2023 CBSA National Team Championship – Day 1

These are the results and scores after day 1 at the 2023 CBSA National Team Championship

National Team Championship
August 6-10, Xinghe Arena, Xi’an, Shaanxi
Group A
	Team	A1	A2	A3	A4	A5	W	L	Tiebreaker
A1	Mianyang					5-0	1
A2	Hainan ZSD					4-1	1
A3	Chongqing				2-3			1
A4	Dalian			3-2			1
A5	Zhengzhou	0-5	1-4					2
Group B
	Team	B1	B2	B3	B4	B5	W	L	Tiebreaker
B1	Suzhou					4-1	1
B2	Wuhan					1-4		1
B3	Beijing				1-4			1
B4	Guangdong			4-1			1
B5	Hong Kong	1-4	4-1				1	1
Group C
	Team	C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	W	L	Tiebreaker
C1	Xi’an					2-3		1
C2	Wuxi					4-1	1
C3	Luoyang				2-3			1
C4	Shanghai			3-2			1
C5	CQ Pengshui	3-2	1-4				1	1
Group D
	Team	D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	W	L	Tiebreaker
D1	Dongguan Youth					5-0	1
D2	Inner Mongolia					3-2	1
D3	Guizhou				1-4			1
D4	Henan			4-1			1
D5	Sichuan	0-5	2-3					2
Group E
	Team	E1	E2	E3	E4	E5	W	L	Tiebreaker
E1	Shaanxi					5-0	1
E2	Urumqi					1-4		1
E3	Xinjiang				5-0		1
E4	CBSA Academy			0-5				1
E5	Sichuan NSD	0-5	4-1				1	1
Group F
	Team	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	W	L	Tiebreaker
F1	Dongguan					4-1	1
F2	Anshan					4-1	1
F3	Macau				3-2		1
F4	Gansu			2-3				1
F5	Zibo	1-4	1-4					2
Group G
	Team	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	W	L	Tiebreaker
G1	Xianyang					tbc
G2	Tibet					5-0	1
G3	Nanchang Xihu				3-2		1
G4	Shanxi			2-3				1
G5	Haining	tbc	0-5					1
Group H
	Team	H1	H2	H3	H4	H5	W	L	Tiebreaker
H1	Jiujiang Tianxi					5-0	1
H2	Jilin City					4-1	1
H3	Lanzhou				5-0		1
H4	Ningbo			0-5				1
H5	Jiaxing	0-5	1-4					2

