Duya Legends Tour Grand Finals set to feature first prize of 5 million Chinese Yuan

9-ball pool played on what is effectively a small sized snooker table with a napped cloth, Chinese table manufacturer Duya Billiards recently announced the new series with product and event ambassador Ding Junhui.

Alongside Chinese 8-ball (also known as Heyball), these cuesport disciplines are continuing to pick up serious momentum in their founding country with big professional events and significant prize-money.

The Duya Legends Tour will have three premier events. First up is the Golden Nine Masters held at the Taizhou Sports Centre in Zhejiang Province between June 29 to July 8. The Golden Nine Championship is scheduled for November with a venue to be announced.

Both these events will have a first prize of 2 million CNY (approximately £217,000).

The most prestigious tournament on the circuit, though, will be the Duya Legends Tour Grand Finals which is set for April/May next year where the champion will bank 5 million CNY (approximately £542,000).

Duya - who market themselves as ‘The terminator of old-fashioned pool tables’ - have held big events before but not to this scale.

It is not expected that Ding will play in these events himself, but the organisers have previously received enquiries from professional snooker players about entering their competitions.