Calls Grow for Snooker's Own Ryder Cup as UK vs China Team Event Gains Support

Snooker at professional level is almost exclusively an individual sport, although there have been several memorable team events on the circuit down the years.

The most distinguished was the World Cup (initially known as the World Challenge Cup and World Team Classic) that featured three-player teams representing their country. This ran for 11 consecutive seasons from the 1979/80 campaign before returning after a six-year hiatus in 1996 when the 'Dream Team' of Scotland defeated the Republic of Ireland in the Bangkok-based final.

It wouldn't be until 15 years later when the World Cup returned - with the format changing to two-player outfits - as four editions were staged during the 2010s. China won the first three of those, but the last winners were Scotland in 2019, with John Higgins and Stephen Maguire reclaiming the crown for the Tartan Army.

The World Doubles Championship was also held for several years in the 1980s, and much more recently we've seen the World Mixed Doubles, although it doesn't look like either one of those tournaments will be returning anytime soon.

Snooker's top-flight landscape has changed a lot this decade. Zhao Xintong became the first Asian winner of the World Snooker Championship in 2025, and just twelve months later he was succeeded by Chinese compatriot Wu Yize at the Crucible. At the time of writing, Zhao and Wu are first and second in the world rankings - the first time that the top two slots were occupied by players from the Far East.

The United Kingdom and China are the undisputed powerhouses of the sport. 17 of the world's top 32 are from the UK and 11 are from China, but the Chinese representatives in that bracket have a significantly younger average age, and are therefore holding the cards for the future.

Ryder Cup-style snooker would be “a great TV product” says expert

When speaking with Totally Snookered at last month's British Open, esteemed cuesports journalist and commentator Phil Yates was upbeat about snooker's cosmopolitan future.

Heralding the positive impact that Barry Hearn and his administration has had on professional snooker over the past 15 years, Yates said: "It's a really, really powerful position now I believe, and I think it's improving all the time.

"I've got not worries about the fact that the top players are becoming more and more overseas. I think that's great. The more cosmopolitan the better."

With the times we’re in, Yates - who is approaching 40 years of working in the snooker media - also proposed the idea of a clash between the two biggest green baize factions.

"One thing I think this leads to is what would be an absolutely phenomenal event; what about a Ryder Cup-style China against the UK?

"I think it would be incredible, a great TV product, and because there is now a genuine rivalry, and I think the two teams would be pretty equal as well."

Like snooker, golf is generally a solo competitive endeveaour, but the Ryder Cup between Europe and the USA captures the imaginations of sports fans on a bi-annual basis.

In 9-ball pool - another discipline that Yates has significant knowledge of - the annual Mosconi Cup encounter between Europe and the USA has been a shop window for the sport for over three decades. There is also now the Reyes Cup that sees Asia take on the Rest of the World; the third edition was completed earlier this month in the Philippines.

Momentum behind a UK v China team event is building amongst snooker fans, but the logistics behind and financing such a spectacle would be tricky.

The World Snooker Tour - the organisers behind the professional arm of the sport - have to cater for all players from all countries. They could be reluctant to arrange a new event that would immediately exclude a swathe of ineligible cueists.

All of snooker’s top stars would have to get behind the concept - easier said than done, as the prize fund would likely have to be substantial, with everyone on both sides getting paid.