Stuart Bingham slams World Grand Prix scheduling claiming it made a 'mockery' of the event

One of the most lucrative ranking events on the professional circuit with a top prize of £180,000, qualification for the World Grand Prix is via the one-year/seasonal ranking list only with the top 32 from those standings receiving an invite.

Taking place again at the impressive Kai Tak Arena, this year’s edition was held less than two days after the German Masters in Berlin finished - and there was a media day for players in between.

The tight turnaround travelling from one continent to another drew criticism from world number two and Masters champion Kyren Wilson, who after his first round defeat in the Far East said he felt bad for the tournament over its “crazy, crazy scheduling”.

To accommodate travel time for the players who reached the finals weekend in Berlin, the time of several first round matches in Hong Kong were switched around, with Wilson and fellow former world champion Mark Selby having their opening assignments brought forward to the day before.

During the first Players Series event of the season, World Snooker Tour CEO Simon Brownell spoke to the South China Morning Post about the complicated logistics of putting together a calendar of global events, and how the schedule changes were unfortunate.

“We were unlucky we had three of the matches scheduled for the first afternoon [in Hong Kong] involving players that were playing on Sunday night [in Berlin] … this is part of live sport, it’s difficult to predict what happens” said Brownell.

“This is absolutely ridiculous”: Bingham unhappy with date change

Former world and Masters champion Stuart Bingham was another player who had their round one match at the World Grand Prix moved from the Wednesday to Tuesday at relatively short notice.

Runner-up at the tournament the year before, the current world number 17 described how he wasn’t pleased with the situation when speaking on the latest episode of the Contracts and Championships Podcast.

One of the most enthusiastic players on the circuit when it comes to playing in events, Bingham explained how his preparation was disrupted for his match against Elliot Slessor: “Everyone knows I love the game. I'll travel anywhere, but I thought it was a bit harsh on maybe probably a few players, especially on like my behalf that I got to the quarter-finals of Germany and then got on the flight the very next day, landed in Hong Kong on the Sunday, preparing my match for the Wednesday night.

“I landed, I turned my phone on I had a missed call from Martin Clark, one of the tournament directors. And then he messaged me saying that my game's been moved forward.

“So I rung him saying 'this is absolutely ridiculous' and he said: 'well, it's done, that's it’.”

An elite event with this season’s best players, the impressive prize money on offer at the World Grand Prix can also have repercussions on qualifying for the two remaining Players Series events (Players Championship, Tour Championship), as well as the world rankings and possible Crucible seeding.

With the profile of the tournament and what was on offer, Bingham believes the scheduling was somewhat of a pity.

“I think it's sort of made a bit of mockery of the tournament to be fair” said the 49-year-old.

“It's been put on the back of Germany. It's a top 32 on the one-year list - you're going to get winners and losers. You're going to get people that are happy and not happy. It's one of the tournaments that you get rewarded for being in the top 32 on the one-year list and it's just sort of been put on the back of Germany which was just as a big event as the Grand Prix to be fair. Great for the fans, great venue.

“You're going on to the Players Championship, so you got a chance of getting that, but when it's done like that, the scheduling, it’s just made a bit of mockery of the tournament, I think.”

It is understood that the World Grand Prix will remain in Hong Kong for at least the near future, with the 2027 staging pencilled in for mid-February.