On June 12, the 5th “Sinan International Senior Go Tournament” kicked off at the El Dorado Resort in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. After a day of fierce competition, the top four players were determined from 16 senior players representing 8 countries. South Korea dominated with three players – Liu Changhe, Lee Chang-ho, and Ahn Joo-young, while mainland China was left with only Luo Xihe.
As the players aged, only three seniors aged over seventy, namely Kobayashi Koichi, Cho Hunhyun, and Xu Fengzhu, participated in this tournament, reflecting a trend towards “internationalization” and “youthfulness” among the other senior players.
Apart from the traditional top players from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and China, the organizers also invited players from the United States – Jiang Mingjiu, the Netherlands – Rob Van Zeijst, Australia – Tony Purcell, and Vietnam – Le Mai Duy, to join the event. The 16 players were from 8 countries across four continents, with the youngest player being Ahn Joo-young from South Korea, who is only 45 years old.
To conserve the energy of the senior players, the competition was scheduled to be completed in two days on June 12 and 13, with the round of 16 and quarterfinals held on the first day, followed by the semifinals and finals on the second day.
After the opening ceremony on the 11th, a drawing ceremony for the round of 16 matches took place following the principle of avoiding matchups between players of the same country. All four former South Korean “Four Heavenly Kings” were present, and the draw resulted in Cho Hunhyun facing with Kobayashi Koichi, Lee Chang-ho playing against Xu Fengzhu, and Liu Changhe facing the Dutch amateur player Rob Van Zeijst.
After a day of intense matches, Lee Chang-ho, Liu Changhe, Ahn Joo-young from South Korea, and Luo Xihe from mainland China emerged as the top four players with two consecutive wins each.
On the morning of the 13th, the semifinals will feature Lee Chang-ho against Liu Changhe, and Ahn Joo-young against Luo Xihe. The winners of these matches will vie for the championship in the afternoon of the same day.
Lee Chang-ho and Liu Changhe have faced each other 145 times before, with Lee Chang-ho leading with 97 wins and 48 losses. Ahn Joo-young has won both encounters against Luo Xihe without a single defeat.
In the previous four editions of the tournament, Liu Changhe has won twice, while players from mainland China Yu Bin and Taiwan Wang Licheng have each claimed victory once. Japanese seniors have never won the championship in this event.
The tournament is organized by the Korea Baduk Association, sponsored by South Jeolla Province and Sinan County, and follows the rules of Korean Go, with a 6.5 komi for the black player. Each player has 30 minutes of thinking time, with an additional 60-second overtime 3 times. The champion will receive a prize of 30 million Korean won (approximately $22,000 USD), and the runner-up will be awarded 15 million Korean won (around $11,000 USD).