Shaun Murphy questions China snooker schedule: “Not the first strange decision they’ve made”

Murphy was speaking to host broadcaster Channel 5 during his British Open title defence in Cheltenham. The reigning champion whitewashed Reanne Evans, 4-0, on Monday afternoon to set up a tasty last 64 tie with David Gilbert.

It’s only the start of September, but there has already been lots of action on the professional snooker circuit over the summer months.

Following two batches of qualifying, and the Championship League - all played behind-closed-doors at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester - big stage, televised action returned at the end of July with the Shanghai Masters.

This was the start of a ‘Chinese swing’ triple-header of big competitions held in the Far East, with the Shanghai Masters, China Open, and Wuhan Open all being completed within the space of five weeks.

Schedule is ‘not what the players asked for’ says Murphy

With so many professional events now held in China, scheduling has been a hot topic in recent seasons, with the top players regularly travelling back-and-forth to opposite sides of the world.

This trio of Chinese events played within a condensed time frame was perhaps a solution to help alleviate some the strain of long-distance travel, with the top 16 players - who were all guaranteed to be in the final stages of these three tournaments - maybe having the option to base themselves in China for the month, and undertake sponsorship, business opportunities whilst there.

But 2005 World Champion Murphy - who came so close to a second world title back in May - is not pleased with how this timetable played out.

“It was tough, it wasn't what we asked for as players” said the 44-year-old.

“I had one conversation with a WST representative who said, 'Well, you know, this can't happen. Of course, you couldn't have back-to-back events because there's vast distances between the Shanghai Masters and then Taiyuan for the China Open, and then Wuhan for the Wuhan Open. Those distances are vast, China's a big country.’

In reply, Murphy pointed to this week’s British Open that started less than 48 hours on from Chang Bingyu’s triumph in Wuhan.

“I said, yeah, but it’s not as vast as the difference between getting from Wuhan to Cheltenham which you've also asked us to do.

“So, I'm not really sure how anyone at World Snooker towers looked at that, and thought that was okay to sign off, but that's not the first strange decision they've made, and it won't be the last.”

In summary, Murphy believes that the schedule should change if the authorities are to arrange something similar in the future.

“I don't think the China swing works if the events aren't actually back-to-back. Maybe give them 24 hours grace, because that's all we got from the Wuhan Open to here.”

Judd Trump on Chinese snooker swing: ‘just needs some fine-tuning’

Other top players were interviewed by Channel 5 in the piece. Newly-minted world number one Zhao Xintong - who is from China - said he was happy with the recent programme, meanwhile 31-time ranking event winner Judd Trump, similar to Murphy suggested that tweaks could be made.

“It would be nice to have maybe just two (events) at a time, but closer together rather than three” proposed Trump.

The 37-year-old added: “I think by the end of the third tournament...the standard wasn't as good as maybe if people were a bit more fresh. It's a long time to be away. You're not practising properly as well.

“People are kind of not that disappointed to be losing by the time the third event comes around. It's hard because, obviously tried something different. I think it just needs kind of some fine-tuning to make it even better.”

Snooker bosses reply to Chinese event schedule

In response to these comments, the World Snooker Tour replied and explained with: “Scheduling of events is based on many factors, including the preferences of broadcasters and promoters and availability of venues. We do everything we can to piece this together in the best interests of the players.

“We have to be clear that running events in consecutive weeks in China without a gap between them is not possible for multiple reasons.”

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 British Open snooker, visit our tournament information centre here.