Ding Junhui complains tour prize
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China Daily, October 21, 2011
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Ding Junhui. |
Chinese snooker player Ding Junhui has complained the prize money offered for the Players Tour Championship (PTC) claiming it will leave players with "no money to eat".
The 24-year-old's criticism came after another Chinese snooker player Xiao Guodong complained last Sunday about the PTC's prize.
"Do you know what the PTC is? It's just a game in which you buy your ranking points, and you have to attend it," Xiao said in his Weibo, "I paid ￡1,200 (12,100 yuan) to enter the 12 events, for whose six European events I spent ￡3,000. I spent ￡1,000 in England each month and stayed on the tour for eight months."
Ding agreed by joking, "Let's take tents and food with us to the PTC."
Ding is ranked 6th and Xiao is 64th on the latest released World Professional Billiards ad Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking.
Staged by World Snooker, the PTC consists of 12 events, with six held at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England, one in Gloucester, England and the other five in mainland Europe, and lasts for about eight months.
Compared with professional tournaments, players get fewer ranking points from this game, which also takes in non-professional players.
Other than Xiao and Ding, former world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan also lashed out at the PTC by telling the Press Association that he felt "raped" playing in the game.
"They put these ranking events on and ranking points at these tournaments and it just feels like the winner's prize is not great. ...most players are going there and losing money," O'Sullivan said, quoted by the Press Association, "But they're putting ranking points on so it's forcing the players to play in it, which is not great, but what do you do? You have to go." But the World Snooker organization rejected his remarks.
"'The top prize at each PTC may only be ￡10,000, but the top 24 at the end of the series go through to the Grand Final, when the top prize is ￡70,000. Two seasons ago there were only seven or eight events on the main tour calendar; now there are nearly 30 and total prize money has virtually doubled,' The organization said in a statement.
