The 2025 International Championship is upon us, bringing together some of the best snooker players in the world in Nanjing to compete for this illustrious title. It has been a fixture on the World Snooker Tour calendar since 2012 and has seen recent snooker greats lift the trophy aloft.
For many years, the International Championship was regarded as the “first overseas major” for snooker because of its high ranking status and large prize fund outside the UK. This year, it has a prize pot of £810,000 and runs from November 2 until the final on November 9.
Below, we look at some of the past winners of the championship and some great statistics to get you excited for the tournament.
Past Winners
There have only been 10 editions of the International Championship because from 2020 to 2022, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first edition in 2012 was won by Bristol’s Judd Trump, this being the second ranking event Trump had ever won. Since then, there have been seven different winners, with three people winning the event twice, tying for most all-time titles: Trump, Mark Selby and - the most recent winner - Ding Junhui.
Selby won the title in 2016 and 2017, being the only player to have retained the crown. Selby’s first win was the most dominant in the competition ever, beating Ding 10-1. Ding himself won his first title in 2013 and his second in 2024. Trump won his second in 2019.
Here is a complete list of the winners:
2012 - Judd Trump
2013 - Ding Junhui
2014 - Ricky Walden
2015 - John Higgins
2016 - Mark Selby
2017 - Mark Selby
2018 - Mark Allen
2019 - Judd Trump
2020 - 2022 - Cancelled
2023 - Zhang Anda
2024 - Ding Junhui
Past Losers
For every winner, there have to be losers. Overall, 13 men have competed in the finals, with only seven winners. Neil Robertson has made the finals twice, once in 2012 and next in 2018, losing to Trump and Mark Allen respectively. Allen has been on the losing side twice (2014 & 2017) but does have a win next to his name when he finally took the title in 2018, beating Robertson.
Ding is another player who has made the finals and lost, but as we saw earlier, is a two-time champion of the event. Marco Fu, David Gilbert, Shaun Murphy, Tom Ford and Chris Wakelin have all made the final once and lost.
147s
Whilst winning is the main objective, some people would say they have won by making a maximum break, the ‘perfect game’, so to speak. In total, there have been six maximum breaks in the tournament's history, including qualifying.
The first maximum was hit in 2017 and was hit by former world champion Kyren Wilson. His 147 can in a last-32 match against Martin Gould.
Tom Ford was second, hitting a 147 in the 2019 qualifying rounds versus Fraser Patrick. Ryan Day hit a max in 2023 in qualifying as well, hitting his against Mink Nutcharut.
On his way to the title in 2023, China’s Zhang Anda hit a 147 in the final against Tom Ford. His fellow countryman, Xu Si, hit his in 2024 against Ryan Day in the last-32 stage.
The most recent 147 was made in qualifying for this year’s competition when Gary Wilson hit a 147 against Artemis Zizins.