World Snooker Championship: 10 Chinese players learn draw, Zhao Xintong to face Jak Jones
Two of China's hopefuls have been handed tough starts at the World Snooker Championship, with Lei Peifan drawn against defending champion Kyren Wilson and Zhou Yuelong to face Judd Trump.
Advertisement
There will be 10 Chinese players in the first round, which begins on Saturday, after seven won places in the final round of qualifiers in Sheffield late on Wednesday.
They include Zhao Xintong, who clinched his first return to Crucible Theatre since completing his ban for corruption offences. He will take on Jak Jones.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has been drawn against Ali Carter.
More to follow …
Advertisement
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
China's snooker players will be a major threat to UK dominance, says world No 12 Zhang Anda
Zhang Anda expects China to threaten British dominance of snooker in the coming years, after compatriot Zhao Xintong became the first Asian to win the World Snooker Championship last month. Advertisement Speaking ahead of an exhibition event starting in Hong Kong on Tuesday, the talented veteran said the game was only trending upwards in mainland China. When the 2025-26 season begins at the end of this month, there will be six Chinese players ranked inside the top 20, and 14 in the top 50 – second only to the 22 from the United Kingdom. 'I think we will be a threat,' the Guangdong native said. 'If you look at the trend, we are gradually doing that – there will be more Chinese players. 'I am sure there will be more world-class tournaments in Hong Kong, Macau and even mainland China in the future.' Advertisement Zhang, 33, won the only ranking title of his career at the International Championship in Tianjin in November 2023, and the world No 12 said he hoped to add one more ranking title to his name in the new season.
HKFP
6 days ago
- HKFP
Chinese fans savage football team again after latest World Cup flop
Fed-up Chinese football fans and pundits expressed dismay Friday after the country's World Cup dreams were torpedoed following a crushing qualifying defeat in Indonesia. President Xi Jinping has said he wanted China to win the World Cup one day but the latest flop means they have only ever played there once, in 2002, when they failed to get a point or score a goal. The 1-0 defeat in Jakarta on Thursday left them rooted to the foot of Asian qualifying Group C with seven losses in nine games. They have conceded 20 goals. Football commentator Zhan Jun said Branko Ivankovic's men lost 'due to lack of experience, lack of ability and poor handling of details'. The Croatian coach's tactics were 'not suitable for the team' and put too much pressure on defensive midfielder Wang Shangyuan, Zhan wrote on the Weibo social media site. Veteran pundit Ji Yuyang complained that Ivankovic's leadership had let the team down and that the coach was 'not as good as several of his predecessors'. 'In their group the Chinese team lost the most games and conceded the most goals,' Ji noted on Weibo. China's long-suffering fans vented online. One said that 'these national players simply don't realise that the point of football is to kick the ball into the opponents' goal'. 'They only know how to stupidly chase the ball!' The national team has long been the butt of jokes and a target of derision in China both for its poor record and corruption in the sport. 'The last time the national team made it to the World Cup, I was in year six of primary school,' wrote another online. 'We might be able to make it by the time my grandchildren are in sixth grade.' Chinese people 'have long been emotionally prepared to be eliminated (from the World Cup),' one supporter said on Weibo. 'No matter how crappy you are, we will not give up our World Cup dream!' The national team play again on Tuesday in the southwestern city of Chongqing in what is now a dead rubber against similarly eliminated Bahrain.
RTHK
03-06-2025
- RTHK
Zheng ousted by Sabalenka in French Open
Zheng ousted by Sabalenka in French Open Zheng Qinwen of China falls in straight sets against Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open quarterfinals. Photo: Reuters World number one Aryna Sabalenka ended Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen's winning streak on the Paris clay with a straight-sets victory on Tuesday to seal herself a spot in the French Open semifinals. Sabalenka next faces three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland who posted a straight-sets victory over 13th seed Elina Svitolina. The top seed from Belarus won through 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 against the Chinese eighth seed in just under two hours on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 27-year-old fought back after struggling in the first set against Zheng, who had beaten her in the last eight on clay in Rome last month, extending her record against the Chinese player to 7-1. "The last tournament I was pretty exhausted," said Sabalenka. "Today I was more fresh I was ready to battle, to fight and give everything. "Honestly, I was actually glad that I lost that match because I needed a little break before Roland Garros." Zheng broke and led 4-2 in the first set. But numerous unforced errors – 31 in total – allowed the Belarusian to come back. The second set was also tight before Sabalenka broke back to lead 4-3, taking advantage of her opponent's errors. Sabalenka converted her first match point on a poorly-controlled drop-shot from Zheng to reach her seventh semifinal of the season. In another quarterfinal, Swiatek bested the former world number three Svitolina of Ukraine 6-1, 7-5 in just over 90 minutes to continue her bid to equal a 102-year record by winning four successive French Open titles. (AFP)
