has held high-level events for many times, how can the "small city" Yushan support the "world snooker"?

Source: Shangrao Daily

All things contain new meanings, and the holy days are long together

Spring is bright

2024 Snooker World Open

It was lively in Yushan

This is a small county town located on the edge of Zhejiang and Jiangxi

Because of this top international event

Again into the public eye

ushered in her highlight moment

The city of Yushan and billiards began in 2015. In that year, the first Chinese Billiards World Championship was held in Yushan, and in 2016, the Snooker World Open came to Yushan for the first time...... In the past 9 years, Yushan and billiards have achieved and empowered each other, and have successively held 5 Chinese Billiards World Championships, 5 Snooker World Open and 4 high-profile events such as the Chinese Billiards National Professional League, players and fans from all over the world have flocked to this small city, and the Yushan business card of "China Billiards Capital" and "World Billiards City" has been polished again and again.

How can the "small city" Yushan support the "world snooker"? What kind of sparks did the collision between them produce?

One side of the bluestone promotes the origin.

Jade Mountain, known as "water containing Jinsha Mountain Huaiyu" reputation. The bluestone here is rich in resources and of good quality, which is an excellent material for the production of billiard tables. At the end of the 90s, Xingpai, a brand of Beijing Xingwei Sporting Goods Co., Ltd., visited the country in order to find billiard table slate suitable for Chinese sports preferences and in line with the characteristics of snooker and American billiard tables. After repeated comparison and testing, Yushan bluestone with elasticity, water absorption, moisture-proof, wear-resistant and other characteristics was finally selected, and a bluestone plate factory was built in Yushan.

In 2007, the Xingpai billiard table produced by Yushan bluestone as raw material passed the certification of the World Snooker Billiards Association, replacing the British century-old brand that uses Italian and Brazilian tables, and became the designated table for major billiards competitions in the world.

Today, the bluestone plate factory has developed into a Xingpai billiards industrial park. Yushan has formed a whole industrial chain of billiards sports equipment integrating the production, research and development and sales of tables, slates and accessories, which can achieve an annual output of more than 30,000 sets of billiard tables, 150,000 billiard tables, and 200,000 billiard table slates, and the products are sold all over the country and exported to more than 70 countries and regions such as the United Kingdom and Italy, becoming the largest billiard table plate production base in the country.

Starting from a bluestone slab, the seeds of billiards took root and sprouted in Yushan.

How to make the county's sporting goods industry evolve and upgrade, and rely on events to let Yushan complete the extension from billiards tables to billiards events and cultural industry chains? Yushan began to think about the big plan of a small city. In 2012, the Snooker World Open was held in Haikou for the first time in China, which marked that the center of the world's billiards was shifting to China and promoted the development of billiards in China. In 2013, Yushan invited Xingpai Group to transfer all resources, including the event, to Yushan, and signed a strategic cooperation agreement in 2014 to implement the international billiards cultural industry project and introduce the world's top events, so as to build a world billiards industry center and a world billiards culture center.

As a result, Yushan opened the door to hosting well-known billiards tournaments, and hosted the Snooker World Open in 2016.

"An event brings a city on fire".

The "two-way running" between Yushan and the World Snooker Open has made Yushan, the "Chinese Billiards Capital" and "World Billiards City".

From 2016 to 2019, Yushan has held four consecutive World Snooker Opens, and influential players such as Ding Junhui, Robertson, Carter, and O'Sullivan have come to Yushan, pushing Yushan to the global perspective again and again. The small city has become more well-known and influential.

With the development of the event, the Yushan billiards industry is no longer limited to the production of billiards-related supplies. In 2017, the Yushan International Billiards Cultural Industry Project was launched, a cultural industry complex integrating billiards events, cultural creativity, education and training, product research and development, and historical expos. With the successive completion of the Yushan Sports Center, the International Billiards Academy, and the World Billiards Museum of the project, billiards has reached a new level in China, and the development of world snooker has ushered in a new opportunity.

Therefore, billiards culture has been continuously accumulated in the small city of Yushan. A set of data shows that there are more than 200 youth billiards training bases, billiards clubs, and billiards rooms (points) in Yushan; more than 5,000 club members often participate in billiards; among the more than 100 primary and secondary schools in the county, 80% of the schools have opened billiards activity rooms, and nearly 10,000 primary and secondary school students can play billiards.

In February this year, Yushan held a village billiards competition, and the people of 40 villages in the county played billiards at the entrance of the village, launching a nationwide feast. A "village platform" shows the charm of Yushan as a famous billiards city. We also saw the purest love of the people in Yushan for billiards in the billiards matches at the doorsteps of the people.

Now, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Snooker World Open has returned again after a 5-year absence from Yushan, precisely because of Yushan's focus and investment in billiards.

"One industry" drives "all industries". Billiards professionals and billiards sports enthusiasts from all over the world have come to Yushan, and billiards equipment manufacturing, sports training enterprises and various billiards clubs have entered Yushan, which has greatly promoted the development of the local billiards industry and cultural tourism industry, and driven more people to work.

Chinese billiards events are generally held in big cities, and the reason is that the conditions for holding the tournament are harsh. Before the Snooker World Open was held for the first time, Yushan won the right to host the first Chinese Billiards World Championship in 2015, which greatly tested Yushan's ability to host the tournament, reception capacity, service supporting capacity, etc. But this game is of extraordinary significance to Yushan! There is no competition venue, and the gymnasium of Yushan No. 1 Middle School has been renovated overnight; there is no direct flight, and a pick-up station has been set up in Shanghai; there is no five-star hotel, the quality of reception staff has been comprehensively improved, and Beijing chefs have been introduced...... In the end, Yushan's first "billiards show" was successfully held, and it also accumulated experience for hosting the Snooker World Open.

The first test of the ability to host the competition is the supporting of urban infrastructure. Over the years, Yushan has further improved the construction of trunk road network, urban park, parking lot, etc., and built Jinshaxi Park, which has won the titles of National Civilized City, National Health County, and Garden City of Jiangxi Province. At the same time, it has successively built high-quality projects such as Yushan Sports Center, International Billiards Academy, World Billiards Museum, Yushan International Conference Center and Billiards Theme Sports Park.

"China's billiards capital" and "world billiards city" are not just shouting. From Yushan's first "billiards show" in 2015 to the 2024 Snooker World Open in full swing at this time, along the way, the "famous" effect brought by the event is extraordinary. In addition to the continuous introduction of high-end events, Yushan has deeply integrated the world's billiards culture into the small city. On the opening day of the 2024 Snooker World Open, the World Billiards Museum was officially opened, and the World Billiards Hall of Fame held the first celebrity induction ceremony, and 7 outstanding representatives of the billiards industry became the first batch of celebrities. Today, the World Billiards Museum and the World Billiards Hall of Fame have become the common spiritual halls of billiards people all over the world.

At this moment, the 2024 Snooker World Open is being staged passionately in Yushan. Continue to polish the business card of the world's famous billiards city, continue to amplify economic benefits, transform billiards game resources into industrial development benefits, and promote "events + tourism", "events + commerce", "events + cultural creativity" and "events + exhibitions", and further give full play to the multiplier benefits of billiards events. We have reason to believe that the road of "world snooker" in the small city of Yushan will be unstoppable.

Produced by Shangrao Media Center