Chinese snooker tournament to help amateurs meet world's cue masters

As Chinese players shoot it out at the World Snooker Championship, a grassroots tournament is aiming to bridge the gap between China's amateurs and the game's masters by inviting the champion to be their honorary coach.

The Chinese Folk Billiards Championship, organized by Chinese clubs and billiards associations, will be held at 145 clubs in 12 cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Wuhan starting this month. About 25,000 amateurs are expected to compete in multiple disciplines, organizers said Tuesday.

An online voting system to select an annual Fans' Player of the Year was also launched in China on Tuesday, with support from title sponsor Kunlunshan, a brand of natural mineral water.

Between April 18 and May 2, fans can sign up via the campaign's official social media accounts on Twitter, Sina Weibo and WeChat to vote for their favorite players of the 2016-17 season.

The winner of this year's award will be presented with a trophy after the world championship, scheduled to conclude on May 1, and invited to China this year to meet with top performers in the grassroots tournament and to play exhibition matches.

The 2016 Fans' Player of the Year award was won by five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan of the United Kingdom.

With the voting system now on Chinese platforms, homegrown stars such as Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo, who are competing at the world championship, have emerged as favorites to win the 2017?award.

A record six Chinese players qualified for the final stage of the elite tournament this year, while Ding and Liang will face off in a highly-anticipated second round match on Friday.

Kunlunshan has a three-year deal with World Snooker, the sport's governing body, as the official water partner for the UK Championship, the Masters, the Welsh Open and the World Championship through 2019.