Will China return to snooker calendar with Hong Kong keen to host tournament? When does new 2022/23 season start?

Hong Kong is keen to see the return of snooker to the city later this year, but there appears to be little prospect of China appearing as a major destination on the professional circuit next season. Neil Robertson claimed the 2017 Hong Kong Masters with a 6-3 win over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final at Queen Elizabeth Stadium with the city's Billiard Sports Control Council apparently keen for interested sponsors to organise the invitational tournament after a five-year absence.

Ad/> A deadline of Friday 8 April has been proposed for bids to host the event. World ChampionshipWorld Championship qualifiers — When are the matches, how to watch, who is playing?3 HOURS AGO But hopes of a provisional date of August 3-7 becoming reality depends upon the situation relating to the Covid-19 pandemic with the enforcement of social distancing measures set to torpedo the proposed return of fans to support local icons Marco Fu, former Grand Prix winner, and three-time women's world champion Ng On-yee.

The Hong Kong Masters was a regular feature of the calendar between 1983 and 1988 with Steve Davis and Jimmy White winning the event. /> It briefly returned under the guise of the Hong Kong Challenge in 1990 and 1991 with James Wattana and Stephen Hendry triumphant before Robertson collected the top prize of £100,000 five years ago.

'I'll be Ronnie OAP Sullivan' – Vintage Rocket targets top eight spot with pension 'Anything over 147 is really rare' – Fu warms up for return with 149 break “It will probably be under the same format as the one in 2017 which attracted a very good crowd at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium," the South China Morning Post report. “We want to get an event organisers to work with us as time is running short with four