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24 Mar 2008 06:45:00

Beijing rolled out the red carpet for snooker's star players on Sunday for the opening ceremony of the Honghe Industrial 2008 World Snooker China Open.

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It was the first such ceremony to be staged at the spectacular Water Cube, the venue for aquatic events at the Beijing Olympics, which starts in August.

A crowd of fans and media gathered as the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ken Doherty (pictured), John Higgins, Stephen Hendry, home favourite Ding Junhui and defending champion Graeme Dott were introduced.

The players were then shown inside the Water Cube before taking part in a press conference.

The tournament begins today (Monday) at the Beijing Students University Stadium with eight of the 16 qualifiers in action against Chinese wild cards.