International Championship

Has Zhang won many events before then? Presumably a career high for either if they win. Well done to Zhang anyway.

(11-11-2023 15:40 )Joannis Wrote:  Zhang Anda and Tom Ford have never played each other in a professional tournament, and whoever wins tomorrow will get to play in next week's Champion of Champions.

Which in turn now means Ding Junhui has seen his hopes of a spot in the COC event dashed. He needed an O'Sullivan win to deal a place.

According to the WST website, Zhang Anda has been a professional since 2009/10 season but the closest he's ever come to winning something as a professional was this year's English Open.

(11-11-2023 16:32 )Snooks Wrote:  

(11-11-2023 15:40 )Joannis Wrote:  Zhang Anda and Tom Ford have never played each other in a professional tournament, and whoever wins tomorrow will get to play in next week's Champion of Champions.

Which in turn now means Ding Junhui has seen his hopes of a spot in the COC event dashed. He needed an O'Sullivan win to deal a place.

He should have tried harder to just win a bloody tournament if he was all that bothered. It's not like there aren't easy ones to pick off for someone of his calibre. He really should pull his finger out in the Home Nations, too.

Ding might get lucky and someone might pull out. But with the winner getting £150,000 I don't see it myself.

Zhang Anda made a fantastic 147 break in the third frame to go 2-1 up but he only has a slender 5-4 lead after the first session.

I can't watch the final session live as I'm going to the pub to watch West Ham v Forest. I'll have to catch the highlights later on Eurosport or Discovery Plus.

Tom Ford started the final session well, winning the 10th frame emphatically to level the scores at 5-5. But after that Zhang Anda bossed the match. Zhang comfortably ran out a 10-6 winner to win his first major title.

Perhaps Ford's form this season will break the dam at some point. Well done to Zhang, though, also in the form of his life.

The International Championship from Nanjing in China will be televised on Eurosport from tomorrow. Ronnie O'Sullivan's qualifier is one of the held over ones that take place in Nanjing. If Ronnie turns up, his opponent will be Womens no.1 Mink Nutcharut. If Ronnie doesn't turn up and the match is awarded to Mink, she'll be the first woman to win 3 matches in the same season on the WST Tour.

Most of the qualifiers took place in Sheffield from 1-3 October. No real surprises. Ford and Milkins made their usual early exits, Ford lost to Stan Moody, Milkins to Stuart Carrington. Jack Lisowski made a 108 break in the decider to beat Bulcsu Revesz 6-5.

Mark Selby won one frame 155-0 against Artemis Zizins, but it turns out he didn't make the elusive 155 break. Zizins made 12 points in fouls then Selby made a 143.

Although Thepchaiya Un-Nooh missed the final black and didn't make a 147, he's still recognised as the only player ever to make a 155 break; in a practice match against Hossein Vafaei. It was recognised because there is video evidence that he made it. Jamie Cope, a former Masters semi-finalist in 2011, claimed to have made a 155 in a witnessed practice match, but his claim is not officially recognised due to lack of credible evidence.

Ronnie won 6-3, but sounded gracious in victory.

Reanne Evans currently 2-2 against Ding Junhui, despite a top break of 22 (!)
Ding hasn't won a ranking event since 2019, which commentary seemed scornful of.

EDIT - sure they said it was 2-2, but he's now 5-0 up, so I guess they must have been mumbling about one of the other matches.

Yes Ronnie did turn up, but credit to Mink for taking 3 frames off him. Reanne Evans got whitewashed by Ding.

Zhang Anda beat Ishpreet 6-5, winning a closely fought decider on the pink.

Selby, Higgins and Gary Wilson all comfortably won their 2nd round matches. Pang Junxu won his 6-5 against Elliot Slessor, making a decisive 58 break in the decider.