THE snooker calendar rolls on again this weekend as the world’s top players return to China.
The International Championship starts on November 3 and is the eighth ranking snooker event of the season, with huge prize money up for grabs in Nanjing.
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Fresh off his dominant win at the Northern Ireland Open, reigning world champion Kyren Wilson is in action on the first day as he has to play a held over qualifier.
World No 1 Judd Trump, who lost that final in Belfast, also returns to face Sanderson Lam in the first round, while defending champion Zhang Anda – who scored a 147 in last year’s final – still needs to qualify.
Inevitably, all eyes will be on Ronnie O’Sullivan as he’ll be one of the hot favourites to take home the International Championship crown
But the Rocket has not been seen at the tables since the English Open in mid-September, where he suffered a shock defeat to He Guoqiang in Brentwood, citing medical reasons behind recent withdrawals.
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When is the International Championship snooker 2024?
- The International Championship 2024 will take place in Nanjing, China and got underway on Sunday, November 3.
- The final takes place on Sunday, November 10.
- The entire event takes place at the South New City National Fitness Centre.
- Session times in the early rounds are at 1.30am, 6.30am and 11.30am (all GMT).
What TV channel is the International Championship snooker 2024 on and can it be live streamed?
- The entire tournament will be shown on Eurosport in the UK.
- It is also possible to live stream the action via the Discovery+ website/app.
- Alternatively, SunSport will provide daily LIVE coverage of the tournament.
International Championship snooker 2024 format
- All matches will be best of 11 frames (first to six) until the quarter-finals.
- The semi finals will be best of 17 (first to nine) and played over two sessions
- The final is also played over two sessions and is best of 19 (first to 10).
International Championship snooker 2024 schedule / results
Sunday, November 3 (last 64 unless stated)
- Zhang Anda 6-5 Ishpreet Chadha (qualifier)
- David Grave 6-2 Jinhao Zhou (qualifier)
- Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-3 Mink Nutcharut (qualifier)
- Ali Carter 6-1 Wei Cai (qualifier)
- Si Jiahui 6-4 Andrew Pagett (qualifier)
- Noppon Saengkham 6-3 Xinbo Wang (qualifier)
- Ding Junhui 6-0 Reanne Evans (qualifier)
- Hossein Vafaei 6-4 Dian Zheng (qualifier)
- Kyren Wilson 6-0 Mitchell Mann (qualifier)
- Haydon Pinhey 4-6 Lyu Haotian
- Simon Blackwell 5-6 Matthew Stevens
- John Higgins 6-4 Ben Woollaston
- Zark Surety 0-6 Chris Wakelin
- Pang Junxu 6-5 Elliot Slessor
- Ricky Walden 0-6 Xiao Guodong
- Stan Moody 5-6 Xu Si
- Ryan Day 6-3 Daniel Wormesley
- Robbie Williams 6-3 Stuart Carrington
- Dean Young 4-6 Gary Wilson
- Jamie Clarke 4-6 Mark Selby
- Jiang Jun 6-5 Amir Sarkhosh
Monday, November 4 (last 64 unless stated)
- Judd Trump 6-0 Sanderson Lam
- Anthony Hamilton 0-6 Shaun Murphy
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-0 Stuart Bingham
- Zhang Anda 6-3 David Grace
- Joe Perry 2-6 Barry Hawkins
- Andrew Higginson 3-6 Wu Yize
- Liu Hongyu 3-6 Kyren Wilson
- Mark Davis 0-6 Mark Williams
- Ben Mertens 3-6 Si Jiahui
- Gong Chenzhi v Jack Lisowski
- Jimmy Robertson v Noppon Saengkham
- Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-2 He Guoqiang
- Michael Holt v Yian Sijun
- Fan Zhengyi v Neil Robertson
- Ali Carter v Ross Muir
- Ding Junhui v Martin O’Donnell
- Hossein Vafaei v Dylan Emery
- David Gilbert v Jackson Page
- Joe O’Connor v Anthony McGill
- Aaron Hill v Mark Allen
Tuesday, November 5 (last 32)
Wednesday, November 6 (last 16)
Thursday, November 7 (quarter-finals)
Friday, November 8 (semi-finals)
Saturday, November 9 (semi-finals)
Sunday, November 10 (final)
What is the prize money for the International Championship snooker 2024?
The tournament in China is one of the richer events on the circuit, with a total prize pot of £825,000.
The breakdown is as follows:
- Winner: £175,000
- Runner-up: £75,000
- Semi-final: £33,000
- Quarter-final: £22,000
- Last 16: £14,000
- Last 32: £9,000
- Last 64: £5,000
- Highest break: £5,000
- Total: £825,000
Will Ronnie O’Sullivan play in the International Championship snooker 2024?
The question on every snooker fans lips.
O’Sullivan is slated to play women’s star Mink Nutcharut – the first time he will have played a female player.
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Mink, 24, is the current women’s world No 1 and has been in very good form in recent months, making four finals in 2024 so far.
She won the recent Australian Open and was the runner-up in the World Women’s Snooker Championship in March, losing 6-5 to Bai Yulu in the final.
Notably, she is the only female player to ever record a 147, during a practice match in March 2019.
At the time of writing it is not known if Ronnie O’Sullivan plans to play in Nanjing.
He has not played on the circuit since a shock defeat on September 12 at the English Open, missing the British Open and Northern Ireland Open.