The Mattioli Arena finally went quiet on Saturday night, but not before a few names that spent the morning on the wrong end of the scoreboard walked out with Nanjing tickets still in their pockets.
Leicester — Saturday wrap
Shaun Murphy looked gone. Zhao Hanyang had him 3–0 and a century (107) already on the board. The Magician answered the only way that still works when the cue ball feels heavy — breaks of 78, 74 and 77 to drag it level, then close it 6–4. Same script, different table: Lyu Haotian trailed Mahmoud El Hareedy 0–3 before a 123 and a cluster of 80-plus runs flipped the session to 6–3.
Elsewhere the day settled cleanly:
The shocks belonged to the afternoon. Anton Kazakov dumped Ali Carter 6–2. Liam Davies whitewashed almost the whole of Anthony McGill, 6–1. Amateur Duane Jones — in for Mark Allen — was still grinding through Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon as the boards updated; don’t bank that one until the last black drops.
Venue stages: Nanjing, 31 October–7 November. A handful of held-over ties (Trump, Ding, Zhao Xintong and others) wait for the Chinese arena.
Where to watch (snooker)
Vietnam — World 10-Ball Day 1
While Leicester packed away the cloth, Ho Chi Minh City opened the Iwan Simonis WPA Men’s 10-Ball World Championship at Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium. Ninety-six players, $300,000 on the table, $80,000 to the champion. Double-elim set play (best-of-three race-to-four) through the early rounds; single-elim from the last 32. Ko Ping-Chung isn’t defending; Eklent Kaçi, Darren Appleton, Wojciech Szewczyk and Carlo Biado are among the former world champions in the field, with hometown eyes on Dương Quốc Hoàng and company.
Free main-table streams: Billiard TV / Pro Billiard TV on YouTube, plus Box Billiards Vietnam. Mixed Doubles Open runs alongside; Women’s 9-Ball Open starts Monday.
Tokyo — Japan Open under way
Across the East China Sea the 39th Japan Open opened men’s 10-ball qualifying across suburban Tokyo rooms, building toward New Pia Hall finals on Monday (women’s 9-ball starts Sunday). Combined published payout about ¥6.77 million. Scores and JPBA streams via Billi-Walker.
Feature image: World Snooker Championship 2024 arena — BennyOnTheLoose / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
Leicester — Saturday wrap
Shaun Murphy looked gone. Zhao Hanyang had him 3–0 and a century (107) already on the board. The Magician answered the only way that still works when the cue ball feels heavy — breaks of 78, 74 and 77 to drag it level, then close it 6–4. Same script, different table: Lyu Haotian trailed Mahmoud El Hareedy 0–3 before a 123 and a cluster of 80-plus runs flipped the session to 6–3.
Elsewhere the day settled cleanly:
- Si Jiahui 6–0 Liu Yang
- Chang Bingyu 6–0 Fergal Quinn
- Stan Moody 6–0 Panchaya Channoi
- Chris Wakelin 6–0 Michael Larkov
- Gary Wilson 6–2 Ng On Yee
- Xu Si 6–3 Xu Yichen (106 among the runs)
- Yuan Sijun 6–4 Scott Donaldson
- Joe O’Connor 6–5 Bai Yulu
- David Lilley 6–1 Reanne Evans
The shocks belonged to the afternoon. Anton Kazakov dumped Ali Carter 6–2. Liam Davies whitewashed almost the whole of Anthony McGill, 6–1. Amateur Duane Jones — in for Mark Allen — was still grinding through Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon as the boards updated; don’t bank that one until the last black drops.
Venue stages: Nanjing, 31 October–7 November. A handful of held-over ties (Trump, Ding, Zhao Xintong and others) wait for the Chinese arena.
Where to watch (snooker)
- Table One with commentary: WST Play (ex-China)
- UK/Europe without commentary: HBO Max
- China: Migu, Huya, Douyin, WeChat
Vietnam — World 10-Ball Day 1
While Leicester packed away the cloth, Ho Chi Minh City opened the Iwan Simonis WPA Men’s 10-Ball World Championship at Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium. Ninety-six players, $300,000 on the table, $80,000 to the champion. Double-elim set play (best-of-three race-to-four) through the early rounds; single-elim from the last 32. Ko Ping-Chung isn’t defending; Eklent Kaçi, Darren Appleton, Wojciech Szewczyk and Carlo Biado are among the former world champions in the field, with hometown eyes on Dương Quốc Hoàng and company.
Free main-table streams: Billiard TV / Pro Billiard TV on YouTube, plus Box Billiards Vietnam. Mixed Doubles Open runs alongside; Women’s 9-Ball Open starts Monday.
Tokyo — Japan Open under way
Across the East China Sea the 39th Japan Open opened men’s 10-ball qualifying across suburban Tokyo rooms, building toward New Pia Hall finals on Monday (women’s 9-ball starts Sunday). Combined published payout about ¥6.77 million. Scores and JPBA streams via Billi-Walker.
Feature image: World Snooker Championship 2024 arena — BennyOnTheLoose / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