And those are the teams

Total Teams: 40	Team Members
Shaanxi	Fan Zhengyi	Mei Xiwen	Lei Peifan
Henan	Zhang Yang	Ma Feite	Liu Yiqi
Shanxi	Zhao Wei	Han Bin	Zhang Rui
Xinjiang	Ma Chunmao	Paruke Aierken	Yuan Jiming
Sichuan	Hao Jin	Wang Li	Au Chi Wai
Guangdong	Ma Hailong	Liu Wenwei	Lee Chen Man
Gansu	Du Jiantao	Hu Yihong	Zhang Yinhu
Inner Mongolia	Chen Xiaolong	Deng Fuyi	Cheng Sihong
Tibet	Fan Jinxing	Li Chengjie	Feng Yu
Guizhou	Zhang Xibing	Wu Xiang	Song Liang
Beijing	Xu Xinjian	Fu Jing	Tu Xuan
Shanghai	Ma Geng	Wang Jianxin	Liao Binjun
Chongqing	Han Fuyuan	Cao Jin	Zheng Dian
Ningbo	Wang Jinjing	Yang Guanjun	Gao Nuocheng
Dalian	Tuergongjiang	Ababaikeri	Xiaokaiti
Macau	Lee Git Ming	Leung Wai Hou	Lan Yuhao
Hong Kong	Marco Fu	Cheung Ka Wai	Wang Yuchen
Xi’an	Wang Zepeng	Zhang Anda	Jin Peng
Wuhan	Yu Chao	Wang Peng	Hu Bin
Zhengzhou	Liu Yunlong	Gao Yu	Wang Lige
Urumqi	Zhao Yafei	Rouzi Maimaiti	Tuerhong Reheman
Lanzhou	Fan Xin	Halimilati Mijiti	Li Yang
Dongguan	Liang Xiaolong	Liu Hongyu	Zhang Yitu
Dongguan Youth	Bai Yulu	Deng Haohui	Li Jianbing
Mianyang	Chen Ruifu	Jin Long	Yuan Sijun
Anshan	Liang Dong	Luo Guangsheng	Jin Di
Jilin City	Pu Qingsong	Chen Qiyu	Cui Ming
Luoyang	Huang Yanqi	Lei Zhenyu	Tian Ruyi
Suzhou	Cao Yupeng	Chen Feilong	Yao Pengcheng
Wuxi	Liu Chuang	Hu Hao	Li Yan
Xianyang	Xiao Guodong	Qiu Yalong	Yang Jiaxin
Zibo	Han Qing	Zhang Jun	Li Nan
Jiaxing	Xiang Xun	Wu Zhefan	Zhang Yajun
Chongqing Pengshui	Xu Yuan	Luo Junhao	Yin Xiaowei
Nanchang Xihu	Dong Zihao	Pan Yiming	Yao Dongcheng
Haining	Gao Yun	Huang Lijun	Qiao Tianhao
CBSA Academy	Liao Pengbo	Xu Yang	Sun Wenchao
Hainan ZSD	Zhang Jiajian	Xu Fuyuan	Ma Huiming
Jiujiang Tianxi	Jureti	Gong Chenzhi	Gao Yang
Sichaun NSD	Liu Yuan	Huang Yanyun	Jian Long

Team Shaanxi, represented by Fan Zhengyi, Lei Peifan and Mei Xiwen, is the defending Champion. They were in action in today’s evening session, on the main table. This evening session actually started with the official Opening Ceremony. All teams were introduced into the arena, guided by ladies in beautiful traditional dresses. As usual, there were speeches by officials and the presentation of the trophy, before the action started on the tables.

I was able to watch it on stream and took a few screenshots of the ceremony …

as well as from the opening match of the defending team

Fan Zhengyi was extremely tense and nervous at the start of the match and couldn’t pot a ball for the first ten minutes or so … but still managed to win the first frame somehow and played much better after that. Mei Xiwen is very sound tactically. Shaanxi won by 5-0.

The format of this event is quite interesting …

Each match at the group stage is played over 5 frames. It doesn’t matter if a team has already won the match, all five frames are played and count. Frames 1,2,4 and 5 are “normal” frames, frame 3 is played as a “double” with alternate shots. Each player is involved in two frames.

I would like this type of format being used by WPBSA/WST for the World Cup round robin phase.

Main Tour News – August, 6, 2023

August 6, 2023August 6, 2023 Monique Professional snooker tournament, Tour News News, Professional snooker, Tour

WST has published the draw and format for the 2023 European Masters in Nuremberg

Si draws Doherty in Nuremberg

World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui will lock horns with 1997 World Champion Ken Doherty at the BetVictor European Masters later this month in Nuremberg, following the completion of the second-round draw.

The Darling of Dublin has been handed a tough assignment against the Chinese sensation, who reached the quarter-finals at last year’s tournament, after the pair advanced through July’s qualifying event in Leicester.

Elsewhere, there’s an all-Welsh clash as Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens go head-to-head. And 12-time Women’s World Champion Reanne Evans plays David Gilbert.

The top eight seeds, including Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, are yet to play their first-round matches, with their ties being held over until the opening day at the Kia Metropol Arena. …

Kyren Wilson won the title last season, beating Barry Hawkins 9-3 in the final, and his first-round match is against Scotland’s Dean Young, one of eight players to make it through this summer’s Q School.

