Wuxi (simplified Chinese: 无锡; traditional Chinese: 無錫; pinyin: Wúxī; former spellings: Wu-shi, Wushi, or Wu-hsi; lit. "Without Tin"; Shanghai dialect: [ɦuɕiɪʔ]) is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou across the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south. Wuxi earned its nickname "Pearl of Lake Tai" because it's built on the shore of Lake Tai in a scenic setting.[citation needed] Wuxi was also dubbed "little Shanghai" because of its close proximity to the city, rapid urbanization and booming economy.[citation needed] Wuxi also has a history of business people involved in modern Shanghai commerce since the early 20th century.
Although Wuxi means "No tin", scholars suggest the city name may come from "Wuxu" (吳墟), meaning ruins of the State of Wu, or a Baiyue word which may mean "god bird".
Wuxi was founded 3,000 years ago by two fugitive princes, Taibo and Zhongyong, of the Zhou from Central China, who intended to give their brother Jili (季歷) the throne. The two princes settled down in Meili (梅里), which is believed to be today's Meicun, Wuxi. (some historic records indicate a location somewhere in today's Suzhou). They helped developing local agriculture and waterways. The area soon flourished. After the death of Taibo, who had no heir, the emperor of Zhou enthroned a descendant of his family king of the State of Wu. The king named his kingdom "Gowu". Taibo's shrine was set up in today's Meicun and the original wood structure was destroyed during the wars over the course of history. However, it has been renovated several times and today's architecture dates mostly to the Qing dynasty. A stone carved with sayings by Confucius can still be seen in Taibo Shrine.
Judd Trump (born 21 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player from Bristol. He enjoyed considerable success in youth tournaments before turning professional in 2005. On 3 April 2011, Trump won his first ranking title, beating Mark Selby 10–8 in the final of the China Open. Following this success in China, he reached the final of the 2011 World Snooker Championship where he was defeated by John Higgins. He then went on to win the 2011 UK Championship where he defeated Mark Allen 10–8 in the final.
Trump was English Under-13 and Under-15 champion, and reached the World Under-21 Championship semi-finals at the age of 14. At the same age, he became the youngest player ever to make a competitive 147, beating Jamie Jones's record.
In the 2005/06 season he joined the professional tour, and at the Welsh Open became the youngest player ever to qualify for the final stages of a ranking tournament. He reached the same last-48 stage for the China Open, losing 4–5 to Michael Holt, although this was designated the final qualifying round and was actually played in Prestatyn, Wales.
Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish professional snooker player.
Maguire almost qualified for the 2000 World Championships, leading eventual semi-finalist Joe Swail 9–6 in the final qualifying round before losing 9–10, but first served notice of his true potential by knocking out Stephen Lee in the first round of the UK Championship in 2002.
Maguire was the surprise winner of the 2004 European Open. Ranked 41 in the world at the time, he beat well established top-16 player Jimmy White 9–3 in the final. It was in that same season that he qualified for the World Championship for the first time, losing 6–10 in the first round to Ronnie O'Sullivan, but O'Sullivan admitted to being impressed by Maguire's performance and tipped him to be a future World Champion.
The start of the 2004/2005 season saw Maguire establish himself as one of the game's brightest talents. He performed well at the season opening Grand Prix, reaching the quarter-finals, and things improved further at the British Open in Brighton. Maguire defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–1 in the semi-finals, leading O'Sullivan to claim that 'he had never seen anything like that on a snooker table before' and also rated Maguire as 'probably the best player in the world at the moment'. Although Maguire lost the final 6–9 to his compatriot John Higgins, he more than made up for it at the next event, the UK Championship, snooker's second biggest tournament.
Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983, Leicester, England) is an English professional snooker and pool player. Runner up in the World Snooker Championship 2007, he was the 2006 WEPF World Eight-ball Champion. Selby has won the Masters on two occasions, the Welsh Open, the Shanghai Masters and is the current world number one. Known as a tough competitor, Selby is also an accomplished break-builder with over 200 centuries.
Selby showed potential as a teenager, but did not consistently shine until his twenties. He reached his first ranking final aged 19, the Regal Scottish in 2003, where he finished runner-up to David Gray, losing 9–7 in the final. Before that, he had also already reached the semi-finals of the 2002 China Open, despite leaving his hotel room at 2 a.m. instead of 2 p.m. for one match due to jetlag.
Selby reached the final qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship in 2002, 2003 and 2004, losing each time. Early in the 2005/06 season he began to be managed by former snooker professional and fellow Leicester resident Mukesh Parmar and reached the final stages of the World Snooker Championship, at the Crucible Theatre, for the first time. Selby went out in the first round, losing to John Higgins but has qualified for the final stages every year since, including in 2006 despite a 147 from his final qualifying round opponent Robert Milkins.
Liang Wenbo (Chinese: 梁文博, pinyin: Liáng Wénbó ; born 5 March 1987 in Zhaodong, Suihua, Heilongjiang) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He is left-handed and ranked as China's number 2 player, after Ding Junhui. Liang is based at the Grove Snooker Academy in Romford, England, United Kingdom.
As an amateur, Liang's major feats were as follows:
Liang built on the positive start to his snooker career, winning an individual silver medal and a team gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games.
During the 2004/05 snooker season, Liang took part in the Challenge Tour, the tier below the World Snooker Association Main Tour. He finished a lowly 104th out of 168 competitors, having only accumulated 2150 points.
Despite not qualifying for the main snooker tour directly, Liang received a wildcard nomination to the main tour; this was because he won the 2005 IBSF World Under-21 Championship and because not all the players that were eligible for the main tour took their places. In his first ranking tournament, the Grand Prix, Liang lost in the first qualifying round to Rory McLeod 2–5. In the next ranking event, the UK Championship, he fared better, nearly whitewashing Alfred Burden in the first qualifying round 9–1; he lost in the second qualifying round to Marcus Campbell by the narrowest of margins, 8–9.