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2023 WST Classic

The 2023 WST Classic was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 to 22 March 2023 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England.[1] It was the 13th ranking event of the 2022–23 season and the inaugural staging of the WST Classic, which the World Snooker Tour added to the calendar midway through the season to replace the cancelled 2023 Turkish Masters.[2][3] The last qualifying event before the 2023 Tour Championship,[4] the tournament was streamed on Matchroom.live in all territories apart from China, Hong Kong, and Thailand, where it was carried by local broadcasters.[4] The winner received £80,000 from a total prize fund of £427,000.[5]

Pang Junxu reached the first ranking final of his career, where he faced Mark Selby. Competing in his home city, Selby defeated Pang 6–2 to win his 22nd ranking title.

There were 88 century breaks made during the event. Judd Trump made his 900th century break in professional competition during his first-round match against David Lilley, becoming the third player—after Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins—to reach that milestone.[6] Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made the highest break of the tournament, a maximum break in the fifth frame of his last-64 match against Xu Si. This was Un-Nooh's fourth competitive maximum break.[7]

Format

The tournament featured 128 players. The top 64 players in the snooker world rankings after the Players Championship were seeded in the draw, with the remaining 64 players drawn at random against them.[5] Matches were played as the best of seven frames up to and including the quarter-finals. The semi-finals were played over the best of nine frames. The final was played over the best of 11 frames. The last three rounds were all played on the final day.[5]

Prize fund

The event featured a prize fund of £427,000, with the winner receiving £80,000. The breakdown of prize money for this event is shown below:[8]

Tournament draw

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Finals

Final

Century breaks

A total of 88 century breaks were made during the event.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ O'Sullivan withdrew because of an elbow injury.[9][10]
  2. ^ King was suspended by the World Snooker Tour before his match.[11]

References

  1. ^ Ivan (2023-01-28). "New WST Classic Added To Snooker Calendar". World Snooker. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  2. ^ "2023 Turkish Masters". World Snooker. 2023-01-23. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  3. ^ "New WST Classic Added To Snooker Calendar". World Snooker. 2023-01-28. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  4. ^ a b "Sign Up To Watch WST Classic". World Snooker. 2023-03-13. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  5. ^ a b c "WST Classic". World Snooker. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  6. ^ "Trump Reaches 900 Landmark". World Snooker. 2023-03-17. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  7. ^ Ivan (2023-03-20). "Un-Nooh Makes 147 At WST Classic". World Snooker. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  8. ^ "One More Lap in Race to Hull". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  9. ^ "O'Sullivan Pulls Out Of WST Classic". World Snooker. 2023-03-19. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  10. ^ https://twitter.com/ronnieo147/status/1637449208826404864
  11. ^ "WPBSA Statement: Mark King". World Snooker. 18 March 2023. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Centuries – WST Classic 2023". livescores.worldsnookerdata.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.