For the full draw click here

For the provisional playing format click here

The tournament runs from Tuesday August 22nd to Sunday August 27th and will be broadcast across the world on the following platforms:

UK & Europe – Eurosport

China – Rigour, Liaoning TV, Migu, Youku, Huya.com

HK – PCCW

Malaysia & Brunei – Astro

Philippines – Tap

Taiwan – Sportscast

Thailand – Truesport

This event has a random draw in the early stages.

Jason Ferguson promises more events this season in an interview reported on by Phil Haigh

More events to be added to World Snooker Tour calendar this season, confirms Jason Ferguson

Phil Haigh Tuesday 1 Aug 2023 3:57 pm

Jason Ferguson has been working on more international events (Picture: Getty Images)

The World Snooker Tour calendar for this season is not complete yet, with more events set to be added, confirmed WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson.

After three pandemic-hit seasons, there has been an encouraging return to China for this campaign, with the Shanghai Masters, Wuhan Open and International Championship on the calendar after no events in the country since 2019.

This was welcome news for players who had felt earning opportunities were frustratingly low with the loss of the big-money Chinese events due to Covid.

Ferguson says there will be more good news to come too, with gaps in the calendar later in the season promised to be filled.

March is currently a quiet time of the season, with the Six Red World Championship running from 4-9 and the World Mixed Doubles from 30-31, but we can expect at least one event to fill that void.

‘We’ve so many opportunities on the go at the moment,’ Ferguson told Metro.co.uk. ‘There’s a lot going on in the Far East, the Middle East, Europe.

‘We’re probably going to run out of dates rather than events, the way things are going. It’s already getting to that point now, where we’re looking at longer term calendars and we’re becoming very tight for space for major events, which is great.

‘We’re not finished this season. There’s a few gaps in March which will be filled in so there’s still more to come. Lots going on. What we’re trying to do is put bigger events on. You can put events on just to fill gaps but we’re really trying to up the game.’

There is hope that there will be expansion in Europe as well as China, especially given the remarkable World Championship success of Belgian superstar Luca Brecel.

The thrilling triumph for the 28-year-old over Mark Selby in the Crucible final will hopefully create a surge of popularity in snooker in Belgium, ideally leading to a major event in the country.

Ferguson confirms that discussions are ongoing, as they are with numerous countries, but details on progress are light at this stage.

Luca Brecel’s World Championship win should usher in a wave of popularity in snooker in Belgium (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I’m excited about the international space for snooker, it’s growing a lot,’ he said. ‘It’s pleasing for me as someone who’s been out on the frontline, pushing it in every corner of the world, it’s great to see how it’s expanding.

‘Belgium is one of the territories we’re talking to and there’s ongoing discussions all over Europe.’

There is something of a gap in the WST calendar right now as European Masters qualifiers finished on 29 July and British Open qualifying begins on 14 August.

Snooker was ALWAYS popular in Belgium. Our Federation is quite big actually considering that Belgium is a small country. The likes of Ben Mertens and Julien Leclercq don’t develop overnight. Only this week there has been a national 6-reds Soot-out event … which was the perfect fun event for this time of the year!

Let’s hope that Jason’s promises translate in actual events, and preferably, not events hosted by countries where snooker is barely ever played but are after sports-washing.

2023 CBSA National Team Event

August 6, 2023August 6, 2023 Monique Snooker Snooker Legends

There are 40 teams involved in this event. It’s a very important event in the CBSA calendar and players can’t really refuse to play if they were chosen to represent their region.

Here are the teams and their members.

I have put the current main tour players that I identified in bold. There are also several former pros in this competition. Bai Yulu is competing too. Bai Yulu is eligible for the Q-Tour but will certainly miss the first events as she has been chosen to represent China in Russia, where the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South-Africa – have a multi sport event, including a snooker competition. (*)

