Amateur snooker players vie for Shanghai Masters wildcard entry

The 2024 snooker Shanghai Masters Wildcard Qualifier began on Friday at the CITIC Pacific Plaza on downtown Nanjing Road W., attracting amateur players from across the country.

This year's Shanghai Masters will be held at Shanghai Gymnasium from July 15 to 21. Using a 24-entry invitational format, the tournament will bring together the world's 16 top-ranked players, including Ronnie "Rocket" O'Sullivan and China's greatest professionals, led by Ding Junhui.

To encourage public participation, the tournament has set aside four wildcards, two of which have already been handed to China Billiards Association's top two ranked youth players, Wang Xinbo and Zhou Jinhao, with the remaining two will be handed out through the ongoing qualifying.

The qualifying has two disciplines: snake snooker (a common practice format for professionals) and one-point-win. Snake snooker is best suited to amateurs with good fundamental skills, whereas one-point-win suits those with strong mental fortitude.

Participants can pick either discipline. After two preliminary rounds, 14 snake snooker players and two one-point-winners will advance to the six-red playoff round on July 12 and 13. The two eventual winners will receive wildcards to the Shanghai Masters.

"I see a lot of amateur player friends here, and it's almost like a gathering for us," snooker fan Zhou Changfu told Shanghai Daily.

Zhou, 46, has been playing snooker for 30 years and co-owns a club in Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province. In 2017, he finished second in the national amateur snooker masters competition.

"Snooker is the hardest billiards game, requiring a lot of practice to polish basic skills," he said.

"Both Shanghai and Suzhou have a wonderful snooker atmosphere. The Shanghai Masters invites the world's top players here, and I have participated in professional-amateur interactions with British player Shaun Murphy.