Return of Ding and Zhao

Welcome to this week’s snooker roundup! Dive in to read about Ding Junhui’s long-awaited victory, updates from the latest Q Tour, and the hottest discussions from your favorite snooker podcasts.

🇨🇳 Ding Junhui wins the International Championship
After five years without a ranking event win, Ding Junhui has triumphed again, securing a 10-7 victory over Chris Wakelin. This marks the 15th ranking event win of his career. The later stages of the tournament were well represented by Chinese players, with Xiao Guodong and Xu Si also reaching the semifinals.

📈 Zhao Xintong continues showing talent on Q-tour
The Chinese competitor defeated Ryan Davies 4-2 in the final, moving to the top of the 2024/25 Q Tour rankings with his Q Tour victory last week. He also achieved another 147 in one of his matches—another step forward in his quest for a main tour card next season. We’ll see how the saga continues.

🎙️ Snooker podcast episodes

• In the latest episode of Talking Snooker, Nick and Phil catch up on the Northern Ireland Open and the International Championship before looking ahead to the Champion of Champions.

• Over on Snooker Club, Mark and Stephen are joined by co-host Michael Holt to discuss Ronnie O’Sullivan’s dip in form and the return of former UK Champion Zhao Xintong.

• Meanwhile, on the Onefourseven podcast, Shaun and Phil review the Northern Ireland Open and the International Championship.

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Thanks for reading, and see you next week!