Total Teams: 40	Team Members
Shaanxi	Fan Zhengyi	Mei Xiwen	Lei Peifan
Henan	Zhang Yang	Ma Feite	Liu Yiqi
Shanxi	Zhao Wei	Han Bin	Zhang Rui
Xinjiang	Ma Chunmao	Paruke Aierken	Yuan Jiming
Sichuan	Hao Jin	Wang Li	Au Chi Wai
Guangdong	Ma Hailong	Liu Wenwei	Lee Chen Man
Gansu	Du Jiantao	Hu Yihong	Zhang Yinhu
Inner Mongolia	Chen Xiaolong	Deng Fuyi	Cheng Sihong
Tibet	Fan Jinxing	Li Chengjie	Feng Yu
Guizhou	Zhang Xibing	Wu Xiang	Song Liang
Beijing	Xu Xinjian	Fu Jing	Tu Xuan
Shanghai	Ma Geng	Wang Jianxin	Liao Binjun
Chongqing	Han Fuyuan	Cao Jin	Zheng Dian
Ningbo	Wang Jinjing	Yang Guanjun	Gao Nuocheng
Dalian	Tuergongjiang	Ababaikeri	Xiaokaiti
Macau	Lee Git Ming	Leung Wai Hou	Lan Yuhao
Hong Kong	Marco Fu	Cheung Ka Wai	Wang Yuchen
Xi’an	Wang Zepeng	Zhang Anda	Jin Peng
Wuhan	Yu Chao	Wang Peng	Hu Bin
Zhengzhou	Liu Yunlong	Gao Yu	Wang Lige
Urumqi	Zhao Yafei	Rouzi Maimaiti	Tuerhong Reheman
Lanzhou	Fan Xin	Halimilati Mijiti	Li Yang
Dongguan	Liang Xiaolong	Liu Hongyu	Zhang Yitu
Dongguan Youth	Bai Yulu	Deng Haohui	Li Jianbing
Mianyang	Chen Ruifu	Jin Long	Yuan Sijun
Anshan	Liang Dong	Luo Guangsheng	Jin Di
Jilin City	Pu Qingsong	Chen Qiyu	Cui Ming
Luoyang	Huang Yanqi	Lei Zhenyu	Tian Ruyi
Suzhou	Cao Yupeng	Chen Feilong	Yao Pengcheng
Wuxi	Liu Chuang	Hu Hao	Li Yan
Xianyang	Xiao Guodong	Qiu Yalong	Yang Jiaxin
Zibo	Han Qing	Zhang Jun	Li Nan
Jiaxing	Xiang Xun	Wu Zhefan	Zhang Yajun
Chongqing Pengshui	Xu Yuan	Luo Junhao	Yin Xiaowei
Nanchang Xihu	Dong Zihao	Pan Yiming	Yao Dongcheng
Haining	Gao Yun	Huang Lijun	Qiao Tianhao
CBSA Academy	Liao Pengbo	Xu Yang	Sun Wenchao
Hainan ZSD	Zhang Jiajian	Xu Fuyuan	Ma Huiming
Jiujiang Tianxi	Jureti	Gong Chenzhi	Gao Yang
Sichaun NSD	Liu Yuan	Huang Yanyun	Jian Long

The group stage involves 8 groups of 5 teams

Those are the Groups and their current standings:

August 6-10, Xinghe Arena, Xi’an, Shaanxi
Group A
	Team	A1	A2	A3	A4	A5	W	L	Tiebreaker
A1	Mianyang
A2	Hainan ZSD					4-1	1
A3	Chongqing
A4	Dalian
A5	Zhengzhou		1-4					1
Group B
	Team	B1	B2	B3	B4	B5	W	L	Tiebreaker
B1	Suzhou
B2	Wuhan					1-4		1
B3	Beijing
B4	Guangdong
B5	Hong Kong		4-1				1
Group C
	Team	C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	W	L	Tiebreaker
C1	Xi’an
C2	Wuxi					4-1	1
C3	Luoyang
C4	Shanghai
C5	CQ Pengshui		1-4					1
Group D
	Team	D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	W	L	Tiebreaker
D1	Dongguan Y
D2	Inner Mongolia					3-2	1
D3	Guizhou
D4	Henan
D5	Sichuan		2-3					1
Group E
	Team	E1	E2	E3	E4	E5	W	L	Tiebreaker
E1	Shaanxi
E2	Urumqi					1-4		1
E3	Xinjiang
E4	CBSA Academy
E5	Sichuan NSD		4-1				1
Group F
	Team	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	W	L	Tiebreaker
F1	Dongguan
F2	Anshan					4-1	1
F3	Macau
F4	Gansu
F5	Zibo		1-4					1
Group G
	Team	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	W	L	Tiebreaker
G1	Xianyang
G2	Tibet					5-0	1
G3	Nanchang Xihu
G4	Shanxi
G5	Haining		0-5					1
Group H
	Team	H1	H2	H3	H4	H5	W	L	Tiebreaker
H1	Jiujiang Tianxi
H2	Jilin City					4-1	1
H3	Lanzhou
H4	Ningbo
H5	Jiaxing		1-4					1

