The first event in China since the covid crisis, involving non-Chinese professionals, got underway today in Huangguoshu, a place renowned for its beautiful and spectacular waterfalls.

All the players arrived safely over the previous days and were made to feel very welcome.

Here are some photos and videos – notably shared by Victoria Shi and Jack Lisowski.

And some short videos also emerged on Chinese social media

But today things got serious …

Indeed 16 of the 32 matches of the round of 64 were played as well as a preliminary match between two wildcards. Here are today’s results:

The TV matches are streamed. I was able to watch the Mark Williams and Judd Trump matches.

Nothing seems to phase Willo who didn’t look like he suffered any jet-lag or fatigue from the trip: his 4-0 victory was as easy as it gets.

I had high expectations about the match between Judd Trump and Bai Yulu. Too high probably because I found it very disappointing. Judd was probably tired and didn’t play anywhere near his best and that’s an understatement. Bai Yulu however didn’t take advantage. She was probably quite nervous and overwhelmed to play on television against a top pro, I’m sure she played much better in the Q-School than she did today. She was poor really, her safety in particular was … not very safe. As a result she gave Judd any number of opportunities, some he took, some he squandered But eventually Judd won the match rather easily.