Hong Kong Masters: Ronnie O’Sullivan could return to defend title at sport’s biggest venue with snooker chiefs in talks

The elite Hong Kong Masters could return to the snooker calendar for the 2023/24 campaign after Ronnie O’Sullivan’s momentous victory before a world-record crowd in October.

The top six players in the world alongside Fu and compatriot Ng On Yee – the three-time women’s world champion – competed in last season’s invitational event, the first snooker tournament held outside of Europe and the first major sporting event staged by Hong Kong since the global Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

There are 16 ranking events pencilled in for the provisional 2023/24 calendar and six non-ranking tournaments, including the Champion of Champions, Masters and Six-Red World Championship.

World Snooker Tour are in talks with the Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council as part of plans to add further tournaments to the new campaign which will see three major events – the Shanghai Masters, Wuhan Open and International Championship worth over £2m in prize money – return to mainland China for the first time since 2019.

“Talks are ongoing with several locations worldwide as WST’s aim is always to expand the calendar and provide opportunities for the players,” a spokesperson told Eurosport.

O’Sullivan described the Hong Kong tournament as the greatest experience of his 31-year professional career after it was moved from the Queen Elizabeth Stadium to allow more fans access to the action.

“To have 9,000 fans watching a snooker match [is] unheard of. So hopefully we can come back year [after] year, because the fans have been fantastic.

“It has probably been the best week as a snooker player to play snooker. So I just want to thank everyone for making this such a special tournament.”

The tournament was a regular feature of the calendar between 1983 and 1988 with Steve Davis and Jimmy White emerging triumphant before briefly returning under the guise of the Hong Kong Challenge in 1990 and 1991 with James Wattana and Stephen Hendry lifting the trophy.

The Hong Kong Coliseum provided an epic backdrop for the popular event after Neil Robertson defeated O’Sullivan 6-3 in the 2017 final at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

– – –