And this is the event schedule with prize money

Schedule			HB: 5,000 CNY
Group Stage (5 frames per match)			147: 14,700 CNY
Match 1	2023/08/06 10:00:00	2 vs 5	Current Highest Break
Match 2	2023/08/06 14:00:00	3 vs 4	Hong Kong 129
Match 3	2023/08/06 19:30:00	1 vs 5
Match 4	2023/08/07 10:00:00	2 vs 3
Match 5	2023/08/07 14:00:00	1 vs 4
Match 6	2023/08/07 19:00:00	3 vs 5
Match 7	2023/08/08 10:00:00	1 vs 3
Match 8	2023/08/08 14:00:00	2 vs 4
Match 9	2023/08/08 19:00:00	1 vs 2
Match 10	2023/08/09 10:00:00	4 vs 5
Round of 16 (Bo7)			Losers: 9,375 CNY
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
	2023/08/09 14:00:00
QF (Bo7)			Losers: 18,750 CNY
	2023/08/09 19:00:00
	2023/08/09 19:00:00
	2023/08/09 19:00:00
	2023/08/09 19:00:00
SF (Bo7)			Losers: 37,500 CNY
	2023/08/10 10:00:00
	2023/08/10 10:00:00
Final (Bo7)			Loser: 75,000 CNY
	2023/08/10 15:00:00		Winner: 150,000 CNY

My source here is Sinosports.

I will try to follow the event as it unfolds and provide updates.

(*) not the most democratic countries club I’m afraid

Judd Trump wins the 2023 CBSA Huangguoshu Event

August 5, 2023 Monique Amateur, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker Amateur, Professional snooker, Snooker

Judd Trump has beaten John Higgins by 5-1 to win the 2023 CBSA Huangguoshu Event.

Congratulations Judd Trump!

Earlier today, the semi finals were played and here are the results, with frames scores:

Kyren will be gutted because he dominated the early stages of the match and he had a clear opportunity to win by 4-2. He was unlucky with a split of the pack in frame 6: he went in-off if I remember correctly, or maybe he knocked in a red accidentally, I’m not sure anymore. Anyway, he committed a foul, Judd came back at the table and the rest is history

Here are a couple of images of the Yuan v Higgins match

The final was a one-sided affair. It was played as a best of 9, without interval.

Here are some images of the ceremony, and Judd’s press conference, most of them shared on weibo, plus some shared by Victoria Shi on twitter

John Higgins had some consolation as he won the HB prize, for a 143.

The video below, shared by a fan and taken from their seat in the audience shows the final minutes of that 143 break. It was made during the first frame of his SF match in today’s first session.

CBSA Tour – Huangguoshu – Day 4 and some score sheets

August 4, 2023 Monique Amateur, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker Amateur, Professional snooker, Snooker

Two rounds were played today in Huangguoshu, the last 16 and the QFs.

Here is what happened and what awaits us tomorrow

Thanks to a Chinese fan I follow on weibo …

Here are some of the detailed scores:

From yesterday…

And today – Judd Trump last 16 and the QFs

Zhao Hanyang was the only quarter-finalist who isn’t a main tour professional player.

The score of the Wilson v Allen match surprised me a bit.

