Snooker, soccer bring vitality to Sanhe village

Tan Xiaoyong, a resident of Sanhe village in the Xindu district of Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital, enjoyed testing his skills against top professional snooker players in the village last week.

A snooker enthusiast for 20 years, he said he had been excited to meet his idols at this year's Twin Cities Cup Snooker Invitational, which was held from Tuesday to Friday.

The annual event, better known as "Village Snooker", was launched in May last year. Tan, who was eliminated in the first round last year, finished 16th this time.

"Don't underestimate this tournament," said Zhang Tao, an international-level snooker official who was the chief umpire for the event. "Many participants this year are top regional or national players."

Thirty-two players aged 14 to 56 entered the competition, including world-class snooker players Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yuelong.

"The competition was extremely fierce," Zhang said. "Even the defending champion was eliminated early."

Xiao, this year's champion, praised the high-quality equipment and advanced intelligent scoring system used at the event.

Since the village's snooker venue opened in 2019, Xiao and Zhou have often trained there between international competitions.

"Playing snooker in such a picturesque village was a one-of-a-kind experience," Xiao said. He hopes the event will introduce more rural residents to the sport and boost rural vitalization.

Yao Pengcheng, who finished second, enjoyed exploring the village during breaks between games.

"Hotels, cafes, and restaurants are scattered throughout its beautiful landscape, allowing visitors to relax and enjoy the convenience," he said.

Tan Jie, Party chief of Sanhe, said over 1.2 million people watched this year's competition either in person or via livestreaming, with that viewership leading to a significant increase in the village's agricultural sales.

"Our village used to have zero collective income, zero local entrepreneurship and zero outside investment," he said. "Hosting rural sports events has led to its prosperity."

The village's transformation began in 2015 when Tan Jie persuaded residents to turn their grain-drying field into a seven-a-side soccer pitch.

They also launched the annual Baoyou Cup soccer tournament to attract soccer enthusiasts, and took advantage of the crowds to boost grapefruit sales.

Sanhe now attracts over 200,000 tourists a year and has secured 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in social capital investment in recent years.

He Jingzhou, deputy director of the People's Congress of Banzhuyuan subdistrict, announced plans to support the village in its efforts to build a standard soccer pitch and host a nighttime music festival in its rice fields after the October harvest.

Grassroots sports events are flourishing across China, including the Village Basketball Association tournament and Village Super League soccer competition in Guizhou province, and the Volleyball Invitational for farmers and herders in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Agricultural expert Zhang Jigang said the popularity of rural sports events is the result of efforts to create innovative rural development models in China. The sustainable development of the events requires brand promotion, infrastructure construction, industrial chain development, talent cultivation and environmental protection, he added.

Contact the writers at pengchao@chinadaily.com.cn