and John Higgins as the only prolific scorers who have reached the milestone.
Wilson has suffered some early exits in events since winning the Shanghai Masters, but the world number two safely made it through here thanks to a 6-2 victory over Gong Chenzhi.
Last week’s British Open champion Murphy was another comfortable winner as the Magician coasted into the last 64 with a 6-1 drubbing of Yao Pengcheng.
Mark Selby and Mark Williams enjoyed routine triumphs over Steven Hallworth and Iulian Boiko respectively.
It was much tougher for John Higgins, who just about prevailed from a 6-5 thriller against Liam Pullen – the Scot avenging his defeat to the youngster at the recent Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers.
Elsewhere, there were a couple of big upsets with Mark Allen, who just added to his ranking title tally with his success at the English Open in September, losing 6-4 to Mitchell Mann.
Former world champion Luca Brecel was also downed at the first hurdle after suffering a 6-4 reverse against Liu Wenwei.
Among the others to qualify for the trip to Nanjing next month were Si Jiahui, Chris Wakelin, Wu Yize, and Gary Wilson.
Indeed, the latter compiled his sixth career 147 break during a 6-3 victory over Aretemijs Zizins – bringing the total amount of maximums made this season already to 11.
Some of the other familiar names to negotiate their opening hurdles in the tournament were Anthony McGill, Jack Lisowski, and Zhang Anda.
McGill, who last week finished runner-up to Murphy in the British Open, thumped Mink Nutcharut 6-0 while Lisowski ousted Bulcsu Revesz.
For top 16 member Zhang, this event will be important as he seeks to defend the ranking points he accrued from emerging triumphantly at the International Championship of 2023.
Stuart Bingham, Ali Carter, Matthew Stevens, Ricky Walden, and this season’s Championship League Snooker winner Stephen Maguire progressed as well.
One of the standout results of the International Championship qualifiers saw veteran Ken Doherty pip up-and-coming talent Stan Moody in a deciding frame.
Fellow legend Jimmy White wasn’t able to orchestrate a return to China, however, with the Whirlwind beaten 6-2 by Daniel Wells.
There were several top players, meanwhile, who had their round-of-128 fixtures held over to the venue stages in November.
Reigning champion Ding Junhui, world champion Zhao Xintong, world number one Judd Trump, and fan favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan all had their encounters deferred.
The 2025 International Championship commences proper on November 2nd with a top prize worth £175,000 up for grabs.
2025 International Championship Draw
Round of 128 (bo11)
Ding Junhui vs David Grace (held over)
Michael Holt 6-2 Reanne Evans
Pang Junxu 6-1 Ross Muir
Liam Highfield 6-5 Jackson Page
Shaun Murphy 6-1 Yao Pengcheng
Robbie Williams vs Bai Yulu/Wildcard (held over)
Elliot Slessor 6-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Ben Mertens 6-3 Matthew Selt
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh vs Wildcard (held over)
David Gilbert 6-5 Liam Davies
Scott Donaldson 6-0 Antoni Kowalsi
Mitchell Mann 6-4 Mark Allen
Ryan Day 6-3 Zhao Hanyang
Hossein Vafaei 6-1 Fergal Quinn
