Wikipedia

Xiao Guodong

In this Chinese name, the family name is Xiao (肖).

Xiao Guodong (Chinese: 肖国栋; born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships. He won his first ranking event 17 years after first turning professional at the 2024 Wuhan Open, beating Si Jiahui 10–7 in only the third all-Chinese ranking event final.[3][4] He also took part in the first ever all-Chinese ranking event final, when he lost 6–10 to Ding Junhui in the 2013 Shanghai Masters.[5][6]

Xiao Guodong
Xiao at the 2015 German Masters
Born (1989-02-10) 10 February 1989 (age 35)
Chongqing, China
Sport country China
NicknameX-factor[1]
Professional2007/2008, 2009–present
Highest ranking16 (November 2024)[2]
Current ranking 17 (as of 16 December 2024)
Maximum breaks1
Century breaks281 (as of 15 December 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking1
Medal record
Representing  China
Men's snooker
Asian Indoor Games
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Macau Singles
Silver medal – second place 2007 Macau Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Ho Chi Minh City Six-red singles
Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 Incheon Six-red singles
Xiao Guodong
Simplified Chinese肖国栋
Traditional Chinese蕭國棟
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXiāo Guódòng
IPA[ɕjáʊ kwǒtʊ̂ŋ]

Career

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2007–2010

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Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat the then world number 50 Tom Ford 5–3, before losing 0–5 to Matthew Stevens.

In his first ranking tournament, the 2007 Grand Prix he finished 4th in his qualifying group by winning 3 out his 7 matches. In the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy he beat Leo Fernandez 5-1 and Jimmy White 5–0, before he lost to David Gilbert 2–5.

He lost his first match in the 2007 UK Championship to Kurt Maflin and to the same player in the 2008 China Open qualifiers too. In the Welsh Open he lost to fellow Chinese player Liu Song 2–5.

A victory over Munraj Pal in the 2008 World Championship qualifiers set up a match with David Roe, which he lost 5–10.

Xiao won the Paul Hunter English Open in 2008.

In the 2009 China Open, he beat Michael Holt 5–3 in the wild-card round, progressing to the first round proper where he beat fellow Chinese player Ding Junhui 5–3. He gave three-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan a tough game in the next round as O'Sullivan began the match with two successive centuries before Xiao rallied to trail just 4–3, but lost the next frame to bow out of the tournament.[7]

On 10 July 2009, on the World Snooker website, Xiao was voted in the Top 5 players to watch out for in the 2009–10 season.

2011/2012 season

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Xiao had a good season in the Players Tour Championship series of tournaments in the 2011–12 season. He reached the quarter-finals of Event 1 and Event 6 and went one better in Event 2, where he was knocked out in the last 4 against compatriot Ding Junhui. The results ensured he reached the 2012 Finals by finishing eighteenth in the Order of Merit.[8] He played in the Finals against the advice of doctors as he had broken a bone in his hand three weeks earlier whilst sleeping on it awkwardly, but despite this beat Dominic Dale 4–2 in the first round of the event.[9][10] Xiao then pulled off the result of his career to date by defeating recent UK champion, Judd Trump 4–2 to advance to his first ever ranking event quarter-final, where he was beaten by Andrew Higginson 1–4.[9][11]

Xiao could not qualify for any of the other ranking events during the season, coming closest in the UK Championship, where he lost to Tom Ford in the final qualifying round.[11] He finished the season ranked world number 41, meaning he had risen 23 places during the year.[12]

2012/2013 season

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2013 German Masters

Xiao qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open and the German Masters during the 2012–13 season, losing in the first round in both to Barry Hawkins and Kurt Maflin respectively.[13] He took advantage of the new Asian Players Tour Championship events by taking part in all three of them. He had his best result in the second event by defeating the likes of Marco Fu and Barry Hawkins to reach the semi-finals, where he lost 2–4 to Stephen Lee.[13] His performances helped him to eighth on the Asian PTC Order of Merit, high enough to qualify for the Finals.[14] There, Xiao reached the quarter-finals for the second successive year with wins over Graeme Dott and Alfie Burden, before losing 1–4 to Neil Robertson.[15] Xiao's season came to an end when he lost 4–10 to Jimmy White in the third round of World Championship Qualifying, but he finished the year ranked world number 37, at the time his highest position.[16][17]