Also some images of the venue and action

From this, it seems that the main table is in one room and the three other tables in another room. Both room with seats for spectators. The main table has seats on three sides.

I didn’t see much of today’s action. Judd Trump looked very strong against Cao Yupeng.

CBSA Tour – Huangguoshu – Day 3

August 3, 2023August 3, 2023 Monique Snooker

Those were today’s results at the 2023 Huangguoshu CBSA event as well as the draw for the last 16 round, to be played tomorrow morning and afternoon local time.

Jack Lisowski was really poor in his match against Tu Xuan. I can only suppose that he suffered from heavy jet lag. His concentration was all over the place, the didn’t think clearly and his safety was terrible.

Mark Allen and Judd Trump on the other hand played really well. Yao Dongcheng showed some really good snooker and managed to win a frame against Mark. It was nice to see Mark taking time to speak to his young opponent. I couldn’t hear was Mark said but his body language and expressions suggest that he was congratulating and encouraging Yao.

Judd Trump made light work of his match. In frame 3 (or was it frame 2?) he potted ten reds with blacks but failed to get good position after splitting what was left of the pack and his maximum attempt ended at 80.

It was announced that fans would get the opportunity to take pictures with the players, and indeed, the stream remained active long enough to show them gathering near the players at the end of Judd’s match.

Stephen Hendry had been well beaten earlier in the day, but a video emerged of a short interview where he expresses his pleasure to be in China again after the hiatus caused by the covid crisis:

And some more pictures have emerged of course …

Kyren Wilson was particular impressed by the “Waterfalls light-show”. Some images of that spectacle are shown on the stream between matches … it is impressive and beautiful indeed.

Tomorrow evening (in China) the last 16 round will be played and it could well yield a Mark Williams v John Higgins QF as well as a Mark Allen v Kyren Wilson QF.

Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson have played each other 16 times and the head-to-head is 8-8. However Mark has won their last three encounters. Kyren hasn’t beaten him since 2018. (source Cuetracker.net)

As for Mark Williams and John Higgins, excluding 6-reds and premier league events, they have played each other 37 times, Higgins leading by 19-18 but it’s Williams who won their last encounter. Their head-to-head in finals is 4-4 … this could be interesting. (source Cuetracker.net)

CBSA Tour – Huangguoshu – Day 2 and 2023 Shanghai Masters News

August 2, 2023August 2, 2023 Monique Amateur, Professional snooker tournament, Snooker Amateur, Professional snooker, Snooker

Today’s results and tomorrow’s draw

The round of 64 concluded today in Huangguoshu and here are today’s results

Overall matches went as expected. Ryan Day is the only UK professional players who failed to reach the second round. That said it was far from straightforward for Stephen Hendry who won on the last pink in the decider. Stephen will not be happy with his performance, but his fans will be happy to see him fight the way he did and not surrender to frustration. The other match I watched was “a walk in the park” as Kyren Wilson totally dominated his young opponent from Hong Kong.

The round of 32 will be played to a conclusion tomorrow. The matches are still best of 7. Here is the draw:

There are some interesting matches there… Kyren Wilson’s opponent, Li Yan has been competing on the main tour from 2011 to 2014. His professional career was probably not as successful as it could have been because of some very serious health issues. I’m glad that he’s able to play again.

Some Shanghai Masters related news …

These informations come from weibo.

After some problems with the preparation all is well: it has been confirmed that the 2023 Shanghai Masters will go ahead, starting on 11th of September, 2023, at the Wanti Stadium. The list of referees for the event has been announced as well. Two popular female referees, Zhou Ying and Peggy Li (Li An), will officiate at the event.

Also this poster has been shared…

This exhibition event is scheduled on the 9th of September, 2023, featuring Ronnie, Jimmy, Zhou Yuelong and Bai Yulu. This is good news in more ways than just one… it means that Ronnie will travel to Shanghai early and, hopefully, will be able to get over the worse of the jet lag before the tournament starts. Ronnie is the defending champion.

I’m not sure where they found the pictures but that’s a very young Ronnie on that poster !!!