World Class Snooker Facility Opened in Yushan

The Zhiyuan World Open has this week seen world class snooker played at the all-new Yushan Sports Center for the first time follow the successful launch of the venue in China.

The prestigious ranking event is being held in Yushan for a fourth successive year with Ali Carter, Ding Junhui and most recently Mark Williams having emerged victorious in the county, but this year is taking place at a new venue which forms a key part of the ongoing Yushan International Billiards Culture City project.

First announced in 2017, the initiative is supported by leading table manufacturer Xing Pai, a long-term partner of the World Snooker Tour which has been instrumental in the development of billiard sports in Asia for over 30 years.

Purpose Built Venue

While many venues have hosted snooker events during the history of our sport, the Yushan Sports Center is the world’s first purpose-built venue designed specifically for billiards and snooker events.

Jointly designed by Beijing Architecture Research Institute and Beijing Huati Design Institute (the subsidiary of General Administration of Sport), the venue has a construction area of 35,500 square metres and tops 25.7 metres in height, the equivalent of an eight-floor building.

There are 3,000 fixed seats in the arena, steeply tiered so that the crowd can clearly take in the action no matter where their seats are. As well as the permanent seating, there are an additional 1,000 temporary seats which allow the crowd to be closer to the tables, meaning that the arena can accommodate up to 4,000 spectators in total.

Further key features include:

• High-quality maple floor from Canada to avoid vibrations and that snooker tables remain stable at all times
• The most advanced sound-proofing materials to minimise distractions for the players
• LED screens installed at each entrance so spectators can follow the latest scores between frames when out of the arena for refreshments.
• Up to 45 bespoke function rooms suitable for snooker and the vast majority of all further indoor sports including:
  • Media room
  • Press conference room
  • Tournament office
  • Medical rooms
  • Drug test room
  • Commentators rooms
  • TV broadcast rooms – fully supporting 8k technology
  • Online streaming broadcast rooms.

As well as the multi-functional comprehensive arena, the facility also boasts further facilities including a heated swimming pool, gymnasium and a children’s playground and fitness training centre.

Jason Ferguson, WPBSA Chairman said: “It is a honour to be part of such a significant development and fantastic this week to celebrate with the staging of the Zhiyuan World Open at the amazing new Yushan Sports Center.

“I must thank our many partners in Yushan, but particularly the Gan family who through their Xing Pai brand have made such a significant contribution to snooker over many years. There will be more to follow from Yushan and I am looking forward to seeing the story of this billiards sports city unfold.”

To follow the latest news from the Zhiyuan World Open visit https://www.worldsnooker.com/