Oliver Lines 6-2 Jordan Brown
John Higgins 6-5 Liam Pullen
Neil Robertson 6-1 Umut Dikme
Ken Doherty 6-5 Stan Moody
Yuan Sijun 6-2 Julien Leclercq
Ricky Walden 6-1 Gao Yang
Xiao Guodong vs Mahmoud El Hareedy (held over)
Zak Surety 6-2 Farakh Ajaib
Ali Carter 6-0 Liam Graham
Aaron Hill 6-1 Leone Crowley
He Guoqiang 6-3 Duane Jones
Stuart Bingham 6-3 Ian Burns
Jiang Jun 6-4 Long Zehuang
Chris Wakelin 6-1 Florian Nuessle
Xu Si 6-3 Sahi Nayyar
Stephen Maguire 6-5 Kreishh Gurbaxani
David Lilley 6-3 Chatchapong Nasa
Kyren Wilson 6-2 Gong Chenzhi
Judd Trump vs Dylan Emery
Matthew Stevens 6-2 Connor Benzey
Zhou Yuelong vs Wildcard (held over)
Noppon Saengkham 6-1 Jonas Luz
Zhang Anda 6-3 Chris Totten
Michal Szubarczyk 6-4 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Wu Yize 6-3 Lan Yuhao
Lyu Haotian 6-1 Ng On Yee
Ben Woollaston 6-3 Cheung Ka Wai
Jak Jones 6-1 Mateusz Baranowski
Huang Jiahao 6-5 Mark Davis
Barry Hawkins vs Wildcard (held over)
Louis Heathcote 6-2 Jamie Jones
Jack Lisowski 6-2 Bulcsu Revesz
Sanderson Lam 6-0 Amir Sarkhosh
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Allan Taylor (held over)
Mark Williams 6-2 Iulian Boiko
Anthony McGill 6-0 Mink Nutcharut
Sam Craigie 6-1 Joe O’Connor
Jimmy Robertson 6-3 Chang Bingyu
Mark Selby 6-0 Steven Hallworth
Liu Hongyu 6-1 Haydon Pinhey
Tom Ford 6-1 Robbie McGuigan
Daniel Wells 6-2 Jimmy White
Martin O’Donnell 6-5 Xu Yichen
Gary Wilson 6-3 Artemijs Zizins
Wang Yuchen 6-5 Robert Milkins
Si Jiahui 6-3 Sunny Akani
Liu Wenwei 6-5 Luca Brecel
Lei Peifan 6-3 Haris Tahir
Fan Zhengyi 6-1 Hatem Yassen
Zhao Xintong vs Oliver Brown (held over)
Round of 64 (bo11)
Ding/Grace vs Michael Holt
Pang Junxu vs Liam Highfield
Shaun Murphy vs R.Williams/Bai/Wildcard
Elliot Slessor vs Ben Mertens
Un-Nooh/Wildcard vs David Gilbert
Scott Donaldson vs Mitchell Mann
Ryan Day vs Hossein Vafaei
Oliver Lines vs John Higgins
Neil Robertson vs Ken Doherty
Yuan Sijun vs Ricky Walden
Xiao/El Hareedy vs Zak Surety
Ali Carter vs Aaron Hill
He Guoqiang vs Stuart Bingham
Jiang Jun vs Chris Wakelin
Xu Si vs Stephen Maguire
David Lilley vs Kyren Wilson
Trump/Emery vs Matthew Stevens
Zhou/Wildcard vs Noppon Saengkham
Zhang Anda vs Michal Szubarczyk
Wu Yize vs Lyu Haotian
Ben Woollaston vs Jak Jones
Huang Jiahao vs Hawkins/Wildcard
Louis Heathcote vs Jack Lisowski
Sanderson Lam vs O’Sullivan/Taylor
Mark Williams vs Anthony McGill
Sam Craigie vs Jimmy Robertson
Mark Selby vs Liu Hongyu
Tom Ford vs Daniel Wells
Martin O’Donnell vs Gary Wilson
Wang Yuchen vs Si Jiahui
Liu Wenwei vs Lei Peifan
Fan Zhengyi vs Zhao/Brown
Featured photo credit: WST
We in New Zealand had all of the major snooker tournaments on our tv but just this year it all ended which kind of left me feeling like I have missed something enjoyable for me..is there any way I could view these snooker majors ? Kia Ora (Thank you)
Hello Mal. Keep an eye out for the global ‘how to watch’ information in my preview articles for each tournament (usually published 1 or 2 days before an event begins). But if there are currently no broadcast options in your region, that will usually mean that you can watch live on WST Play via a subscription. You can sign up on the WST website.