Scottish snooker ‘wizard’ John Higgins trousered a record breaking RMB1.7million in the invitational Evergrande China Championship earlier this month and immediately predicted a bright future for the event and the sport here in Guangzhou.
Higgins clinched the title in scintillating style with three successive century breaks to defeat the 2015 World Champion Stuart Bingham 10-7 and he is desperate to be back next year to defend his crown.
“I have really enjoyed my first visit to Guangzhou,” said the four-time world champion. “Next year the event will be a ranking one and so I just hope I will be back here to defend my crown. This is a great city and it has a bit of a Hong Kong feel to it. I am sure the players will love coming here."
His prize purse was a record for any event outside of the UK and he was quick to praise the event sponsor as it moved into yet another sporting arena.
“Evergrande has done a great job of putting on such a bit tournament and it is important to attract such sponsors for our game," he said of the company that owns Chinese football champions Guangzhou Hengda as well as table tennis, badminton and volleyball teams.
There was huge disappointment for home fans with the early exits of top star Ding Junhui and recently crowned English Open champion Liang Wenbo but there was still a healthy crowd of well over a thousand in the Guangzhou Gymnasium for the final match.
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“The fans have been great all week,” he enthused. "They have helped to create a great atmosphere for the whole event.”
Losing finalist Bingham is equally certain that the new Evergrande championship is going to be a big success in the coming years.
“I have been to Guangzhou before for a few exhibitions and it is great to be here for such a good tournament," he explained. "The fans have been great and I am looking forward to it being a ranking tournament next year. Once it has ranking points there will be a bit more pressure.
“But I always love coming to China, for the food, the culture and the people. It is a great place for snooker and every city is special in its own way. It is great to have a tournament in Guangzhou though."
Guangzhou was the fourth and penultimate stop in China for the snooker stars in the 2016-17 calendar. Tournaments have been held in Yushan, Shanghai, and Daqing and the final event starts in Beijing on March 27, the final competition before the season finale of the World Championships in Sheffield.
Ding Junhui was the beaten finalist earlier this year and here in China hopes are high that either he or Liang Wenbo will be crowned as the country's first world champion early in May.
The date for the 2017 Evergrande China Championship is yet to be confirmed but there is little doubt it is set to put Guangzhou firmly on snooker’s global map.
[Images via World Snooker]
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