2013/2014 season

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In his opening match of the season, Xiao defeated Andrew Norman 5–3 to qualify for the 2013 Wuxi Classic in China where he beat Peter Ebdon 5–3 in the first round and Li Hang 5–4 in the second.[18] He then faced John Higgins in the last 16 and was whitewashed 0–5.[19] Xiao could also not pick up a frame in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open, as he lost 0–5 to Joe Perry.[18] He won three matches to qualify for the Shanghai Masters and once there defeated Yuan Siyun 5–0 in the wildcard round.[18] Xiao took advantage of a poor performance by Stephen Maguire in the first round to beat him 5–2 and then saw off Peter Lines 5–3.[20] He continued his run to make the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time as he came back from 4–2 down to beat Mark Davis 5–4 citing afterwards his work with Terry Griffiths as being a key factor in his success.[21] In the semis he played Michael Holt who was also making his ranking event semi-final debut and from 3–3 Xiao made a break of 111, added the next frame and then closed the match out 6–3 with a 127 break.[22] He played Ding Junhui in a first all-Chinese ranking final and was beaten 10–6, but the runner-up's cheque of £35,500 is the highest of his career to date and he also broke into the world's top 32 for the first time.[23]

His second quarter-final appearance of the season came at the German Masters but he lost 5–2 to Ryan Day.[24] Xiao's rise up the world rankings meant he only needed to win one match to reach the World Championship and he did so in emphatic fashion by thrashing Li Yan 10–1.[25] In Xiao's debut in the event he rallied from 4–1 down against Ali Carter to end the first session 5–4 behind, but went on to lose 10–8.[26] Xiao's rise up the rankings continued as he ended the campaign as the world number 23, an increase of 14 spots from the start of the season.[27]

2014/2015 season

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2015 German Masters

At the Australian Goldfields Open, Xiao recorded wins over Liam Highfield, Peter Ebdon and Matthew Stevens to reach the semi-finals of a ranking event for the second time, where Judd Trump defeated him 6–3.[28][29] He beat Eden Sharav and Noppon Saengkham at the International Championship, but lost 6–4 to Robert Milkins in the third round and was knocked out by the same scoreline in the second round of the UK Championship against Matthew Selt.[30] After edging Highfield 5–4 in the first round of the German Masters, Xiao was thrashed 5–0 by Neil Robertson.[31] Xiao won five matches at the Shoot-Out, the tournament where every match is decided by one ten-minute frame, to reach the final. Xiao lost the lead with just six seconds remaining against Michael White.[32] He progressed through to the final qualifying round of the World Championship and his match against Jimmy Robertson went into a deciding frame which Robertson won on the final pink.[33]

2015/2016 season

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After having a high enough ranking to gain automatic entry into the Australian Goldfields Open (where he lost 5–3 to Ian Burns in the first round) Xiao's ranking steadily declined during the season as he could not get beyond the last 48 of any ranking event.[34] He dropped 30 places to end it 51st in the world.[35]

2016/2017 season

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2016 Paul Hunter Classic

At the Riga Masters, Xiao beat Gareth Allen 4–0 and Jamie Jones and David Gilbert both 4–2 to reach his first ranking event quarter-final in two years. He lost 4–2 to Darren Morgan. Xiao defeated Michael Holt 4–1, Noppon Saengkham 4–0 and Neil Robertson 4–3 at the English Open, before being eliminated 4–3 by Chris Wakelin in the fourth round. During his second round match with Shaun Murphy at the Scottish Open, Xiao made a 132 break, the 100th century of his career and went on to win 4–1. He lost by a reversal of this scoreline to Mark Davis in the subsequent round.[36] This was the first year that the Shoot-Out, the tournament where every match is settled by a 10-minute frame played under a shot clock, had its status upgraded to a ranking event. In his quarter-final match with David Gilbert, Xiao ran out of time when potting a yellow but the foul was not picked up by the referee.[37] He won the match and reached the final of the event for the second time and lost by 67–19 points to Anthony McGill.[38] Three comfortable victories saw Xiao qualify for the World Championship and he beat Ryan Day 10–4 in round one, before losing 13–6 to Mark Selby.[39][40][41]

2017/2018 season

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Xiao reached three quarter-finals, but had victories over John Higgins, Mark Allen and Mark Selby (twice). He qualified for the World Championship, but lost to Ding Junhui 10–3. He finished the season ranked 39.

