NANCHANG, March 22 (Xinhua) -- In the misty spring rain of southern China, the crack of snooker shots cuts through the breath of hundreds of spectators at the 2026 World Snooker Open in Yushan County of China's Jiangxi Province.
This is the 10th year and seventh time the 44-year-old elite tournament has made its home in Yushan, a small county in Jiangxi once unconnected to China's high-speed rail network.
BEDROCK OF GLOBAL SNOOKER
"If we compare Yushan's development to a game of snooker, the cue ball that sets every ball in motion is the blue stone found here," said Gan Jialing, General Manager of Beijing Xingpai Weiye, China's leading billiards equipment manufacturer.
It took Yushan nearly two decades to turn a local stone resource into a world-class snooker event.
Yushan has a long history of producing high-quality bluestone, the core material for professional snooker table slates. In 1996, Xingpai came to Yushan in search of the stone, setting up a factory for mining and processing. That was when Yushan first tied its fate to snooker.
In 2016, the World Snooker Open was held in Yushan for the first time. Back then, the county had no high-speed rail access, and the nearest international airport was nearly 300 kilometers away.
But Yushan was determined to meet global standards. It built the Yushan Sports Center from the ground up, with every detail -- from ceiling height, lighting levels to every viewing angle of the spectator stands -- designed to professional specifications.
Today, that local stone not only underpins the tables where world champions compete, but has built a global industrial chain. Yushan produces 250,000 snooker table slates and 50,000 complete tables annually, exporting to more than 70 countries and regions, with an annual output value exceeding 1.5 billion yuan (218 million U.S. dollars).
PASSION OF THE COUNTY
Hosting a yearly event is one thing. Rooting a sport deep into a community is quite another.
While many host cities see sporting events leave little lasting impact, Yushan has brought snooker into fields, villages, and the daily lives of its people.
The International Billiards Academy, opened here in 2021, has become a dream factory for young players. 20-year-old Xing Zihao graduated from the academy to the professional tour, competing against world number one Judd Trump. Zhong Yujie, a Yushan local who started from zero, has broken into China's top 16 female players. Her biggest dream now is to officiate the world tournament right in her hometown, with a professional referee certificate in hand.
The most vibrant competition is happening in the villages.
In 2024, Yushan launched China's first village-level snooker league, dubbed "Village Snooker". With no entry thresholds, open to all ages, tables are set up on grain drying grounds and in market squares. The second edition saw over 5,000 applicants, with online views exceeding 100 million.
Liu Yangbo, the 2025 Village Snooker champion, was once a young migrant worker. He has now returned home to work as a coach at a local snooker club.
"Back then, my family said playing snooker was a waste of time and ambition," Liu said. "Now, every primary school in the county offers snooker classes. This ball has not only caught the eye of the Olympic Games, but also found its way into the daily lives of ordinary people like us."
As night falls, the streets of Yushan light up. In more than 200 snooker clubs across the county, the clink of balls and sound of laughter fill the air. Four core sectors have grown around the sport: event operation, equipment manufacturing, education and training, and cultural tourism and research. Snooker is no longer just a sport, but a strategic industry for Yushan's high-quality development.
COUNTY'S CONFIDENCE BUILDING UP
A decade of top-tier tournaments has reshaped more than Yushan's industrial map. It has transformed the spirit and openness of the county.
"I love Yushan very much. Every time I come here to play, I get the perfect feel for the game," said Ronnie O'Sullivan, who has visited Yushan three times, watching the county grow from a quiet town to a bustling destination. World number one Trump also offered praise: "The event here always runs perfectly, it's a real pleasure to play here."
This year, the national flag that Asia's first World Snooker Championship winner Zhao Xintong draped over his shoulders when he lifted the trophy was collected by the World Billiards Museum in Yushan. The museum, the world's largest single-sport museum of its kind, together with the sport's Hall of Fame, the International Billiards Academy and the Yushan Sports Center, forms a world-class cultural hub for snooker.
"The connection to the history of our sport is most vividly and vibrantly embodied here in Yushan," said Simon Brownell, CEO of the World Snooker Tour, at the opening ceremony.
One shot, ten years, and the balls keep rolling in Yushan. ■
