The China Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament held by the World Snooker Tour and the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA), being first held in 1985 as the China Masters and has since been hosted in various locations in China. The current champion is Neil Robertson, who won the event in 2019.
During the 2019-20 snooker season, it was cancelled as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is due to return to the calendar from the 2026-27 snooker season. Unlike previous editions which were held in Beijing, the event will be hosted in Taiyuan.
History
The first international snooker tournament in China was the China Masters which has staged on three occasions in 1985, 1986 and 1996. The inaugural 1985 edition, held in Guangzhou, was the first professional tournament to be played in China, and featured the two 1985 World Snooker Championship finalists Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor, with Davis winning the final 2–1. The following season Davis again won the competition, this time defeating Terry Griffiths 3–0 in the final. A third tournament was held in 1996 for lower-ranked players; Rod Lawler won this tournament defeating Shokat Ali 6–3 in the final.
The event rebranded as the China International in September 1997, a non-ranking tournament for the top 16 players and local players. The following season the tournament became ranking and was held in March. Then the name of the event was changed to China Open and was held in December, so there were two events in 1999. After the 2002 tournament the event was abandoned.
The event was revived for the 2004-05 snooker season. Local wild-card players were invited to play against the qualifiers. The three Chinese players on the tour were invited to play as wild-cards, rather than qualify the usual way. Ding Junhui was one of them, and he won the tournament, but as he entered as a wild-card, he received no prize money nor ranking points. Rather than being played directly before the World Championship, it will be played in mid-August and will utilise a new format that directly copies the format of the ranking Triple Crown events, whereby the Top 16 will be seeded through to the venue and 144 players (which includes wildcards and other invited non-professional players) playing in qualifiers to reach the venue.
Winners
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #00af00" | Year
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #00af00" | Winner
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #00af00" | Runner-up
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #00af00" | Final score
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #00af00" | Venue
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #00af00" | City
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #00af00" | Season
|-
! colspan="7" style="text-align: center; background-color: #c0ffc0" |China Masters (non-ranking)
|-
|1985
| Steve Davis
| Dennis Taylor
| style="text-align: center;" |2–1
|White Swan Hotel
|Guangzhou, China
|1985/86
|-
|1986
| Steve Davis
| Terry Griffiths
| style="text-align: center;" |3–0
| Huangpu Stadium
|Shanghai, China
|1986/87
|-
|1996
| Rod Lawler
| Shokat Ali
| style="text-align: center;" |6–3
|Haidian Gymnasium
|Beijing, China
|1995/96
|-
! colspan="7" style="text-align: center; background-color: #c0ffc0" | China International (non-ranking)
|-
| 1997
| Steve Davis
| Jimmy White
| style="text-align: center" | 7–4
| Haidian Gymnasium
|Beijing, China
| 1997/98
|-
! colspan="7" style="text-align: center; background-color: #c0ffc0" | China International (ranking)
|-
| 1999
| John Higgins
| Billy Snaddon
| style="text-align: center" | 9–3
| JC Mandarin Hotel
|Shanghai, China
| 1998/99
|-
! colspan="7" style="text-align: center; background-color: #c0ffc0" | China Open (ranking)
|-
| 1999
| Ronnie O'Sullivan
| Stephen Lee
| style="text-align: center" | 9–2
| JC Mandarin Hotel
|Shanghai, China
| 1999/00
|-
| 2000
| Ronnie O'Sullivan
| Mark Williams
| style="text-align: center" | 9–3
| Mission Hills Resort
|Shenzhen, China
| 2000/01
|-
| 2002
| Mark Williams
| Anthony Hamilton
| style="text-align: center" | 9–8
| Shanghai International Gymnastic Center
|Shanghai, China
| 2001/02
|-
| 2005
| Ding Junhui
| Stephen Hendry
| style="text-align: center" | 9–5
|Haidian Gymnasium
| rowspan="15" |Beijing, China
| 2004/05
|-
| 2006
| Mark Williams
| John Higgins
| style="text-align: center" | 9–8
| rowspan="12" |Beijing University Students' Gymnasium
| 2005/06
|-
| 2007
| Graeme Dott
| Jamie Cope
| style="text-align: center" | 9–5
| 2006/07
|-
| 2008
| Stephen Maguire
| Shaun Murphy
| style="text-align: center" | 10–9
| 2007/08
|-
| 2009
| Peter Ebdon
| John Higgins
| style="text-align: center" | 10–8
| 2008/09
|-
| 2010
| Mark Williams
| Ding Junhui
| style="text-align: center" | 10–6
| 2009/10
|-
| 2011
| Judd Trump
| Mark Selby
| style="text-align: center" | 10–8
| 2010/11
|-
| 2012
| Peter Ebdon
| Stephen Maguire
| style="text-align: center" | 10–9
| 2011/12
|-
| 2013
| Neil Robertson
| Mark Selby
| style="text-align: center" | 10–6
| 2012/13
|-
| 2014
| Ding Junhui
| Neil Robertson
| style="text-align: center" | 10–5
| 2013/14
|-
| 2015
| Mark Selby
| Gary Wilson
| style="text-align: center" | 10–2
| 2014/15
|-
| 2016
| Judd Trump
| Ricky Walden
| style="text-align: center" | 10–4
| 2015/16
|-
| 2017
| Mark Selby
| Mark Williams
| style="text-align: center" | 10–8
| 2016/17
|-
| 2018
| Mark Selby
| Barry Hawkins
| style="text-align: center" | 11–3
| rowspan="2" |Olympic Sports Center
| 2017/18
|-
| 2019
| Neil Robertson
| Jack Lisowski
| style="text-align: center" | 11–4
| 2018/19
|-style="background-color: #ebebeb"
| 2020
| colspan="5" style="text-align: center" | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
| 2019/20
|-
| 2026
|
|
| style="text-align: center;" |
| Riverside Sports Centre
|Taiyuan, China
| 2026/27
|-
|}
Records
Finalists
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align: center"
|-
! Rank
! Name
! Nationality
! Winner
!
! Finals
|-
|rowspan="2"|1
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|3
|2
|5
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|3
|2
|5
|-
|rowspan="2"|3
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|2
|1
|3
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|2
|1
|3
|-
|rowspan="3"|5
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|2
|0
|2
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|2
|0
|2
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|2
|0
|2
|-
|8
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|1
|1
|2
|-
|9
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|1
|0
|1
|-
|10
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|2
|2
|-
|rowspan="9"|11
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|
|0
|1
|1
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
!Legend
|-
|The names of active players are marked in bold.
|}
Maximum breaks
- James Wattana (1997)
- Stephen Maguire (2008)
- Neil Robertson (2010)
- Judd Trump (2017)
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (2018)
- Stuart Bingham (2018, 2019)
See also
- China Championship
- Asian Classic