The World Grand Prix semi-finals take place on Saturday at the Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong with four Chinese players still involved.
It marks the first time in snooker history that every semi-finalist comes from China, and it’s only the third country to ever have a clean sweep at this stage of a ranking event after England and Scotland.
It would be fair to say that something like this has been coming, with Chinese snooker coming on leaps and bounds over the course of the last few years.
There are currently five Chinese players ranked inside the top 16, a record ten featured at the Crucible Theatre for last year’s World Championship, and appearances in the latter stages of events for a number of players have become a regular occurence.
Indeed, all four semi-finalists at the World Grand Prix already boast plenty of experience of challenging for honours at this point of a tournament.
Let’s take a look at the two upcoming matches in the last four.
Zhou Yuelong vs Zhang Anda
Zhang Anda dropped out of the top 16 of the world rankings towards the end of last year when his points for winning the 2023 International Championship were deducted from his rolling two-year tally.
There were perhaps some thoughts that his time at the top might have been fleeting, but he has been a vastly improved force again since then.
A quarter-final appearance at the UK Championship has been improved upon here courtesy of impressive victories over Mark Williams, Barry Hawkins, and Wu Yize.
Of the remaining quartet, only Zhang is provisionally outside the qualifying positions for the upcoming Players Championship off the one-year ranking list.
He could yet force his way into the 16-strong draw in Telford but will need to reach the final in order to do so.
Zhang’s opponent in the semi-finals is Zhou Yuelong, who out of the four is the only one who hasn’t experienced the ecstasy of etching his name onto a ranking event trophy.
In fact, four-time runner-up Zhou arguably represents the best player currently on the main tour who has never won a ranking tournament.
The 28 year-old took advantage of some fortune in the deciding frame of his contest with Ali Carter in the quarter-finals, having earlier beaten Stephen Maguire and Jak Jones.
Zhou has guaranteed himself a spot at the Players Championship so can remove that unwanted distraction from his mind and focus on the task at hand.
Zhang and Zhou share an even head-to-head record with three wins apiece, and the outcome of their last three encounters have been determined by deciding frames.
When is it? Saturday, 5:00 GMT
Xiao Guodong vs Zhao Xintong
The second semi-final at the World Grand Prix pits the two highest-ranked Chinese players in the world rankings against one another.
World number eight Zhao Xintong plays world number ten Xiao Guodong for a spot in the final, where a champion’s cheque worth £180,000 is on the line.
Zhao is the tournament’s outright favourite with the Win Casino official site offering a sportsbook with snooker odds for all the latest events on the calendar.
Having already accounted for four-time world champions John Higgins and Mark Selby, reigning Crucible king Zhao withstood a late fight back from Chris Wakelin to win a 5-4 thriller on Friday.
Xiao has also had a strong week, backing up his defeats of Kyren Wilson and Ronnie O’Sullivan with a 5-2 ousting of Si Jiahui in the last eight.
The 36 year-old already has ranking silverware from this season to gloat about after successfully defending his Wuhan Open crown.
That puts him in a strong position on the one-year list, and not only is he assured of a place in the Players Championship, he is practically guaranteed to play at the 12-field Tour Championship as well.
Zhao, who won the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship invitational, hasn’t been so strong in ranking events this season and sits 17th on the provisional one-year rankings.
Ordinarily, that would see him miss out on the Players Championship, but with Ronnie O’Sullivan set to give up his place in the draw, the spot could be awarded to Zhao if things stay as they are.
Back to the contest at hand and the 28 year-old enjoys a superior head-to-head record against Xiao from all their previous ties against one another on the main tour.
But they have only played a couple of times in a longer format, and this will be the first time they clash across the best-of-11 frames.
When is it? Saturday, 11:00 GMT
Featured photo credit: WST
All kinds of sub-plots are present with these 4 players. Zhao Xintong and Zhou Yuelong were flatmates and best friends, but Zhou now shares a house with Xiao Guodong when in Sheffield! Zhao Xintong is very popular in Hong Kong – he has played many exhibitions in HK and Macau, and he speaks fluent Cantonese (his mother is Cantonese). He is also saying he suffers from an allergy which affects him whenever he’s in Guangdong, but usually feels better after 2 days.
Anyway, I’m back from Hong Kong (and Berlin) now, but I’ll keep the timezone for a couple more days to watch the matches at home!
Scotland having all four semi-finalists at one event is particularly impressive as they’ve never had the overall numbers on the tour like England or China.