The 2019 China Championship (officially the 2019 Evergrande China Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 23 to 29 September 2019. The event was held at the Guangzhou Tianhe Sports Centre in Guangzhou, China. Qualifying for the event took place from 15 to 18 August 2019 at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England. The tournament was the fourth edition of the China Championship and the third ranking event of the 2019/2020 season.
The 2019 China Championship was the fourth edition of the China Championship, first held in 2016.[1][2] The event featured 64 players with a wildcard and qualifying round.[3] Matches were played as best-of-9-frames until the semi-finals. At the semi-final stage, both matches were played as best-of-11-frames, and the two session final as best-of-19-frames.[4]
Prize fund
The event featured a total prize fund of £751,000, with the winner receiving £150,000.[5] This was slightly higher than the 2018 prize fund of £725,000 with the same denomination for the winner.[6] A breakdown of prize money at the event is shown below:[5]
Qualifying for the event was played over one round, and a pre-qualifier wildcard round. Qualifying took place between 15 and 18 August 2019 at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England featuring 64 matches. Participants included players on the World Snooker Tour and invited amateur players.[3][7]
Defending champion Mark Selby won his opening first round match, defeating Chen Feilong.[8] Selby trailed 1–2, before Selby won three of the next four to win the match 5–3.[8] Selby defeated Martin Gould, and then Chris Wakelin both 5–2 to reach the quarter-finals.[4] Three-time world champion Mark Williams defeated Kishan Hirani in an all Welsh opening round match 5–1.[9] Williams defeated Luo Honghao and Luca Brecel to reach the quarter-finals.[4] Former world champion Graeme Dott lost on a deciding frame to Norwegian Kurt Maflin during the first round 5–4.[9] Maflin then defeated Jordan Brown to play four-time world champion John Higgins. Four-time world champion Higgins led their match 3–0, before Maflin won five frames in-a-row to win the match, and reach the quarter-finals.[10][11]
The quarter-finals were played on 27 September.[14] Defending champion Selby played Hawkins in the first quarter-final. The pair were always within one frame between scores, and were tied at 4–4. Selby made match's highest break of 98 in the deciding frame to claim a 5–4 victory.[15] Shaun Murphy drew Kurt Maflin,[16] Murphy lead the match throughout and won 5–2.[17] Having defeated the reigning world champion in the round prior, Joe Perry was defeated by Hossein Vafaei. In winning the match, Vafaei reached only his third ranking semi-final.[17] In the last quarter-final match, Mark Williams defeated David Gilbert 5–1.[15][17]
The semi-finals were played on 28 September, as best-of-11-frames matches.[14][18][19] The first match had Murphy defeat Selby. Murphy won the first three frames of the match, before Selby won three of the next four with breaks of 100, and 101.[20] Murphy won the next two frames to win the match 6–3.[20][21] The second semi-final was contested between Vafaei and Williams. Vafaei had never played in a ranking event final, but reached this stage at the 2017 China Open, and the 2019 Welsh Open.[22][23] Williams had lost only six frames in the prior five matches.[22] Williams won the first three frames, and four of the first five to lead 4–1, before Vafaei made a 134 break to trail 4–2. Williams won frame seven, to be one away from victory, but Vafaei won three frames in-a-row to take the match to a deciding frame.[22][23] Williams made a thin cut, and made a 96 break to win the match. He later commented, "[he] could play that another 20 times and [he] wouldn't get it".[23]
The final was played on 29 September, a best-of-19-frames match played over two sessions.[14][18] The final was contested between Shaun Murphy (who had defeated Yuan Sijun, Ryan Day, Matthew Selt, Kurt Maflin and Mark Selby to reach the final), and Mark Williams (who defeated Kishan Hirani, Luo Honghao, Luca Brecel, David Gilbert, and Hossein Vafaei).[24] This was Williams' 35th ranking event final,[23] event final and Murphy's 20th.[25] Murphy had reached the final of both of the prior two tournaments, the International Championship and the Shanghai Masters, but had not won any of his prior five tournament finals. Williams, in comparison, had won all of his last five finals.[23][24][26]
The first session ended 5–4 in favour of Murphy, with Williams tying the match in frame 10.[10] Murphy made breaks of 75, 76, 103 and 79 in four consecutive frames to lead 9–5.[10][24][26] With his opponent one frame from winning the event, Williams won the next four frames, including a break of 132 in frame 18 to force a deciding frame. Murphy was the first player to get a chance in the frame, scoring 69, enough to force Williams to require a snooker. Williams made a break of 30, and attempted to play a snooker. However, Murphy potted the last remaining red ball to win the frame and match.[10][26] After his win, he would comment that the break in the deciding frame was "one of the best breaks of [his] life".[10] Murphy's last victory was over 18 months prior, and had struggled during the 2018/19 season, which he called the "worst run" of his career.[26]
Main draw
The main draw of the event featured 64 players. Players in bold denote match winners.[4]
There were a total of 58 century breaks made during the tournament. Mark Allen made the highest break of the event, a 145.[27] The break was made in frame five of the first round win over Anthony Hamilton.[4] Three centuries were made in held over matches, two by Mark Selby and one by Judd Trump.
Mark Allen (NIR) (145)
Shaun Murphy (ENG)
Mark Williams (WAL)
