International Championship Snooker: Information and a Potted History

A big money ranking event, the tournament counts towards qualification for Players Series events and is open to all professional tour card holders. 

The main stages of the International Championship are held in China. Venues in Chengdu (2012-2014), Daqing (2015-2019) and Tianjin (2023) have hosted the event. 

At the time of its launch, the International Championship was marketed as the sport’s first overseas ‘major’ due to it being the richest event outside of the UK and having the same ranking points as the long-standing UK Championship. 

The inaugural edition featured a tiered format with the top 16 ranked players going straight through to the last 32 at the main venue in China, although since 2013, the event has employed a flat draw with all entrants starting in round one (except for wildcards). 

International Championship Snooker: Most successful players, stats, stories, best finals 

Judd Trump and Mark Selby are the most successful players in International Championship snooker history having each won the title twice. Selby's consecutive triumphs in 2016 and 2017 mean he is the only player to have retained the title. 

A 23-year-old Trump claimed the inaugural International Championship in 2012 when he recovered from 8-6 down to defeat Neil Robertson 10-8 in the final. Trump’s 9-1 defeat of Peter Ebdon in the semi-finals saw him confirmed as the world number one ranked player for the first time in his career. 

The only International Championship final to go to a deciding frame came in 2013 when home hero Ding Junhui ousted Marco Fu 10-9. The all-Asian contest yielded a total of seven centuries (Ding crafting five and Fu two). 

The biggest margin of victory in an International Championship final came in 2016 when Selby thrashed Ding 10-1. It was the third time in just six months that the two had faced each other in a ranking event final following meetings at the World Championship (Selby won 18-14) and Shanghai Masters (Ding won 10-6). 

Selby’s 18-match winning streak in the event came to an end in the quarter-finals of the 2018 edition when he bowed out to Neil Robertson. 

Robertson went on to reach his second International Championship final but lost to first-time winner Mark Allen – who was appearing in the final for a third time – 10-5. Allen compiled 14 century breaks throughout the 2018 tournament, including four in the final (Robertson registered three of his own in the same match). 

Following the Covid cancellations, the International Championship returned in 2023 and was memorably won by maiden ranking champion Zhang Anda. 

Only a few weeks earlier, Zhang had reached his first ranking final at the English Open where he lost 9-7 to Judd Trump having been 7-3 up. However, the Chinese star proved that wasn’t a fluke as he achieved his big career breakthrough on home soil as he eliminated Mark Williams, Ding and Ronnie O’Sullivan en route to the final where he constructed a maximum 147 break in a 10-6 defeat of Tom Ford for the title.

International Championship Snooker: Roll of Honour, Locations and Winner’s Prize

2012: Judd Trump 10-8 Neil Robertson (Chengdu) | £125,000

2013: Ding Junhui 10-9 Marco Fu (Chengdu) | £125,000

2014: Ricky Walden 10-7 Mark Allen (Chengdu) | £125,000

2015: John Higgins 10-5 David Gilbert (Daqing) | £125,000

2016: Mark Selby 10-1 Ding Junhui (Daqing) | £125,000

2017: Mark Selby 10-7 Mark Allen (Daqing) | £150,000

2018: Mark Allen 10-5 Neil Robertson (Daqing) | £175,000

2019: Judd Trump 10-3 Shaun Murphy (Daqing) | £175,000

2023: Zhang Anda 10-6 Tom Ford (Tianjin) | £175,000

International Championship Snooker 147 Breaks

2017: Kyren Wilson 

2019: Tom Ford (qualifying round)

2023: Ryan Day (qualifying round) and Zhang Anda (main event)

Four maximum 147 breaks have been made in International Championship snooker history; two of them during ‘qualifying’ matches in England and the other two at the main venue in China. 

The first arrived in 2017 in Daqing when Kyren Wilson fashioned his maiden 147 in professional competition, although he went on to lose his match against Martin Gould. 

Two were crafted in the 2023 edition, one by Ryan Day in the opening round and one by Zhang Anda in the final (which he won, see above).