As the players arrived for the China Open Beijing as a sporting city was still on tenterhooks after the departure of the International Olympic Committee Evaluation team, who had just left following a five-day visit assessing the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
A decision will be announced on July 31 as to whether the three-centre bid from Beijing, Zhangjiakou and Yanqing that gets the nod or whether it will be Almaty in Kazakhstan who is celebrating.
Several of the media present at the Beijing Students’ Gymnasium for the snooker had attended press conferences held during the IOC team’s visit.