Chinese 23-year-old Pang Junxu swept past former Women’s World Champion Mink Nutcharut 5-1 to make it through BetVictor European Masters qualifying in Leicester.
Pang has risen to prominence in recent times, since earning the Rookie of the Year award back in 2021. The world number 34 enjoyed landmark moments towards the end of last season. He reached his maiden ranking final at the WST Classic, where he lost out to Mark Selby. Pang then qualified for the final stages of the World Championship for the first time, he put up a strong fight against defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan but lost 10-7.
He carried that form over to the recent BetVictor Championship League, when he topped his first group before dropping out in stage two and looked to be in good touch today. Breaks of 64, 83, 71,92 and 55 helped Pang to a comfortable victory over Thailand’s Mink this morning, which earns him a place in Nuremberg next month.
World number 25 Zhou Yuelong scored a comfortable 5-1 over recent Q School graduate Stuart Carrington. China’s Zhou signed off in impressive fashion with three consecutive century runs of 116, 107 and 105 to round off the win.
Welshman Daniel Wells defeated Estonia’s Andres Petrov 5-2 to secure his place in the final stages, while tour rookie Jiang Jun scored an impressive 5-1 win over Andrew Pagett.
Former Shanghai Masters Dominic Dale scored a 5-2 win over Anthony McGill to make the final stages. Dale top scored with a run of 120 during the win.
The very one-sided score doesn’t tell the whole story as Mink showed some very good things yesterday. Pang is a top player, probably even better than his current ranking tells and Mink wasn’t completely outplayed. Her safety was quite good. But, no matter what Jason Ferguson says about snooker not being a physical game, some physical characteristics do matter. Mink is petite. She needs to use the rest much more frequently than most because she doesn’t reach and she lacks cue-power.
As usual that report covers only a fraction of yesterday’s action. All the results are on snooker.org. Also worth mentioning are: Andrew Higginson back on tour and looking good in beating Cao Yupeng, Ben Woollaston beating Robert Milkins and Iulian Boiko giving Matthew Stevens a good game. Also, Si Jiahui beat Julien Leclercq, who looked very frustrated with his own performance towards the end of the match.
World Champion Luca Brecel will be up against China’s top player Ding Junhui in the first round of the Cazoo British Open in Cheltenham in September.
The world ranking event features a random draw for every round, and Crucible king Brecel has been handed a tough opening test against three-time UK Champion Ding.
All of the top 16 seeds will be in action on the opening day of the tournament, Monday September 25th, at the Centaur Arena, Cheltenham Racecourse. Tickets are ON SALE NOW for what will be an outstanding day of snooker at a historic tournament. For just £25 fans can buy an all-day ticket to see a wide range of matches featuring the best 16 players on the planet. …
Ryan Day won the title last season, beating Mark Allen in the final, and he has been drawn against Sean O’Sullivan. Other first round ties to be played on September 25th include:
World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan v Jimmy Robertson
Judd Trump v Anton Kazakov
Mark Selby v Ben Woollaston
Shaun Murphy v Rebecca Kenna
Neil Robertson v Jamie Clarke
Mark Allen v Anthony McGill
John Higgins v Long Zehuang
Mark Williams v Peng Yisong
Ali Carter v Allan Taylor
Jack Lisowski v Joe O’Connor
Kyren Wilson v Martin O’Donnell
Gary Wilson v Ahmed Elsayed
Robert Milkins v Jiang Jun
All players seeded outside the top 16 will compete in a qualifying round from August 14 to 19, needing to win one match to make it through to the final stages in Cheltenham.
The tournament, which was first staged in 1985, will run from September 25th to October 1st, with extensive live coverage from ITV.
Tianjin City To Host 2023 International Championship
WST is delighted to announce that Tianjin City will host the return of the International Championship, when the prestigious ranking event takes place later this year.
The tournament has undergone a four-year hiatus from the World Snooker Tour, caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the stunning surrounds of Tianjin City will see snooker’s top stars once again compete for the International Championship title from November 5th to 12th.
The International Championship was first staged in 2012 and held all the way through to 2019. Judd Trump won the inaugural and most recent editions, with Ding Junhui, Ricky Walden, John Higgins, Mark Selby and Mark Allen all also former champions.
It will be the third tournament of the season to be held in China, with the Shanghai Masters taking place in September and the Wuhan Open being staged in October.
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “We are delighted to see this massive tournament back on the calendar and it is very exciting to be taking an event to the beautiful city of Tianjin.
“It is hugely significant for the sport to be returning to China and the International Championship has always been one of the most significant fixtures in the World Snooker Tour season. I know fans in Tianjin will be treated to some world class snooker. I’d like to thank the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association and CCTVSE for their partnership in staging this tournament.”
According to WST Calendar the qualifiers for this will be held in Sheffield in September, just after the 2023 Shanghai Masters.
Although this is good news, nothing changes about the UK centric nature of the alleged “WORLD” tour and the bias it maintains in favour of UK players.
WST is delighted to announce that Tianjin City will host the return of the International Championship, when the prestigious ranking event takes place later this year.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Yes, the tables are playing very slow this week – very different from in the Championship League. That doesn’t help players like Mink Nutcharut.
The weather in Tianjin in November will be pretty awful, so it’s not so much a ‘nice holiday’ for the players, but they will be well looked after.