2018/2019 season

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Xiao missed two tournaments in August due to pneumonia. His best results came in the World Open (quarter final) and the World Grand Prix (semi-final). In the World Championship Qualifiers, he was unhappy when his opponent, Michael Judge played on for 20 minutes needing 8 snookers in the 8th frame. The session was duly suspended at 4-4, and Judge ultimately won 10–9. Xiao finished the season ranked 25.

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournaments 2004/
05 		2006/
07 		2007/
08 		2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22 		2022/
23 		2023/
24 		2024/
25
Rankings[42][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 2] [nb 3] 74 64 41 37 23 21 51 39 25 25 31 29 38 41 34
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Not Held Non-Ranking Event 2R A 3R 3R A
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 2R
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held QF
English Open Tournament Not Held 4R 4R 1R 4R 1R 1R LQ 4R 1R
British Open A Tournament Not Held 1R 2R SF 1R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 3R W
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 3R 3R 1R 2R 1R 3R LQ 1R
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R Not Held 2R SF
UK Championship A A LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ 3R 2R 2R 2R 4R 3R 2R 4R 3R 1R LQ 1R
Shoot Out Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking Event F 2R 2R 3R 3R 1R 2R 1R 2R
Scottish Open Tournament Not Held MR Not Held 3R QF 1R 3R 1R 2R 3R LQ SF
German Masters Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 1R QF 2R LQ LQ QF 2R LQ LQ LQ QF 1R
Welsh Open A A LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ 3R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R 3R LQ LQ 1R
World Open[nb 4] A A LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R Not Held 2R 2R QF 2R Not Held LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ QF SF 2R 1R DNQ QF 1R
Players Championship[nb 5] Tournament Not Held DNQ QF QF DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ 2R 1R LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters Not Held Ranking Event 1R 2R Not Held A A
Champion of Champions Tournament Not Held A A A A A A A A A A A F
The Masters A A LQ A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A
Championship League Not Held A A A A A A A 2R A A A RR RR A RR 2R RR
Former ranking tournaments
Northern Ireland Trophy NR A LQ A Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 6] Not Held Non-Ranking Event LQ 3R 1R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Tournament Not Held LQ 1R 1R SF 1R Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters Not Held 1R WR LQ LQ LQ LQ F LQ LQ LQ 1R Non-Ranking Not Held Non-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 7] Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event 2R A 2R NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Tournament Not Held LQ A NH 2R LQ WD Tournament Not Held
China Open 1R LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R 1R Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 8] Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank QF 1R 1R 2R Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR 1R 2R 2R Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held 3R Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR A A A SF QF 2R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
European Masters[nb 9] A A NR Tournament Not Held A LQ WD 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Beijing International Challenge Tournament Not Held A RR Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 6] Not Held A A 1R A Ranking Event Tournament Not Held
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 1R Ranking Event
Shoot Out Tournament Not Held A 1R 1R 2R F 2R Ranking Event
Six-red World Championship[nb 10] Not Held A A A NH A A A A A A A A Not Held LQ Not Held
Haining Open Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank 3R 2R A A NH A NH A NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b c He was an amateur
  3. ^ a b New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (2004/2005, 2006/2007–2009/2010)
  5. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  6. ^ a b The event ran under the name Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  7. ^ The event was called the Fürth German Open (2006/2007)
  8. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  9. ^ The event was called the Malta Cup (2004/2005, 2006/2007–2007/2008)
  10. ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)

Career finals

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Ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 1. 2013 Shanghai Masters   Ding Junhui 6–10 [23]
Runner-up 2. 2017 Snooker Shoot Out   Anthony McGill 0–1 [43]
Winner 3. 2024 Wuhan Open   Si Jiahui 10–7

