American Go E-Journal

The Hangzhou team defied the odds to win the Jin Li Smartphone Cup on December 6. The Cup is actually a 22-round professional league, the biggest in China, also known as the 17th Chinese Weiqi League A. The Jin Li company sponsors a few other tournaments, including amateur tourneys. The Hangzhou team came in first, with the Wuhan team coming in second and the Zhuhai team in third. The Hangzhou team, not being a famous team or really an elite team, was not necessarily expected to win, but pulled through and was victorious in the end. The player with the best record was Ke Jie with a final score of 16 wins and 5 losses. Following him were Zhou Ruiyang with 16 wins and 6 losses, and Wu Guangya with 15 wins and 7 losses. It has been a hot topic that the Shanghai team, the former marquee team, was demoted to the B league, even with elite players like Chang Hao 9P, Qiu Jun 9P and Hu Yaoyu 8P. The Guangxi team was also demoted. This result is considered due to lack of positive competition within a team, in contrast to surge of the younger generation.
– Jonathan Hop, China correspondent for the E-Journal, with updates from Edward Zhang (12/12).