On October 21 and 22, the first and second rounds of the Fourth China Women’s Go Celebrity Championship took place at the Hangzhou Go Academy. The event saw last year’s runner-up, Zhou Hongyu, and the promising young player, Luo Chuyue, advance smoothly to the quarterfinals. Last year’s champion and gold medalist at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Yu Zhiying, will face the final winner of the quarterfinals.

The China Women’s Go Celebrity Championship is part of a series of “Celebrity” tournaments derived from the men’s championship. It operates under a challenge format, where the current titleholder waits for the challenger to emerge from the knockout rounds for a final showdown.

In the first round, notable players including Rui Naiwei, Wang Chenxing, Zhou Hongyu, Tang Jiawen, and Lu Minquan secured their spots in the next phase, while seasoned competitors like Wu Yiming, Tang Yi, and Zhao Yifei were eliminated. By the second round, Zhou Hongyu, Lu Minquan, Luo Chuyue, Wang Chenxing, Song Ronghui, Gao Xing, Chen Yiming, and Li Xiaoxi defeated their respective opponents to successfully reach the top eight.

Among the quarterfinalists, Zhou Hongyu, born in 2002, is emerging as a rising star in women’s Go and a strong contender for the title. She previously won the women’s celebrity title by defeating Chen Yiming in the second Women’s Go Celebrity Championship. Zhou and Yu Zhiying have faced off multiple times, exchanging victories. Yu Zhiying is a well-known figure in Chinese women’s Go and, in 2023, she won a gold medal in the Go event at the Asian Games alongside her teammates.

According to the schedule, the quarterfinals through the finals will take place from October 24 to November 2 in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. The eight advancing players will compete in a single-elimination format to determine the challenger for Yu Zhiying, with whom they will engage in a best-of-three match for the title.

This edition of the China Women’s Go Celebrity Championship is organized by the People’s Daily and the Chinese Go Association, with support from the People’s Government of Shuy District, Suqian City, and the People’s Daily Sports Department. The championship offers a prize of 250,000 RMB for the winner and 100,000 RMB for the runner-up.