Non-ranking finals: 2

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Legend
Champion of Champions (0–1)
Other (0–1)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Runner-up 1. 2015 Snooker Shoot Out   Michael White 0–1 [44]
Runner-up 2. 2024 Champion of Champions   Mark Williams 6–10

Pro-am finals: 3 (3 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2008 Paul Hunter English Open   Ben Woollaston 6–2
Winner 2. 2009 Asian Indoor Games   Liang Wenbo 5–2
Winner 3. 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games   Amir Sarkhosh 5–4

Amateur finals: 4 (4 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Ref.
Winner 1. 2007 Asian Under-21 Amateur Championship   Chinnakrit Yoawansiri 6–2 [45]
Winner 2. 2008 PIOS – Event 2   Noppadol Sangnil 6–5
Winner 3. 2009 PIOS – Event 6   Jack Lisowski 6–0
Winner 4. 2011 China Snooker Tour Finals   Chen Feilong 5–0 [46]

References

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  1. ^ "Xiao Guodong". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Historic Seedings 2024/2025 After Wuhan 2024". snooker.org. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Xiao claims maiden title glory". World Snooker Tour. 12 October 2024. Archived from the original on 12 October 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  4. ^ Livie, Alex (12 October 2024). "Wuhan Open: Xiao Guodong shakes off nerves to beat Si Jiahui for first career ranking title". Eurosport.
  5. ^ "Ding Beats Xiao In All-Chinese Final". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 22 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Shanghai Masters: Ding Junhui beats fellow Chinese Xiao Guodong". Sky Sports. 22 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  7. ^ "O'Sullivan sets up Higgins clash in Snooker China Open". China.org.cn. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  8. ^ "PTC Order of Merit after PTC12" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Xiao Knocks Out Trump". AOL. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  10. ^ "Betfair Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  11. ^ a b "Xiao Guodong 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  12. ^ "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Xiao Guodong 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Asian Order of Merit after APTC3" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  15. ^ "Dafabet Players Tour Championship Finals". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  17. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  18. ^ a b c "Xiao Guodong 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  19. ^ "Snooker – Robertson and Higgins roar into last eight at Wuxi Classic". Eurosport. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  20. ^ "Trump and Maguire slump to shock defeats". Eurosport. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  21. ^ "Holt And Xiao Make Semi Breakthough [sic]". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  22. ^ "Xiao Powers into Final". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  23. ^ a b "Ding Beats Xiao in All-Chinese Final". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  24. ^ "Snooker – Trump charges into German Masters semis". Eurosport. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  25. ^ "Snooker – Ebdon fails to reach World Championship". Eurosport. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  26. ^ "World Snooker Championship: Ali Carter beats Xiao Guodong". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  27. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  28. ^ "Trump And Xiao into Semis". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  29. ^ "Trump To Face Robertson in Bendigo Final". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  30. ^ "Xiao Guodong 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  31. ^ "Neil Robertson eases into quarter-finals of German Masters". Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  32. ^ "The White Stuff". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  33. ^ "Sweet 16 Through to Sheffield". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  34. ^ "Xiao Guodong 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  35. ^ "World Rankings After 2016 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  36. ^ "Xiao Guodong 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  37. ^ "Snooker: Gilbert vows to battle on despite Shoot-Out 'robbery' and Gibraltar travel troubles". Tamworth Herald. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  38. ^ "Anthony McGill wins one-frame Shoot Out tournament". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  39. ^ "Yan Secures Crucible Debut". World Snooker. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  40. ^ "Joy for Xiao at the End of the Day". World Snooker. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  41. ^ "Selby Too Strong for Xiao". World Snooker. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  42. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  43. ^ "Coral Snooker Shoot-Out (2017)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  44. ^ "Betway Snooker Shoot-Out (2015)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  45. ^ "Chris Turner's SNOOKER ARCHIVE| Major Amateur Championships". 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  46. ^ "Xiao Guodong wins title in 2011 China Snooker Tour Finals CCTV News - CNTV English". Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
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