Snooker World Championship: Ding Junhui heads 10-man Chinese force planning Sheffield raid
- Ten more mainland players say no to the Crucible tournament
- Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee and Andy Lee yet to decide on participation in qualifiers
Ding Junhui will lead a 10-member China legion to the snooker World Championships in England next month, but at least 10 more of the mainland entourage will not join as the pandemic continues to be a massive concern in the UK.
Reports in the mainland said Ding, who is still looking for his first world title after twice reaching the final, has already booked his ticket to England, where he will need to go through a 14-day quarantine before the July 31-August 16 tournament kicks off at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The world No 10 will leave Shanghai next week and will be joined by the talented Yan Bingtao, the world No 16 as the two Chinese players in the main draw that features top 16 players.
However, the next three highest ranking players from China have all turned their back on the major including Zhou Yuelong (world No 22), Xiao Guodong (world No 28) and Zhao Xintong (world No 29), although they would have been placed in the qualifiers to compete for the remaining 16 slots in the main draw.
Ding, Zhou and Xiao, along with other Chinese professionals, fled England in mid-March after organisers decided the 2020 world event would be postponed from April to July due to the pandemic.
Ding finally touched down in Shenyang in northern China after five previous plane ticket bookings had been cancelled. Zhou and Xiao made it back to China through Hong Kong and Shanghai respectively as thousands of Chinese and Hong Kong residents rushed home to avoid the coronavirus outbreak in England.
Zhou, who warned his fellow countrymen the threat of the pandemic during the Gibraltar Open in March, said he was fortunate to arrive in Hong Kong the day before all arrivals from England would require a 14-day quarantine. He then went through the Shenzhen Bay Port before returning to his home in Sichuan.
Other Chinese players that will start in the qualifiers are Lyu Haotian, Liang Wenbo, Lu Ning, Luo Honghao, Tian Pengfei, Fan Zhengyi, Chen Feilong and Si Jiahui, according to reports in the mainland.
Hong Kong No 1 Marco Fu Ka-chun decided not to take part in the tournament this year because of the epidemic. The world No 50 is still troubled by the eye problems that almost ended his career two years ago.
The Hong Kong Billiard Sport Control Council, meanwhile, said their two other players – Ng On-yee and Andy Lee Chun-wai – had yet to decide if they would take part in the qualifiers. The Hong Kong Sports Institute, where the two players are based, has warned that players should not go to England if the 14-day quarantine still applies.
Ng made it to the qualifiers as one of the top three players on the women’s tour while Lee, who has a ranking of 102, will start in the first qualifying round that consists of the 48 players ranked between 81 and 128.
