The 2024 International Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 3 to 10 November 2024 at the South New City National Fitness Center (SNCNFC) in Nanjing, China. The eighth ranking event of the 2024–25 season, it followed the 2024 Northern Ireland Open and preceded the 2024 UK Championship. The winner received £175,000 from a total prize fund of £825,000.
Zhang won the 2023 event, defeating Tom Ford 10–6 in the final to capture his maiden ranking title.[1] However, Zhang lost 1–6 to Lyu Haotian in the last 32. Ding won the tournament, defeating Chris Wakelin 10–7 in the final to claim the 15th ranking title of his career; it was his first ranking event win since the 2019 UK Championship almost five years earlier. Following the event, Wakelin entered the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time in his career.[2] The event produced 134 century breaks, 42 during qualifying and 92 during the main stage.[3][4] The highest was a maximum break by Xu Si in his last-32 match against Ryan Day.[5]
Format
The event was the tenth iteration of the International Championship, first held in 2012. The event took place from 3 to 10 November 2024 in Nanjing, China. Nanjing will host the tournament for three consecutive years from 2024 to 2026.[6][7]
Matches were the best of 11 frames until the semi‑finals, which were the best of 17 frames played over two sessions, and the final was a best of 19 frames match, also played over two sessions.[9]
The qualifying was broadcast by Discovery+ in Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland) and by the CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin and Huya Live in China. It was available from Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[10]
The main event was broadcast domestically in China by CCTV-5, the CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin and Huya Live; by Eurosport and Discovery+ in Europe (including the United Kingdom and Ireland); by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei; by TAP in the Philippines; by Sportcast in Taiwan; and by True Sports in Thailand. It was available from Matchroom Sport in all other territories.[11]
Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:[7]
Xu Si (pictured in 2017) made the second maximum break of his career in his last 32 round match against Ryan Day
The last 32 matches were played on 5 November as the best of 11 frames.[9] Xu made his second career maximum break in his 6–2 victory over Ryan Day.[5] Pang defeated 5th seed O'Sullivan 6–4, and Trump beat Joe O'Connor, also by 6–4. Hawkins beat Neil Robertson 6–1, Kyren Wilson made three century breaks in his 6–4 victory over Wu Yize, and Xiao defeated 4th seed Allen 6–2. Chris Wakelin beat 9th seed Shaun Murphy 6–3, and Ding whitewashed Hossein Vafaei. Defending champion and top seed Zhang was beaten 1–6 by Lyu Haotian.[17]
Last 16
The last 16 matches were played on 6 November as the best of 11 frames.[9] In the morning session Wakelin beat 8th seed Mark Williams, Xu beat 3rd seed Trump, and Jackson Page beat Pang, all by 6–4. In the match between Lyu and Higgins, frame 10 was decided on a re‑spotted black, which Higgins won to force a deciding frame. The match was then taken off, to be concluded later. When they resumed, Higgins won the decider. Kyren Wilson beat Hawkins 6–2, Xiao beat Jack Lisowski 6–3, Ding beat Jiang Jun, 6–3, and Gary Wilson beat 6th seed Selby also by 6–3.[18]
Later rounds
Quarter finals
The quarter-finals were played on 7 November as the best of 11 frames.[9] In the afternoon session Xiao beat Page 6–4, making two century breaks. In the match between Wakelin and Higgins, the match was taken off at 5–5 to be resumed later.[19] In the evening session Ding beat Kyren Wilson 6–4 making century breaks in the last two frames. Wakelin took the deciding frame to defeat Higgins 6–5, and Xu beat Gary Wilson, also by 6–5.[20] After being informed that his match would be interrupted before the deciding frame for the second time in two days, Higgins was visibly annoyed. His eventual defeat meant that he failed to qualify for the upcoming Champion of Champions event.[21]
The semi-finals were played on 8 and 9 November as the best of 17 frames, played over two sessions.[9] For only the third time ever in a ranking event, three of the four semi‑finalists were Chinese (the other two times being the 2020 Shoot Out and the 2024 Wuhan Open the previous month).[20]
On 8 November Wakelin played Xiao. At the end of the afternoon session Wakelin led Xiao by 5–3.[22] Wakelin went on to win the match 9–8, making a 119 break in the 10th frame.[23] After the match Wakelin said: "From 8–5 I threw it away. I made ridiculously easy mistakes. In the decider I knew it was now or never, I had to forget about what had happened. I'm so relieved to have a day off tomorrow because I'm done in! That was the hardest match of my life. In the first ten years of my career, so many times I put myself in winning situations in matches but didn't take those chances. This was my final because getting into the top 16 was the goal. But now the shackles are off and I know I have performances like that in me." Xiao said: "I fell too far behind at the start and didn't perform particularly well. My opponent had me under pressure throughout the match, I couldn't find my rhythm. I want to apologise to Ding and Xu for not making it to an all‑Chinese final! I hope they can keep the title here in China. This is the best time ever for Chinese snooker and I hope the young players can gain experience and keep improving."[24][25]
On 9 November Xu played Ding. At the end of the afternoon session Xu led Ding by 5–3, with Xu making breaks of 137 and 113, and Ding making a 119 break. In the evening session Ding went on to win the match 9–6.[26] After the match, Ding said: "In the first session, Xu played really well, I didn't have many opportunities in the first half, and he managed century breaks with great sharpness, making the most of his chances. However, he wasn't quite at the same level in the second session. He had many chances tonight but lost the first three frames, which impacted his mindset." Xu said: "I was feeling good in the first session, but my focus seemed to slip in the second, and I made more mistakes. I had plenty of opportunities but struggled throughout, unable to get the positioning I wanted, and my safety play was quite average. Overall, aside from the second session in this match, I'm pretty satisfied with my performance in the tournament."[27][28]
Final
The final was played on 10 November as the best of 19 frames, played over two sessions. Wakelin, playing in his third ranking event final, faced Ding, who was playing in his 24th.[9] At the end of the afternoon session, Ding recovered from 1–4 down to lead Wakelin 5–4.[29] Ding went on to win the match 10–7, and secure his first ranking title since the 2019 UK Championship.[30] After the match Ding said: "I've played so well in every match. Chris applied a lot of pressure in this game, especially at 4–1. I put too much pressure on myself at the beginning. That was the perfect start for him, but he started missing and there were some key frames to get 5–4 ahead. The second session was totally different." Wakelin said: "I got off to a great start and losing six frames on the trot was the difference. I was proud of how well I handled myself. Only a couple of years ago, that kind of situation would have scared the life out of me. To be out there and feel like I could have won, despite how Ding played, I think I was a credit to myself."[2]
Main draw
The draw for the tournament is shown below. Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, and players in bold denote match winners.[31][9]
Qualification for the tournament took place from 30 September to 2 October 2024 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England.[8] Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the top 32 seeded players, and players in bold denote match winners.[32][14]
Nanjing
Qualifying matches featuring the defending champion (Zhang Anda); the reigning World Champion (Kyren Wilson); the two highest ranked Chinese players other than Zhang (Ding Junhui and Si Jiahui); four Chinese wildcards (Zhou Jinhao, Wang Xinbo, Cai Wei, and Zheng Dian);[9] and Ronnie O'Sullivan were held over to be played in Nanjing. The results of the held‑over matches played on 3 November 2024 were as follows:[14][31]
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