Asian Tour 4 Dongguan Open Update

Yu De Lu will compete in this year's Player Championship
Finals thanks to a strong performance today.
Image: World Snooker

We’re down to the last four in the final Asian Tour event of the season and after the last 32, last 16 and quarter-finals were played out earlier today, meaning things are a lot clearer around the race for the final Players Championship spots as well as the hunt for tour cards next season.

Click HERE for the provisional Asian Order of Merit.

Race for the Players Championship
The biggest winner in the race for the Players Championship places today was Yu De Lu who made it through to the semi-finals of the Dongguan Open and now sits eighth in the Order of Merit. His place in the Players Championship finals is now guaranteed.

He’s fully deserved his spot in the qualifying places with wins over rivals also vying for those places, beating: Ben Woollaston 4-3, Ken Doherty 4-3 and Tom Ford 4-2.

One big loser today is Alan McManus, who was defeated 4-3 by Tom Ford in the Last 16. That result means he’ll lose his place in the qualifying spots for the Players Championship finals as either Stuart Bingham or Cai Jianzhong will surpass him when one of them wins that semi-final. Xiao Guodong also lost his spot in the top eight after today’s results.

This is where it gets interesting. If Stuart Bingham beats amateur Jianzhong, which you’d expect he would, then he’ll go up to at least sixth in the order of merit. Now, because he’s finished 17th in the European Order of Merit, then he’d qualify for the Players Championship via the Asian Order of Merit. This would promote Barry Hawkins, who is ranked 25th in the European Order of Merit, into the final Players Championship place via that list.

If Jianzhong wins, which isn’t out of the question as he did beat Gary Wilson 4-1 in the quarter-finals, then he’ll claim a place in the finals but Hawkins won’t qualify.

Players who have guaranteed places in the Grand Finals from the Asian list are Liang Wenbo, Ju Reti, Joe Perry, Lu Haotian, Michael Holt, Scott Donaldson and Yu De Lu.

No other players other than those mentioned above will be able to qualify for the Players Championship finals via the Asian Order of Merit.

Race for the Tour Cards
Ju Reti and Liu Chuang are all assured places on the tour next season as they fill the top three of the four tour card qualification places. Lu Chenwei is also fairly certain of a tour card and will only not get one if both Scott Donaldson and Yu De Lu slip out of the top 64 Money List.

Zhou Yuelong currently occupies the fourth spot but has already qualified for the tour next year by winning the 2013 World Amateur Championship.

Therefore, it’s highly likely that Rouzi Maimaiti will inherit the fourth tour card spot unless Cai Jianzhong manages to beat Stuart Bingham in which case he would secure the second tour card place, making Chenwei’s chances of a tour card more uncertain, with Donaldson and De Lu situation mentioned above.

Saturday’s Action
There are just three matches remaining in the tournament, with the semi-finals Liang Wenbo v Yu De Lu and Cai Jianzhong v Stuart Bingham at 10am (2am UK time). The final takes place at 3pm (7am UK time).

You can watch all three of these matches live via the My 147 streaming.