Snooker World Championship: Ding Junhui heads 10-man Chinese force planning Sheffield raid
- Ten more mainland players say no to the Crucible tournament
- Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee and Andy Lee yet to decide on participation in qualifiers
Ding Junhui will lead a 10-member China legion to the snooker World Championships in England next month, but at least 10 more of the mainland entourage will not join as the pandemic continues to be a massive concern in the UK.
Reports in the mainland said Ding, who is still looking for his first world title after twice reaching the final, has already booked his ticket to England, where he will need to go through a 14-day quarantine before the July 31-August 16 tournament kicks off at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The world No 10 will leave Shanghai next week and will be joined by the talented Yan Bingtao, the world No 16 as the two Chinese players in the main draw that features top 16 players.
However, the next three highest ranking players from China have all turned their back on the major including Zhou Yuelong (world No 22), Xiao Guodong (world No 28) and Zhao Xintong (world No 29), although they would have been placed in the qualifiers to compete for the remaining 16 slots in the main draw.
Ding, Zhou and Xiao, along with other Chinese professionals, fled England in mid-March after organisers decided the 2020 world event would be postponed from April to July due to the pandemic.
